How to know when you’re ready for a younger horse?

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I’m sadly having to look for a new horse, after searching for 3 months it seems everything is either really young or more established and out of my price bracket. Ideally I wanted a 6-10year old.

I am considering maybe something younger, a 4/5 YO that has already been backed and seen a bit of the world, temperament would play the biggest part. I would be having regular (fortnightly) lessons and have a lovely yard with support on should I need help, I just worry I may not be a competent enough rider to handle their challenges, particularly spookiness out hacking or at shows. How do you know if you’re ready? I’m looking for a horse for life ideally not something I need to sell on in the future.
 
My experience as someone who has had around 6 horses in my life in total is that it can be quite a challenge (I’m now 54) and you will probably unless really lucky have to invest in professional time to get you to the point you want to reach unless you are really confident as well as capable.

They definitely can go through a tough stage at 5-6. I bought a 5 and a half yr old just over 18months ago and he’s been pretty challenging on the ground never mind ridden and just restarting at the moment. I was unlucky with him needing colic surgery followed by yard closure and moving yards twice. His demeanour on trying out was quiet and polite but not so since although he’s massively improved with a lot of help with training and a lot of effort from me.
 
A safe kind one? So long as you have good support and access to pros for the training you cant or don't want to do and quiet hands and a good balanced seat, then whenever. A sporty version with a bit about it? When your confident no matter what happens and capable of schooling and educating a horse
 
I got a safe, kind 4yo after a few shares when I was 24. She was my first owned horse. I had weekly lessons with an instructor who was happy to get on and teach the horse and it was fine.

The support is what matters, along with an easygoing temperament. I would save enough for weekly lessons for the first year at least, and you need to be able to sit the odd buck or spook because even the sweetest young horses have their moments. I went from a fit competition horse to a 4yo and was sticky enough for her baby moments not to bother me. The education came from my instructor - she taught us both and set homework!
 
As I’m Dun said, it’s definitely the type and temperament of the horse which will point to whether it’s suitable.

You give very little background to your riding.

I had been riding 20+ years and had my own for over 10 years. I have always ridden the sporty types and enjoy them. I was capable of a decent level of schooling and not particularly phased by spicy behaviour, so opted for a young horse when my old boy passed.

I have seen plenty of cobby types who have had terrible attitudes but is that because they weren’t handled confidently as young horses?

It’s a how long is a piece of string question
 
Identityincrisis said:
As I’m Dun said, it’s definitely the type and temperament of the horse which will point to whether it’s suitable.

You give very little background to your riding.

I had been riding 20+ years and had my own for over 10 years. I have always ridden the sporty types and enjoy them. I was capable of a decent level of schooling and not particularly phased by spicy behaviour, so opted for a young horse when my old boy passed.

I have seen plenty of cobby types who have had terrible attitudes but is that because they weren’t handled confidently as young horses?

It’s a how long is a piece of string question
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Would definitely be a more laid back easy going type, I wouldn’t get a competition type as I’m an amateur and not seriously competitive. Ideally looking for an ID or ID X.

I’ve ridden for many years, shared many types of horses, I was sharing a 17.1 TB and also a 15.2 cob who are both very different 😅 recently I had a lovely Welshie on loan for 6 months and although she was older she was certainly challenging at times and needed ground manners. She would spook and run off a little bit, her schooling when she first came need work and we worked through that with my instructor weekly, I feel competent enough schooling wise I just haven’t had to sit any major shapes thrown at me for a while so this is where I’m nervous
 
When you either get fed up of sorting out everyone else’s F ups (& wish to exchange them for your own) or when you can’t actually afford the current going rate for a “made” horse (or you’re just fed up of all of them being lame!)

What do you mean you were looking for an actual serious & useful answer?
 
maya2008 said:
I got a safe, kind 4yo after a few shares when I was 24. She was my first owned horse. I had weekly lessons with an instructor who was happy to get on and teach the horse and it was fine.

The support is what matters, along with an easygoing temperament. I would save enough for weekly lessons for the first year at least, and you need to be able to sit the odd buck or spook because even the sweetest young horses have their moments. I went from a fit competition horse to a 4yo and was sticky enough for her baby moments not to bother me. The education came from my instructor - she taught us both and set homework!
Click to expand...
Yeah I have a couple of good instructors to use and have used with previous loans!
maya2008 said:
I got a safe, kind 4yo after a few shares when I was 24. She was my first owned horse. I had weekly lessons with an instructor who was happy to get on and teach the horse and it was fine.

The support is what matters, along with an easygoing temperament. I would save enough for weekly lessons for the first year at least, and you need to be able to sit the odd buck or spook because even the sweetest young horses have their moments. I went from a fit competition horse to a 4yo and was sticky enough for her baby moments not to bother me. The education came from my instructor - she taught us both and set homework!
Click to expand...
yeah I have fab instructors to use and the one I used mainly has a lot of experience with younger horses, she’s actually more so the one saying I’d be competent enough to handle something younger and put my own stamp on it’s just self doubt. I haven’t had to sit any major shapes (buck/rear) but have sat a fair few spooks recently haha
 
To offset my stupid answer I think if you have a good backup system (which it sounds like you do) and prioritise temperament then it can work out well.

Having a backup plan of having someone else on board who will be calm and give the horse lots of confidence to do certain “firsts” might be an idea if you’re not sure that you can be that person and is preferable to giving the horse a bad first experience of going to a show or hacking on their own for example (& then all being well you should feel happy to do time no 2 with someone on the ground for support)
 
It absolutely does depend on the horse. I bought a four year old who really was 'a wise old head on young shoulders' and he was exceptionally straight forward. Young does not always mean spooky and silly (says the person who has a 20 year old who can still be spooky). There is no reason why a properly started sane young horse should be rearing or bucking.

Having bred a few foals the actual backing is usually the easy bit it is the riding them on that takes more skill but with good support is very doable. I do find that the quiet 4 year old often ends up as a spicy 5 year old but they do settle down.

Temperament and trainability are the key things to be looking out for. Also do not forget that a lot of horses do not finish growing/filling out until they are around 8 years old.
 
I went down the route of buying a youngster when I looked at the market and realised that I would realistically never have a decent budget for the type of horse I wanted to buy - I went the extreme route though and brought a yearling aha!

In all honesty, it's horses for courses - I've met and worked with some rising 5 year olds who I've actually looked at their passport cause I couldn't believe how calm and easy they were, and equally I've dealt with my share who totally live up to the stereotype of sharp, spooky and quite a handful to deal with type of 5 year olds. I often find that if they've had a solid foundation and the time has been taken, generally a 4/5 year old is quite a lovely person to work with as they're at that age where you can really mould them to what you want to do etc, but on the other hand if any part has been rushed it becomes apparent very quickly.

You say that you have an instructor that you'd be having lessons with - I'd deffo take him/her along to any and all viewings and get their opinion/advice. Temperament and trainability are the two main factors that you should deffo have in mind when looking - with these two it's something that I absolutely won't budge on when looking to buy. Also a good idea is to be prepared for the spicy era as I've dubbed it - every horse no matter what the age, how long they've been under saddle and how experienced they are, at some point will see what boundaries they can cross and if their new Human is worthy of being the herd leader - so as long as you are prepared for a few bumps in the road and have a good support network, I'd say deffo go for a look at some 4/5 year olds x
 
I wanted a more experienced horse the second time round after sadly loosing Homey at 20. I got him as a 5 year old.

Spent ages looking could not find anything in budget that was older and suitable and in the end got another 5 year old. He is will be 7 this year and it has been more challenging than I expected. I have had to pay for a lot of professional help. Homey was quite an easy youngster. I was lucky. I really should have waited it out increased my budget and got an older more experienced pony. I had a 10k budget.

Having said that if I had not bought Bert when I did I would not have got another horse as my mum became very ill the day after I got him and my family circumstances have changed so maybe that was fate. Bert is very sweet natured and I am very fond of him but it is not easy and I am spending a lot more on professional support than I budgeted for. Which is ok as I built up savings which helps fund that and would have needed extra help anyway as due to my parents health I am more tired and away at least one weekend a month if not more.

So I think if you get a youngster you need a lot of time and possibly money if not time. Ideally I need to think about looking for a sharer for Bert long term as my parent's health will no doubt decline and I will be away more but at the moment he is too tricky to be shared.

I would add I am a rider of little talent and when I got Homey as 5 year old had a lot less professional support than I do now but a lot more time. All my spare time was available for him and I had more energy as well as I was 18 years younger than I am now.
 
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