Going after 'the dream horse.'

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ForeverBroke_

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I'll try to keep it short!

Basically, following the retirement of my first horse some of you may remember me posting about searching for my second, with which I hope to do all RC activities with.

I spent a few months just looking at ANYTHING that suited without much success - and now I'm sort of wondering whether I should just be mega picky and really go for the childhood dream as not much else is cropping up anyway!

I know you shouldnt buy for colour - but ever since I was 11 I've dreamt of having a 16hh + Irish type , but it HAD to be Dun :o:o:o.

Of course, everything else would have to be right too, but have you ever done this? Waited for the right horse down to the teeniest tiniest detail? Or did you have your eyes totally wide open?

Anyone have a Dun they want to give me?? :D;)
 
I had my "dream" horse in colour and type, a stunning coloured ISH gelding, and he was a fantastic "person", looked fantatsic over a fence, moved beautifully and was a lovely horse to own... but wasn't my dream horse in the fact he wasn't going to be competitive past a certain level.

I now have a horse I said i'd never have, a small unflashy bay mare, but actually, she is my "dream" horse as she is so much fun, has a lot of personality and will do everything I want a horse to do...

Sometimes appearances aren't eveyrthing... ;)
 
Lol well my friend bought her first horse end of last tear and I helped her. It HAD to be black and hairy, ideally fresian. It seriously limited what we could look at! I did find her a horse in the end - tbh he was far from what would have been ideal for her as he was 4 and pretty green, but he was safe and pretty bomb proof having been used in a riding school for a few months, and she absolutely loves him so was pretty successful.
I guess it depends what is most important to you though? I'd personally never limit myself by colour even though I do like a big bay ;)
 
I'm sorry but I don't have a dun to give you!! :( :D

When we where looking for both of mine, we got completly the oppersite to what we where actually looking for! My first was a Cob X been in field for 6months doing nothing at all, bucked, reared, kicked out, p*ssed of with you. We had him on a 1month trial but bought him 2weeks in :o Had loads of help from yard where I was at then he came out and did Pc with me :)
2nd horse was ment to be something crossed with irish, 16hh+ 10yrs+ and NOT a thourghbred... We ended up getting, an Irish Thourghbred, 9yrs 16.2.
When ever looking I've been lucky enough to have parents who have taken me to kent/ welsh border to look at potential horses none of which have been right. Always been taught to have my eyes open and be willing to ride/ try just about anything. Tried some nutters, complete and utter donkeys... (1 i now know was def dopped!!!) But I always have had an idea of what I would like but I'm always open. If I find a horse I connect with, feel homey with when I try, it might be oppersite to what we where looking for, but if it was right and passed vetting I wouldn't say no. :)
Your not the only one, I still 'look' for my' dream horse' but its never there :( ;)

Hope you find the right horsey for you! (:
 
Sorry can't edit on phone! In actual fact said friend is probably not as 'good' a rider as she was this time last year when she was sharing my old girl, as on her she could think about her riding etc whereas on youngster it's partly about him - and she hasn't yet hacked him alone etc which she was doing on old girl. But that's the compromise she was prepared to make to have what she thought was an image of her 'ideal' horse!
 
Well, I bought mine . . . from a child I wanted a dapple grey . . . but I must say that when horse hunting I didn't set out to buy a grey . . . I was governed by temperament and that "click" factor rather than colour. The fact that Kal is a beautiful (yes, I'm biased) dapple/flea-bitten grey complete with white mane and tail is completely coincidental . . . I'd love him as much if he was any other colour.

P
 
My friend did exactly this recently! She looked for her dream horse and that horse had to be DUN! She ended up buying a 15.3hh Dun ISH. She wanted something fairly established but ended up buying a 4 year old because she fell in love with him when she viewed him. I must say, she paid a lot of money for him! But she is so so happy with him and loves him to pieces.

I'm guilty of it too! I wanted a black horse 15hh plus and looked at only black horses hehe. I now have my dream black horse. And I couldn't be more happy with him :)
 
My dream horse has always been a Coloured with movement to die for.

However i have 3 horses here that i said i would never own, one is a chestnut WB. I had specific criteria that i would not buy a chestnut & it wouldnt be Dutch WB either 6 years ago, i came home with the first one i saw & it was chestnut KWPN:o However he became my dream horse.


The next was very dark brown almost black is a Filly something again i said i would never have as ive never been a Mare person. This one just melted me though & i had to have her, time will tell on this one though as she is only a yearling now i bought her as a foal.

The last is a PRE, i trained with Luso's for a number of years & said i would never have either a Luso or a PRE.
I bought a 3yo PRE in Feb this year & he's fabulous love him to bits.

Im just full of rubbish basically & never ever stick to my pathetic ideas lol, all my horses have been meant to be & each one is perfect for me in there own way. So i actually have a stable yard full of my own dream horses, im a very lucky lady.

If i was to mix the colours ive got here im sure i would find my dream coloured hiding there anyway lol.
 
A good horse is never a bad colour.

My latest one is a 3.5 yo ex racer.

Possibily very stupid of me to get one like this, however she is the "right" one. Certainly not what I went out looking for.
 
Nope I haven't and won't! I've always had dark bays, the newest is a bay, and I've always wanted a iron grey - it probably won't ever happen though! There's certain colours I will never have as a horse for me (would consider if buying to sell on), but that's down to the breeding rather than personal preference.

You have to look past the colour, every time I look at a grey's advert I swoon, but after looking at the pictures/videos they don't have the ability I want.
 
I had a lovely golden dun. But a bit like Katb she was not the dream horse for me.

I now have a grey (After swearing I would never have another), mare (Swore I would never have another mare), ISH on the chunky side having always perferred TB types.

She is the nicest horse I have known and so far (had her 10 months) I am really pleased with her.

I would say look for the ideal but don't rule out others!
 
I say go for it and look for that dream horse....but also don't discard another, wrong colour, horse just because of the colour.

When I was looking for my horse last year my ONE spec was no greys! Guess what I got....(there's a little clue in my soggy, lol!)
 
Ive always had tb's or tb types and when it came to searching for a youngster with event potential thats what I had in mind.

On the grapevine I heard of a nice young horse for sale. Sounds really awful of me now but when I first walked into the stable my heart sank when I saw a chunky coloured irish mare.

That all changed though the moment I saw her being ridden and then sat on her myself. Decided there and then that day she was going to be mine and we have never looked back and have so much fun together. Have to say a lot of my friends were suprised when I brought her home as they said she was nothing like I would normally have gone for. Its funny on how your type can change too as now I look at some of the tb's and think ewwww no way.

That said if you do find your 'dream horse' and it fits the bill in all ways then go for it. Just dont discount the ones which might not fit your 'ideal' type, there ight be your dream horse hidden in there somewhere!

If you can get hold of some agents / contacts over in ireland I'm pretty sure they will have a good go at looking for you.
 
I wanted a grey ex race horse. Found one almost on my door step and since I bought him he has been to HOYS and won a national competition.

So why not go for colour.

I used to plait up a dun dressage horse for someone and he was so striking because you seldom see a dun horse.

Good luck.
 
Fleabite - Is this the sort of horse you're after??
This is my friend's 16.3hh Dun ISH Mare and she's an absolute star! The last time I spoke to my friend she was looking to loan her out as it happens :)
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Fleabite said:
Of course, everything else would have to be right too, but have you ever done this? Waited for the right horse down to the teeniest tiniest detail? Or did you have your eyes totally wide open?
Click to expand...

Oh yes. I had very particular requirements. Mine had to be black or bright bay or liver chestnut, certainly no grey (nightmare to keep clean) or chestnut (previous bad experience with bright chestnut mare). It had to be a gelding, no mares (due to bad exp with bright chestnut mare again!). It had to be between the ages of 7-10. It had to be a WB. It had to be a middleweight. It had to be 17hh - 17.2hh (no bigger as wouldn't fit in trailer). It had to have some white markings! It had to have had little or no BSJA winnings (didn't want to be jumping Foxhunter height)! It had to have a good temperment with no vices and if I didn't like the look of its eye as I would repeatedly tell potential vendors, then I wouldn't even tack it up to try it!

I think its very important to get this aspect right. After all your horse is hopefully going to be with you for the rest of its life and you will probably be spending an awful lot of time with it, so its best you get the best colour, model, trimmings, extra's and engine CC for you!! :D

I gave the dealer I bought Bailey from a list of my requirements and I couldn't have asked for more. I am sure as you can see from my siggy I got my 'ideal'. We went to look at four before having Bailey. He was the dealer that I bought him from's contact over in Holland who supplied the dealer with horses. Bailey belonged to his wife who was in hospital having their first child. She'd had Bails since the age of four and broke him in herself. They'd agreed when the child came along they would sell him but I think she would have been heartbroken to come home from hospital and find her horse sold.



Bailey is 15 next April and I've had him seven years. We've had our ups and downs but Bailey has a home for life with me. But I am glad I waited for my ideal to come along as Bailey is my sixth horse- I sadly lost four horses in a row before buying him and they were all the same as the requirements I wanted in looking for Bailey except the second one that I bought in a rush following the death of my best horse because I longed for something to love. So NEVER buy in rush no matter what colour comes along!
 
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when mom finally agreed to get me a loan horse (YAYYY) i thought my dream horse, a chestnut thorougbred about 15016.2hh (i like biggg horses) with white socks and a stripe or blaze preferable 7-11 and i thought of my dream yard to keep it, where everyone events

i ended up with a piebald 14yrs 14.3hh cob at a yard with 2 jumps and im the only one with a gp saddle, everyone else does dressage but she has a heart of gold and acts like a 7yr old and has a huge jump inside her :)
 
Do not understand this dream horse thing?!? I have never wanted a specific colour horse especially as I am not fond of anything other than bay or chestnut.

Why do people limit their options seems like nuts to me? I always keep an open mind as a good horse is a good horse.
 
I always said when I bought a horse it would be 16.2hh or bigger, gelding and not a "boring bay"! As you all know, I own a 15.2, mare in "boring bay" colour scheme! :rolleyes: :p

I think you always need a "wish list", but think at the end of the day you need to be open to considering something that doesn't jump out as being "perfect", but may well end up being pretty damn close.

PS- I certainly wouldn't not buy the perfect horse because of colour! A favoured/unusual or pretty colour would be a bonus in my opinion, but if it matters to you, then it matters and it's completely your call. Good luck with the hunt. :)
 
I actually know of a stunning 16/16.2 dun horse that was for sale last time I saw him. Perfect for RC type stuff if that's what you're still looking for pm me and I can get you some contact details
 
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I bought my dream horse just by colour!! Had always wanted a Dun ever since the local blacksmith, who always made sure he had ponies for me to ride(many moons ago) had one called Fraizer, who i fell in love with completely.
Reading the local weekly paper, saw an ad which had a couple of horses for sale, and at the end of it, I read, also Dun 3 yr old filly.
Was at work, but rang straight away,went to see her straight after, and bought her. Heart bought her, not head. Was not looking for another horse, but was prepared to break her in, and she if she would be more suitable than the horse i had at the time. (She did not like jumping- i do!!). Had to promise OH that i would sell one or other of them before winter.
But i just could not pass her by because of her colour. Would not have even gone to see her if she had been any other colour..................That was 12 years ago, she is signature below.
 
Ah why the hell not!! If that's what you want go for it, you only live once!!

My horse is pretty much my dream horse down to his perfect pretty White blaze. Sometimes I look at him and think 'damn your perfect' lol. Saying that I do want to own a connemara some day, when I'm older and I've had enough of the TB's I WILL get one :) :).

Go for it!!!!
 
go for it if you want! :)
we always seem to end up with the opposite to what we want. upon buying my first pony (i was 11) my mum said we don't want a mare, don't want anything young/green and we are not getting a welsh!

...
we got a green 6 year old welsh D mare :D still got her 6 years on and she's a little diamond. (though not everyone's cup of tea! for me she is just perfect :D)
 
Hope you know you are not alone - I recently sold the horse you describe (though he was 15.1) and you would not believe the number of calls I had from people who specifically wanted a dun! So basically you'll have to be the first to view - I had to disappoint a lot of people.
 
I bought my dream horse, she's in the sig below. She was exactly what I'd wanted as a teenager but she never grew as big as intended and I never got to ride her. She did give me a lot of fun as she went out with a pro rider and I enjoyed travelling to shows with her etc, and she came home to me in the winters.

Now my dream horse is all to do with temperament and attitude rather than colour.
 
Thanks for all your replies! Some very useful / helpful - will follow some of the links now.

Will of course not limit myself to colour, but I think I'll be scanning all the websites for a lovely strapping dun first. Fully aware sadly that they are popular - will have to try to pip them all to the post! :D
 
My 'dream' horse is based more on temperament really but they have to be good looking!! I couldn't have an ugly horse ;)
 
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