Looking to buy safe horse - SW area

MumofWhiz

MumofWhiz

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Hi, I wonder if I can ask your advice please. My friend and I are looking to buy a horse for us to to share - we’re looking at 15.2 plus schoolmaster type as I’m 5’9 and my friend 5’7 that is a really nice safe allrounder to hack, dressage and maybe low jumps (up to 75cm - don't bounce as well now that we're both over 40!). Both of us plan to join the local riding club and have lessons from the livery owner to keep our riding up to scratch and she will school our horse too. We want an off the leg type horse (NOT a plod that you have to kick along), but do need it to be very sensible in open spaces and great to hack both alone and in company. We have just found a wonderful livery yard right on Badminton Estate and want to be able to enjoy a nice canter without fearing we can't stop or the horse will take off!! Bearing in mind the location of the yard, it would be useful if it doesn't blow its brains every time the hunt is in the area!! Also we need for our children to be able to ride it (supervised of course) so must be able to put up with novice riders. It is vital that the horse is safe and we are happy to overlook some things in order to get our horse that we can enjoy and have some fun on but want it to be a nice person to be around.

Are we being realistic with what we are looking for or are we in cloud cuckoo land? Does anyone know of any such paragons of good virtue? We can afford around £4k for the right horse, possibly more. We are based in Bristol and Malmesbury. We are willing to travel and have literally only just started looking (had to wait till now for our husband's approval!) and are happy to wait for the right horse.

Many thanks :).


NOTE TO MODS: I had posted very similar last night but title was misleading - I realise it can't be deleted so had to start new thread. Please delete the previous thread; thank you.
 
from experience searching to buy a horse it may take you more time to find what you are looking for. A good horse is worth waiting for but it can seem frustrating when you have a empty stable waiting for your new horse. Good luck you will learn a lot along the way.
 
Hey, exciting that you're entering the horse buying world. Depends a lot on what level you're riding at and how experienced at handling horses. If you're both starting out, my main advice would be get some experienced help - take them with you when trying any horse. write a list of questions and 'must have' critieria beforehand so you reference it and ask the right info. See the horse doing the things you mainly want to do - tacked up, handled, ridden in school, hacked out, if you can. Visit twice preferably. Ask lots of questions! Aks for videos and photos before you visit. Get a five stage vetting.

And when home continue with getting regular help and do your research on handling etc. Maybe even do the bhs owners course.

It's fabulous and fun and there are these types of horses around but they are not common and often don't have 100% of what you want, so think about what the real basics are. The rest you may be able to train. Or go for older, a been there done it type with someone at a similar level to you. Go for a private sale if you can as you tend to get more of its history. Be prepared to travel lots and spend a lot of time seeing stuff that isn't suitable, but when you find a good un, I reckon you'll know it.

Ideally, get a recommendation from a friend or go for a horse that someone knows. The horse world can be surprisingly small so start asking around local yards and riding clubs. A fab little 15.1 came up on my FB feed yesterday that sounds awesome. I don't know it but an ins tagged it which makes me think it's a good one. Too small for you though? South east.
 
Maybe try local riding clubs/pony clubs to see if they know of anything for sale. The hunt itself may also be worth an ask. Good luck with your search - be patient, these type of horses are like hens teeth. Perhaps consider a wanted ad too?
 
Many thanks everyone for your responses. We have both owned horses before, just had a long break in between though I have been part loaning a Welsh Section D for 8 months which ended very recently so am well up to speed on looking after the horse etc and have been having regular lessons. We are going to see horses with just us, then if we like it will go back again with the lady who runs the yard we are moving the horses to (she is an experienced rider) and it goes without saying that we will get a 5 stage vetting done. We are more than happy with an older horse that has done it all as I feel this is the sort we will learn from. I have mentioned to a few people that we are looking and my instructor is looking out for us too.

This is going to take time and we're not going to rush into the first one we see - the whole thing is a journey and finding the right one is just the first step on a long road! Exciting though!!

Here's a few we like the look of. My friend says minimum 15.2 as she's used to bigger horses so thank you Bernster but I think the 15.1 would be too small.

http://https://www.righthorserighthome.co.uk/horse/all-rounder-motherfathersondaughter/

and 'Clover' on EJC Equine on Facebook. Here is her description:
16hh 12 year old Irish bay mare.
Clover hill blood lines
Clover is a lovely straight forward ride she’s snaffle mouthed and works nicely on the flat she has three nice paces and is a easy type to keep together .
Clover has a super scopey jump she has 57 Irish showjumping points. She loves her jumping easy to ride into a fence and is bold and brave.
We have hacked her alone and in company where she has proved to be sensible in heavy traffic.
Clover would make a lovely all rounder for somebody or even a happy hacker .
She’s open to any vetting
Instructors welcome
£2950
Tewkesbury Gloucester
07900584903
 
Any dealers you are thinking of going to it is worth doing a search on the various facebook pages on dealers to see if their name(s) come up.

IME it can be tricky buying for multiple people even if looking at a box ticker rather than one you feel it with. We have done it twice. Once as a family share (mum/aunty two teens) this didn't really work that well as the horse suited one person better than everyone else. Secondly we bought two horses for three of us, in the end they did end up being the horses of two people. One suits me best, one suits mum best, sister left the country.
 
Oh yes Ester, we are definitely researching dealers etc - no worries! It would be wonderful to have 2 but budget simply won't stretch to that. Maybe in the future we could, who knows but for now not an option.
 
Making progress with our hunt for our new horse. Have a viewing tomorrow and another one the beginning of March. We were due to see one today but she's not quite sound (clip came off the shoe and farrier had to patch up with cotton wool) so will wait. My friend isn't available next week but from then on we'll be able to resume looking.

Two of the horses are with dealers (Juliet Clarke and EJC Equine) and they both have excellent reputations. I've also contacted some instructors/dressage/event riders to see if they can keep an eye out for us too. I'll keep you posted if that's OK?
 
Fingers crossed :)

I wasn't trying to put too much of a downer on anything, just that it might take longer as if one loves the horse the other might not etc. All three of us were similar size/ability/requirements when looking, we ended up with two very different horses and the second one ticked many more of the right boxes (older, experienced, dark coloured gelding) but even after 13 years him and mum don't click and him and sister have a tricky relationship whereas for me he has been my absolute rock of a pony!
 
That's fine Ester, I quite understand! Just going to go with an open mind and see what we can find - at the end of the day though my friend is paying for the horse and I am giving her a monthly contribution towards the costs so she gets final say. We have both said though that if other one doesn't like the horse we won't go any further but I am more than happy to compromise unless I feel really strongly about something.

Been in touch with another dealer - Abbie at Hart Equine - she has 2 really nice sounding ones which we will go and see at the beginning of March.
 
MOW what area are you in? Had anothe horse pop up on my FB, nice looking Irish 16.1 gelding 6yo. Will prob be a bit green in the school but worth a look. I'm maybe biased but that's exactly what my boy was when I got him, through the same connection who's tagged this one, and he's been awesome!
 
Sorry just seen you are SW. This one is in Herts so prob too far. They are around though and this one does look like the veritable unicorn poo (provided you are prepared to put a bit of work into a younger model) so that they hopefully do exist! Good luck.
 
Thank you Bernster. I think what we are looking at is a really nice RC type horse/schoolmaster type. I'd say we are both intermediate level riders - wouldn't have the skills to bring on a horse though would love to through instruction (which we will be having) but don't want to over face ourselves with something too much for us. Got a few people looking out for us and have decided now it's just for me and Pauline to ride rather than the kids. My husband would like to sit on the horse too (learned to ride in the Army) but we'll have to see about that!!
 
MumofWhiz said:
Thank you Bernster. I think what we are looking at is a really nice RC type horse/schoolmaster type. I'd say we are both intermediate level riders - wouldn't have the skills to bring on a horse though would love to through instruction (which we will be having) but don't want to over face ourselves with something too much for us. Got a few people looking out for us and have decided now it's just for me and Pauline to ride rather than the kids. My husband would like to sit on the horse too (learned to ride in the Army) but we'll have to see about that!!
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Sounds sensible. This one seems like the former but not the latter

I wouldnt discount a really good 6yo though. I'd say I'm intermediate and have had great fun with my boy, def doable with the right help, unless you want something really ready to go compete now. That said they all take some time and my thread on 'buy it or train' was very revealing and made me feel much better having gone for the younger model!
 
Tricky isn't it; we are in no rush; have plenty of time and are willing to travel for the right horse. We're going to join the local riding club too and they have regular rallies at our new yard so will get assistance, not thrown into the deep end not knowing what to do!
 
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