Did you end up with your 'dream horse' or 'suitable' horse?

After many, many years of saving my pennies I was finally able to go out and buy my Dream Horse! I gave it a lot of thought as i had planned for it to be a keeper for life and didnt want to end up with a breed I didnt really want. I seriously looked into Trakehners and American Paints (random I know, dont ask!!lol) but I have always wanted my very own "black beauty" since i was a child... and then i found the Friesian!!! They were everything I wanted. Beautiful looks, trainable temperment, decent weight carrier (im a heavier rider, but not huge!) but not overly heavy, adaptable and able to have a go at everything! So, I ended up saving a little bit longer (They're not cheap!!lol) and found my beautiful little friesian 3 years ago. Now broken in by me :D And she is still the perfect horse, I couldnt be happier.
 
I think my first horse was my dream horse ... 4yo mediumweight CobX, totally unflappable and very sweet-natured, but he was PTS five months after we bought him :(

Dylan was definitely suitable-ish when we got him, a bit headstrong and speedy for me though ... I've had him almost 7 years, and I'll never sell him :) he's taught me to ride more than any horse I've ever ridden, and even though some people have no idea how I'm not nervous when I ride him, I never feel unsafe even if he is throwing one of his strops. He's my boy and I love him, bit of an idiot sometimes but he's so lovely to handle and so much fun to ride :D
 
TBH when I look for a horse, I dont care about looks. Most of my horses have been pretty average in the looks department. I go by temperament, if thats right then everything else looks promising! My current horse is my absolute dream horse.
 
I currently have two ridden horses 1 I bought at an auction because I felt sorry for him and he is challenging and headstrong and teaches me something new everyday I love him to bits but hes not exactly a dream lol. The new boy has a temperament to diefor, excellent breeding, knockout movement and is a stunner so he is turning out to be a bit of a dream :-)
 
When I set out looking for my "dream" horse, I had a list of everything I wanted:

15-15.2 hh
7-12 years
Dark bay or black
Schoolmaster
Gelding!

My mum came a cross an advert in the local free ads that described a horse as ideal 1st horse, been there and done it, 100% safe. Mothers Dream!

After the nightmare pony I had previously, it sounded perfect. So I asked Mum how big etc...

She came back to say:

14hh
18 years
Chestnut
mare!!

My head said no way but I thought I may aswell go and have a look, I had nothing to lose.

When I got there and spent time with the pony, it was apparent that she was perfect. However she had to live out as she was scared of a stable. I didnt think that was a problem, so we went back a week last to pick her up for a months trial.

It took us 2 days to load her and we were mintues away of giving up when she finally loaded. We had her vetted and the vet said that she was atleast 18! She failed the flexion test and after seeing how she was in a box, the vet advised against buying her.

I gave her a chance and a week into our loan agreement, I realised that despite her hang ups, she was the perfect pony for me and she was not going anywhere!!!

I'm not the competetive type and after losing all of my confidence with my last pony, Jamin and I struck a bond. We both needed to learn to trust the other species.

8 years on and I dont think I will ever find another pony as perfect as Jamin and although she wasnt my dream horse 8 years ago....she is now!!! :)
 
My parents bought Ballet for me when I was 14, coming off a slow pony, as a first horse, a schoolmistress. Looking back, it was a naive buy, and she was actually too much for me. We only tried her in a school and over a x pole. We'd seen the pictures of her, and thougt she was suitable. Having said that, I stuck with her, and now were doing better than she ever has done. :) She is now my horse in a lifetime, not my dream horse, but far more than suitable, and she will be with me 'til the day she dies. :)

Spanner was a project horse, who has actually taught me loads, and although, it would have been nice to see more of her before we bought, she's really talented, but wayy to small for me, and will be sold, as she's neither suitable nor my dream horse, but I love her, so she'll stay as long as possible.

Sorry ^^ rambled a bit. ;)
 
Well my parents bought Seren for me almost 18yrs ago at auction, and I have discovered with time that she is my perfect/dream horse, think she is my horse of a lifetime and I will always and do compare everything to her.
She is a gypsy cob and that is my dream horse really, a gorgeous gypsy cob as much as I do love some other breeds, I do like a heavy cob.
 
Fudge is my dream horse.
Flashy buckskin with white face and four white socks, reasonably sensible most of the time too :).
If he was a little less arguementative and much less broken he'd be perfect in terms of suitability too :)
 
Poppy was nothing I was looking for... I liked young big flashy horses with massive paces and mares were a no no. I was a teenage girl and found mares too stroppy!

Poppy was a 15.1, 11yro ex race chestnut mare who was owned by a friend of a friend. It was decided that Poppy was unrideable so I though that sounded like a challenge and the very next day I handed over £500 and she was mine.

I spent months and months trying to teach her that being ridden wasn't actually that bad. I remember one day spending 2 hours in the school just trying to get her past a showjump that had been left up. She was white with sweat and I was dripping by the time we finished but that was the day we 'clicked' from then on for some reason she trusted me implicently. There was no stopping us she NEVER had a rail in the time I had her and to this day she was the bravest XC horse I have ever owned (despite being told she wouldn't go XC).

Nobody else could ride her. She was an absolute nightmare but I worked hard to conquer her so I secretly liked that she would only let me ride her.

She had to be put down 2 years later, she had navicular, I retired her and she lived on bute. I went down to the field one day and somehow in her way she just told me she had had enough. Stood there on 3 legs looking so depressed so I had to do what I had to do but if I had the choice now of having my 'dream horse' or her. It would be Poppy every time.

RIP Poppy 1992-2005

poppybig.jpg
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I had my dream horse but sold him :(

He was such a good boy, and could turn his hand to anything, I really had no idea at the time what an amazing horse he actually was.

He was sold to MFH and was later sold to the states for a lot of money.

I bought Axel and feel like he should be my horse of a lifetime, he has won 100x more than Rocky ever did but he's just not the same.
 
I was looking for:

- not too big
- not young, maybe something 12+
- been there and done it all type, just for hacking out alone and in company and some fun stuff
- not grey (we always have greys)
- preferably not a mare
- something my mum could happily ride
- easy, safe type

What I got:

- 16.2
- 7 yr old
- very green, not done much, not confident enough to hack alone yet
- grey
- mare
- mum won't get on her
- bronked me about yesterday

:p I do love her though and intend to persevere!
 
My "perfect" horse would have been something 16.3-17hands, dark bay. Preferably competing around Elementary dressage, jumping maybe 1.10m or so? Flashy, forward, big paces, scopey. Don't mind quirky at all, bucking etc was never a problem, but something with talent and who (even if difficult) does actually have the temperament to compete. Also preferably a big WB or TBxWB type, solid but still elegant and really flashy, like it could show. Call it ambitious, I knew I'd never get it :D But you said dream, right? :D

What I got was a chestnut TB ex-racer the day he finished racing. He's 6 now..competing Novice dressage, hoping to go Elementary at the end of the year. I'm fairly confident he'll be in the 1m classes around September.
He was bought dirt cheap, and its taken SO much work..but he's really got everything I need.
-Nice big paces, very pretty and flashy.
-Lots of scope and power for jumping.
-We've got a good bond, and he generally does as I ask..he'll try really hard for me, but he definitely protests about it sometimes (think rearing/bucking/spinning)..
-Definitely got quirks :P


Now that I think about it, I'd still love a WB as well. A fancy flashy European-bred one. But, I'd never trade said flashy warmblood for my boy. He's here to stay. I like the idea of being able to beat the fancy imports which cost millions of rands, with my dirt cheap TB that I schooled myself :D
And to be fair..ex-racers are what I know best, so it seemed natural I'd have one :)
 
I got my horse 6 weeks ago. I was ideally looking for:
An ISH, or a TBx of some kind (I quite liked the idea of something a little chunkier than my previous little TB)
Between 7-11yo
Preferably a gelding
Around 15.2hh
Good to hack and do
Pref. with some eventing experience
Confident, straightforward and scopey SJ and XC
Fairly well schooled and nice paces
A bit of a personality :p

I got:
A full TB ex racer..
8yo (9 on the day we bought him! :) )
Gelding..
16hh :o
Good to hack (if a little exuberant..)
Generally lovely on the ground, if a little twitchy (think he's still settling in TBH)
Quite confident and v scopey jumper..don't know about XC, haven't done any yet ;)
Well schooled, when he feels like it. Nice paces, when he feels like it. :rolleyes:
A LOT of a personality :D
Here he is:
P090510_17520001.jpg


I love him to bits.
 
As a little girl that was completely mad on horses, (and frustrated by over protective non horsey parents who thought that riding was too expensive and dangerous) I dreamt of growing up to own my very own Black Beauty or Champion the wonderhorse! I wouldn't have honestly cared what it was like really though, I just wanted one lol! After years and years of riding school riding (24 give or take) and then one year of sharing I finally found myself in the position to actually own my own. Did I get the most suitable? Probably not if I'm honest. He's a big boned 16.2 7 yo Ex-racer (6 when I got him) A lot of horse for an 8 1/2 stone 5ft4 mum of 3. He's grumpy, can be naughty, doesn't always like hacking alone and was relatively unschooled when he came to me. I have had to work very hard to get him to trust me, he used to bite and kick out all the time when being groomed. It took a couple of months to even brush his head without him acting like I was trying to hit him. Now he rests his head on my tummy to let me brush his face! He's everything I ever dreamed of. We've got a lovely bond developing and our work together is getting there. I love him to bits and can't imagine not having him now.
 
Suitable. Ish.
Tbh, we weren't really /looking/ as such, it just happened that the person we sold my previous horse through had another he thought might be ok for me, so we viewed him and that was that. He wasn't amazing in any way, but I decided he was coming home... I have a bad habit of buying on impulse.
Not even entirely sure what my dream horse would be.....
 
I had my perfect pony

Jumped anything
Quite Fizzy but also safe
Hacked alone or in company
Stoped to wait for me if I fell off-quite often as jumped her bareback we were a right pair lol

She was called Kitty a 13.1hh Chestnut Mix and match type but been there and done all. She kept me safe until the very end. RIP Kits
 
I've posted this before on here so apologies in advance for repeating myself, but the horse I ended up buying after 15years away from horses was pretty much the opposite of what I set out looking for but from day one has become my dream horse (despite the usual early getting to know each other misunderstandings :) ) and there is not enough money in this world that would part him from me.

I set out aged 33 to buy a sensible, easy to do, laidback cob type that I intended to use for primarily hacking to bring me back into riding after a long gap.
The first two horses I viewed and tried were lovely- both ticked all the boxes and I pretty much decided on the second one but as Min was lined up to be viewed later the same day we decided to go see him.

He was advertised in the free-ads as a piebald gelding, honest and willing, 8 years old and no picture. On the phone I was told "Well, No he's not a cob...but come see him anyway, he's such a nice lad"

I walked into an American barn stable and met the coloured lad- 3/4 tb (out of Lucky Dealer) x welsh- in my signature. To say he had the WOW factor is an understatement. I fell in love there and then. He was put through his paces for me and then I had a wee shot. He was quite unsure about having a new rider on his back (still is and will nap back to me if he thinks he's being taken away from me if a friend rides him) but was good as gold. My mum and I then got grilled for a good 2-3 hours over a glass of wine (found out later that they had turned down a couple of other potential buyers) but i went home and slept on it but knew I had to have him. His old owner was delighted when i phoned back the next day and said she had really wanted me to have him.

He has turned out to be the most fantastic wee horse ever- Ok, he can be spooky, is excitable and forward going but always safe and tries his wee heart out for me. He can be grumpy and will state his opinion but never in a nasty way. But he looks after me (he immediately went for a pony that kicked and broke my wrist and has done so on other occasions when she was in season and threatened to kick) and everyone says what a fantastic bond we have.

He has made me up my game and I am sure i have developed more as a rider than I would have done with a safe plod. I am a far more confident rider than I used to be and that's all down to him :)

Sorry- this turned out far far longer than I intended. Love my boy :)
 
Hi Archiesmummy, I ended up with my dreamhorse and the horse that suited me all in one. He was the best thing that ever happened me, even if the cost of trying to fix him was 3000. He gave me my confidence back, and that in itself was priceless. He had pedal degenerative disease, so had to be PTS last november, at only 11. I loved that horse just as much as i love my children, that might sound mad, but i did!!! i'm still not over him being PTS but I would have never forgiven myself if he had died a slow painfull death. I went showjumping on him jan 09 for the first time in 11 years, and had so much fun,. He was a spooky fecker, ex riding school, chainy eye, but i was afraid of nothing when i sat on him, (and I'm afraid of everything!!) I got a new horse today, on loan, for as long as i want her, ex polo "pony", 15.2hh and shes very lively, but without having cooper when i did, i wouldnt have even sat on her, never mind taking her on loan.
I think that these things happen for a reason, and Cooper was supposed to be in my life to give me my confidence back. I will always love that horse, he was really special to me. Sometimes your dream horse is one that you'd thought you'd never ride!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
bought someone else's nightmare. He had been sold to someone who returned him as unrideable, turned out to be my dreamhorse. Bought him as a 7yo and evented him upto intermediate, he is now 19 and retired, but going nowhere. He is very quirky,spoilt,and a much loved horse of a lifetime.Best of all he's MINE:D:D:D:D
 
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