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

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lcormack

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I know I am being fussy in what I am looking for but I was wondering how many horses you all tried before you bought one?
I feel in a catch 22 - you can't buy a horse without trying it but it is so horrible having then to say you aren't buying it! I try to only go see those that sound exactly what I am looking for but so many people tell you their horse is "perfect" in every way and then you look at it over the stable door and wonder which horse they were speaking about!
Argh, I hate horsehunting.
 
I never rode mine, long story.
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my one was the 4th horse i had but the 1st one i owned, thought 2 of the others were pretty darn good. unforunatly my one is lame
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and has been for the last yr, i won't get rid of him though i love him to much
 
I tried only 1 horse
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something i dont reccomend btw
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he was a nut job
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but there was something about him... he had a huge buck but he had a kind eye... and his full brother is an international showjumper so i knew there was a jump in there
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plus it probably didnt help that the breeder had been pumping him full of oats with very little work (ie. only hacking up and down dual carriagway) and he was 6

Tbh, i was incredibly lucky to find him. He is my horse in a million and is as honest as they come
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But i love a challenge
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so many people tell you their horse is 'perfect' in every way and you look over the stable door and wonder which horse they were speaking about!

I am the opposite, I tend to tell people all the 'bad' things and put people off before they even come and ride!

Anyone want a 14.2hh County level 14.2 Forester, all PC activities, forward going?
14.2hh County level, very green Connie?
13.2hh fizzy chestnut mare, wins all local s/jumping, x/c, H/T?
 
Chilli was the forth one I went to see. I didn't ride the first one, the second one was lovely but v.unfit & v.green & generally just not what I wanted, the third one was definatley not the 'star' it was ment to be then the forth was Chilli. I thought he was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen but the minute I sat on him I knew he was gonna be mine. 'Ugly is as ugly does'.
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None, he was the first I tried. Whilst tryinghim i discovered he was very sharp, did not understand moving sideways away from leg, ran out whilst jumping! And had poor brakes, yet there was something about him. I got him on trial during which he bolted with me several times including once down a main road (was very scary), yet i still kept him. He turned good in the end!

PS: I did ride another horse after him at the same place but it bucked me off so decided against that one.

I wouldn't worry about going to see a horse but not buying it, sellers are used to this and shouldn't mind, you can't expect it to be perfect if you've not seen it before. What's right for one person isn't always right for another.
 
Maiden was the tenth... I wasn't much inspired by the first nine! The first one I tried twice, decided she was too green, then my YO's daughter had her vetted only to find she had bone fragments in her pastern (which she then went lame with and the owner had HUGE trouble with
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) Lucky escape for me!!
I looked at number nine twice, but she was sold from under my nose and that was another lucky escape as the seller turned out to be a dodgy dealer!
I knew I number 10 was The One the moment I set eyes on her
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It must have been fate! Every time you "reject" a horse, don't forget you are one horse closer to finding Your One
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Rode my mare once before I bought her home - is from a rescue and was the one I wanted. My boy I hadn't seen ridden or even sat on him myself when I bought him home for a trial - but he came from my RI so was fairly confident he would be ok as she obviously knew me and my ability.
 
i think he was my 6th so roughly one a month, looking back i dont know why i did it, he is so so green and nervy, very underweight and undermuscled (god i make him sound liek a right rescue case) but had the sweetest nature and a kind eye with a cheeky sparkle.

we didnt click and we still havent, but i love him through and through and i just know when we do click it will be perfect

x
 
The golden boy was the 10th we looked at when my eldest was first moving up to a 14.2. He is the only one that came from an advertisement (H&H!), all our others came through friends ringing to say so-and-so had a pony that would just suit us, and why not ring them, often when we weren't really looking. The golden boy's ad started with 'Safe and sensible...', and he was the first of those 10 viewings that was all that but so much more too.

I think the important thing is to be honest with the seller as soon as you decide their horse is not the one you will buy. Tell them politely and as quickly as possible, don't keep them waiting - if you really can't decide, explain truthfully what the issues are and ask to visit again if need be. Being realisitic beforehand about the balance between what you want, what you need, and what you can afford, would help prevent accusations of time-wasting, which is frustrating but not always easily avoided.
 
Daughter no 1 - 1st pony we tried

Daughter no 2, - Ist attempt, about the 9th pony. He turned out to be wrong for her, so once he was sold and we had to start all over again - the 2nd one (first one we tried we knew almost immediately would be not any good, but for politeness sake we carried on going through the motions...)

Both have turned out to be absolute gems by the way, and each cost me £2,000 so we're not talking loadsamoney here, although both have won rosettes county level showing with us, just to demonstrate they're not a pair of ugly lumpy old nags...
 
I think about 12 and six weeks. I only saw him because he went up on horsequest the night before in the same area as some more I was visiting - rang up in the morning - saw him at 4, tried him again 2 days later even though I already knew, and hey presto!
 
I tried ten horses before I found Fudge.

His owners were 100% up front with me about his flaws so much so I nearly brought him without trying him as he was over four hours away.

As soon as I saw him I knew he was the one and three years on he is everything I dreamt of and more
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I did spend hours and hours looking through adverts over about 6 months and must have emailed and phoned like a hundred people before I even went to see them.
 
None. I didn't ride him as he wasn't broken, didn't see him in the flesh as he was in Lancashire and I'm in South Wales but I knew the lady who owned him well and trusted her 100%. She sent me a few pics, I fell in love and he arrived two weeks and a 6 hour journey later. I just adore him, how I came to have him was kismet and he is definately the one.
 
i cant even remember how many horses i viewed there was so many, it took me 7 months until i found her... and i knew at first glance i hadda have her she really stood out compared to the rest, really stressfull time...

i just had to say to people aww ill have to think about it or that u have to discuss with your mum before i do anythin lol
 
This is appropriate to me today seeing as my new mare was delivered today and i couldn't be happier!

I have been looking for about 6 months and saw about 9 before i found her. I knew it was worth holding out until i found the right horse for me. I knew she was the one as soon as i sat on her.

Good luck with your search. It will be worth it in the end.
 
Seen 4 so far and still looking.

Number 1 I wanted to buy but was pipped at the post, number 2 I really didn't like, number 3 likewise and number 4 did the most enormous series of bucks when I cantered on a hack so that was another No (although up until that point had been going to buy!)
 
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