Pros and cons of buying a youngster....please tell

[twiggy2]

my mare ive had for 13 yrs, she is now 29, so was 16 when I got her! I couldn't hack out in company as she would bolt, jog, stress out and even started biting her own tongue through the stress of it all! took me 5-6yrs before I could really trust her, now I wouldn't change her for the world but the first years where terrible.

if the horse was backed before you got it you could have found this out before buying, with a youngster there is no way you could check for this before parting with lots of time and some money.

 

[OwnedbyJoe]

Having done both...
After 20 years of buying green broken horses, I got fed up with fixing other people's issues so went and bought a 2 year old. He has turned out to be an absolute gem, possibly the boldest calmest horse I have ever owned. But I don't take much credit for this: I give most of the credit to the bossy, nasty, mature mare that he was thrown into a paddock with for the first 6 months after I got him! Even now, she teaches him as much as I do! I am about to start the whole process again having been "given" a foal: she is currently 4 months old: she has been halter broken and learnt to pick up her feet, now she is back in the paddock learning to be a horse for a few months.
The good: 1. It's all your own work. 2. The bond with them can be very strong. 3. You get tremendous pride out of the process.
The bad: 1. It's all your own work. If it goes wrong, no one to blame but yourself. 2. Time.... I see far too many people buy babies and wreck them by doing too much with them because it is their only horse. They need time and SPACE and a herd living situation to grow up to be healthy and nice: babies kept stabled and put through endless hours of groundwork end up pissed off and sour before anyone even puts a saddle on them. Be prepared to chuck them in a paddock on a hillside and ignore them for 6 months at a time: it does them the world of good.
It's a fine balancing act between making them polite and well exposed to "life" and frying their brains. I would always buy a youngster to "overlap" with my current riding horse so that I can resist the urge to "do stuff" with them because I am bored...
all that said, if I had an infinite budget I would still go and buy a "made" horse over a baby: I'm time poor and I like to be able to just get on and ride...

 

[debsflo]

Been to stud farm today which was brilliant. lots of food for thought...

 

[twobearsarthur]

Tears, tantrums (me and my filly).
An aching body, sleepless nights, worrying what today's worry will be about.
All forgotten when it goes right and you did it together. That bond you only get with the blood sweat and tears you produce when you take on a baby.
My husband has asked why didn't you get one that was "done"?
I say "That would have been too easy"

 

[Leo Walker]

Since I got decked by a horse a few years ago I have mainly had youngsters. I didnt ride for a while after that incident and was lucky enough to be able to run on a herd of 3 or 4 of them. I raised them to backing age and sold them to good homes. I was very fussy where they went and could be as I didnt need to sell them. Not one of them made the height and/or stamp they were supposed to!

I then got a riding horse again and stupidly went for a broken in older horse. That lovely specimen was mis sold and ended up with me fracturing my spine. Lesson learrnt! While I was recovering from that I bought a 2.5yr old, mainly because I could tell roughly what sort of horse he would make and I knew his history from birth. Hes a superstar but sadly I've had huge setbacks in my recovery and whether I will ever ride again is up in the air, but as I bought him knowing he was bred to drive it doesnt really matter

Despite the most lovely natural upbringing and deliberately picking nicely bred, nicely natured young horses they have all pushed me to the limits at times! And my background was a ridiing instructor who had also done a full season as a stud groom on a yard full of sharp show horses, as well as a fair whack of time as cannon fodder for a dodgy dealer who got done by trading standards!

I for one wont ever have another ready made horse, but I expect to pay the price either financially or in work put in. And never ever expect them to turn out how you want!

All that aside its THE most rewarding thing ever!

 

[Highlands]

I love it, my highland however nearly ended in disaster. Brought at 3 as sat on. Left till 4 , unfortunately we listened to my aunt to send him not to someone we wanted to. This person is a local professional. Pony got out and was out all night , caught just before he got to the main road ( found this out after). It was our first experience, 7 weeks later pony was still on a lead rope and was evil.

Luckily I had worked with this pony and was experienced enough to say stop , turned pony away and rang a native expert telling him the whole story. He agreed to have pony at 5. Turned away and at 5 sent him away. He was ridden day two, cantering day 7 and I was riding him day 10. He was well worth the wait as I adore him.

Have since backed another two and soon to be 3.

Forgot to say .... Training, breaking , lessons con... Expensive but outweighed for me by having my dream pony!

 

[gnubee]

Pros: you get the horse you make. Every day brings new challenges. You get to watch the horse evolve (height, conformation, abilities, temperament).
Cons: as above.

If you can live with buying a 16.1 horse to jump affiliated and ending up with a 15.2 that wont jump competetively and prefers dressage then go for it. If not you will want to make sure you are realy pinned down on the breeding lines and/or prepared to sell on and try again if it doesnt turn out as planned.

 

[oldie48]

my friend bought a year old colt ID/TB. It has cost a huge amount to back and bring on as it's turned out to be quite tricky. It's bigger than she wanted and favours the ID, so quite broad with a lot of bone. Basically, it's a horse she wouldn't have bought. She struggles with it on a daily basis but she wouldn't really recoup her money if she sold it and frankly she have to sell it as a bit of a project as she's been too afraid to do much with it. She's owned horses all her life and brought on a youngster in the past, but sometimes you just can't tell what you are going to get.

 

[mega spoilt ponies]

I got my youngster as a 10 month old colt (hes not 7) and did everything myself (backing him bareback in a headcollar!). Most rewarding thing ive ever done, we have an amazing bond and know each other really well. I would definately second the fact that its not a cheap option, for e.g them needing saddle fits/new saddles every five minutes! And rugs

Sadly he is now chronically lame and ive been deciding whether to do it again from scratch or get a ready to go. Looking at horses ready to compete, the only thing im seeing ishorses that are being sold for a reason! There are few genuine, e.g outgrown sales. If the horses were that good they would not be being sold.

So ive decided i dont want to inherit somebody elses mistakes, so am going for the blank canvas option. Then any problems are of my own making!

 

[debsflo]

ive found the horses i want rarely come on the market,nice quality but safe sensible allrounders and i am now quite cynical about sellers. The stud has a good reputation and i explained my situation fully re my experience facilities and help and they were positive. Realistically i may do lots of reading and prep this year with a view to starting next spring /summer. The pros definatley seem to outweigh the cons. Daughter and i will both be invollved ....thanks everyone....

 

[minigal]

Mine is a sad story but probably a rarer case. I bought a beautiful youngster at 2. He was the softest most gentle pony I ever had the pleasure of knowing. I kept him out with company and regular handling till he was 4 and he went and was professionally backed which took 8 weeks -he went to Janet George's actually and was proclaimed to be one of the easiest nicest horses they have ever backed. I then took him home and literally hacked for a year as he was very immature physically. Eventually we progressed into the school and doing some jumping when he was around 5 and things started to go wrong. He just wasn't right - couldn't put my finger on it but I began to get nervous riding him.

I gave myself a lot of kicks up the bum and we plodded on and then we took him to a low level clear round and with no warning whatsoever he reared and sat on someone's car. Then reared and pissed off round the car park. I was heartbroken. So I took him straight to the vets that week where he had a full lameness work up and diagnosed with hock arthritis - really dreadful. Had steroid injections and bite and made big progress though I had at this point completely lost my nerve, hated riding him (though loved him dearly) he was declared sound a few weeks later so I started thinking about putting him on loan/selling him but he then deteriorated again. Vet back out and watched him being ridden, lots of scuttling, back end giving way, lots of anxiety. Diagnosed with severe sacroiliac issues and advised to retire or pts though there were a couple of options they weren't something I was going to put him through. Happily his breeder offered to take him back for a few years of Dr green but unbelievably he broke a front leg in the field the next day and was pts. I am weirdly grateful for him taking the decision out of my hands but it was absolutely horrendous.

I now have a 10 year old little cob who has plenty of issues but is safe to hack and I am loving every second with him.

I will never buy a youngster again as I put everything into that horse and to lose it is soul destroying. I want to know a horse can stand up to work and has been tested out.

 

[Boxers]

Mine is a sad story but probably a rarer case. I bought a beautiful youngster at 2. He was the softest most gentle pony I ever had the pleasure of knowing. I kept him out with company and regular handling till he was 4 and he went and was professionally backed which took 8 weeks -he went to Janet George's actually and was proclaimed to be one of the easiest nicest horses they have ever backed. I then took him home and literally hacked for a year as he was very immature physically. Eventually we progressed into the school and doing some jumping when he was around 5 and things started to go wrong. He just wasn't right - couldn't put my finger on it but I began to get nervous riding him.

I gave myself a lot of kicks up the bum and we plodded on and then we took him to a low level clear round and with no warning whatsoever he reared and sat on someone's car. Then reared and pissed off round the car park. I was heartbroken. So I took him straight to the vets that week where he had a full lameness work up and diagnosed with hock arthritis - really dreadful. Had steroid injections and bite and made big progress though I had at this point completely lost my nerve, hated riding him (though loved him dearly) he was declared sound a few weeks later so I started thinking about putting him on loan/selling him but he then deteriorated again. Vet back out and watched him being ridden, lots of scuttling, back end giving way, lots of anxiety. Diagnosed with severe sacroiliac issues and advised to retire or pts though there were a couple of options they weren't something I was going to put him through. Happily his breeder offered to take him back for a few years of Dr green but unbelievably he broke a front leg in the field the next day and was pts. I am weirdly grateful for him taking the decision out of my hands but it was absolutely horrendous.

I now have a 10 year old little cob who has plenty of issues but is safe to hack and I am loving every second with him.

I will never buy a youngster again as I put everything into that horse and to lose it is soul destroying. I want to know a horse can stand up to work and has been tested out.

So sorry to hear of your experience. Mine was similar and Debsflo (OP) knows about it anyway.
But we bought a just 3 yr old and after 2 yrs of ownership he started playing up and threw my daughter several times. Anyway the upshot was that he had severe OCD in both his stifles and we took the dreadfully heartbreaking decision to PTS. It was the hardest thing ever. However, this isn't the only reason I would not have a youngster again. We found it was much harder than we had imagined. We had some very expert help but given the choice I would buy a carefully selected ready made in the future.

 

[debsflo]

The problem is even carefully selected ready mades get broken as i also know. Think you just have to weigh the pros and cons and go with what feels right but also be realistic that life with horses rarely goes to plan. That much i have learnt...

 

[windand rain]

Personally I would never buy a ready made again I have had far more problems with temperament, ocd and arthritis in horses that have been started far too soon than ever in one I raised myself and backed at older than 4. Perhaps it is just me but I really like to know my horses on the floor and in every possible situation, this is only really achieved if you raise them yourself from foals. To be honest any horse can get sick, be bred with genetic issues that are not known of or have accidents so the above tales would equally apply to a horse of any age

 

[Boxers]

The problem is even carefully selected ready mades get broken as i also know. Think you just have to weigh the pros and cons and go with what feels right but also be realistic that life with horses rarely goes to plan. That much i have learnt...

That's very true unfortunately.

 

[minigal]

Literally horses for courses!! Someone has to buy the older guys else they would all just waste away in fields- oh wait this is on the increase!! I also have a 23 year old gelding who I took on 2 years ago without even seeing him in the flesh. He is the best horse I have ever known and has given me the best two riding years of my life. It's just the flip side to the coin not all older horses are ruined and problematic. The two horses I took a punt on, my old guy and my coblet are so far proving far more durable then my carefully considered youngster purchase and my first horse who I lost at 12.

I'm happy with my two that's all that matters I hope you find your perfect horse too.

 

[debsflo]

Literally horses for courses!! Someone has to buy the older guys else they would all just waste away in fields- oh wait this is on the increase!! I also have a 23 year old gelding who I took on 2 years ago without even seeing him in the flesh. He is the best horse I have ever known and has given me the best two riding years of my life. It's just the flip side to the coin not all older horses are ruined and problematic. The two horses I took a punt on, my old guy and my coblet are so far proving far more durable then my carefully considered youngster purchase and my first horse who I lost at 12.

I'm happy with my two that's all that matters I hope you find your perfect horse too.

i have a perfect horse but she is 22 and am planning for the next 20 years now, big boots to fill though...