Size? Talent? Looks?? what does it for you with a horse??

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I seem to like horses that are a bit big for me and probably a bit too talented.

I'm into jumping really whether that be hunting or what ever, and I like to feel my "belly go" (like on a roller coaster) and if I don't get that then it's just too boring! I've only ever ridden two horses that have done that for me, my dads hand me down who was a 17hh naughty warmblood and Badger who I've got now.

What does it for you guys??
 
In a way, looks as it has to be a cobby, hairy hoss no matter what - no spindly TBs here!! But mainly it is temperament. They have to be kind natured and enjoy human company, I love having bonds with my horse. I had a horse who hated human company and we never got along, it wasn't such a pleasure to see him as my current boy.
 
i like a good horse and i love allrounders, but i love my challenges and would rather be training a horse and getting something out of riding that ride a schoolmaster!

i like my thrills and spills lol, i fell off twice last week, one time my loan horse rodney tripped and i rolled over his neck and into a ditch, and the second i was galloping on a bridle path around a field and my friends galloped up behind me on the field, and my other loan horse indie spooked, jumped the 4ft hedge separating the field from the bridle path and i fell off and skidded along the field about 6 meters on my nose!

but the whole part of riding is falling off, and you might as well do it in style! (and a bruised nose xD)
 
Badger does it for me
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Something a bit special and "quirky" that wants to do its job. Something you have to work with, but when you get the desired result, give the "wow" feeling.
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Temperament and is able to do what I want. I dont want some fantastic good looking horse I just want one that will hack out and go when asked, jump small fences live out and love being loved
 
Yes I totally agree, I've never had a horse that wasn't nice in the stable. My horse of a life time who got killed liked to pull an evil face as you walked up to him, but when you got to him he was sweet as a button!! I love a bit of character as well, which Badger lacks, but i'll forgive him!
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I like a horse that does a bit of everything, it doesnt need to be super talented but I like there to be room for improvement as I get a lot of satisfaction from teaching them new things and improving the way they go. I also go a lot on looks, it would have to appeal to me looks wise before I tried it out (if I was viewing to buy that is), and i would never buy a grey, not that I dont like them, I think they are lovely its just it would drive me mad in the winter keeping it clean and spending hours bathing before shows. They dont have to be super affectionate but I dont like ill mannered nasty horses.

Oh and if you like a challenge feel free to try mine out, see if you can get your head round his napping
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Good to do is my top one + genuine.I like cuddly silly creatures,my current mare has that with looks luckily! I do go for a pretty face i've noticed lately.Seeing a horse on sunday thats for sale and she's got a pretty head.I do like my slightly mad but safe ones,you look like your out of control but your not really! After trying a horse with a few vices last weekend ( it was a racehorse off the track) i would never have anything that bites or is unfriendly,i would hate to keep a horse and spend all the money they cost on something that doesn't actually like me! Character as well for me all the way i think.
 
forgot to mention I don't like nappy horses, although one of the ones i mentioned was the naughtiest, nappiest git ever!!!!! He was a good hunter though and i loved being the little girl on the huge naughty horse who no one dare ride who jumped like a stag!
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Stable manners are very important, although my dad normally gets them sorted so I don't have to be mean!
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Mean dads do have their plus points!
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Basicly my lad, if only he was 15.1 and not 13.1 and 12 years younger or so.

NO to nappy/rearers/bad manners.
A nice safe, genuine, willing, honest horse under 16hh will do me just fine.
 
I dont really have a "type" as such. I think all my horses are wonderful of course, but one horse in particular (that I have currently) makes me feel proud to be on him. He has masses of presence and does buck with excitment at shows quite a lot, basically he enjoys making a scene but I secretly love it! He'll get off the trailer and be like "IM HERE!!!! HELLO EVERYONE!" which makes me laugh. He's the only horse to make me giggle like a kid when he misbehaves. Otherwise I love any horse which tries his hardest for me at events.
 
My boy, I love him more than anything, and riding him is like having six legs, not just sitting on a horse. So sad I only had anout 4 months of these wonderful times with him before he had to be retired ( long story, I wont bore you) but he made me realise what having a bond with a horse can be like. I owe him the world for that.
He is a 9 year old anglo arab, 14.2. I guess my criteria would be.. something I can tune in with, not dangerous, laid back but sensitive enough. About 15hh to 16hh. A quarter horse is my ideal, one day I'll buy one
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OK, apart from Badger, Cercano is my ideal horse - he is/was fiesty, fun, full of scope, well mannered, loving, beautiful and just everyones ideal horse. P is wiggling her way into my affections, but no horse will ever shunt Cercs out of "ideal horse" category.
 
Well, obviously I adore PF but when I met her I thought she was too small, too narrow and too TB!!
She completely won me over as soon as I got on her by being so forward thinking and 'sassy'
I like a horse with a bit of character so I don't mind a bit of light-hearted bucking and 'quirkiness' BUT I can't abide horses with bad stable manners.
 
If they're grey I fall in love with them, simple as that
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Castle is definitely an ideal pony for me, no horse can ever replace him. Even if I'm rattling with nerves he'll jump a 6 bar gate, and when I was 12 I did my first affiliated dressage test on him, I was the only under 18 rider there, was shaking with nerves but we made me confident, got around the test with no errors, and a final mark of 49.5% which I was quite happy with although some people may think it's cr*p! He's a cracking hunter, and beats most of the bigger hunters out on the field in terms of his braveness. When I went to see Ali I really liked his breeding, he was a lovely mover and had a good pop in him, he's also a gentleman with his stable manners, he does like to headbutt people sometimes though, just because he wants to have a bit of a scratch - I think his name should really be Zinadine Zidane
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. His loading is a bit on the iffy side, sometimes he'll load in perfectly, but when he just puts his two feet on the ramp and has that look on his face that says "no", out come the ropes and then he's in
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He's rather like an oversized pony sometimes on the ground, but once I'm on him the horse in him comes out
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M&M ponies.
I dont like big horses or anything over about 15.2hh (its a long way down), i love caracters. Hate horses that appear to be automatums with no spark or character.
I dont mind nappy horses or horses that buck but i will not have anything that rears or bolts. Stable manners are nice but they can be improved if you have time.

So far my collection of characters includes:
welsh B who gets high on stress and winds himself up into a tizwaz
SHP who is the equine equivalent of victor meldrew.
An arab who if he was a person would be your typical ditzy blonde
and a connemara who isnt the brightest pea in the pod but everyone loves him anyway, possibly an old charmer who sits in the corner of a bar charming every female that walks in. giving hugs when your down and tiaking the P*ss when your not!
 
Well for me I am tall so I do need a bigger horse. I dont care so much for talent I like a horse that can have a try at anything but nothing at the top level. I dont care for colour of a horse as its irrelavant to me.

Basically ben is my ideal horse, He is everything I wanted plus more he has given me so much confidence jumping as I was a bit iffy about it now I happily jump 3ft plus.

Ben in my opinion is gorgeous anyway, But I have to have something thats a bit pretty.
 
I don't care about colour but I'm a sucker for a pretty face and a horse that looks pretty. Both my top geldings (Blue and Ty) have been 'pretty' horses. In fact both my fav ponies where quite pretty too.

I like a horse that you have to work to get their affections and once you have them they'll do anything for you.

Blue was very affectionate but hadn't seen much bad in his life I don't think....Ty on the other hand has obviously had it quite rough and will occasionally have 'I hate all human' days.....but then he is very affectionate sometimes......
 
I generally go for talent first, then looks, size is slightly irrelevant but I stick to horses. I like to get on something that gives me the feeling that I was meant to ride this horse, the feeling that we 'click'. My first horse (grey in sig) i bought 13 years ago when she turned up on a lesson as my usual horse was lame and we just clicked. Mad combination really cause I was 11 and she was a 3yr old Tb. My new riding horse (the bright bay at bath in sig) I was hacking out for a friend and we got 200yards down the lane and I said I like this, can I try him properly! Also quite nutty cause he's 17hh and I'm 5ft2, he'd also had lots of rubbish spread about him and someone had upset him by putting in a foxhunter class as an inexperienced 5 yr old (he's no money on his card) so he used to loose the plot when he got scared but we're getting there now and he's jumping well at open RC level, 85/90 cms so think we're about ready for the BSJA. He's an example of too big and too talented lol!
 
I wouldnt be bothered what a horse looks like or how big it is, as long it would do what I wanted it to do, and was nice.

For example, I learnt to ride on a 14hand highland (i am 5ft6), best pony i'm ever likely to come across, let alone get to ride!

When I first thought about buying a horse, thought I would end up with an ugly 15h cob... oh no, I got an exceptionally handsome 17h tb. Mad? No hes just a big soppy old plod, that does (more or less) what I want him to.
 
I'm a looks girl I'm afraid.

Fell in love with the Thumper the moment I set eyes on him. The fact that he is rather a nice horse and jumps like a stag were all a bonus!
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temperment and mainly character i like something with a little something about them i love them to be challenging and cheeky so everyday is different and i have to win their trust and form a bond. If they are a big chunky traditional cob main,feathers,tail coloured i go weak at the knees or a spotted i fall in love with them all so sweet
 
Temperament to me is the most important thing by miles. Not to concerned how they move, don't need to be flashy, mainly need to be willing to give it a go! Love big ISH with generous stars, i love stars!
 
When I look at a horse I like to see that it stands square, tall and proud and is a natural show-off, this helps tremedously in a competitive horse. It has to have presence and look full of life. I do like a big, powerful horses with a good deal of muscle and strong, long legs. Not too keen on spindly throughbred's or anglo arab type horse's, although I had an irish sporthorse once who was 3/4 thoroughbred which I used for eventing and hunting, he was amazing he was like a bit of elastic, so athletic and light footed, you could take him through the deepest ground and he like floated on top of it! He was extremely fast and careful and hardly ever touched a fence, he used to take off a stride out and jump quite fast, he was virtually unbeaten in a jump-off, would jump sideways and go from halt to gallp and still turn on a sixpence. He went upto foxhunter level, but that was his limit. You tried to make him jump properly, collected and set him up he hated it, it was best to let him get on with it!!
I like a horse to be very heavily topped with a big arched neck but certainly not heavy. I prefer stallions, I just seem to click with them, geldings are great but I have to say I do not like mares too much. I like a horse to be striking and pretty and very masculine with attitude, They are harder to work with and you ride on a knife-edge but they are worth it in the end, they have that little extra. I have always liked the typical big black dressage stallion look. My ideal horse would be something like gribaldi, Lorenzo CH or Ferro, I also love Cumano, Cento and all that big grey Holsteiner Breed line. From my transition from sj to dressage I have just sold 3 good showjumpers to buy one well-bred dressage youngster!! I now have my perfect horse though, I bred him myself, his mother is by Don Schufro and his sire is Negro by Ferro. He is coming up 5 this year and he is beautiful, I am really being careful with him and taking things slowly as he is a big horse and has taken time to grow into himself but I have had some massive offers for him, and been tempted but I would never sell him.
 
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