Horse hunting losing the will to live

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silverstar

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I went back to see a horse but something wasnt right am still on the lookout for a safe sane horse that showjumps. I feel so depressed about it.
 
Don't be, horse hunting can take ages. When we started looking we thought we'd find something in no time, and that it would be easy. We kept hearing people say that "their horse found them" etc and got sooooo disappointed and disheartened by the multiple false starts.

Over a year after we started looking we now think that we may have found something suitable and all being well should be having her on trial. But we've had so many disappointments that we are still being really cautious and trying not to get our hopes up.

Keep your eye out and get the word out amongst friends and you will find something eventually. Over the next month or so you will see the numbers of horses for sale increase significantly, spring is generally considered the best time to sell and lots of people will wait until after the clocks go forward before advertising.
 
Silverstar, what are you looking for and where are you based, I know of a few safe horses that jump well, but need some more info, how big, type, age, sex, location etc PM me :)
 
ace87 - Im near Chester. Looking for a safe allrounder to do rc showjumping on, 16.1-16.3, must be good in traffic, not got a huge budget.
 
You are not alone. I've been looking with no success. I have now placed a few wanted ads and are getting a few replies but I hasten to add none of which I want to follow up!
 
Would any of you consider a full tb? I know of a lovely one for sale but no one seems interested just because she is full tb despite being very laid back and excellent to hack alone and in company etc. Not silly or naughty. Pm me if interested and i will send link to advert.
 
Competitiondiva- that one looks okay. May ring up.

Ive placed a wanted ad on Horsequest and got lots of calls about horses way out of my price range. Can anyone recommend any reputable dealers?
 
I was looking for exactly the same both times I was horse shopping. Last time was just over a year ago and with a budget of only £3000 it seemed to be impossible. Every horse I looked at was either lame, had conformation like a giraffe or was completely bonkers.

Both times I stopped looking at anything that had been advertised for more than a week as my view was I wanted what most people did and if they were still for sale they were not what I was looking for!!
Both times I found my new horse advertised within hours of advert going up and both times they were from small dealers

Latest horse is almost an angel including the wings lol. 16h WB 5 years old was up for £2900 I got him for £2400 :D he really is a poppet :D
 
Your looking for the type of horse that just doesn't go up for sale and if it does, it sells quick, locally and for lots of ££££ and won't just drop into your lap for pennies

It wouldn't be a bad idea to lower your expectations and be prepared to put the work in yourself to get the horse of a lifetime that your looking for. They are animals after all with feelings, fears and quirks and not always made to measure. No-one is perfect, even ourselves.

A good relationship however is built on trust and understanding, this will give you what I think you are looking for and who knows, you might just enjoy the journey.:D
 
soulfull said:
I was looking for exactly the same both times I was horse shopping. Last time was just over a year ago and with a budget of only £3000 it seemed to be impossible. Every horse I looked at was either lame, had conformation like a giraffe or was completely bonkers.

Both times I stopped looking at anything that had been advertised for more than a week as my view was I wanted what most people did and if they were still for sale they were not what I was looking for!!
Both times I found my new horse advertised within hours of advert going up and both times they were from small dealers

Latest horse is almost an angel including the wings lol. 16h WB 5 years old was up for £2900 I got him for £2400 :D he really is a poppet :D
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Soulful - sounds like youve got a bargain.

Elsbells - I was put off youngsters but Ive been told Im not a bad rider. I didnt know what kind of rider I was. Maybe going to see a youngster tomorrow, along with another horse but he was lame 4 years ago had a blown up knee. Not sure about the latter tho. Would you go and see him?
 
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I do think some people over-think things during the whole horse buying process! It is important to get a horse that is suitable for what you want to do and a horse that you can work with but you can ALWAYS find a reason not to buy any horse, there will allways be something you can find thats wrong.

If you have spent months looking and you havent found the right one its either because you cant decide on what you want, the horse you want doesnt exist or you dont have enough money to get what you want, its like kirsty and phil house hunting for people, the people have to compromise on something and there are always those people who have been looking for years and even kirsty and phil cant find them their perfect house.

Not overly different from horse hunting I dont think :)

I often see as well, the people that agonise over buying the right horse and spend months often end up with the wrong one because they get bogged down by every tiny detail and stop listening to their instincts.

Just make sure you are being realistic and at the end of the day it takes time and work to build up a relationship with any horse. If you find one you think you can click with, it ticks most of the boxes and it passes the vet just go for it! Horse buying is very hard and I sympathise but any horse you get will require that leap of faith :).
 
silverstar said:
Soulful - sounds like youve got a bargain.

Elsbells - I was put off youngsters but Ive been told Im not a bad rider. I didnt know what kind of rider I was. Maybe going to see a youngster tomorrow, along with another horse but he was lame 4 years ago had a blown up knee. Not sure about the latter tho. Would you go and see him?
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If you want to jump, I wouldn't go and look at a horse that possibly would be bringing lameness issues with it, nor would I if I were you, looking at a youngster.

Going from your previous posts, maybe a good place to look for you would be a rideing school or trecing center? They have some great horses and ponies that they have brought on themselves, that know their job and are relatively safe. They often have one or two for sale.

Just a thought. Maybe make a few calls and ask?
 
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silverstar said:
Soulful - sounds like youve got a bargain.

Elsbells - I was put off youngsters but Ive been told Im not a bad rider. I didnt know what kind of rider I was. Maybe going to see a youngster tomorrow, along with another horse but he was lame 4 years ago had a blown up knee. Not sure about the latter tho. Would you go and see him?
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Thats what I mean by getting bogged down in detail... lame 4 years ago with a blown up knee?? You would be lucky if you found a horse that had NEVER been lame but if it had been sound for a whole 4 years and the only problem it had ever was a blown up knee, I mean thats not something I would even think about. If I went there and it had terrible limb conformation then thats different. My friend brought her horse in yesterday with a swollen knee and it was lame, this morning it was sound. does that mean if she came to sell it in 4 years time that someone shouldnt come and see it?

I don't want to upset you or anything. Just careful that you are not seeing the wood for the trees :)
 
I am too loosing the will to live but selling.

My horse has done nothing wrong yet no one seems to want him, he is either too big boned - he is chunky Tb by the way- or doesnt have a good enough movement at a particular pace - to me very small things, I just dont understand it!!

Each time I have had someone try him he has never done anything bad to anyone, he is at a good price considering his RC/Unaff record and is THE nicest horse I have ever met/owned.

I am total gobsmacked - and are other people - that I have not found the right home yet
 
Oh dear. I agree with all that firewall has said too.

It's impossible to offer clear advice to you by any of us here as we can only go by what you have said in your previous posts. You really need to take someone knowledgable with you, someone who knows you, your style of riding and have a clear idea of what type of horse will suit you best. An instructor perhaps?

Do you have someone like that?
 
elsbells said:
Your looking for the type of horse that just doesn't go up for sale and if it does, it sells quick, locally and for lots of ££££ and won't just drop into your lap for pennies

It wouldn't be a bad idea to lower your expectations and be prepared to put the work in yourself to get the horse of a lifetime that your looking for.
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i totallly agree with this. horses like this tend to go by word of mouth and dont even need to be advertsied.



silverstar said:
Elsbells - I was put off youngsters but Ive been told Im not a bad rider.
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firewell said:
If you have spent months looking and you havent found the right one its either because you cant decide on what you want, the horse you want doesnt exist or you dont have enough money to get what you want, its like kirsty and phil house hunting for people, the people have to compromise on something and there are always those people who have been looking for years and even kirsty and phil cant find them their perfect house.

Not overly different from horse hunting I dont think :)
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hmmm....,depends HOW you compromise, in compromising when buying a house you arent going to potentially cause yourself injury and be put off for life.

OP - if you have previously been put off youngsters, and one of the obvious compromises is to go for something younger and work with it yourself, I would very strongly advise against this option.

I was in a similar position to you and really , it made me ill looking for the right horse!

IMO it very much depends on the type of rider you are. If you ARE the fortunate/talented type who can take on something green, or take on something with an issue and work through it, well,the world is your oyster! However I knew in my heart of hearts that my confidence was fragile and that my lifestyle didnt lend itself to putting in a lot of work with something that needed daily/consistent input. I honestly thought I would never find the right horse. Tbh, what I wanted - sane, safe but forward and with some talent to BE/SJ, around 15.2hh and between 6-9 was just either not coming on the market or was double my budget. Everything around the 3k mark was either 14.2hh, 12+ years old,had significant quirks or was lacking the quality to make a decent shape over a fence or do a decent dressage test. Oh there were plenty of lovely,safe happy hacker types on the go,but I knew deep down I was nursing this urge to try and do a bit more and have a go at BE one day.

Stupidly, instead of compromising on one of the things I could have, like age, or height (there were loads smaller on the go) I ended up convincing myself I could cope with the young/green option. Big mistake, month later on crutches after 2 nasty falls I was almost put of riding for life.

In coming back into riding and with a last ditch attempt to find a horse I started to view those that ticked all the boxes (and ignored the price tags) to see what the difference was. Very silly some of you might say, but it helped me realise that I had to make a decision about what it was I really wanted as I had sold my last, a 14.3hh as he, bless him, had been a compromise and Id got itchy feet after 2 years.

Sorry im rambling... but what Im trying to say is, if you arent willing to compromise on the ability because you want to follow your dream, and you are a rider anything like me,dont compromise on the age,dont take that risk. Lots of people can and I so admire them, but Im the first to admit now that youngsters are not for me. I ended up with my dream horse, Im the luckiest girl alive... he came up for sale through a PC an hour away from us. He ticked every single box,15.2hh,7 years old the day we went to see him, done PC teams and eventing, utterly safe to hack. There was a queue but I saw his advert within an hour of it going up and went to see him 3 hours later that fRi night. There were people booked to see him over the weekend and someone from the PC was for putting down a deposit. I knew as soon as I tried him, everything clicked,so first thing the next morning we went back and i paid my RI to come and ride him and give me a lesson on him. (as i had with others). I know a lot of people might say it was irresponsible but I borrowed money to buy him as he was over my budget. I was only working PT at the time and am lucky enough to have been able to go back to work FT to help me pay it off. I admit that over winter it has been very hard, Ive hardly been able to ride like everyone else and have questioned at times was it worth it as im knackered all the time with work.Now the weather has improved we are having a ball again though and I dont regret it for a sec. He's the dun in my sig btw. I do think that had I not done this I would have given up tbh.

sorry for the essay, hope it helps and good luck!
 
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Neversaynever - yes that does help. Ive just rung up about a horse but hes been sold, sounded perfect, gutted. I know there are compromises to make because nothings perfect.
 
firewell said:
I do think some people over-think things during the whole horse buying process! It is important to get a horse that is suitable for what you want to do and a horse that you can work with but you can ALWAYS find a reason not to buy any horse, there will allways be something you can find thats wrong.

If you have spent months looking and you havent found the right one its either because you cant decide on what you want, the horse you want doesnt exist or you dont have enough money to get what you want, its like kirsty and phil house hunting for people, the people have to compromise on something and there are always those people who have been looking for years and even kirsty and phil cant find them their perfect house.

Not overly different from horse hunting I dont think :)

I often see as well, the people that agonise over buying the right horse and spend months often end up with the wrong one because they get bogged down by every tiny detail and stop listening to their instincts.

Just make sure you are being realistic and at the end of the day it takes time and work to build up a relationship with any horse. If you find one you think you can click with, it ticks most of the boxes and it passes the vet just go for it! Horse buying is very hard and I sympathise but any horse you get will require that leap of faith :).
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This! Perfectly put.
 
i think you'l find more horses come on the market in the next few months as well, its still early. Have you phoned round all the local PC's and RC's to let them know what you are after so they can let you know if they hear of anything coming up?

i know what you mean, its just so hard.... i remember phoning about one that fitted every aspect,even budget! But the owner said it had a bit of a buck on it when it didnt want to work. On questioning i got the gut feeling it was more than the odd buck any horse might throw and I didnt go to see it.But i kept thinking over and over again that I might have missed out... im glad I didnt now.
 
Neversaynever - I hadnt thought of that. I would want a horse that bucks either, having had one that had a huge buck and used to put me on the floor.
 
HollyWoozle said:
It's probably over budget and a million miles away but just saw this advert and I LOVE HER. Someone buy (please, hehe)!

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/all_rounder_horse_11_yrs_16_1_hh_chestnut_dumfriesshire/advert/151088
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ooh nice spot hollywoozle!

OP - even if its a distance, there are cheap travellodges ;) I often did a 2 day trip to view horses and kipped over somewhere. Just see if you can find a few others to see in the area - usually a lot for sale in the south of scotland.
 
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