How did you aquire your horse?

sam-b

sam-b

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I have recently had a new horse. He was a straight swap with a girl on my new yard. She is a 15 year old girl, and he is a big moving tall 4 year old, she hadnt had him long but was not getting on with him. I said tongue in cheek that I would swap her (15.3 SJ school mistress who has qualified for just about every major affiliated championship) and so we did. She is having a whale of a time with Ginge and I have my smart baby horse to produce... anyone else aquired a horse in an unusual way?
 
My mum and I had started casually looking for my horse and one evening we decided to look up when the ascot sales were. We rang up to enquire and they said normally you buy a programme (which we wouldn't of done as we weren't really serious about going) but there was a problem and they had unusually put a programme on their website that could be veiwed for free.
We looked it up giggling not really thinking we would go but we outlined the lots we thought sounded nice anyway. About 3/4 of those had owners numbers you could call to view the horse before the sale. We rang them all up, only one lady answered. She said I could go up and ride the horse out with the other racehorses the next morning. I went and I brought her! It was definitely fate.

My current horse I got off a lady on here, he was for loan but then I brought him. He was also the first one I saw and tried and he was fate as well :).
 
Persuaded someone to let me buy him in part ex for my previous witch of a mare. I definitely got the better deal :D
 
Being nosey..

Friend was going to look for a couple of horses at a dealers. I went along to have a look, not having even seriously put mine up for sale. And anyway I wanted an older experienced horse if I did buy.

Billy was bought out. I said "very nice, too big". Friend said "try him"

To be fair I found one for her (who is really cracking) and once I had sat on Billy I wanted him. Scraped money together, yard booked our vet and 2 days later he came home.

Then had kittens needing to sell my other horse rather quickly! that is NOT the way to buy a new horse!
 
Mine was originally a full loan, a few weeks in realised he wasnt ride but instead of sending him home I got him signed over was operated on & now my perfect horse..lol
 
Current horse was inherited from a friend who no longer wanted him, he's 21 and I've ridden/known him for about 16 years so decided to give him his retirement :)
Almost acquired one for pennies from another livery who had lost intrest. Had him on loan for 8 months but he developed a possible back/hind leg issue so decided he wasn't worth the risk.

Next horse is likely to slowly creep into 'my' stable from along the yard. YO buys in some seriously tempting horses. My OH is very worried lol
 
Reggie lived down the road from us! He was recuperating for 2 years following doing a leg racing, and his owner wanted him to start doing a bit more as he was sound with lovely, clean legs. Al's 14.2hh had been injured, and although would come sound she had gone back to her owners. We were after a 15.2hh schoolmaster type, to show Al the ropes at Novice XC... Went to see the gangly, green 16.3hh TB who'd been hunted and raced and she fell in love! 2 years on he's the horse of her dreams- brave and bold and a gentleman to boot.
 
Moved onto a new yard a year ago, and saw a little mare 4 year old mare for sale, so after some persuasion by a friend that she would be easy to bring on to sell, I convinced my dad to buy her for peanuts. Anyway said mare is a fantastic mover and I did try very hard to sell her for months but market was awfull, so she went on loan for 2 months at a college, but shes back on monday! Cant wait, think shes going to be a keeper now!
 
I kept hearing awful tales of this horse that a friend had bred and had recently discovered had been subsequently abandoned and was now the talk of the village for attacking people in his field...the breeder eventually went to rescue him, having had everybody from the local do-gooder to the local gypsies come along and have a go with him and conclude they couldn't do anything with him...so he ended up back on the breeder's yard, known as 'resident evil'!! (he wasn't yet two!) She originally wanted me to help go get him but I had urgent things to do elsewhere ;) but did rock up for a nose when he arrived...what i saw was very different from everything i'd heard over the last 6 mths...a few days later we helped her muck him out by being 'on guard' and he showed definite signs of being workable, if somewhat paranoid and with some terrible habits (not surprising given that he'd had a traumatic accident as a foal, then being inadvertently forcibly weaned, left on his own, given to someone, abandoned then finally fetched up back where he started after even the gypsies wouldn't take him!). She finally announced that he was supposed to be mine because it was fate (convenient way to get rid of a nuisance I felt, but nonetheless I did quite like him somehow) so after I saved his life twice (1st time by helping to convince her he didn't have a brain tumour and could be given a chance by gelding him 2nd time by finding him in a forest ravine after being chased by her herd and then rescuing him from there) I concluded that there was something about this mad-looking double-blue-eyed bright bay after all and caved in. He was dropped off at mine quick smart with not a headcollar to his name! 3 and a half months later he is a reformed character and well on his way to being my riding horse one day. :D:D:D
I may not have paid for him but I've certainly invested in him time, effort and money-wise so he is also now worth considerably more than he was as well - that said, he is definitely NFS!
 
He arrived on our yard and was assigned to me as we had a jumping show coming up and I had no horse to jump (my previous ‘assigned’ horse – I was working in exchange for a “mine-not-mine” horse – had been sold a month before). The first time I saw him we caught each other’s eye and I thought he was a bit special and would love to get a ride on him. A couple of weeks later he was assigned to me to start training with for the show! We clicked from day one. Such a jolly character, and smart too. Not to mention drop-dead gorgeous (anyone seen the opening credits to the 1970’s Black Beauty series? That’s him!!). Anyway, he was for sale, and would only be with me until he was sold (like the previous one). We’d grown attached to one another and I just couldn’t lose him that way. So when the owner said if he wasn’t sold by such and such a date, he was taking him away and turning him out in a field up north until someone showed an interest, I scrabbled around borrowing money from right, left and centre to buy him….and with me he stayed. Got him half price in the January sales, mind! Three years have gone by since that first sparkling glance in my direction, and he gets better every day, never ceases to inspire me with his insight :)
 
My horse came to me to be schooled and sold after chucking her owner off causing her to break her shoulder. That was nearly 10 years ago.
We won our first dressage together and there was just something about her that I fell in love with.
She failed a vetting for a potential buyer due to throwing a splint the day of the vetting. I put a cheeky offer in as it was all I could afford. Her owner was a little offended but had a chat with my YO who explained the situation.
My offer was accepted but I had to wait 2 weeks for it to go through as the owner went on holiday.

I bred my second from the above mare. I wasnt allowed to buy another so I bred instead. :D
 
My daughter saw our coloured american saddlebred/arab mare (who was unbroken at the time) for sale/loan with a view to buy by breeder in a local paper. We went to see her and loved her, but couldn't afford the asking price.

Following a 'phone call to the owner, she allowed us to put a deposit on her and loaned her to us until I could afford to buy her (I had some money coming to me in a few months).

Our gorgeous girl is fantastic, very easy to break and has a brilliant temperament and is the full show package. We were very lucky with our lovely mare and she was such a find :).
 
One came to me as owner was losing grazing, I was on a DIY yard and owner paid her costs and I got a project to play with for a bit of fun. Owner sadly died a few months later and I bought her from his daughter. Absolutely gutted she didn't get the height from me, she was a cracking pony and I had a lot of fun on her!
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(shocking hands :eek:)
 
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I bought mine just from watching a video and seeing 1 photo! I decided that as he was an unbacked 3yr old at the time, as long as I liked the video and he passed the vet, what more could I have to know ;) And he was via a friend (Chatter1 on here) from her contact in Holland that she trusts. It was a bit of a risk and he looked like a bizarre giraffe when he arrived off the transporter. However, he has turned into my dream horse, has taken me to the amateur showjumping finals and now won at elementary BD and now we are now learning half pass although I have never done more than a handful of novice tests before I got him :):):)
 
Wasn't even looking for a horse at all, was happy riding other peoples horses. Got chatting to old hunstman/dealer who had the "perfect horse" for me. Turns out 6 years on he still is! :)
 
Wasn't looking at all, had a horse part loan/share. Was at a local show and waiting for other sharer/loaner to go into working hunter class. Competitor in class did the only clear round so far but horse slipped on landing after the last , rider fell off but landed on her feet, although she didn't move on landing. Turned out she'd snapped the bone below her knee and at hospital was told (incorrectly!) she wouldn't ride again. A few weeks later and following my own redundancy with a year's salary burning a hole in my pocket my YO said she knew of a horse for sale that would suit me.... yes you've guessed it, same horse I'd seen in the WH show! 8 years later horse is still with me!
 
My friend knew a lady who had put her horse out on loan when she had hit hard times. The loaner turned out not be what she said she was and the mare was being treated badly. Owner was frantic and I said I would take her for a holiday 'til she made other arrangements. I went to collect her with the owner and by then she was desp for me to keep her as the horse had "issues". When I saw the air of desperation in the wee horses face and how sad she was I melted. I paid £1 for her and we wrote up the deal on a Grass Sickness Christmas card. Her "issues" have not surfaced really....I would just say she is quirky. She has turned out to be a right star with a fresh start and a belly of food.. I have another who also cost the same princely sum and he does his job rather well too! I just love them. My others have more regular stories with vettings and larger sums of cash involved. But the post is about aquiring and she certainly was.xxx
 
Sorry, this is a bit long. A mixture of happy and sad here :).
March 2009 - I had been "dumped" by text by my at the time BF (I was diagnosed with arthritis not long before that, and he went off with someone else before texting me to say it was over :mad:).
I decided "That's it, to hell with puting everyone else first, I'll do what I want for myself from now on." I immediately started looking for a pony (to cater for my arthritis).
I saw an ad for a Reg 2yo New Forest filly, and rang up. The guy who answered said "which one ? I've got 10." Anyway, I arranged to go and see them and spent an hour watching 10, never ever handled in their lives, NF fillies loose in a barn.
I dismissed the ones that didn't appeal to me on type, conformation, colour, how they moved and interacted with each other, and how nervous they were.
I whittled it down to 2 ponies, a very pretty bay with no white and a black with a star and one sock. The bay, for an unhandled pony, was pushing at the gate and trying to nibble our clothes. Also, her neck was a little on the short side compared to the black. The black pony stood just behind the bay, confident enough to be that close, but a little unsure. I turned to the seller and said, "Can I have the black one please ?" :D (Think - child in a toy/sweet shop).
This little filly turned into the most confident, happy, easy to train pony and people often looked down their noses at me with my "quiet little pony". It took months of quiet patient handling to get her there, I couldn't just walk up to her and touch her at the beginning :p.
On 1st April 2011, I got a call at work from the YO to say my pony was very ill. She was 10 months in foal, they found her foal dead in the field while we were speaking on the phone. I stayed with her all night and the following morning she was admitted to the equine hospital, a few hours later, she was gone :(. Acute grass sickness, I stayed with her right to the very end :(.
I knew straight away that I NEEDED another pony, as not only did I lose my beautiful baby girl, I also lost her palomino colt (he was born alive). So, from being on a high one day through waiting for my foal to arrive, to total devastation of losing both of them, my world had fallen apart :(.
I wanted another NF filly and began looking straight away. A couple of days later, I saw photos of one on another forum I belong to. I knew straight away, "She's the one" to help get me back on track. I contacted her breeder and arranged to go and see her. After around a 1000 mile round trip, my new pony was home with me, just 7 weeks after my last wee mare and foal died.
She's another 2yo and the sweetest pony ever :).
THEN ! A few weeks ago, I decided I needed something to ride, so that my 2yo can grow on and mature before I back her.
I'd been thinking about a Connemara, but couldn't find one I liked. I ended up seeing a Welsh Cob and contacted the seller. A couple of weeks later, I went to see her (with a lorry and cash :D). When we got to looking at her passport, I actually cried when I saw her date of birth............1st April, the date my foal died :eek:. Next, her vaccinations were due on............22nd May, my new 2yo's D.O.B. :eek:. Needless to say, I really liked her and she came home with me. :D.
I've started to back my Welsh Cob, and so far, all is going really really well :cool:
 
Two tails in one here: After many years training and teaching in the Martial Arts, I decided I needed to acquire the skills of Bajutsu (horsemanship). So after a little ringing around by my very experienced and horsey OH, a rather pretty 15hh coloured cob arrived at our field.

Unfortunately, the day after her arrival, my OH noticed some bleeding sarcoids that had been hidden previously, so by the time I got home that evening, my beautiful coloured cob had gone back.

Around this time (November), my OH's mare was starting to get a little creaky, with long running rear leg issues, and so retirement was being considered. With this in mind, a friend of a friend heard that we might be in the market for another New Forest, and so it was agreed that a 5 year old NF gelding would come and stay with us for a month.

Amazingly, the second H arrived, my OH's mare stopped showing any signs of getting old and so it was decided H would now be mine. At 14.2hh, he was not quite the rip snorting charger I had envisaged for myself, but almost exactly four years later he is my 'best mate in all the world', and will be with us for life (mine rather than his, as one of these days the b*ggers going to kill me :D).
 
measles said:
I'm originally from Ireland and we have a habit of acquiring a few nice horses when we are over :)
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I think that has to be one of the biggest understatments of the year!
(I mean the nice bit) ;)

All horses we have owned have been bought for $$ the exact conditions might be sligthly less orthodox.

Dona Nana had on trial then bought
Cocktel (aka Baby) - accidental baby from DN
Sahira - saw at 1 endurance (failed last vet) sat on her once, then bought.
Beau - bought unbroken out of a field, no vet ets
Harry - ditto
Raliegh - bought off a couple of dodgey photos and a long rembling e-mail about his past (he was only 7mnths old!).
 
Great stories, Some one came into work and asked me to get the vet to put a ex race horse down cos he's no good and been neglected! i said is that all? he said yeah why do you want him, i said yeah il have a look, the following weekend silver turned up, scaggy and scawny with bad feet! saw what i liked - he was straight and he popped a small jump nice. Chucked a rug on him gave him limitless hay and he turned out to be a star, however he didnt really like jumping or corners so sold him onto a lovely family who ride him up and down the roads, and feed him tones of hay! who could ask for more?
 
Bought my Shetland unseen from his photo on Horsemart and he was delivered in the boot of a Discovery :)

Bought my hunter as an unbroken six year old after a reply to my wanted ad in Farmers Guardian and now he jumps 6ft hedges for breakfast :)

Last year I was given a horse with navicular to see if I could save his life with a barefoot rehab. It worked and then last Christmas I gave him to a lovely couple who were loaning him, who adore him, and he won his class at his National Breed Show with them :)
 
Wasn't looking for a horse whatsoever, mum saw a coloured scrawny looking thing for sale and fell in love, advert was really old so we figured she would be sold but phoned up anyway, still for sale as she was so wild, however advert said she was 3 but she was only 2 (3 the following year, we bought her in October), which wasn't what we wanted so we said sorry but no thank you. Then we talked about it and decided maybe we should just go and look at her...ended up bringing her home for half her price and now she is an absolute superstar! :)
 
My mother went to a dinner party and saw his head over the door and thought it was a pretty head and told me I would probably like him. First time I met him was when he was delivered to me as my mother and I rarely disagree on horses. I did wonder what I had taken on when the first thing it did was launch me into space.
 
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