Did you get what you were looking for?

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annbal

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I didn't!
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Once I retired my ex pacer for a few years and saving as much money as possible i went on the hunt for my perfect horse.

My very strict criteria included;
1/ no greys (can not be ar*ed with all that cleaning)
2/ nothing bigger than 15:2hh ( I am only 5ft 2in)
3/ not too cobby, after having TB types i was used to sharper horses. I always thought cobs were slow coaches
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When I meet Shadow I feel in love instanty, he was a 3 year old steel grey standing at 15:1hh and was so lovely I did not hesitate to buy him. 4 years later he is now nearly white, 16:2hh ID type. So nothing like what I wanted at all, but would not change anything about him. I love everything about him even if he looks dirty all the time, i can not mount from the ground, and have been told more times than i can remember that he is too big for me.

It made me learn to keep an open mind and never dismiss a horse on colour/looks/type etc.

has anyone else had experiences of this?

P:S - Shadow and my ex pacer Ben are best of friends - even if Ben bullies him at the field gate to get in first (even though Shad weighs about 200kgs more :-))
 
I wanted:

16hh ish
cobby type
7-10 years old
Definately gelding
Schoolmaster/confidence giving type

I got:
1. 17hh, 25 year old, fizzy tb
2. 14.3hh, 13 year old, fizzy tb - ex-polo with one eye

It's funny how things end up! I love my two to bits though and wouldn't change them for the world
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When me and my mum were looking for a horse to share we said NO mares and NO Tb's as we wanted more of a native breed. We ended up buying a Dales pony mare.
I then bought myself another horse which i ended up getting a TB mare so the criteria totally went out the window there and a year on sold her as it turned out she would buck if you tried to do work in the school.
I now have two geldings and do still have mums mare.

If i was looking now i wouldn't really have a criteria, if i liked something and it was suitable then i wouldn't rule it out.
 
He sounds lovely - Grey is my favourite colour anyway
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The 2 best things I have found for keeping them clean are:

Tailgator Tailbag
Tara wears this 24/7 in the winter (when flies have gone) and its only ever come off once. Makes such a difference

Snuggy Hood
I only use this in the stable overnight before shows but lots of people on here turnout in them - haven't tried that yet as not needed to.



Anyway back to your question I actually did pretty much end up with exactly what I was looking for:

1. A 15.2 - Tara is 15.2.
2. An easy going, fun type - T is a big pony
3. One that likes to jump - yep
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Last summer (2008) was looking for a 4/5 yo unbacked/v green 16hh 1/2 TB 1/2 something chunky and British black/dark gelding.
Got a 15.3hh 6yo light bay mare looking full TB with 2 years mileage and distinct quirks. Decided she'd be a "fix up and rehome" to make a few extra pennies for Mr Perfect.
She's still here, I can't imagine selling her as she is everything I could possibly want!
 
First pony:
we would have never had a coloured. this is 5 years ago now.
we ended up with a piebald. Now, I LOVE coloureds.

I've always wanted a bay mare and ended up with one for my second horse.
 
Yes, when I bought Be I got to the very letter my dream horse
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And when I was looking I was mocked a lot by my mother and friends for how I totally refused to budge on my "criteria"
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It paid off though
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Sadly now she is broken beyond repair, so in the foreseeable future I shall probably have to start hunting again... I just know I won't be able to find something as special as her
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What I wanted:
Pref a gelding
At least 15.2hh
7-10 years old
Safe schoolmaster as it was my first horse
Pref not a cob as I didn't want anything slow (this was a long time ago and I now know they aren't all slow!)

What I got
Mare
14.1hh (grown to about 14.3/15hh now)
3 years old
Unbroken
Welsh cob

Stupid decision at the time and I should have at leat gone for something older but seven years on and a lot of hard work later I do have my perfect horse and I wouldn't change her for the world.
 
I was looking for something between 6 - 10, established good hunter with no quirks.

I bought Bog Roll (aka Hamish) who is 4, iron grey and still a baby.

BUT he is showing huge potential and has jumped 4 hedges out hunting without blinking yet. He's a clever pony!! So think I've done the right thing by buying him.

Even OH loves him because he is so easy to do and OH admitted to me last night that he had got Bog in and groomed him before changing rugs & picked out feet, putting stable wraps and giving him haylage before I got home on Weds evening just because. What a star!!! I thought he'd just brought him in and changed his rugs.
 
Nope, I wanted a 16hh+ TB gelding, and ended up with a 15hh cob x WB mare.

So fairly different to the shopping list! But she is everything I wanted personality-wise, loves her work, always on a mission, full of guts and self confidence. Just wish you could get platform horse shoes
 
When i was looking last year i wanted a

15.3/16h
8-10 yo
Gelding
Colour unimportant
Safe to hack, school, jump
Confidence giver (after my last horse destroyed mine)
Easy to handle
No quirks

I got

15.3/16h
10yr
Chestnut gelding
easy to handle
But has all manner of quirks.. Have issues doing his girth up, doesnt have the most confidence. Anything new freaks him out, makes hacking difficult at times. If i over face him by the smallest thing i have to start from scratch with him. He loves jumping but the more we've done the harder to control he's become (result - many broken bones), hates the wind, so much so i havent ridden in nearly 3 weeks as i dont want either of us to get injured plus its sets him back. After nearly 16 months though we're finally starting to find what works for us, we're becoming a partnership and i wouldnt have him any other way. He's a pain in the ass, but he's my pain in the ass...
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Nope! I wanted:

a 15.3-16.1hh TBx
5-7yrs old
To go Novice on next year, so with some competition experience ideally.
Ideally a gelding.
Flashy mover and "compact"

I got:

a 15.3hh (one tick!)
4yr old just backed (big cross!)
Bay mare (and another X)
with distinctly average movement (although is improving!) and quite long
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However, her attitude and outlook is fantastic, and that is what made me like her so much I think!
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Mines a bit of a different did i get what i was looking for, I'd had my old 16hh TB mare for 12 years, and said i'd never go smaller than 16hh (i'm 5'10") was only interested in TB/Warmblood etc type horses and no greys at all. i lost my old girl last year, and ended up with an ex racer 16.3hh bay on loan (on paper he was the perfect type, height and colour), we just didnt get on, so the hunt was on for another and....

I've now got Connie, she's 15.2hh Cobx Skewbald (more white than brown)! But, I am having so much fun with her, dare i say it more than my old girl (although she was still my horse of a lifetime). My whole outlook on horses has changed, and i hate to admit i was a bit snobby about Cobs before Connie - now i'm a total convert to coloured cobs!
 
Well I did say "NO MINIS, EVER" Hmmmmmm signature.
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I kind of like my minis , on the hunt for a decent stallion and some mares at the moment - top of a slippery slope me thinks
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The only 2 that I hunted for, and got, were my palomino QH's. It took 3 years to find the mare and irritatingly, she turns out to be already in foal to God only knows what for 2010, screws up my breeding plans for her somewhat.
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i'm on the search for a new one and want something to do WH/SH and poss hunt with - although never done this, I want something with a bit of omph and no bays this time...

So wonder what I will get...prob a coloured cob type - here's me hoping anyway, but prob end up with a TB type and bay...oh I also want a geld so will prob end up with mare...

Merlin was a 15.1 CB x, at 5'10 I wanted something bigger and could do it all...
He was my dream horse to be fair, he had his moments but that was part of him...
 
I wasn't looking, as I didn't think I was allowed a horse. I would have been over the moon with a 3 legged donkey tbh
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However if I had been looking I would have probably been looking for a dark bay mare, about 15.2hh chunky (she's 15hh very fine) but I love her to bits as she is, even if she has her quirks.

But the thing is, I get her. Other people don't seem to, but I do, she's like the equine me in a lot of ways. Even though she's broken (though not too badly, and has probably been broken since before I bought her) and is too small for me now I wouldn't change my time with her. She's taught me much more than I ever thought possible, and I owe her everything for that.

It's making loaning her extremely hard
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We've got two viewings this weekend
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Wish she knew how sorry I am.
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when my very quirky mare retired to broodmare status, i decided that from then on-NO MARES! (and also no greys, my ocd would not permit me to own one!!!)

i wanted:
ex racer
2-5yo
any shade of brown
gelding
15.2-16.2
forward going
not *too* clever

and that is exactly what i got!! a 4yo bay gelding, who was 16hh and will end up around 16.2hh, who has a lovely termperament, and is nicely forward going, but not clever enough to think of evasions!!!!
 
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