How many horses did you try before you found "the one"?

Ours were all the first ones we saw. (Not including ones that were lame or very wrongly advertised
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Mine was the 39th over 9 months including 4 failed vettings, 1 wind sucker and another that was lame before we even got to the vetting!

I set off looking for a 15HH 2 that had been there done that then decided a 148cm pony club all rounder would be better went back to looking at horses and bought a very green 14HH pony (everything I wasn't looking for
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Decca can I ask how old you are?
The reason being that finding the perfect horse is quite a lot like finding the right man... the full implications of which you may only understand if you're old enough to have had a long term relationship (not meaning to be condescending, it is just the truth and anyone can be any age on the forums!)
What I mean to say is that finding the right companion is mostly about finding one that you can connect with and that you can work with.... The quirky notion of having found the perfect horse/man only comes once you actually have them in your life, have had enough time to have sussed out all their flaws and love them anyway
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As such you can't really say that the 1st/2nd/12th horse you go to see will be the perfect one, or even just "the right one" for you- it is just about finding the horse that you feel good with- and you're lucky if you don't have to look for too long!
 
First time round, I saw a whole heap of em but then gave up 'cos I got disillusioned. When I started again, first one I went to see, I knew as soon as a set eyes on her in the field and now she's all mine!
 
OMG, jumptoit, you tried 39 horses!!!!! I'm still in single figures so you definitely have the jump on me there!
Glad to see that quite a few of you tried heaps before you bought.
ali_m - I'm the wrong side of 40, long time married, kids, the works, so no danger of me thinking Mr Perfect Horse is going to come galloping up a hill with mane blowing in the wind!
 
First one.
He was being sold by one of the staff on my yard. My instuctor decided Boo would be perfect for me and had been dangling him under my nose.
I was lucky to be given the option to ride him over a couple of weeks in lots of situations before I made a final decision, but my mind was made up after 3 days!
 
Murphy was the 3rd one I went to see.
First one was lame when we went to see it, owner said he had come in from field lame, and was only slightly lame, turns out he was dog lame and had heart bar shoes on, Steered clear of that one.

2nd one was one a friends partner knew of and wouldnt stop mithering so had to go see it. But it was foot sore as had no shoes on, and was just something not right about it. So walked away from that one. Could have easily took him home, felt so sorry for him.

Then I hadnt even seen anything for sale I liked so gave up for a while, but then a friend said she knew of one for sale a grey irish draught, I got all excited as I had always wanted a grey Irish draught. Anyway got there and knew he was the one for me before even got on him. Four days later he was at his new home.
 
James - He was the 5th I think. I fell head over heels the minute I sat on him, but up until then I thought he was dull looking and aloof!

Then about 17 years later......

Badger - He was the 1st but with the advent of the internet etc you can learn so much more about them before you visit. I knew what I wanted, after talking to the YO I knew he sounded pretty close to that and the minute he stuck his tongue in my fathers ear we all fell in love!
 
My first horse a TB mare I just saw her and knew I wanted her so bought her without riding her - luckily she was a little star
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My ID was the 11th horse I went to see because none of the others were as described.
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With my WB I was working at the Dressage yard where he was owned and I got to know him before I bought him (I was even looking for a horse at the time). I tried 4 horses before I bought my mare
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Saw the advert on Friday at about 5.30pm on horsemart, rang at about 5.31pm (was the first to ring - only had about 6 views on screen) and went to see him midday the next day and bought him on the spot, subject to vetting.

I didnt like him at all and his advert was nothing like what I was looking for. He's my horse of a lifetime though!

As for the anglo, my sister had been toying with getting an arab and tried out 2 before deciding against it. We then saw our poor little anglo advertised (again on horsemart) looking very poor and miserable. Went to see him on Thursday, he hadnt seen a farrier in 4 months nor any hard feed or hay in that time (over winter) so was skin and bones. Picked him up on saturday.

All previous ponies/horses were through adverts/word of mouth and we pretty much only saw 2 or 3 each time.
 
Mazzie was the 4th polo pony I tried... the 1st failed the vetting, and I didn't enjoy playing the 2nd and 3rd. Genie was the first I tried.
 
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