How many horses did it take to find 'the one'?

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Parkranger

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Just interested to know how many of you found the right horse for you straight away, how many of you worked at it before the horse became right for you and how many of you had to sell and rebuy to find the right horse.

Seems to me that matching rider and horse is actually quite difficult in the scheme of things!
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and do you think that too many people 'make do' as they feel a misplaced loyalty to their horse?

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I think I made do, but in reality it was the best thing to do because after enough years together he became the (almost) perfect horse for me
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. My loyalty wasn't misplaced though.
 
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9 months over 25 horses! Then I found pickle who was the "one in a million" type horse

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OK, but I guess that was trying out 25 horses? Or did you buy 25 horses!
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Took me three, so far.... and yes, I nearly 'made do.'

also took dozens of journeys, literally, to find one that would even come close. I would ring up and say, 'I'm a horse vet, I do my own vetting. Are you sure it's worth my while driving x hours (where x >= 4 on frequent occasions) to see your horse?'

First time around, I saw 12 out of 28 that I would have failed on a vetting before they ever walked out of the box. The truly scary thing was, that most of the time, the owners genuinely didn't seem to know there was anything wrong. And nobody, but nobody told me an age that was true until the last one, where they'd bought it as a yearling.

scary stuff


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and do you think that too many people 'make do' as they feel a misplaced loyalty to their horse?

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I feel like that right now - I love my boy but we don't click and its been two years now - I feel guilty as sin for wanting to find another ned, and despite trying loads, still haven't found the 'one' yet. Some people say they don't believe in the 'click' thing, others do, all I know is that I am not happy and hardly riding at all. Although I love my neddy so much the thought of him going makes me feel really bad. Not an easy time really.
 
Only one! I wasn't looking for a horse but my TB was recommended by an old and very experienced friend who'd known him from a youngster. She described him as "well worth a look" so I did and I bought him. Best decision of my life! That said, I went and saw another TB recommended by the same lady and bought that one too - he took a little getting used to but again, I struck gold. I think the moral of the story is - word of mouth wins every time. My OH went round and round the country for months looking for something suitable and ended up riding one of mine in the end anyway!
 
To actually answer the question lol, Chex is my first pony. I didn't look at any others, at 12 I grabbed the first (and at that time) only opportunity to get my own pony
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. Not the best way to choose a horse, and we've had many many problems over our 10 years together. But it was never an option to swap him for something else, and where there's a will there's a way
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What is it that makes you unhappy about riding your boy? Was it like that when you bought him or did it come on gradually?
 
It took one false try before I found Silver - the first pony I went to see was a 14.1hh NF who was a 7 year old 'perfect pony club pony' that had never been backed, wouldn't be caught, was head shy, seemed terrified of everything and was noticeably lame on the off hind.
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A couple of weeks later of not looking at all, I happened to see an advert for a 14hh connemara x in the previous weeks paper and when I got there I found a fat pony I didn't really like that had been stood in a field doing nothing for a year, bucked everyone off, made me look a complete idiot when I rode him and I was told by my riding instructor/friend that he was almost totally unrideable and that no one would ever control him.

24 hours later I'd bought him, not least just to prove that he couldn't beat me
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Would I swap him 4 years on? Not for anything in the world
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mmmm, I was mainly thinking of people who have actually brought an unsuitable horse then had to resell it.

Think that far too many people hold onto horses as they feel they're giving up on them even though they're totally unsuitable - and quite often it's quite sad to see as neither the horse or rider are happy....
 
Tbh I think I'm making do. She is not my perfect horse and I have days when I really want to murder her (well no not really lol) If I could, I would change quite a few things about her, but as I am only 13 I don't really feel I can just snap my fingers for a new horse. But at the end of the day, how many people can honestly say that there horse is 100% perfect and they wouldn't change one tiny little thing? We have fun and I have moments where I wouldn't swap her for the world, but I don't think she is my "horse of a lifetime".
 
I tried 3 before merlin..... the first was a lynn russell horse and although nice was too green for me. The second was soooo ugly and horrible to ride, not to mention miserable, that it wasnt hard to walk away and the third was a beautiful dun which although we looked twice they wouldnt come down in price enough for me to think that he was worth it. He had huge windgalls and was 10/11 at the time so would now be about 15/16 so with hindsight glad I didnt get him.

Merlin was ages away so we took the day to go and see him and I loved him straight away. I rode him in and off of the yard and although I felt horribly over horsed (exuberance not height) he gave me a trusting feeling.

He was green as well and i have struggled with that a bit as i am not the most advanced of riders..... but we had lessons with mark phillips and pippa funnell and neither fell over laughing so couldnt be that bad
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To actually answer the question lol, Chex is my first pony. I didn't look at any others, at 12 I grabbed the first (and at that time) only opportunity to get my own pony
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. Not the best way to choose a horse, and we've had many many problems over our 10 years together. But it was never an option to swap him for something else, and where there's a will there's a way
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Well I just hope me and Bean are where you and chex are in 9 yrs time! There is hope!
 
I had three ponies on loan before we got hen, each one was offered to me and as a pony mad kid i jumped at the chance!
After i outgrew my old (and very dinky) TB, parents decided to actually look for a horse for me!
First horse i looked at was hen, he was HUGELY overweight, VERY green and he threw me off, then attempted to repeat it several times, but it was love at first sight!
Ive had him since i was 15 (am 22 now) and I would never part with him, and dont think i would ever find another horse that belonged to me as much as hen does.
All i can say is thank god my mum (who knows nothing about horses!) saw the advert that day, and knew of my obsession with shire horses!!
 
i don't think i've ever had a perfect horse, i've "made do" with quite a few, because i'm a big softy and get very attached to them. but they've surprised me by how far they've gone, some of them, and they've taught me an amazing amount of patience and tolerance!
i'm probably making do at the moment, in a way, as i know my mare's not perfect - but i really like her attitude, and if she learns to relax, slow down, and let me ride her, i think she'll be very very good. i just couldn't face looking at loads more all over the country, it's such a schlep, and i had a really good feeling about her.
 
I've got my ideal horse but 'she found me' I wasnt out trying to buy, she came to the yard to be broken in and we sort of grew to like each other.

Boss was close to my ideal horse and I went to see a couple of others before I bought him. I didnt click with him for ages though, I'd say it took me a good year to like him.
 
If my horse was sound to do everything, we'd be perfect for each other
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We really do click, and he's given me so much confidence, even though he's not what you'd expect of a confidence giver (he's big, green, spooky) Yeah, we do get on. I think he might just be my horse of a lifetime
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Unfortunately, he has a mechanical problem, so he can't jump or do flatwork (basically hack only) and I'm upset because I love jumping, and really wanted to do ponyclub (I'll be too old for it soon!
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found sasha in the local paper wasnt looking but liked the sound of shire cross welsh she is the most amazing horse can do anything with her
my first horse which i shared with my sister was a different case took about a year but so glad we found her she was a 1 in a million still miss her rip kizzy
 
Blu was the 3rd horse we saw
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Had the 2nd vetted and very nearly bought her, but she failed on xrays.
I was quite lucky really!
ETA - we didn't really get on for the first few months, but now everything seems to be clicking a little better..
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I looked at 2 horses before finding Indie, and I knew she was 'the one' the minute I saw her. I almost bought the first horse, but the vet was abit unsure about something then it turned out the sellers were lying about something-but I'm glad I didn't get her despite this (even thought she ticked every box) as she did'nt have the right look in her eye(hindsight!). The second had a 'please take me home and feed me' look in her eye and I would have taken her there and then but it didnt take a geneous to spot that she had a problem with her hips (these were both2 yr olds). Anyway, Indie wasn't quite what I was looking for (a coloured for one! and too small at 16.1hh) but she was the 'one'!!!
 
i had two fail the vet before we got my boy, he was the third we had vetted, and passed
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i knew he was the right one, as i had no second thoughts or worries, i just knew i wanted him!
 
Must have been fate for me - very very lucky it was the first one they went to see. I say they because I was 16 at the time and my parents (mum is horsey) and my YO went out to look in secret, and came back with the first one they saw on a weeks trial. He was 100% right for me, bless him.
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More recently loan horses, I have been very exasperated trying and trying and trying different ones (its more against you if you want the owners to be right too!!!) until I came across F. Now there's odds stacked against the chances - I put off going to see him for months, he was a little G*t when I first rode him then ended up on box rest for 8 months, I've been through 2 yard moves with him and his owner and now live in a cottage next door to his field and wouldn't be without him! (or his owner, we get along brilliantly)
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Never in a million years did I think I'd end up with a native ride - I thought it'd be a 17.2hh hunter type!!
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i had Dan on loan before i bought him - didn't expect him to be the perfect horse at first, but he has been even though he's now 22 and retired, he was amazing for 5yrs (bought him at 15) and i dont regret a minute of it - he's still my best friend.

now i'm looking for a new riding horse - so far looked at hundreds of adverts, only been to view one who wasn't any good.
 
QR I'm not convinced that there is 'the one', for me there have been several over many years - all different but I have a had a bond with each of them. I am especially lucky at the moment though as I have two on loan which are really special to me
 
I don't think i have found 'the one' just yet...

April isn't mine so i can't really claim she is my one.
She is lovely though and we have a super bond so I am in no rush to get my own horse. She is almost perfect except as only 14.2 I would prefer a little bigger and I would like to event and she's not quite bold enough.

My old horse was not the one either as we didn't have enough time together (she was PTS). My old ponies were 'the one' at the time but wouldn't be suitable now
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