Looking again for a horse

[kateandluelue]

Hello everyone.
I haven’t posted in several years. It’s been a busy few years having kids and riding has been shelved for a bit.

I’m just looking for some advice really. I lost my wonderful
Forever horse a couple of years ago. She was 21 so not old but a long battle with laminitis meant it was very premature. She was my everything.

Her field companion who I have owned for several years, was bought when my forever horse started to slow down and enjoy retirement. She was Missold to me both with rider ability and medical issues and after years of struggles with her behaviour I was advised to retire her by the vet due to behaviour. She’s now enjoying retirement with me.

My youngest child is due to start school in a year, and I’ve been thinking more and more about getting another horse. I’ll have more time to get back into my hobby which I miss dearly. But I’m absolutely terrified. I’ve joined a few Facebook groups and the amount of people being mis sold horses is absolutely terrifying me. Not only because I have kids now and think more than ever about safety and if something would happen to me, but also because I’ve already been Mis sold a horse previously and have paid the price several times with falls and accidents on her.

The more I look and hear and read about people’s experiences, the more I want to just give up and find a new hobby.

I’ve been putting a little bit of money away for a few years so I have a nice budget but even that worries me. I could spend all that money which I have worked so hard to save, and could end up with a delinquent like my other horse.

Does anyone have any advice on where would be a good starting point to look ? What to look for and what to avoid. Is word of mouth the way to go ? If you have got this far you need a medal ! any advice would be great.

Kind regards

 

[Cortez]

Firstly let me say that there is "mis selling", and then there is "mis buying", and acknowledging the difference is important. My advice would be to go and take some lessons from a good iinstructor and get an honest evaluation of your riding skills. They may be able to recommend where to look, or accompany you to viewings. The other advice is to take your time.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

I would talk to @AShetlandBitMeOnce about where she sourced her recent horse from! (He’s lush!)

If you are about ready to buy, tell us what you want, I love a good horse hunt!

 

[Annagain]

I've done it twice in recent years - got it wrong the first time (nobody's fault we just didn't gel) nailed it the second time. Both were actually pretty similar on paper (and Charlie is now dong exactly what I wanted to do with him him with someone else so was definitely as described) Wiggy was just a bit older.

Be really honest with yourself about your riding ability and aspirations, both are likely to be very different after a few years off and with kids in the equation. After years of riding two very reliable horses, I didn't realise how much of my confidence was tied to them and how different it could be with a new horse until I was in that situation.

The best advice I can give is, unless you're hugely experienced at bringing youngsters on and really want to do that, look for a horse who is doing what you want to do now - not one who might be doing it in a year's time. Do your research on reliable dealers - there are plenty of dodgy dealer groups out there to weed out the bad ones - but take all posts with a pinch of salt. As Cortez says, there's a difference between mis-selling ad mis-buying and plenty of buyers are too quick to blame dealers rather than admit their mistake. Charlie was 100% my mistake - I had the skill but not the confidence to take on a youngster - not the seller's.

When you're ready to shop, let us know. You'll get loads of decent recommendations on here.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I would talk to @AShetlandBitMeOnce about where she sourced her recent horse from! (He’s lush!)

If you are about ready to buy, tell us what you want, I love a good horse hunt!

If you're confident and able enough then he has these 4yo's for sale which I quite like...
He has a few ridden in at the moment so worth looking at his page.
Recommend, straight forward, honest and easy to deal with. He is recommended across all the dodgy dealer groups. It is a big change for the youngsters though, so you will have a 'what have I done' couple of weeks or so before they find their feet so be prepared.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Oooooh or slightly older and a bit chunkier...
Sorry I'm getting carried away... I love horse shopping

 

[Glitter's fun]

Hello everyone.
I haven’t posted in several years. It’s been a busy few years having kids and riding has been shelved for a bit.

I’m just looking for some advice really. I lost my wonderful
Forever horse a couple of years ago. She was 21 so not old but a long battle with laminitis meant it was very premature. She was my everything.

Her field companion who I have owned for several years, was bought when my forever horse started to slow down and enjoy retirement. She was Missold to me both with rider ability and medical issues and after years of struggles with her behaviour I was advised to retire her by the vet due to behaviour. She’s now enjoying retirement with me.

My youngest child is due to start school in a year, and I’ve been thinking more and more about getting another horse. I’ll have more time to get back into my hobby which I miss dearly. But I’m absolutely terrified. I’ve joined a few Facebook groups and the amount of people being mis sold horses is absolutely terrifying me. Not only because I have kids now and think more than ever about safety and if something would happen to me, but also because I’ve already been Mis sold a horse previously and have paid the price several times with falls and accidents on her.

The more I look and hear and read about people’s experiences, the more I want to just give up and find a new hobby.

I’ve been putting a little bit of money away for a few years so I have a nice budget but even that worries me. I could spend all that money which I have worked so hard to save, and could end up with a delinquent like my other horse.

Does anyone have any advice on where would be a good starting point to look ? What to look for and what to avoid. Is word of mouth the way to go ? If you have got this far you need a medal ! any advice would be great.

Kind regards

One thing you might find has changed since you were last looking is (in my area at least) quite a few sellers are asking for a video of you riding before they arrange a viewing. So you might want to have someone make a few clips for you.

If you're able to say roughly what area you are in you will get more advice about who to ask.

 

[eahotson]

Firstly let me say that there is "mis selling", and then there is "mis buying", and acknowledging the difference is important. My advice would be to go and take some lessons from a good iinstructor and get an honest evaluation of your riding skills. They may be able to recommend where to look, or accompany you to viewings. The other advice is to take your time.

I would second that and take instructor with you when you go to buy.When I was looking a few years ago someone said to me that "You fall in love with them don't you".I replied that I would fall in love one my instructor and my vet said I could.

 

[Birker2020]

I will be in your situation in a few weeks time and I am already dreading looking, it feels like an impossible dream to buy a horse that isn't damaged or compromised in someway.

I won't be able to supply any videos to sellers as I've not ridden since last year and then I only rode about 15 times, the last time I schooled properly was about 2018 and I'm very out of practice! So going to try a horse is a very daunting process for me.

The only thing I would do differently is show everyone I could a video of the horse I was going to see. But that said I have two vets who both told me there was nothing to be seen on Lari's sales video so I can't win!

You get a feel for the price of horses within the criteria you are looking, so if something seems to good to be true, its usually because it is!

 

[bouncing_ball]

I will be in your situation in a few weeks time and I am already dreading looking, it feels like an impossible dream to buy a horse that isn't damaged or compromised in someway.

I won't be able to supply any videos to sellers as I've not ridden since last year and then I only rode about 15 times, the last time I schooled properly was about 2018 and I'm very out of practice! So going to try a horse is a very daunting process for me.

The only thing I would do differently is show everyone I could a video of the horse I was going to see. But that said I have two vets who both told me there was nothing to be seen on Lari's sales video so I can't win!

You get a feel for the price of horses within the criteria you are looking, so if something seems to good to be true, its usually because it is!

Before you start looking you need to do some riding. Either friend's horses or book some lessons at a riding school (or travel out to training centre). You cant meaningfully trial horses without a level of riding fitness and confidence.

 

[Jambarissa]

I'm buying soon and whilst I'm happily window shopping the sites I feel I'm probably going to buy from a reputable dealer, most give a short trial period and they don't want to lose their good reputation.

Best bet is word of mouth, if you can find a horse that a friend has known for years you'll have a really good idea of whether there's any quirks. After that give it a really good try out, really you need to see it doing what you want it for. If you're buying a competition horse I'd expect them to have videos of an entire sj round or dressage test. If a happy hacker vids of cantering in open spaces and riding in traffic.

Fortunately I think it's moving back towards being a buyers market so you should be able to be more thoughtful and choosy rather than the scramble to buy anything during covid.

 

[Jambarissa]

quite a few sellers are asking for a video of you riding before they arrange a viewing. So you might want to have someone make a few clips for you.

I wasn't aware of this but think it's excellent advice if you are selling. It is amazing how people overrate their ability.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

You ve gotta kiss a few frogs before you meet “the one”…so be prepared to trawl through the ads….learn to read between the lines of the advert…and do your homework..but having said all of that don’t be fearful of the process. There are nice sellers out there who want good homes for their horses..the dealer I recently bought daughters new horse from turned down a prospective buyer (for a different horse) whilst I was there as he did nt feel it was a good match and didn’t want a “missold horse” scenario rebounding on him. Good luck.

 

[SEL]

Get some lessons in and then word of mouth if you haven't bought or owned for a while.

I bought locally and I know the seller asked around about me before agreeing I could come and try. From my perspective they had a good reputation and being local if there were settling issues I couldn't handle then I could ask for help.

I'm really liking those horses posted above!

 

[Glitter's fun]

I wasn't aware of this but think it's excellent advice if you are selling. It is amazing how people overrate their ability.

I've spoken to three dealers who do this now. One of them told me they had just started doing it after a very near miss, where someone was very over horsed and they were lucky she wasn't badly hurt at the viewing. I think its a great idea, if I was selling I'd do it too.

 

[Birker2020]

Before you start looking you need to do some riding. Either friend's horses or book some lessons at a riding school (or travel out to training centre). You cant meaningfully trial horses without a level of riding fitness and confidence.

I'm still too over weight so no one will let me ride yet. Well apart from a lovely lady who was very kind and let me ride hers four or five times, but they've been sold now.

I was in the same situation in Oct 2021 when I tried Lari but had lost 1.25 stone then. Its coming off slowly at the gym.

Never mind, it is what it is (how I hate that saying)

I started on the treadmill last night so going to build that up along with spin/swim