Process of buying

[TheSubwayDino]

Hi all,
I'm currently close to getting my own horse in 1-3 years time and now I'm in that sort of realisation it isn't that long I'm starting to get quite anxious... I tend to stress out even if it isn't happening in a while lol.
I was thinking about a how a week of start to finish regarding viewing, vetting, failed vettings ect. Went for you and did it all happen in one week, did it take you a while to consider buying them, were they local ect. and just other bits and advice!


Thank you ?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

This is a quiet area of the forum, it might be worth posting your question in The Tack Room. https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/the-tack-room.79/

Chestnut mare. I found a space at a local livery yard and then I started to look at adverts. I wanted a very specific type of horse so having looked at various ads. I found somewhere approx an hour away with more than one horse that fitted my list, so I arranged a viewing. I liked two horses but one was definitely my favourite. I had a second viewing after she'd been schooled a bit more, decided to go ahead with a vetting, she passed and delivery was arranged to the livery yard. I paid cash on delivery. From talking to the yard to having the horse delivered was maybe 6 weeks. It was a while ago so I don't remember exactly.

Grey filly (now mare) and chestnut gelding. I have bought youngsters too but the whole process took longer. The grey needed to be a bit older before travelling so there was about 6 months between viewing and delivery. She was several hours away. The chestnut I wasn't looking for, he needed a home and it took me a bit of thinking time plus two viewing before I decided to go ahead. He was local.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

What specifically are you getting anxious about? If you could pinpoint what you're worried about then you could come up with a plan.

When we were looking for a new horse for my daughter the whole process took around four months.

We started by writing down what we wanted - age range, experience, distance from home (I stipulated no more than 3 hours as I was the one doing the driving), my daughter had a marginal preference for a mare but a non-boring gelding would have been fine too. We then started looking at ads for horses in our budget. We also put a deposit down to hold a stable at a livery yard (which turned out to be the wrong yard but we managed to find a much better one when we actually had the horse).

The next few weeks were pretty soul-destroying to be honest ... we missed out on several likely-sounding prospects as we could only view at weekends as my daughter was at school and by the time we got to the weekend, they'd already been sold. We also viewed ones which weren't 100% sound or had a dirty stop or just didn't have the 'fizz' my daughter was looking for. We had two failed vettings and were starting to wonder if we'd ever find anything when we spotted an ad for a mare of the right age and right experience but with a very non-descript photo of a bay horse against a brown background. Once we'd tried her and sent videos to my daughter's instructor and decided we wanted to buy her, it took just over a week to organise the vetting, get the results of strangles test and worm count which were required by the yard she was moving to, and sort transport to get her home. We'd booked the saddler to come the following day so were ready to get going pretty much as soon as she arrived.

 

[TheSubwayDino]

Aw and that's such a lovely story! And I honestly think everything is my biggest worry. I'm pretty much alone for the whole process sadly and as I'm responsible for the whole process of forming my own option and a second opinion as well as traveling I think that's the yikes part. I don't work on a yard anymore and lost touch with horsey friends so being alone during the whole process is something that is definitely putting me off. I'd usually turn to the internet for opinions but I don't think that'd be too appropriate or I'll end up with a variety of opinions and some more picky than others.. Sorry for the long message ?

 

[Wishfilly]

Decided to buy, and started researching local livery options. Put a deposit on a stable that was the most convenient/suitable.

Started looking and was viewing 1/2 horses a weekend. Most weren't quite right for whatever reason (a lot were about a hand smaller than advertised, for starters). Vetted one and the vet had some concerns, so pulled out of that one. Started looking further afield and viewed a few ponies about 2 hours from home over a weekend. Liked one, got a vetting during the week, arranged transport for the weekend after that (about 2 weeks all in, luckily the seller had her own land so didn't mind me taking a bit of time with it).

Overall, it probably took at least 2 months.

I'd maybe try to have some lessons before looking, so you have someone to offer a second opinion (even just on video) and so you're used to riding unfamiliar horses!

 

[[59668]]

1 - 3 years is a very long time. I wouldn't stress about it now