Horse for a 14yo - would you buy a showjumper that was

whats your price range?i have gd amateur horse im selling, due to being in my 3rd year of uni i just dnt have time.... i got him when i was 15/16 years old. he is 17.2hh but a steady horse doesnt ride big,rising 12. iv won over 1,200 actual on him placed upto 1.20 on him (hopefully this isnt counted as advertising) pm me if interested.
 
My story:
Was lucky enough to be given a grade a 18yo which i couldnt turn down! I'd have NEVER gone out looking for an older horse, esp 18!, buy my trainer was sure it was the right thing to do...I go him, and yes I could only do opens, but he was still jumping 1.30m until I got him, and had plenty of years left in him. He won or came second in nearly every competition we did, and I got ALL my jumping confidence from him. He taught me to jump horse tracks, and was an absolutely awesome horse, despite his age!!! He gave me the will to want to go onto bigger and better things, which I think if just what a teenager needs.
Not saying that younger horses aren't great - 6/7yo is prob more sensible than a 4/5yo, but if your son really wants to get known on the circuit, the best thing for him is a schoolmaster.
 
I have always been a sucker for an old 'been there done it' Grade A and for us it worked out perfectly for my daughter coming off ponies. She never had the stress or the pressure of bringing on a youngster and she didn't need hours of schooling to keep on top of him. True, you don't get the pleasure of producing your own but my daughter had fun, fun and more fun on him and to me that's what it's all about.
Our chap was a real winning machine at amatuer BSJA level and was so careful he was almost allergic to wood !! They are also very cheap to buy in comparision and the market is often flooded with HONEST Grade A & B's looking for a good home. Yes, you often do have to watch them lameness wise as they mostly have loads of miles on the clock but if you respect this and look after them you are unlikely to miss many shows.
My daughter moved on from horses after a while so I was glad I didn't shell out for an expensive youngster but in your case I would advise buying a schoolmaster then perhaps think about getting a youngster in a year or so when your kido has got the measure of the horse classes.
Good luck with whatever you decide :-)
 
PETER was ridden by a top pro and I just could not ride him effectively. He knew what he was told and I just was not up to the mark! He did not think for himself and if I put him in wrong to a fence he took it on, sometimes with dire results!x
 
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I have always been a sucker for an old 'been there done it' Grade A and for us it worked out perfectly for my daughter coming off ponies. She never had the stress or the pressure of bringing on a youngster and she didn't need hours of schooling to keep on top of him. True, you don't get the pleasure of producing your own but my daughter had fun, fun and more fun on him and to me that's what it's all about.
Our chap was a real winning machine at amatuer BSJA level and was so careful he was almost allergic to wood !! They are also very cheap to buy in comparision and the market is often flooded with HONEST Grade A & B's looking for a good home. Yes, you often do have to watch them lameness wise as they mostly have loads of miles on the clock but if you respect this and look after them you are unlikely to miss many shows.


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I need to find one of these! Your chap sounds like he was the perfect fun horse.
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I am going to add a spanner to the works now and say could you afford to keep both?

You may be able to find a SM on loan and buy a suitable youngster for your son to bring on. It relievs the pressure on the youngster to perform and your son can get the experience of how it should feel from the SM for a year or two. Once the youngster is going confidently then you can return the SM or if things dont go well with youngster (its not only old horses that go lame) you can look for a new youngster and still have SM.

just a thought
 
I would say at this time a schoolmaster would be great *if* its straightforward. Think about the level its been jumping at and be prepared to drop it down for a bit and then build back up when the team is more established, I am not sure about all these new comps they have at BSJA but isn't that what the Members Cups are for?
 
If you can find a good genuine schoolmaster - go for it!! Its always the best way. On the other hand at 13 i went out looking for a 14hh schoolmaster to WHP and event and ended up with a just turned 5yr old 15hher and in the 4 years i was lucky enough to have him he taught me so so much and took me from mini pony club event teams to verging on Novice BE. So i think either way can work. Ive always prefered the young horses as they're unmessed with and all the "schoolmasters" we've been to see just arent genuine enough or are on their last legs. (this is for eventing though not show jumping)
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Good luck with your search
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i bought my horse at the age of 18...as i wanted a horse with more experience to help me get used to horses and improve my showjumping. Althogh he's not quite grade A/B....he has won about 800 quid...and really knows his stuff...which really helped me
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so id go for the older one since as you say he ''wants the latter''...UNLESS he is a very good rider and confident to bring on a younger one, i would deffos go for the older one
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most showjumpers nowadays go on for a long time and as long as you look after it well...i see no problem with getting the older one
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xx
 
When I was 14/15, I was lucky enough to be handed down an experienced showjumper. He had been placed newcomer and foxhunter finals and could pop round a 1m50 course like it was a stick on the ground. I was jumping 2ft9.
He gave me confidence, he taught me how to ride properly. He gave me the feeling of riding an absolute pro, he was like showjumping silk.
He was still sharp (as horses of his calibre tend to be) so I had to ride him properly but he was established and my mistakes didnt matter too much.
Please go for the older schoolmaster. Your son has his whole life to bring on horses. Go for something thats going to give him confidence and something that will give him the understanding of how an established horse should feel.
I had that horse untill he was 26 (and he was still jumping and winning albeit at RC level) and despite having my younger horses I miss him every day.
 
I will
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. Even if this one isnt right, keep looking. The right one is out there and a horse your son can win on and have fun on is so important at his age.
I have my 7r olds now and what I wouldnt give to jump my lovely Herbie round one more course and feel the effortless power and balance. I never realised how lucky I was when I was 14, you never do, do you!
 
older horse definately!

I moved onto horses at 14 and got a 5yo and although i love that horse to bits it was definately the worng decision as i wasn't ready to bring a horse on.

i have since then have had 4 schoolmaster types 2 i had were amateur ridden previously but have all jumped BIG tracks and they are certainly the best type, as they teach you how they should be ridden but are also a bit more forgiving.

I had one which had been ridden by everyone you know, john whitaker, david macpherson, paul barker, john crippen and it was the worst mistake ever, to much of a pros horse and had never been missed obviously!

And i had one which had only had one rider since a 3yo and my god that didn't work, it hated me!

hope you find a suitable horse
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I bought an experienced ODE and unaff sj 14.2 that had jumped up to around 1.05. When i had him for 2 weeks we took him to a SJ show near us and entered and won the 1.10. since then we have been winning all over the place (touchwood!) it just shows that you dont need a perfect JA i just brought mine on
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. good luck
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now i've said that i'll have a bad streak! lol
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my horse is an ex international grade a, jumped the queen elizabeths cup, gps at spruce meadows the workkss
hes a totall dream, hes 23 htis year and still taking me round tracks up to 1.15/1.20 and alwyas guarentees me a placee, btu we are curently looking for a younger version of him to take me up to the 1.30ss if anyone knows of anythign. x
 
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