Shes kidding herself, isnt she??

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Cathey

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Yesterday my friend at work decided that she was going to buy herself a horse again after a 5 or 6 year break from riding and owning. Now in all honesty i dont think that she has the funds available to buy something suitable for her. She is 5'10" ish and erm well slightly 'heavy set' shall we say and she has all of £800 to spend
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she is deluding herself. Oh and she also needs something that will live out all year as shes decided to keep it at the livery yard i am on despite grass livery being the only thing available at the moment. And she needs something that will boost her confidence and be like a 1st horse all over again....ALL FOR £800!! Then she suggested going to Henley market and seeing what she could buy, fat chance of a safe, sane, sound, well mannered and suitable horse from there.

Now my advice was yes ill ask YO how much grass livery is, get some riding lessons again, come to the yard with me a couple of times and groom and tack up etc then look for a horse on loan. Im dubious as to whether she can even ride at all after she told me that her and her godfather brought a 16.2hh Hanovarian ex race horse mare who had broken her leg and couldnt race so was a sale or shoot and he paid £5000 for it
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either shes just confused or genuinly doesnt have a clue.

So what do i do and say?? It would be nice if she could get a nice big cobby sort on loan and then i could hack out with someone and April wouldnt be left in the field on her own when i rode Sienna. Id give her all the support that she needed but by me bringing her to the yard and her turning up with an unsuitable horse and being incompetant YO is gona think im a right muppet. But shes the stubborn type and though i thought my advice sounded good she doesnt want lessons and still thinks Henley is a marvelous idea! Your advice and views please.

P.S sorry its long and doesnt make all that much sence
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I think there is a chance she could find something bigger that is getting on in years and ready to slow down a bit - if that is all she wants to do. But these oldies are higher maintainence in terms of teeth and diet, although should live out with a good rug selection, in fact I think moving about instead of being stabled is better for them.
she is unlikely to find a horse that will compete at any level at that price, if she only wants to hack that isn't a problem
 
She does sound like one of those people who likes to think they know everything when really they don't know very much about horses. I agree, i doubt she'd find what she was looking for for £800, if this is all the money she has then she ought to get a horse on loan first, she's more likely to find a suitable one this way. Maybe whilst loaning she could save up some more money to buy her own horse later on. Encourage her to have some lessons to help get back into riding, not really sure what else to say.
 
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leave her to it...she obviously knows best......??

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Ditto.
And sometimes there are wonderfull success stories.

I bought Amy after returning to riding after a long break. I paid peanuts for her, bought her by accident, had no where to keep her. And 13 years later we are having a foal
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Leave her to it.

She will either get very lucky and find her perfect horse and blag her way through it all like so many do.

You should just be there to help her out if you can.

You never know, she may go off the whole idea once she has hit a few dead ends.

Perhaps if she isn't listening to you she will listen when a few people tell her what she may be up against.

I can totally understand why you are feeling a bit "Arrrggghhh". I would be too
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What can you do though hey? What can you do? *BBean throws arms in air despairingly*
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i just think that she doesnt realise how much horse prices have gone up, shes been very much detatched from anything horsey for a good long while! i just dont want to see her end up with anything unsuitable and i think she will with her gung-ho attitude to horse buying....and i'll undoubtedly be left picking up the pieces and trying to sell it on for her
 
She sounds a bit deluded to me! On the other hand, what can you do to stop her if she's made her mind up?
LMAO at the 16.2hh Hanovarian ex race horse mare who had broken her leg and couldnt race so was a sale or shoot and that her godfather paid £5000 for...
Perhaps you could try pointing out that if THAT is what he paid for a sale-or-shoot, what could she expect to get for 800?
 
I'd suggest to your friend to loan or share, otherwise to look at fostering from an equine charity.

Otherwise all you can do is to help and support your friend.

PS - don't see anything wrong in a larger person wanting to buy a horse!!
 
Why leave her to it? What about the horse in all of this? Fine, its ok to let her learn her own mistakes but its a real shame on the horse she may end up with who could easily be totally unsuitable for her. Plus, if she can only afford £800, how will she afford the necessary things for it like the farrier, vet etc.?

She should try and get something on loan first to even see if she can afford it, or even a share with someone. If she were my friend, I would be honest and tell her what you think. You're only trying to help her after all.
 
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she told me that her and her godfather brought a 16.2hh Hanovarian ex race horse mare who had broken her leg and couldnt race so was a sale or shoot and he paid £5000 for it

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okay
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...Unfortunately if she's really made up her mind then there's not much you can do. At least you've offered to help her, she may still take you up on that offer when/if it all goes t*ts up. She may strike it lucky, but sounds like she's still in pretty big danger of getting ripped off.
 
i wasnt saying anything about big people wanting to buy horses...the point i was trying to get across was that her market is more limited as she wants something that will happily live out all year, isnt too big but will carry her and has set her heart on a traditional cob without realising that theyre probably the most expensive type about. Iv spoken to her about up-keep and i think she could manage ok, she seems pretty clued up on costs its just horse prices that she has no idea on.
 
I would definitely try to convince her about loaning and having lessons until she has saved up some more. I think it would be a very long search to find something suitable with only £800!
 
I think she hasnt got the money realistically and it is a whim. She likes the idea but I dont think she will go through with it. As for a Hanoverian race horse!!!!Is there such a thing??? She sounds as if she knows nothing but wants to impress you. I certainly would not be encouraging her at all. Point out all the costs and make it sound a REALLY bad idea!!!
 
I am in a position where I will be looking to buy a horse after a 5 year break but I am saving like mad (and I am 29 but i feel like a child saving pocket money!!) with the view to having up to £3500. I am also having lessons again to get me back into the saddle. It is hard as I have to admit that I have found it difficult to find anywhere decent to ride- I know plenty of good instructors but you need a horse to ride!
I looked into sharing to start with but having had a horse of my own before I found it hard trying to adapt to different owner's ways. I was also spending money which I decided was better spent saving and having lessons.
I think your friend needs to either share if she already has some experience or have lessons at the very least as even though I have a degree in Equine Science I am not at all confident in the saddle!! It is hard as I can see that you don't want to look like a muppet. To me the welfare of the horse is really important and it sounds like she really hasn't much of a clue-if I could find a horse for £800 I would be happy but very unrealistic!!
 
try to encourage her to loan one and write up a list of all the things she is likely to need if she buys her own and current prices, tack, rugs, feed, buckets, kit, wormer, boosters, vetting, transport etc, this will come well in excess of the £800 she is planning to use to buy the horse and might put her off for a while
or get her to check the current market
she sounds a bit out of touch
 
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she seems pretty clued up on costs its just horse prices that she has no idea on.

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In that case why don't you do a quick search on horsemart etc for the type of horse she is interested in and show her what is out there and how much it is likely to cost and also what is available within her budget.
 
I recently sold a horse that would have been exactly what she was looking for for just under £800, so they are out there! he was cheaper because he was an older horsey, but there was nothing wrong with him at all - perfectly healthy and sound and enjoying life with loads to give!

I would suggest you offer to accompany her horse shopping so you can help her avoid getting ripped off. She may find there's nothing available in her budget, in which case she may then choose to loan, but at the moment she clearly has her heart set on buying, so maybe just be supportive?
 
I bought my horse for a smaller budget - I cant see anything wrong with that part so long as she's knows you get what you pay for in some instances. Its a gamble but then again you could pay 6k for something and still find its not suitable...
Best thing you can do is be there for her and help her, at the end of the day if your her mate then thats what you're there for.
 
hmm, I doubt you'd she'd find the sort she's after for 800 pounds, but they ARE out there, if you have enough time, patience and money to travel looking for them.

I might be waaay off the mark, but from where I'm sitting I read that as you're more concerned what your YO would think of you? Or how it will affect you? If your YO is about to think YOU'RE a muppet cos of this then that's YO's problem not yours.

Leave the woman to it. if she wants to go to Henley and waste her 800 on a crock then let her. She may get lucky, maybe she's been reading too many Fly By Night books
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Show her the safe cobs website and talk her into loaning first. There's plenty of loans about, though I think for what she's looking for it's be like looking for hen's teeth.
 
I would suggest that to find a nice safe plod she needs to spend about £5,000 and also £6,000 in her bank account for all the accessories and in case anything goes wrong!
 
tongue in cheek Owlie?
There are perfectly good horses out there in the £1,500 bracket, as long as you know what you are looking at and aren't too fussy about type, and many of them are very low maintenence. £800 will buy you an older meat money nag with some milage left in it, the expense comes later with these.
 
I have to disagree with Gts here.

So what if her capital isnt much? if she's working then obviously she'll have more then each month to spend on his monthly care etc.

When I first bought my horse I spent my initial money on him, he had shoes and feed, wormer and other basics but he didn't have tack for the first month. Had there been any requirement for emergencies then I would have dipped into my cash but as it was I didnt feel the need to and preferred to do it on a monthly basis.

Murphy didn't suffer from this.

To be honest if she's thinking 800 then of course maybe in another 2-3 months she could add another 500 or so to it etc etc, but if 800 is her budget for now I dont really see that it equates to not being able to afford a horse. Maybe she just doesn't want to spend any more, which is her perogative.
 
16.2hh Hanovarian ex race horse mare who had broken her leg and couldnt race so was a sale or shoot and that her godfather paid £5000 for...
ermmm a hanoverian ex racer????? the whole sentence screams i made all this up to try and make me look like i have a clue, and instead have done the complete opposite!
sorry but only heard of TB, arab and greyhound ex racers, but feel free to prove me wrong.
as for the budget thing, still trying to forget that sentence.... i'm used to looking bargain basement. i've found several horses that would suit for hacking, possibly more for £800 or less. but u do get what u pay for. most are older horses or had previous injuries. ex racers can be picked up cheap but usually they have retired due to leg problems, so u take on a risk, plus will never get insurance for those legs.
u also need to have a fair bit of horse knowledge when dealing with the bargains, cause most aren't. they usually have a good reason why they're being sold so cheaply. i.e i know someone who bought a 17 year old mare for £550 inc delivery. never bothered with a vet (against my advice), mare was very underweight, passport was nowhere to be seen. mare turned out to be nearer 27 so wasn't the bargain she had hoped for.
 
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