Should you be head over heels with the horse you're thinking of buying

S

showqa

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 February 2008
Messages
827
Visit site
OK , so I went to try a horse and I liked him. BUT I wasn't head over heels, didn't think (like I hear so many say they do) that he was THE ONE as such. Not for any reason in particular. He was also grey and I really did want a bay, but I decided that I was being a bit superficial in that really. Anyway, my question is, should you consider buying a horse that you don't absolutely and totally adore, but that you do think is a nice horse with a sensible attitude and potential? Is it ok to feel this cool about a horse that you buy, or should your emotions be on red alert?
 
I did. My mare is not the type I'd previously chosen and my husband said (after we'd driven 7 hours to see her) 'Was it love at first sight?' 'No' was my response. The next day I went back and rode her again and we clicked and I've had her for 5 years now. she is just about to have her first foal too!
 
I have now bought two "head" decision horses and three "heart" decision horses.

The first "head" decision horse has been an absolute star for us for over four years. He still doesn't make my heart turn over but my daughter and I both love and appreciate him greatly for the fantastic time he has given us, We are able to feel that selling him to another family for him to give them what he has given us is the right thing to do, although I feel sad that we've outgrown him.

The other "head" decision horse has grown in our affections although she has been on box rest most of the time we have had her. I think she will do very well for us although she didn't have a head start in the "love" stakes.

Of the "heart" decisions horses, we have had one for five years and he is retired with us and will stay here to the end. He was my daughter's choice and took her to her first SJ class and her first XC round and taught us so much. My "heart" choice was unbroken when I bought her and will be affiliating this year, she's going to make a fantastic young person's eventer but sadly my daughter doesn't get on with her and she just didn't grow so she's too small for me. She is being given the best chance we can to get the perfect home by being away with a pro at the moment. It breaks my heart when I think of it but I know that she is so talented and loves her work so much that it wouldn't be fair to leave her in the field as a pet.

The last "heart" choice - again my daughter's choice - was hh's horse Flynn. He again has spent longer with us on box rest than being ridden due to another accident. My daughter will put up with any amount of twittishness from him because she is utterly besotted.


So no, if the horse is perfect for you then I don't think it's a bad thing to buy with the head not the heart. Any relationship develops over time and if you go into it without having immediately fallen in love you do stand a better chance of making sure that the horse IS just right for you.
 
When i went to view my mare (the grey in my sig) i didn't want a grey and certainly didn't want a mare!!!
It was my sister that said come on thats look at this horse, anyway i tried her and liked how she went in the school and out in traffic, she had a few issues with being mounted but she was from a equestrian centre so thought maybe 1-2-1 we could sort it out.
I wasn't excited at all just kept thinking am i doing the right thing!!!
She was great fell in love with her soon after she arrived, she has issues now with sensitive skin, but hopefully we are gonna get through that just like we did the mounting.

so i say you don't have to be head over heals for a horse, that will come when you start having fun, as long as the horses going is how you want it to be.
 
Is it a 'for keeps' horse or one that you may sell on in the future? And would it be your only horse or do you have others?
 
I'm going to be looking for a schoolmaster type with a sensible temperament and experience with 0DEs in about a year or so and having had a look through online ads and ads in the paper etc there are precious few who will fit the bill perfectly so he/she will be expensive! I think I would be willing to buy a horse I didn't fall in love with immediately if the horse had a great temperament and good attitude toward me. I think ladylisa had it right when she said the love will come when you start having fun! Best of luck with it hun!! :-)
 
When we went to see the pony we bought for one of my daughters,I could not get excited about him. He seemed to have no personality and wasn't very good looking. However he had the right attitude to his jumping although he had never done a step of flatwork in his life. We bought him because we felt he had potential. 3years later and we love him to little mintballs. He is a real character and I am already getting upset at the fact that we will have to sell him at the end of this season as my daughter needs a horse now. He has won so much for her and she has had such fun with him. She is now doing pre novice events with him and hopes to do a novice by the end of the season if all goes well. I can remember my other daughter saying 'What have you bought that for?' when we brought him home. So I would say head can be better than heart when buying. ( We once bought a pony we fell in love with and he turned out to be a complete idiot!)
 
Thanks for all that folks - really appreciate it. It will certainly be my only horse for a year or so, although depending on finances might be able to buy a second later on. Certainly it's a "for life" horse. As I said, there is nothing to dislike about the horse at all - for its' age incredibly sensible and happy, a really nice person. I suppose I just wished that I swooned a bit more after it really - do I sound stupid? Hope not! Thanks anyway all.
 
I've never felt like that about any of my horses for the first few months!

When I had my fourth horse (which was my first mare), I was really worried that after six months I didn't love her enough - I suppose it took me about a year to bond with her.

My fifth horse is also a mare, and I didn't really bond with her until I'd had her for two years and she was eight years old! I believe this was because I bought her off her breeder and kept her on the same farm with the same people and horses she'd known all her life.

I moved her after two years, and although it was only down the road, there were horses and people she didn't know - I was the only constant really. Although she settled down really quickly, I do feel that's when she became attached to me. Before then, it was as though she didn't really need me because she had all her old friends around her!
 
I try and be sensible and buy with my head. When I have let my guard down and bought with my heart I have ended up with a bit of a nutter and a long and slow process re educating her. Totally adored her though, but she probably wasnt a good buy
 
HI, you know it's funny, of all my horses over the years 9I'm not young), the ones who have done me proud (won lot's and done great things) have always been the ones when I went to see I thought "It's OK" but just couldn't quite get over excited.

My best dressage horse (OK so far) I bought unseen untried.

The ones I have been madly excited and such with I have always felt a little disappointment, so perhaps when you're not so excited at the start there is less expectation and more "just getting on and doing".

I loved them evetually and was deeply upset at point of retiring them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top