Have you ever bought a horse that was not quite right????

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merlinsquest

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Just to explain the question......

I bought merlin nearly four years ago. I loved him the moment I saw him, and his presence was amazing.

Yet, when we were watching him being ridden you can clearly see he isnt right!!!
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He is stiff and slightly (actually quite) lame behind. Not hopping but not moving well tbh.

He was also grossly overweight.

BUT despite everything we still bought him and I have not regretted it, bar one thing..... the 'lameness' has proven to be arthritis in one fetlock.... managed now, and not a pain related lameness, but a mechanical unsoundness. He does not improve with danilon and moves more or less ok now.

Just rewatching the video today with a good friend who was in fits of laughter at the fact he was so obviously not right!!! (but not in a nasty way)

Also looked at the first time I jumped him.... I looked like a monkey on a stick and was clinging on in fear!!!
 
I suppose I took a bit of a risk with Norman if you like his front tendons have been pin fired a few years ago now but assured he was raced/jumped like it and completely sound. So he was perfect in every way and it's not a problem, just cant "show" him, that's all. But I wouldn't say he wasn't "quite right, but I know it may well have put many people off, all the better for me!:D
 
My OH bought her first Newfie knowing she was 'not quite right', in that she had some pretty severe behavioural problems brought on by a terrible previous owner.

She would not come out of the field, would nap when she did whilst being led in hand, once tacked up she would spin or rear, or both and once on board she would continue to rear or just stand. If you got her moving she would nap like mad from the moment she left the yard.

It took over a years solid work (probably closer to two), to turn her into a really bombproof ride and the only leftover is that she can be a real nightmare to load, as sometimes she'll go straight in the trailer and other times she won't....at all....ever! But as we don't really take her outside the area much, we can live with that.
 
When i went to try Henry he dumped me and bolted, i got back on and he continued trying to throw me off!
My mum said she wouldnt be happy knowing i was riding him if we bought him, but it was love at first sight for me! God knows why, he was hugely overweight, unfit, dirty and very hairy, but i loved him!
His owners were lovely and let me go back time and time again to make sure he was the right horse, and im so glad he was!
It wasnt until after we got him they informed us that he had dumped everyone that had tried him including someone from the army, we were the only people that came back!
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My boy at the minute's a bit of a nightmare! But I know he's the right one for me! He has reared a couple of times when I've tried to mount which was a wee bit scary and he pulls some horrific faces at me when I'm grooming him but I wouldn't change him! Once on him he's a fantastic hack who looks after me. He was bashed and beaten by somebody at his prev racing yard (he's an ex racing thoroughbred) and hasn't really been right since but he's beginning to trust me and it's only been 5 months.
 
Yup, wouldn't know where to begin. Clicked on first ride though. She had soft tissue damage to one side, a fractured tooth, lumber pain and had three osteo sessions for her neck and back (won't start on the mental issues) due to abusive riding
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, she was only six when this happened and the woman responsible has vanished. Buuuut miss Shetland mentality is fighting fit now and actually working well
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Star was awful when I bought him! I rode him at a riding school and fell in love with him. Not a lot of people liked riding him because he was very fussy with his head, he used to throw it up and down constantly, he was like a nodding dog! He also used to run along with his nose poked right in the air. There was just something I liked about him though and when he came up for sale I jumped at the chance to buy him. Turns out that he hadn't had his teeth done for years and they were awfully sharp, and they had been using a flash on him which meant all his cheeks and tongue were cut to bits
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Hes a completely different pony now
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Yes!
When I was seventeen I bought my first horse.
An unhandled three year old.
11 years later he is still with me, is great in all ways and I wouldn't swap him for shergar!
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Yep a poor irish cob dragged out of a field for me to look at!! she was shy and nervous, in terrible condition, she didnt even know what a sweetie was (she does now!!) just been broken in etc etc not the worlds best confirmation, had her for 4 yrs and i could not have spent my money better, she is a sweetie lovely personality, totally spoilt and she is a bit cheeky too which ads to her charm.
 
(this is KC'S daughter.lol) when i tried my 17hh TB, who was from a point to pointing yard of my mum's friend. i tried him twice .both times he'd bucked but i didnt tell my mum because i knew she'd say no. however i loved him sooo much. then he failed the vet as he was lame on a circle. but she still bought him(18th bday prezzie, how could she say no!) plus he has a slight roached back, over at the knee, you can pass a bus through his back legs but not even a mini through his front! but ive had him a year and he is the best horse ever. doesnt buck anymore...but the hes not on racing mix, hes not lame, but as we found out it was a racing injury from 3 weeks previously when he last raced. so buy where your heart leads you....(1 and a half bottles of wine later i say this though.lol)
 
yes,
my husbands horse turns out we got him from a really iffy dealer (cornwall area) we never rode him, and didnt have him vetted, but i was looking for a horse that was quiet for a beginner, turns out he had a bit of arturitus in the coffing joint, hes now sound, and for a warmblood you wouldnt belive him, he can pop 4 foot, without rushing or over jumping, hes put up with a novice pulling and bouncing ect, but has NEVER put a foot wrong, id sell him as 200% sound and safe for a novice or beginner.

yet if i ride him hes well schooled, flying changes with the smallest of weight shift, half passes and gets a bit of life. hes the sort of horse thats worth 1000s!
 
I fell in love wiht and bought a rising three year old with a bent foreleg - didn't realise he was seriously wonky until the next day
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He was retired last year at the age of 12 and lives the life of riley.
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Yes, first horse, went out for that ellusive teenage schoolmaster, 16.2 gelding etc etc - came back with a 15.1hh rising 4 year old mare who when vetted passed physically with flying colours, but whom the vet warned me not to buy because her behaviour was so horrendous for the vetting!!!

She napped, she weaved, was awful in a stable, hated being alone, was a stubborn old bag, but I loved that horse sooooo much and by the time she was 8/9 she would jump anything, hack anywhere, calm and quiet in her stable etc. Sadly I lost her at 10 to a broken leg in the field, but I never ever regretted one minute with that horse, she taught me more than I could ever repay.

I definitely go with my instincts when horse buying rather than sense, probably shouldn't but I do think you can forgive an awful lot if you love the animal, whereas I'm not sure even the perfect horse would make me happy if I didn't have a bond with it.
 
Springy was far from perfect, but was physically sound. I knew she would be a challenge and we have had some bad patches but mostly she has been fab. We have a great bond and while she forgets her manners occaisionally, mostly she is impeccably behaved and I love her to bits!
 
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I definitely go with my instincts when horse buying rather than sense, probably shouldn't but I do think you can forgive an awful lot if you love the animal, whereas I'm not sure even the perfect horse would make me happy if I didn't have a bond with it.

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Ooh well said. Me too!
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I am definitely an instinct buyer when it comes to the horses. Over the last few years I have taken several horses in - with behavioural problems / issues brought on through poor management and handling, spent time with them and rehomed them. Because I am usually looking at buying horses with behavioural / training issues, I would nomally look for the horse to have fairly good confirmation andto trot up sound when I look at them.
The mare that I had sold recently (to a very lovely lady), when I first went to see her she had literally been ditched in a field for the first 4 years of her life - never seen stable / rugs etc - definitely didn't know how to have her feet picked up and didn't know how to be led. I had her for 3 and a half years, and she is an absolute cracker. Mum tried to get me not to buy her originally, as she was a ginger TB mare!!! But I fell in love at first sight and had to have her. Since then definitely go with my instincts, and trust my instincts with the horses a lot more!

The gelding that I have just brought in had been abandoned by his owner for the last 18 months, and so is behind in his education. He is certainly trying my patience a little (I don't think that most geldings are as switched on as mares and he is the first gelding I have had for a long time!!) but he stands a looks at me and says "I don't understand!!" - you can forgive a face like his anything!!! Bless him!
 
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