I must be mad!!!!

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moocow

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posted about this on monday but decisions have been made now so value your oppinions. PH has started riding. he has only had 6 hours of lessons so far but is doing great. Walk, trot, canter and popping a little jump all in an arena in a RS.

i found a horse for sale and went to see him at weekend. He is 95% perfect. He is 14, the right money, and three lovely paces to learn from. Easy transitions and quiet as a lamb. he pops a little jump no prob and doesn't spead up or slow down before or after. He is skin and bone, hooves are a mess where they haven't had him shod regularly enough (just bad cracks) and he is TB and about 17hh
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Hubbie rode him though on the day and did great. he really likes him. I have organised a trial for 5 days - they want him back for a lesson on Wed.

Am I stir crazy? Its near on impossible to find what I am looking for within my budget and I think i might have found one but he is skinny TB and 17hh!!!!! I was looking for a hairy cob.

i am getting him vetted as well while he is up with me. Any views? (be gentle!!!!)
 
Just be careful that once he is getting good feed and puts on condition, that he doesn't all of a sudden find a ton more energy. I have seen this happen a few times.
 
TB's have a habit of suddenly 'livening up' when fed correctly! As this one is skin & bone you could well find yourself with a very different horse when he puts some condition on.
You may be better off persevering in your search to find that 'hairy cob'.
 
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TB's have a habit of suddenly 'livening up' when fed correctly! As this one is skin & bone you could well find yourself with a very different horse when he puts some condition on.
You may be better off persevering in your search to find that 'hairy cob'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto... a friend of mine did this... she now has a very fat, unfit and bored TB standing in the field as she is too scared to ride him.
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thanks for that - yeah i know. i would never have even considered a tb for him but realistically thats what our budget buys you. on the up side, he has been used in a riding school for the past year and is used for novice treks etc. he also brought his previous owner through from begineer to mini midi maxi leagues and RC for 6 years and eventually hunting.

he will be living out all yer round and before i get shouted at its one of the things about him - he doesn't do very well stabled and prefers to live out with a great big rug. Our fields have great field shelters anyway so he will be fine.

heres hoping anyway!!!!! he might fail the vet anyhow so not counting my chickens yet.
 
the other thing i should have also said that if that does happen, I will ride him anyway as my mare only does flat work and doesn't hack out so he wont be just abandoned!!!!
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There's no reason a TB can't live out - trust me, there are ones living out in FAR worse climates than this one.

I would also add my voice to the concern about his weight, though. From your post it seems he's being used quite strenuously and perhaps not being fed sufficiently, even though the people who have him now might be expected to realise he is thin. Obviously I can't say because I haven't seen but do not rule out the possibility he is poor either because he doesn't stay useful for them if he isn't or, worse, he is purposefully being kept that way to keep him quiet. It wouldn't be the first time and, as people have said, there are many, many stories about people getting horses home from such situations only to have them wake up with a BIG bang.

I don't think anyone is thinking you'll abandoned him, more thinking about the risk to his new relatively novice owner. (Again, MANY scary stories on the books about everything being fine right up until the moment it wasn't.) But if you like the horse yourself and are willing to take him on yourself should he prove unsuitable that does give you - and him - a lot more options.
 
How about an 'older' horse, that could be more of a school master if you have a tight budget?
Sounds as though he is more of a known quantity coming from a riding school.
Shouldn't be a problem living out - my TB lived out last winter! So long as they have a thick rug & pretty much ad lib hay / haylage they should be fine.
Feet could prove expensive though - TBs commonly have poor feet & the supplements are expensive. As is farrier's constantly replacing lost shoes etc!
 
Sorry to sound pesimisstic, but if he has been a RS horse and is so quiet why are they selling him? Horses like that are like hens teeth - sorru if its something you have asked already.
 
I would think long and hard about this one. I have a TB who was in a state when I got him, he was very quiet when I tried him out, infact lazy. Six months later he was the picture of health and very much a TB!! I love him to bits and he is great fun to ride, but he is very sharp now and far from a beginer ride. Had him for three years now and as his schooling develops so does his mind, if a wobbly rider tried to hack him they wouldn't even get out the yard.
 
I can smell likely disaster I'm afraid. Can you wait a bit longer and save a bit more?

Other than that, like others have said, go for an older, steady, hairy cob type.
 
I understand your desire to buy this chappie, I did the same for my first horse, 16.3hh TB, actually he's in the picture on the left. If you want your OH to maintain an interest in riding go for prettymuch anything other than a TB to start with. When OH has had considerably more experience, then if he wants one, let him go get one, but in the mean time please, please, please, don't for his sake.

My TB has:
Fully reared while being led (spooked)
Cantered me down a main road with cars all about - I had to dissmount during and was lucky enough to land on my feet.
Bitten my Wife & Mother-in-Law.
Bitten one of my cars.
Attacked another gelding and taken a chunk out of his crest.
It took a year of regular shoeing (circa £1000) to ge his feet sorted by our farrier.
Etc, etc, etc.

All this and he is only fed forage and cool mix/chaf.

Don't get me wrong, the TB is the Rolls-Royce of horses, but finding one suitable for a learner is probably near impossile.

Whatever you do or put any horse though is amplified ten fold on a TB, along with their nerves and reactions.

I came off my TB and injured my back and it took me 6 months to pluck up the guts to get back on him, but I did, some may not have.

I was a cocky git, but I am less of one now. LOL

My TB was a lazy armchair when purchased, until he got fitter and then he bacame a handful. But he's part of the family now, probably a bit like an adopted child that turns out to be a headcase!!

Good luck whatever you decide.
 
Think people are being a tad harsh on TBs here, many TBs are brilliant on the roads as, from the start they are used to being hacked out etc and they are great to handle and generally just very very calm. I don't think behaviour is breed specific it's like everyone thinks greyhounds need loads of exercise when in reality they're quite lazy.

My main questions would be how long they've had him, why they are selling him (height can't be the reason really!) and also why he's so thin. My main concern would be the condition as people often will keep a very lively horse underweight to curb it's energy!
 
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