Looking at horse this week...Any thoughts on him?!

I think he's cute! And I want a horse called Smurf :)

I reckon you'll probably find he rides a bit greener than the advert implies, and bear in mind he has had an experienced male on his back, but certainly worth a look :)
 
I know James (the rider in the picture), he comes to our yard to do jumping clinics and rides one of my YO's horses - with the YO's horse he qualified for Burghley young event horse last year!

He is a very talented eventer and gets the best out of all his horses, so I think you will be getting a fantastic horse with this grey. James imports a lot of horses from Ireland (he's Irish himself and spends a lot of time over there) so this grey sounds like another of his 'finds'.

He is a little pricey for a 5 year old, but then again for a 5 year old he has done a lot and if he is winning at BE90 already then sounds like he has a lot of potential.

You have got a talented rider there working with him and a lovely looking horse, so if you get on well when you go to see him then I'd snap him up, James will have done a lot of work with him already (I think he's been at James' yard since early December) so I'd be fairly certain you are getting a great horse.

Here is James' Facebook page if you want more info - http://www.facebook.com/#!/JamesEventing?fref=ts

Good luck and let us know how you get on!
 
That's great to hear good things about James! I spoke to James, 'lovely Irish accent', who said he brought him over from Ireland around then.

Smurf sounds such a cool dude. Trying not to be too excited, but very much looking forward to going to see him!

Been looking since December for the right horse, after having to have both of ours put down, so we are looking for a special horse to replace my special boys!
 
I think he looks really nice and is nicely ridden which is the kind of background you want a young horse to have. I assume that you are looking for a young horse that will take a couple of years to produce (with all the ups and downs that involves), so I would go have a ride on him and see how he feels. I don't think the price is unreasonable for a quality horse with a decent temperament and good upbringing so far.
 
He seems expensive for a 5 year old who came from ireland last month.

Nice though, especially if he is as good as he sounds. Beware that he may only be getting those results because he is being ridden by someone talented and experienced and may still be very green. He might not be a horse that an average leisure rider could pilot round a similar level of competition.

Also if you are planning to compete him check out where you would stand with points etc. It can be a pain if a horse is imported.
 
He is a nice type but I think he will be green as he's clearly being very well ridden .In the photo in the add I think you can see the greenness in the jump.
He will be a project he's not not long out of Ireland if I went to see him I would be expecting to see a green inexperianced horse well packaged for sale .
For me I think his necks a bit short and he's working overbent and is clearly on his forehand another clue hes packaged for sale no problem with that just factors to be considering when you think about your choice price etc.
The only thing that would worry me was the very dead way he landed over the fence but that's one fence and it would not stop me viewing a horse that ticked the suitability boxes within the boundarys of the search.
 
I like him. Hope it goes well. Fingers crossed, let us know.

My mare's sire is his grandsire, and a friend had a horse with the same sire. Both were wonderful jumpers, bold as brass and very honest. Both rather keen and slightly hot, but lovely. I would always look at horses with that line!
 
He looks sweet, nothing more to add really but the price does seem high. I reckon 'James' will probably be scoring about 4k out of this sale :o

I'm in the wrong business.
 
Looks like a nice type and the price is what you would expect from a producer type dealer for a youngish horse with a lot of potential. He may clear £4K from the purchase price (but who knows, they are not as cheap as you think from Ireland) but he will have put in a lot of sweat-equity. Good luck!
 
I think he looks nice, and I love greys. Would say £6.5k is quite high if he has only been here a month. I would expect that price for something that had been worked on by an experienced rider for 3 or 4 months +

If thats the type of horse you are looking for I can PM you details about the dealer I got mine from (not sure if I am allowed to post that publicly), I know a few people who have got horses from them and although they are all very green they are nice eventing types, 4 or 5 yr olds, £3000 - £5000, all from Ireland.
 
Let us know how you get on. Agree with comments about potential greenness and slightly higher price tag - I also know someone who knows the seller well. Suspect he will have had a fair bit of work on him to get him ready to sell and you may be paying partly for that and partly for potential which can't really be gauranteed at this level/age, but worth looking at. He's got a couple of nice looking ones for sale iirc.
 
Nicely presented by a capable rider, I think i heard him clatter the poles in the vid,
well overpriced, don't be blinded by the prettiness of the horse or the lovely irish accent of the vendor.

I wonder how long it took to get the 22second video?

Do you have someone to go with you to view/video you riding etc?
 
Funny how we come at different angles on this. He may only have been over here for a couple of months but now has a decent record behind him. The risk has been removed. A well bred and put together completely green ISH would cost around £4-£5k ish and then you have the work to put in yourself. Think he is priced reasonably and actually, think at that height etc will sell pretty easily - sure you can make a bit of an offer but think it will need to be in that vicinity. My only concern would be that he was produced by a good professional as would want to ensure I could still ride the horse!
 
Maybe I'm being silly, but I'm suspicious about the lack of "Good to shoe, box, clip, catch, good with farrier and dentist, all vacs up to date, no vices and good in every way" kind of thing. For that money, I'd want all round perfection. :)
 
Nice horse, but read the advert again.

Five year old ? is he six this spring or 5 ? if he is coming 5 this time, and having come from Ireland just 2 months ago that is very likely, he has done heck of a lot in his short ridden life. Hunted in Ireland - very likely, aged 3.

Unless you are very experienced at looking at irish imports, you need to take someone with you.

What the advert actually says is - green as grass, nicely bred young irish horse, galloped over a few banks in Ireland, sold into the UK to a very experienced man who has anchored the horse into a shape for a few seconds of filming, now waiting for a lot of money from a nice young lady who might have a bit of a surprise after 6 weeks of owning the green as grass young horse, in its new routine of lots of food and not enough gaffering or work.

No offence meant to prospective purchaser or the vendor, but I have seen and tried a lot of these irish imports, bought one and was a cracker. They are green and they do change when they come out of the dealers yards.

Good luck, if he is the one for you, put the very best vet in you can.
 
Agree with waffles- lots of Irish horses don't do picking up feet or tying up or loading very well- so this not being in advert would worry me to.
Take someone with experience of Irish imports who can remind Otto check these things.
You maybe ok and have a diamond tho.
 
Dizzydancer said:
Agree with waffles- lots of Irish horses don't do picking up feet or tying up or loading very well- so this not being in advert would worry me to.
Take someone with experience of Irish imports who can remind Otto check these things.
You maybe ok and have a diamond tho.
Click to expand...

And lots of Irish horses are a dream!! Mine self loads, will stand tied up all day if he had to and I can pick feet up from opposite side. He is also very intelligent so gets bored quite quickly. All the horses on our yard are like this! Mine is rising 7 and has acted the same way since he was 4. Most Irish horses are sane and sensible

OP I think he looks very sweet and yes he may be a bit green he also looks uncomplicated and with good potential. If you were looking for a horse like that in Ireland he would be around the same price; I live in Ireland and anything with a bit of quality and potential to be nice still goes for good money.

If I were looking I would want to go have a look!
 
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