Potential Purchase

[Sparklet]

I am in the process of selling my daughters pony because its time she moved on to horses. Athough I have not looked round for a replacement there is a horse for sale at our yard which does seem to be a possibility.

The horse an ex hurdler, 4 years old by Polar Prince. It ended up being claimed by the YO because the owner got behind with her livery bills (all through a solicitor so I have no worries there).

It has been at our yard for about 10 months and has done absolutely nothing during that time - it has been sat on about three times recently and is really relaxed under the saddle but has no mouth - it has pretty good paces for a TB though.

The YO wants £1200 for it which covers the amount owed by the previous owner (she has said she will increase that if she gets round to advertising).

We can probably loan it for a while so dont have to jump in feet first because it is just wandering about in the field. Does it sound like a good buy?

 

[vicijp]

I would be suspicious about the fact that it is supposed to be an ex hurdler. If it is 4yo now it cant have even run in a hurdle race since it was in your yard, let alone before.

 

[seabiscuit]

How much experience has your daughter got? If she is just moving off ponies might it be better to get something a bit older?
Whats its racing name, can check out its form, would tell if it has had any racing problems/injuries?

 

[dozzie]

It does sound a good buy for a person who has had horses before but I would think you would be better off looking for a more experienced horse for your daughters first horse. It is quite a leap up from a pony to a horse and she would be better off having something to look after her for a few years.

 

[seabiscuit]

[ QUOTE ]
I would be suspicious about the fact that it is supposed to be an ex hurdler. If it is 4yo now it cant have even run in a hurdle race since it was in your yard, let alone before.

[/ QUOTE ]
Good point! must be a flat racer?

 

[vieshot]

I wouldnt worry much about what its done in the past, ex hurdler or not. If you can loan it for a month or two and make sure its suitable then it soounds like you wouldnt be getting a bargain.

 

[vicijp]

[ QUOTE ]
I wouldnt worry much about what its done in the past, ex hurdler or not.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thats not really the issue. The issue is if they are lieing about that, what other crap are they talking?

 

[Sparklet]

I dont know much about racing so I didnt realise that - YO must have got that wrong then but the only info she has is what the previous owner has told her and she didnt really come to see the horse in the 10 months it was at our yard.

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Depends who's doing the lying. If it was the former owner who said horse was ex-racer etc to try to impress them maybe YO is simply taking that on face value.

Sparklett, have the horse 5 stage vetted before you make any decisions..
It may be quiet under saddle as it's fat/unfit....may be totally different with abit of decent food in it's belly and fit?

xx

 

[vieshot]

QUOTE:
Thats not really the issue. The issue is if they are lieing about that, what other crap are they talking?

Well that would all be figured out by a vetting and loan period wouldnt it.

 

[Sparklet]

She is very late moving off ponies mainly due to the fact that we have really struggled with the idea of selling her pony. If she had grown into a bigger chunkier daughter we would have been forced to make the decision much earlier.

She is 18 and has been riding for 10 years. She broke her current pony and has worked at a schooling yard for problem horses as a sat job so I dont have worries on the experience score.

 

[vicijp]

[ QUOTE ]
Well that would all be figured out by a vetting and loan period wouldnt it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Unless you were like me, and could tell if there was anything wrong just by looking at it.

 

[Scarlett]

can you get the horses racing name and then you can find out what its done?

I'd say it sounds like a good buy, especially if you can loan/trial first...

 

[Sparklet]

It would be her third - calling her my daughther makes her sound young I suppose (perhaps you all think I am really young too - how complimentary

) but she is 18. I dont really have worries about her experience.

 

[Parkranger]

[ QUOTE ]
I wouldnt worry much about what its done in the past, ex hurdler or not. If you can loan it for a month or two and make sure its suitable then it soounds like you wouldnt be getting a bargain.

[/ QUOTE ]

Surely the fact that her daughters confidence could be shot to pieces is a valid enough reason not to?

If the horse hasn't done much I really wouldn't want to get it for my daughter (if I had one!) TB's are alot of hard work even when they're 9/10 and have done something! TB cross would be good though for her I would have thought.

PS - alot of TB's have nice paces - don't sound so suprised

 

[Sparklet]

I would agree but I think it is probably more down to the fact that it has been passed around quite a bit - the last owner obviously couldnt afford it - didnt have a lot of experience either so it is probably just as well she hadnt done anything with it. She bought it from her friend who also couldnt afford it. I suspect it kept getting sold with a bit extra added on to its career.

 

[Sparklet]

Oh why are you too far away

- can you tell from pictures/video?

 

[vieshot]

QUOTE:
Surely the fact that her daughters confidence could be shot to pieces is a valid enough reason not to?

You clearly didnt read my post properly. It stated 'loan it for a month or two to MAKE SURE ITS SUITABLE!!!!!!!'

 

[Sparklet]

Yes the YO has the passport - where do I find out about its previous form from?

 

[seabiscuit]

Find out form on the www.racingpost.co.uk Its free to register.Will give all details of who trained him, what races he did, how much layoff he had ( which would be a sign that he has suffered injuries) and if he went through the sales, how often he was sold and how much he was. You can also watch videos of him racing on www.attheraces.com

PM me a pic if you like!

 

[Sparklet]

Really my daughter has worked with problem horses before and I dont have any worries an experience/confidence level.

I know about TB's too - my own horse is a 7/8 16.3 TB and she jumps her for me because I dont like jumping. I know about them having good paces too because my girl does BD and has just qualified again for the regionals and her paces and hind activity are usually picked up by the judges.

I actually really like a 'good' TB's paces they look so loose and elegant when working softly without tension.

 

[Sparklet]

Wow cheers for that - he's a she

, but that sounds brilliant - she doesnt look much at the moment - horrible straight neck and absolutely no topline and a bit too ribby.

 

[brightmount]

If your daughter is 18 and experienced, and if you can loan the horse for a couple of months, I don't think you have much to lose. I would be inclined to give it a go.

 

[henryhorn]

I would try and discover a little more about it's history to be honest, but if it had anything dire wrong it should have been apparent over the last year you've known it.
I would ask for a short term loan of a month to see how the partnership works, some Tb's are very quiet and if so and your daughter is experienced with similar horses I can't see any harm in trying it out.
I would however suggest finding a good instuctor to steer th partnership along, it'svery easy to wreck a young horse by doing too much too soon especially if it seems talented.
We've had a few ex racehorses and several were fabulous. We also had one who had been dumped on us with two others from a trainer and after a couple of years my husband rode it out. He came back saying it hadn't a clue and was totally unschooled.
Next day he went out again and returned with a huge beam on his face. Sitting on it he demonstrated far from being unschooled it was in fact western trained and by the feel of it had never had a conventional set of tack on before.
he could spin, stop dead, neck rein etc and with schooling did HT and Sj afterwards. We later found out he had been imported from the USA as he Trainer's Hack..and was a quarter horse of sorts.
Going back to your horse, if it seems to suit you the price is fine..

 

[Parkranger]

[ QUOTE ]
Really my daughter has worked with problem horses before and I dont have any worries an experience/confidence level.

I know about TB's too - my own horse is a 7/8 16.3 TB and she jumps her for me because I dont like jumping. I know about them having good paces too because my girl does BD and has just qualified again for the regionals and her paces and hind activity are usually picked up by the judges.

I actually really like a 'good' TB's paces they look so loose and elegant when working softly without tension.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry - always quick to defend a TB

Well sounds like your daughter might be just the ticket for the horse.....can she try her a few times? Not sure about the price if she hasn't done much though

 

[Sparklet]

Forrest has given me some pretty good links to check out her previous form. There may be difficulties going back beyond my YO who to be fair probably doesnt know a great deal about her. She was claimed as the result of an unpaid livery bill so I dont suspect the previous owner will be that forthcoming but I did have a conversation with her one (probably her one visit to the yard!) and she said she had got her from a friend because the friend couldnt afford to keep her.

I suspect she came through the sales originally so the risk will always be there and she could have hidden injuries but the sale now is quite genuine. YO has always planned to sell her to recoup lost livery money and the price is low because of that - she is not supposed to make a profit just cover costs. If she advertises she will have to add advertising money on.

We have always had regular lessons and they would continue - I know if we did get her I wouldnt necessarily want to start the ridden lessons too fast because I would prefer to start her again by lunging and hacking until she gets a bit fitter. I would certainly be taking advice along the way - daughters first pony was unbroken when we got her and we did make some errors with her so know the importance of a good start.

We can cope with forward going and hopefully with correct training we can avoid the stressy stuff.

 

[Sparklet]

Thats okay - there are a lot of people quick to criticise them arent there?

Do you think she is overpriced?

 

[exracemad]

My first horse was an ex-racer (and all the rest!). The best decision I ever made!!

Also if you wanted to check it's breeding you could put her race name into http://www.pedigreequery.com and find out his breeding.

And if your daughter had worked with problem horses then surely she would be experienced enough anyway. I'd say go for it.. especially if you can trial it for a couple of weeks first.

Good luck, what ever you choose to do

 

[evsj]

There was an 18 year old girl at my last yard with an ex-racer and she managed him absolutely fine. The only nightmare she had was paying for all his shoes on her wages -he couldn't keep them on for more than a couple of weeks!

If the horse id reasonably sound and not too screwed up then why not? 1200 seems reasonable, might be than YO just wants rid because she knows they take a lot of work and time + can't be arsed with it. I am sure your daughter would learn loads from bringing him on.

 

[faerie666]

There are 3yo hurdle races run on the continent. Could have come from France for example.