To buy or not to buy- Please, please help and advise!!

J

jtriebs

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25 October 2005
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Or rather the question is to view or not to view.
OH and I have been looking for a horse to suit both of us for about half a year. Now we have found one quite a journey away (we're talking a flight) which sounded perfect. We have had a lot of emails and phonecalls with the sellers, everything sounded genuine and right for us. After being asked whether he has any quirks the seller told us that it's difficult to get a bit in his mouth (apparently they had dentist and vet look at him and they put it down to a bad experience in the past). She also mentioned that in the past when he was being worked more regularly by a local instructor, the problem disappeared.
OH's aunt (who is also horsey) lives quite close and agreed to go and see him today with a friend of hers who's an AI. She just told us that he is a nice horse, good manners etc worked nicely but that the bit issue was really quite a problem in the sense that he really clamped his mouth shut and it took over 5 minutes to get the bit in and the bridle on. She reckons he's taking the p**s rather than that he is nervous about it.
OH now feels we should just leave it there and not waste money going to see this horse as you'd be buying a definate problem which he feels may not be remediable (sp?) - the horse is 10 btw. I feel that it's worth taking the risk and feel it could be worked on.
(apparently the mother of the owner was showing him and is not that experienced and wasn't firm with him)
OH's aunt advised to not come to see him this weekend but ask the seller whether she'd be happy for him to go on some days of trial with her and work on it to see whether it can be improved. However, other people are also interested in him, so this sort of strategy may mean we lose him.
So, sorry about long post- what would you do- Go see him?
Is it something that can be worked on? (If so- how would you tackle it?) Please help!!
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Have you looked at any other horses more local? Whereabouts do you live is it an expensive flight ? How long has the seller had the horse? I personally wouldn't want to spend 5 mins putting a horses bridle on, however if it was perfect and a complete superstar I probably would put up with it.

Your descision musn't be swayed by the prospect of other people going to see him.
 
We live in Angus (Scotland)- horse is in Wales, so yes, very far away. We've looked at a few, none really local- what we're looking for seems to be very few and far between (a ride and drive that I feel safe on for hacking, nicely schooled enough to do some low level dressage and that OH can drive in HDT club events).
The seller had the horse a year but knows the previous owner who had the horse the rest of his life
Just in a total muddle in my head- I know I'm in danger of just really wanting to finally find a horse
 
an issue about tacking up wouldnt put me off too much so long as the horse was 100% in every other way. You know, everyone has things they can put up with and things they can't. It's for you to decide if you can cope with this or not. Cannot see how the owner letting the horse go on trial to your aunt would be risking the sale. If she doesnt want it to go on trial then leave it. But if she's willing, let your aunt do her thing then see him yourself.

Unless it's a huge horse and impossible to bridle, or nasty with it I can't see the problem.
 
Well, my horse goes through phases of holding his mouth shut for the bit and it can sometimes take a few minutes but other times he opens it straight away. I think he just trys it on sometimes. A finger in the corner of the mouth sometimes works.
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Yes, that's what I thought too- surely finger in the corner of the mouth would be enough. (and he's only 15hh so you would think it'd be possible to get round this) However, it does sound a bit more serious than that. It's obviously difficult without me having witnessed it first hand, but OH's aunt said she'd be put off by it and she is more experienced than us.
 
same as breaking a horse to ride really- you don't want to do it unless experienced. However, there are people we could ask for help with this. According to OH's driving instructor, around 80% of horse who have been ridden will accept to be driven, but there are the 20% who really won't.
 
I wouldnt worry about the bitting issue. My boy does it with the chifney Im having to use at the moment as he hates it but is fine with his normal bit. My friends used to do it but happily accepts it now with a polo. In fact wont let the bit out of his mouth now without another polo!
Maybe hes been clomped in the teeth in the past with the bit??
and at least the seller is being honest about it.
It seems a long way to go but I suppose unfortunately if your at the top end of the country then most places are far from you.
Good luck.
 
One of my horses was a complete pig for that he was 17.2 he was a pig for everything, but i had a trial with him and his potental abilties far outweighed the pig headness in him the bridle problem did not take to long to correct., few months
 
Thank you! yes, the seller told me that the dentist reckons someone has pulled a bit including rings through his mouth.
And yes everywhere is far from here!
 
You wont settle until you see him if your anything like me!!
Is there nothing else in the Wales area that you could view on the same day, or even make a weekend out of it and see as many as you can in the surrounding area?
 
Yes! That's what I keep telling OH- I NEED to see for myself. But I suppose that defeats the purpose of getting his aunt to look at him first before we travel all this way...
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J used to fart around with a bit as he'd associated it with the pain of having a bridle on that was too tight (long before I got him) six months after I got him he was much improved. I treated him like a three year old and got him a breaking bit, a sweet iron bit and a new bridle. I just let him play around with it, and lots of praise for him. He loves the sweet iron and takes it straight away now.

Did your OHs aunt check that the bridle was a good fit?
 
No idea- didn't think to ask.
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However, he's had this problem for a few years. Seen lots of pictures and bridle seems fine- he's in a happy mouth snaffle
 
If you go to see him check the bridle to see if it's pinching him anywhere and also check that the bit is a good fit.

He sounds like a horse in a million with your criteria, so I'd go see him and check him ver and get him vetted if you're serious about him. (and teeth checked)

Most problems are fixable. Is a bitless bridle an option?
 
J would through his head all the way up so you couldn't reach him, then start swinging about and if you persisted he'd get nippy.

It may be worth persevering. With a new bridle, and awhile to get used to nice bits and a good positive approach he now drops his head for the bridle.
 
unfortunately doesn't have one- problem also is we're obviously restricted to weekends to go and see him and OH is on call next weekend, so if we don't go this weekend, it'd be at least 2 weeks before we could next go. We have lost out on a couple of horses where we liked the advert but they were already sold when we phoned, so I think I'm paranoid about that, too
 
as far as problems go with horses, the bitting issue doesn't sound that bad. wales does seem a long way to go and i know from others experience about spending such a long time looking for a horse, that they start settling for horses that just aren't right for them. ure not actually 2 far from me, i found adtrader is a good place for finding horses in scotland. i shall keep my ears open and let u know if i hear of any horses that might suit. good luck
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Our little pony does it, a handful of feed under the bit did the trick in teaching him to open up, but he really could hold it! Wouldn't worry me.
Maybe have a go see if he's nice otherwise?
 
if you're anything like me you won't be satisfied until you've seen the horse for yourself. Make a weekend out of it if possible so its not such a long trip for just one thing
 
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