What do you look for/ask when buying a horse?

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delbino7

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Hi there, im lucky enough to not have bought my own horse before. I'm 25 and my current horse has lasted me 11 years which my mother viewed/purchased when I was nearly 14, Sadly he's retiring to be a happy hacker at the end of the year and we're going to view 3 new horses this weekend. All 3 are backed and turned away as we ideally want a blank canvas, so we will be only be able to really see them lunged, worked in hand and maybe a little loose jump. They are all 5 years old, Apart from the obvious and vetting we will be getting done- What are you main things to ask/look for that aren't the obvious or may have slipped my mind?
 
What is your eventual intended use of the horse?
Temperament is the most important thing to me.
At 5 years old I would expect to them being hacked out alone on a busy road and I would want to see them being loaded in a lorry/trailer, be good with the farrier, be good to be clipped and well behaved with the vet etc.
 
No 1 question - Why are you selling it?
Why are these 'turned away' at this age/for so long? Ask to see pics/videos of them actually backed. Then find out if they are good to catch, lead, shoe, box, clip...and anything else you'll want to do. Have they been on roads/in traffic? Alone/in company? Will they turn out with mares/geldings/alone? Leave in without company? Travelled in box/trailer? How old when backed? What tack/bit have they worn? Ever seen to crib, weave, box walk? Ever known to bite/kick? (and have a witness when getting verbal answers). Any health issues? Head shaking, sweet itch, laminitis, injuries? Get 5* vetted. Good Luck
Good Luck
 
Thankyou, I keep my horses on a breaking/schooling yard and she won't break until 4 and turns away until 5? I've seen photos of him being ridden. I plan on spending a good couple of hours with all 3 as I want to be able to catch, bring in, leave in stable for a while and then bring them out to see movement :)
 
I'm not very good at thinking of questions to ask, but then I also tend to buy from dealers who haven't had the horses very long so they won't necessarily know.

My main questions are whether they are good to shoe, clip & load, and good to hack out alone or in company. Also how they are to take out competing and in new environments (if they've been out anywhere), and is there any history of health issues or behavioural problems. For a very green horse I would also be asking what their general attitude to work is like and towards new things - are they bold and brave or can they be backwards thinking.

What I'd be looking for is soundness and temperament. Get the horse trotted up and in a circle if you can.

If I was you I would be wary of any 5 year old that has been backed and that you can't ride when viewing. Why have they been turned away so long? My alarm bells would be ringing that this could be a horse who they've had problems with in breaking, either physically or behavioural, and they've turned them away and are now selling to pass the problem on. If you've gone to the effort of having backed a horse, it doesn't really make sense to sell them 'from the field' so to speak.
 
xspiralx said:
If I was you I would be wary of any 5 year old that has been backed and that you can't ride when viewing. Why have they been turned away so long? My alarm bells would be ringing that this could be a horse who they've had problems with in breaking, either physically or behavioural, and they've turned them away and are now selling to pass the problem on. If you've gone to the effort of having backed a horse, it doesn't really make sense to sell them 'from the field' so to speak.
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Ditto, ditto, ditto!!
I sometimes turn away a 4yo after backing if he/she is immature and actively growing. But I don't then sell them from the field because I couldn't put hand on heart and guarantee they'd still be as good as they were at backing! Some change quite a lot after a break! And they'd be even more likely to change (and probably for the worse) is they went to a new home and were - perhaps - approached in a different way!

If I had to buy a horse that had been backed and turned away, I would treat it as unbacked - and start again from the beginning. As long as things went smoothly, I could then progress at a lightly faster pace than first time around. But if you're not prepared to back a horse from scratch, then I'd be very cautious of a 5yo that had been turned away!
 
delbino7 said:
Hi there, im lucky enough to not have bought my own horse before. I'm 25 and my current horse has lasted me 11 years which my mother viewed/purchased when I was nearly 14, Sadly he's retiring to be a happy hacker at the end of the year and we're going to view 3 new horses this weekend. All 3 are backed and turned away as we ideally want a blank canvas, so we will be only be able to really see them lunged, worked in hand and maybe a little loose jump. They are all 5 years old, Apart from the obvious and vetting we will be getting done- What are you main things to ask/look for that aren't the obvious or may have slipped my mind?
Click to expand...


Not in this order but depending on what you want to do with the horse

I would good confirmation
Pleasing to the eye
Good feet
Kind eye
good parentage
loading into trailer or box
lunged
tacked up
able to groom him
trotted up
led about yard
Has he been clipped before
been out on the roads in traffic
is there anything that spooks him bikes - trucks - bags - sudden noises
has he jumped - dressage
has he been with mares or geldings
ok on his own
 
I would be very cautious of buying any turned away five year old it's not the best way to place yound horses in good homes at the best price .
I would be very worried that the horse had issues and the from the field sale would give you no chance to assess them .
At five I expect to see a horse hack ,a small safe hack would be enough for me ,be sensible in the school and jump even if it was just over a small cross pole .
 
JanetGeorge said:
Ditto, ditto, ditto!!
I sometimes turn away a 4yo after backing if he/she is immature and actively growing. But I don't then sell them from the field because I couldn't put hand on heart and guarantee they'd still be as good as they were at backing! Some change quite a lot after a break! And they'd be even more likely to change (and probably for the worse) is they went to a new home and were - perhaps - approached in a different way!

If I had to buy a horse that had been backed and turned away, I would treat it as unbacked - and start again from the beginning. As long as things went smoothly, I could then progress at a lightly faster pace than first time around. But if you're not prepared to back a horse from scratch, then I'd be very cautious of a 5yo that had been turned away!
Click to expand...

Another who says treat with extreme caution, the 5 year olds are now well into their 5th year, it is 1st June, to get the best price, home and for the seller to know what they are selling, important to most honest sellers, then I would expect them to be in light work so they can be shown to their best advantage.

My idea of a blank canvas would be an unbacked 3-4 year old, not a previously started 5 year old that may or may not have been started well, photos can be very deceiving and who knows what may have happened when the camera was not there, any horse can be easy to deal with on the ground, lunge perfectly but difficult to get on and ride or even when you do get on feel unlike you expected and prove to be unsuited to you.
I would think very carefully about buying something you cannot sit on you are only buying one horse to last for many years without riding them it can be very hard for a pro to judge let alone a one horse owner.
 
Someone (can't remember who) said this on here a while back under this general topic. It's what my friend's MFH father used to say if he was viewing a horse:

A, B, C, D, E (tick-off the five fingers of one hand!!)

A = Accept nothing as gospel

B = Believe nothing you're told

C = Check everything

D = Don't ever get on it without seeing it ridden first

E = Expect the worst but hope for the best
 
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