Horse shopping

Kat

Kat

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Ok, so I'm appealing to all those people on here who love a bit of horsey window shopping.

Hubby and I decided a couple of months ago that we would buy our own after years and years in a riding school. Our instructor has some contacts through which she has found some potential horses, but for various reasons they haven't worked out. One the owner decided not to sell, another sold the day before we were due to see it and the third after much toing and froing has now turned out to be too expensive.

We're starting to feel a bit disheartened with it, so I thought that some of you folks might be able to find some potential horses for us to look at.

We've decided that our maximum budget is £5k, it needs to be 16hh minimum as hubby is tall. Ideally we are looking for a 5 year old so that it is reasonably established but there is still plenty of scope for us to bring it on and put our stamp on it. We would consider a year or two older, or even a sensible 4 year old though.

We both enjoy dressage and I would like to be able to do some jumping, including hunting and cross country in future. Initially we won't have transport though so will be mainly schooling hacking and doing local shows until we can save for a trailer.

We have looked at ID and ISH types so far and we do need something a bit sturdy for hubby so no full TBs. Can be a mare or a gelding.

We have plenty of support as we'll be keeping it at a yard where our current instructor works and will continue having lessons.

Although neither of us have owned our own before we have both shared, have worked on yards and done exams etc so we have reasonable experience. We also compete on riding school horses in riding club shows. Our instructor is entirely happy that our criteria is realistic for our abilities.

So what can you find with your amazing searching skills????

Thanks and sorry for the mammoth post!!
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I have a mare I ride which is for sale who really needs a one to one relationship for someone to bring out her full potential (which she has in bundles!!) but she can have an odd chesnut mare moment.
However they have always been with me on board and I still love her to pieces!
 
Ooops sorry knew I'd miss something off!

Midlands area, I'm in derbyshire, the closer the better so we don't have to drag our poor instructor too many miles!
 
Can I just ask one thing? You say you've had lessons etc, but have you done much hacking etc? Maybe a 5 year old to 'bring on' may be a bit too much? Sorry if I've misread the situation, but so many people (including myself, twice!) overhorse themselves....and you have to be careful you're not buying a horse for other people to ride (ie your instructor)

Just playing devil's advocate!
 
 
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Can I just ask one thing? You say you've had lessons etc, but have you done much hacking etc? Maybe a 5 year old to 'bring on' may be a bit too much? Sorry if I've misread the situation, but so many people (including myself, twice!) overhorse themselves....and you have to be careful you're not buying a horse for other people to ride (ie your instructor)

Just playing devil's advocate!

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I've done lots of hacking, I used to share an ex-racer and we had no facilities to do anything else. I used to hack my other share horse too. The riding school I was at as a teenager used to hack a lot and I'd even lead some rides. I've been riding for over 25 years
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I don't want to overhorse myself, but equally I want a horse that will keep me interested and challenged long term.
 
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JanetGeorge always has nice babies for sale- ID's and IDSH's.

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I've seen her post about breeding, I'm not sure whether she has many that are fully backed etc though, doesn't she normally sell them quite young??
 
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http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/6_yrs_16_2_hh_coloured_derbyshire/74813

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/5_yrs_16_2_hh_dapple_grey_irish_sport_horse_lincolnshire/73905


http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/6_yrs_9_mths_16_3_hh_coloured_warmblood_staffordshire/75598

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/4_yrs_16_1_hh_grey_herefordshire/75395

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/5_yrs_16_0_hh_piebald_west_midlands/73852

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/6_yrs_16_0_hh_chestnut_west_midlands/73791

Any of these the kind of thing you are looking for?

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Wow thanks tasteofchaos! They are very much the right sort of thing, the first one looks a bit too much of a maxi cob, and the piebald looks a little on the small side but I think the two greys and the polish warmblood especially look nice.

I'll have to show the ads to hubby and then maybe see if any are still available!
 
Please dont buy a 5 year old unless you plan to both have lessons. Unless you find a saint you will run into trouble at some point and its just not worth it for your first horse!

Peoples horses are VERY different to riding school horses, as you will know. Exams etc are all done on R.S horses (or type horses) and the one on one riding of a horse every day is something different. I cant really discribe it but you dont even get it with share horses! Its a bond and if you get it right then you cant really go wrong!

I also think maybe 16hh may be a bit small for your hubby if he is tall, I am 5"9 and struggle to balance on my 16hh, as he is so small and my upper body is tall.

If I were you, I would look for a 9 year old allrounder thats been there, done that and got the T shirt. Remember easier to heat up a horse than it is to cool it down!

Horse ownership is hard and the last thing you want to be doing is worrying about a horse taking advantage of you when you should be enjoying it, regardless of exams etc!!! We do it as a hobby on the most part and they are too expesive and time consuming not to enjoy.

These two could be made really nice and are old enough to know a job (I am saving the best till last hoping noone will go and look and I can go and buy it) :

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/9_yrs_16_3_hh_skewbald_warmblood_west_midlands/76371

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/11_yrs_16_3_hh_chestnut_east_sussex/76179



Bit younger/flasher

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/8_yrs_16_3_hh_dark_bay_irish_sport_horse_northumberland/76225

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/9_yrs_16_2_hh_grey_irish_x_essex/76064 I dont get why this so cheap though

Ad lastly, I would definately look at this horse, but not sure if you want something with that amount of scope.

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/9_yrs_16_3_hh_black_wiltshire/75607
 
R2R does have a point I am 5ft 10 and although I look ok on ginger (16.1hh) I htink much bigger might look odd, although she would easily take it!!!

I have PM'd you about her however just incase you are interested
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Re: The height, 16hh would be our lower limit and it depends a lot on the type and build of the horse.

He is quite long in the leg, but can look quite comfortable on something that size if it takes up plenty of leg. It will really depend upon the horse, but he isn't a big fan of big horses and would prefer to have something slightly on the small side, than one that is big. I think if we avoid very fine types we should be ok looking in the region of 16-17hh.
 
Are you in Derby by any chance at Barleyfields - ride on wednesday nights? Anyways i know of a few people who produce youngsters in the area, i can ask them what they have in at the moment if you would like? PM me if you want so i dont forget to ask!
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Darn just typed out a big reply to R2R and it has vanished!

The short answer was yes we both intend to continue having lessons with our instructor and have purposely chosen a yard where she works to keep the horse at.

We've also spoken to her about our horse choice. The first one we looked at was 8 but she thought something a bit younger would be better for us.

We've ridden horses that aren't just school horses too, not just our shares (and my shares were not what you'd call a novice ride), also various instructors horses, working liveries, and horses newly purchased by the riding school and youngsters just coming into the school.

I promise I'm not disregarding your advice, we will not be looking at something newly backed, the youngsters we have looked at so far have got a few miles on the clock but are still green and we are taking the full advice and support of a very well qualified instructor. Hubby is the last person in the world who would exaggerate his riding experience, between us we have over 35 years experience, we've just never been in a position to buy before.
 
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The short answer was yes we both intend to continue having lessons with our instructor and have purposely chosen a yard where she works to keep the horse at.

We've also spoken to her about our horse choice. The first one we looked at was 8 but she thought something a bit younger would be better for us.

We've ridden horses that aren't just school horses too, not just our shares (and my shares were not what you'd call a novice ride), also various instructors horses, working liveries, and horses newly purchased by the riding school and youngsters just coming into the school.

I promise I'm not disregarding your advice, we will not be looking at something newly backed, the youngsters we have looked at so far have got a few miles on the clock but are still green and we are taking the full advice and support of a very well qualified instructor. Hubby is the last person in the world who would exaggerate his riding experience, between us we have over 35 years experience, we've just never been in a position to buy before.

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Im 99.9% sure you are who i am thinking and i will back you up you are both very good riders (dealing with the likes of harribo on his bad days) and would be fine with a 5yr old even though technically it is your first horse from what i have heard/seen you are both more than experienced enough to deal with any baby moments! I have had 3 youngsters and my mum used to breed and you could have easily ridden any of those
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