Tips on buying?

sandi_84

sandi_84

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Ok so the new boy i'm havin a look at is just going to be for a bit of happy hacking and he will eventually be used as working livery.
He came in on wednesday night. Saw him ridden in the school and then watched (on foot) him hacked a few minutes up the road and through the gate to the forest on thursday and the only hiccup was he wasn't overly keen on going past the big noisy generator in the yard. Rode him myself today in the school and out to the forest with my instructor on foot he was no bother at all and didn't bat an eyelid at the generator either.
Going to ride him again either this weekend (if there is time as i help out at weekends and they can be super busy) or on monday and if everything goes well i'll get the vet out for a check. Hoping to get you all some pics soon - when i find the camera and figure out how to put the piccys up on the forum ha ha! :o
So horsey peoples anything you'd be doing apart from that?
 
How old is he??

Questions that come to mind - What has he done up until coming to your yard.
Why is he in your yard to be sold. Can you find out his history and speak to his owners for more info.
Things to do -
Go for a proper hack, in company with another horse, make sure you can go both in front and behind, have a canter and again make sure he will go in front or behind the other horse.
Go for a hack on your own, it does not have to be long but make sure he is genuinely happy to go out and does not get nappy, a few looks around at new things should be no problem.
Has he any health issues or vices, are his jabs up to date, teeth.
Get a 5 stage vetting done and try and be there to watch you can then discuss anything that arises at the time.

Hope it goes well and look forward to pics.
 
be positive said:
How old is he??

Questions that come to mind - What has he done up until coming to your yard.
Why is he in your yard to be sold. Can you find out his history and speak to his owners for more info.
Things to do -
Go for a proper hack, in company with another horse, make sure you can go both in front and behind, have a canter and again make sure he will go in front or behind the other horse.
Go for a hack on your own, it does not have to be long but make sure he is genuinely happy to go out and does not get nappy, a few looks around at new things should be no problem.
Has he any health issues or vices, are his jabs up to date, teeth.
Get a 5 stage vetting done and try and be there to watch you can then discuss anything that arises at the time.

Hope it goes well and look forward to pics.
Click to expand...

He is 5 years old and before he came here he was hunted in Ireland, he came from the yo's dealer who had him for 2 weeks to see if he'd be suitable (she's helping me find something suitable for a first horse - i have worked with horses before but it was quite a while ago so now helping out on wkends to get back in the swing).
Hacking in company - good idea, silly i know but i never would have thought of that... duh! :o I wouldn't hack on my own anyway because i'm a worrier and if something happened and i got hurt or knocked out there is a busy main road near our hacking trails and i would worry my brand new shiney horse would get knocked down and killed :( Is that alright or should i man up and do it anyway? :confused:
Going to borrow the passport over the weekend to look into insurance prices for him so will be able to check for vaccines etc and if next ride goes well will be getting vet check asap :D
 
If you dont plan to hack alone in the future maybe leave that but make sure he is good in company and alone in the school as you will probably need him to be ridden there sometimes and horses can be very different without something else to give them confidence.
As he has just come over from Ireland he may well be feeling a little stressed and unsettled so bear in mind as he gets fitter and feels more confident he may get stronger and at only 5 he will still be maturing.
 
I would still try and hack alone (with someone on foot) if possible, because I think it's very easy before you buy a horse to say you will or won't do this and that, but you may well find in the future at some point you have developed the confidence to hack alone, or have to hack alone due to no one else being available etc. When I bought my horse I'd had an 11 year break from horses and it is a daunting thing! I firstly got the owner to ride her a little way up the road and back again in walk and trot, then I got her to take her into the school and do everything in there - walk, trot, canter, jump. I then got on and had a go in the school - then took her onto the road myself. What I did was hack her up the road in walk, turn her around and head back in walk, then turn her back around and trot her back up the road, and again back. I then kept turning her back away from the yard and asking her to go up the road again to see her reaction and how much resistance she gave me. I got a decent idea from her willingness to do as I asked that she was a fairly compliant horse even though I could tell she didn't want to go away from the yard (naturally!). I got a 5 star vetting too, and I also got an experienced friend to come and give her opinion too.
If it was me and I was working on this particular yard, and the horse was there, I would take as much time as possible before making a decision - I obviously wouldn't take the mick, but would just spend some time sussing the horse out and taking advantage of the fact that the horse is there at the yard rather than somewhere else miles away.
 
Okay, phew I know i'm a big scaredy cat for not going on my own but my sis did this when she got her boy and nearly got dragged onto the road when he spooked - she was seriously considering bailing out of the saddle before she managed to get him under controll and I gave her a bit of a telling off for going by herself :rolleyes:
He seems to be really good in the stable, not fidgity like the last one I looked at and he's happy to be touched all over (except ears until he realises you aren't going to do anything nasty - but that's ok i can work on that) and he'll let me pick out his feet no bother too.
He went in the school on his own and one of the girls rode him with another horse in there this morning and he was very well behaved, no chasing the other horse or trying to run away etc :)
I've heard of a few people who's horse put in a bit of a teenagery moment a few weeks after buying so am prepared for some pushy behaviour sometime soon as I expect he will want to test boundries but i'll have lots of help from the lovely people at the yard.
Will probably go over the passport with my Aunt coz she's horsey to the core and will know what to look for :)
Thank you! :D
 
If you dont want to hack him alone, ask someone else to. Without someone on foot, as this sometimes gives them confidence, they need to go out completely alone.

If you need him to go on working livery then try him with some novice riders. If he needs an experienced rider the yard may not want him.
 
Moomin1 said:
I would still try and hack alone (with someone on foot) if possible, because I think it's very easy before you buy a horse to say you will or won't do this and that, but you may well find in the future at some point you have developed the confidence to hack alone, or have to hack alone due to no one else being available etc.

If it was me and I was working on this particular yard, and the horse was there, I would take as much time as possible before making a decision - I obviously wouldn't take the mick, but would just spend some time sussing the horse out and taking advantage of the fact that the horse is there at the yard rather than somewhere else miles away.
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Definately won't hack on my own, too cowardly custard! :p There is always someone at the yard willing to go for a hack and if for some reason there isn't anyone available i'd just go into the school :)
Definately not rushing in to anything, usually i'm the impulsive type but I'm so aware of what a huge commitment this is and that if everything goes well I'll still have the horse when i'm in my forties (seems so far away! :D) so have been really thinking and rethinking everything. Even my mum has noted the sudden surge of responsible thinking and has been drinking copious amounts of tea to cope with the shock ha ha! :p
 
rockysmum said:
If you dont want to hack him alone, ask someone else to. Without someone on foot, as this sometimes gives them confidence, they need to go out completely alone.

If you need him to go on working livery then try him with some novice riders. If he needs an experienced rider the yard may not want him.
Click to expand...

I'll get the yard crash test dummy to do this then, she's braver than batman!
I would class myself as a bit of a novice rider now, I can do all the basics - walk, trot, canter, jump - with controll but not a lot of skill anymore. And once he has settled a bit the YO will do a bit of what she calls "flappy riding" where she gets on and basically acts like a complete t*t to make sure he won't freak out if a kiddie gets on and has a tantrum (occasionally happens :() or is just all over the place. Then at least if something does happen it'll not put a begginer off for life :)
 
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