What horse did you set out to buy and what did you end up with?

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sz90168

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I am now horse shopping again after my last two horses had to be retired early (one was 6 and the other 9 years old) both were blood types.

I am now looking for something to event low levels/riding club/dressage up to medium. I have been looking again for 15-16hh Warmblood/ISH/Tb cross 5-9 years old that has done a bit. I am now going to see a green Welsh Section D that has really caught my eye after I had a lovely Warmblood fail the vetting spectacularly the other week. Which has got me thinking that maybe I need something a bit more hardy unless I win the lottery....

What type of horse were you looking for and what did you end up buying? Just for a bit of fun.
 
I wasn't looking for anything specific (I'd just decided to sell my TB when my next one found me) but ended up with a Section D and have my absolute horse of a lifetime.

So in my view you won't get anything better than a D!
 
I've never ended up with what I set out for!

When I got Millie (15hh cob x mare) I wanted a 16.2 TB gelding :rolleyes3: She did everything I wanted, and more, though, so I think I made the right decision :p

Kira (14.2 welsh D) was supposed to be a quick project to do up and sell, so I could buy the WB I'd always wanted... 3.5 years later she's still here... but we've scaled the dressage ladder up to advanced with the aim of PSG this year, so again, seems like a good decision ;)

Salty (15.2 WB) was bought with no hopes or wishes for what I'd get, she was bought on a whim. Went to the sales with the horsebox and she was the one I came home with. So far, so good! And she's related to Millie so I'm hoping she will have some of the same traits :)
 
i was looking for a gelding aged 8-12 been there done that, absolutely no youngsters (been there done that) absolutely no mares and nothing with Welsh in it.

What I bought was a rising 4yr old, mare, Welsh x ID x shire, the cunnng plan was not so cunning �� she is fabulous if a tad flighty and on occassion bonkers and I love her to bits.
 
Technically I wasn't looking but I knew what would be on the wish list: 15hh (ish) 8yo or older cob/cob cross type. That was a happy hacker who was safe enough to put my mother on.
Somehow my first "pony" ended up being a 6yo 18hh Clydesdale! I can honestly say I've never looked back. Not only is he the ultimate happy hacker he has gone on to do every riding club competition going and we're just about to start our affiliated dressage journey. I have never looked back.
 
Over the years, Ive never ended up with what I set out looking for lol. I like big horses, hunter types, like dressage so would have loved a nice Warmblood, nothing too flashy, maybe something that couldnt go far enough with someone else. Ive had IDx, TB types and most recently an unbacked ID x TB, when Id decided that now Im getting on a bit lol, maybe a nice show cob type would be better!
 
Came back to riding after a twenty year break and did the usual .. got an ex racer as cheap and cheerful. Had him 18 months before he broke down (It was only a matter of time bless him) but he had chipped away at my confidence. Yard owner took over and sent me off a week after TB was pts to a local hunt yard to look at a masters lead horse who had lost his nerve over the big stuff. I knew he would be over 16h (because they generally are as masters horses) and a gelding and he was 8 but that was all I knew, didnt know his colour or anything but got told he was a hunter so would be unflappable and just what I needed....... and he was. Big 16.2 strapping ISH grey gelding who restored my faith and confidence and although he drives me insane sometimes I love the very bones of him and he is worth his weight in gold. Never sick or sorry, walked off an abscess once, didnt even go lame, lol!

Second horse came about from a friend (on here so guess i should be nice ;) ) when i said i needed a companion and light hack to keep my boy company at home (was on a livery yard originally) was a mare and a cob x so took me ages to say yes to her because i dont do mares and like my horses more TB looking than cob looking ..... Love of my life, brain and wizz of a TB but doesnt break. Cant imagine life without her, lol :)

I sometimes think about having a thoroughbred again but with two awesome horses who are so less likely to break and are more than good enough to do anything a dumbblood could ever do, why would I :)
 
Haha I love this!! :D

About 5 years ago i set out to buy a nice been there done it 16.2hh + showjumper, warmblood, few miles under his belt, school master, something I could just sit back and enjoy having broken in all of my previous horses/ponies.
Ended up with a 4 yo lightly broken connie X ISH... he was the best horse I ever owned, took me all over the UK completing in dressage and show hunter, national & county, POYS. I sold him in 2014 due to having other commitments and no time to compete him and give him the attention he deserved. His owner contacted me a few months back to say he not has hock arthritis and basically the insurance will no longer pay out she had lost interest did I want him back?

Ofcourse I said yes, he came home 1st Dec 2107, wish I never let him go he's got a home for life with me, he owes me and my family nothing <3
 
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Was looking for a rising 4 year old to back and do a bit of everything with but mainly dressage. Especially liking arab types but something approx 15.2-16hh... bought a 2 year old barely 15hh (but hoped he'd make 15.2-15.3 as siblings were bigger)... he's barely 15.1 now and 8years old.... maybe a quarter arab but no papers.
Next horse I bought because I'd had him to bring on for the owner with a view to selling but rather than having the hassle of finding a suitable buyer that we could agree on... bought the pony (yep, 14.3 at a push when I really need something nearer 16hh) as a project to continue with and sell in my own time... he's not going anywhere fast though as way too much fun. Had him in my care for 3years but only owned for 2 of those.
 
I went out looking for a 15 - 15.3hh 7-11YO bay gelding.

I came back with a 14.3 5YO Skewbald mare.

I still have her 6 years later and wouldn't change her for anything.
 
I was looking for a mare, 9-12 years old, something that had been there/done that and could show me the ropes out eventing. Absolutely no green horses, no youngsters, no TBs.

Bought a 5 year old TB who&#8217;d done next to nothing... oops.

Wouldn&#8217;t swap him for the world though. Sometimes they really do just find you.
 
I wanted a super forward going arab for endurance (to take over from my old but very lively pony) and got a 7yr old anglo-arab who is so laid back she will fall over lol
I can't believe how chilled she is compared to my pony who is more than triple her age! she likes jumping though and I wasn't planning on it but I as I do enjoy drag hunting and xc, I have started doing some local jumping with her, not something I was planning on but really fun wirh her :)
 
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After finishing university and moving across the country for a fresh start I went out to buy a new competition horse. 15.2hh - 16hh, under 8 year old, Gelding, not the biggest budget so competing at low level dressage with the potential to work up towards being affiliated at the higher levels, tb/warmblood/irish sport horse type. Had to be sensible and ready to go as i was still recovering long term from a nasty fall. Howeverrrrrrr i prompty fell in love with and brought home a green 12 year old Chestnut mare. Advertised as 16hh but stands at 16.3hh. ISH x ID (aka built like a brick house and requires a ladder rather than block). Had been backed in her younger days but turned away for years upon years so it was a fun game of starting from scratch. :D FDL has certainly been a challenging horse to own but a few years (and many frustrated tears) on i wouldnt change her for the world.
 
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9 years ago I went out to buy an unbroken highland pony, gelding, as up to height as possible, to do some showing, dressage, jumping. I bought a 3 year old, 14,1 highland gelding, and have done pretty much everything with him.

A couple of years later, I went out to buy another highland youngster, similar spec, ideally something more suited to jumping. I bought a 15 month old highland gelding who is (now) also around 14,1/2 with decent aptitude for jumping, and is currently doing some training to drive next year.

Last year I went out to buy a cheap, sensible-but-useful sort of horse in order to play polocrosse marginally more successfully. My ideal would have been a youngish 15,1ish gelding, somewhat quarter horsey / a solid enough type, with a nice, level personality and enough spark to go/stop/turn sharply.

I bought a 15,1 chestnut mare, 4 years old and recently backed by a pro, from a polocrosse home, with some quarter horse breeding and a very laid back personality. She has a mega stop, the turns are really coming on and we're working on the "go".

So yea, I pretty much know what I want and buy it - even if it doesn't always work out the way I expect!
 
Oldest horse I wasnt really looking for anything - he just caught my eye.

Second oldest I was absolutely definitely looking for a very particular stamp of Welsh D under the age of 6. I ended up with a Knabstrupper x TB 2yo filly that was too small

Youngest I bought last August when I went to an auction half looking for a substantial ID type, preferably a gelding, older than 5. I ended up buying a 2yo Connnemara filly to make max 15hh :o

I will 100% hold my hands up to the fact that, while I am brilliant buying horses for other people, I am terrible at buying them for myself.
 
I wanted a gelding, no younger than about 7 or 8, not too cobby and definitely not another grey....

:lol: Hahahahahaha.

The 5 year old, maxi cob, grey mare was a bit of a surprise. I blame the OH - she batted her big eyelashes at him and he was smitten.

The only thing we got right was the height - I wanted 15.2hh - 16.2hh and she's 16hh, so THAT was spot on.
 
Wanted: ridden all-rounder for confident teen on a budget so quirks/blemishes not minded but pref not "boring" bay.

Purchased: Unhandled 2 y/o sec D, recently gelded and ... BAY!

10 years later he is the love of my life and my perfect beautiful bay horse.
 
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my riding instructor gave me 3 rules

1 nothing under 7 year old
2 nothing to fine
3 no mares!


went and viewed a fair few but none where right.. a friend of a friend in boxed me on fb asking if i had found a horse yet, i said no but looking to go to main land to try some (England)
boat was booked ect, he said come see my gelding he is just for you!

got there (was meant to be on boat to England following morning) we stood at the top of the hill looking down in to the fields my husband beside me whispered "I like the grey one!" (a larger hunter type which is what we wanted) the friend of a friend handed me a head collar and said of you go i will get so and so in (turned out he got the grey so it wouldn't be left alone) and what did i get? you ask...

well a 4 year old TB gelding.. after grooming, tacking up and lunging i was in love and made a sheepish phone call ot my riding instructor who luckily only lived up the rode, she came down and i could just tell my the look in her eye she though i was mad.. but she sat on him put him though his paces... guess who came home with us after 3 more visits and a 5 stage vetting

4 years on he is not at all like any horse i have owned and some days i say "should have brought a bog trotter" but then i see them daft big ears over the stable door and know i would never be with out him


although every lesson i am reminded.. you where not meant to by some thing like this.. and i shout back "at least its not a mare!"
 
Wanted a 14hh cob to build my confidence... ended up with an appaloosa x connie. Don't really need to go into much detail :D:D
 
Another Cleveland Bay...came back with a piebald WB foal who has reached 17.2 and is still filling out at 6. He's such a genuine horse. Just a shame he has hock issues already.
 
1st - Not under 15hh, no mares allrounder


Bought - 13.3hh, grey arab mare - hates schooling

2nd - Grey/coloured, gelding, under 10


bought - bay 16yr old mare


3rd - young broken gelding ready to bring on

Stroppy, 5yr old, mare just broken


Wouldn't change any of them for the world :)
 
I went out to buy a 3 or 4yr old gelding to produce for the Burghley Young Event horse classes and sell on....

I bought a 10yr old mare who had evented to Intermediate before totally jacking it in, I bought her for 2K and she came with two almost new Albion saddles and a double bridle for that price. She was the horse that got me into dressage, she trained to Grand Prix, changed my life and stayed with me til the day she died.
 
Looking for a Connemara, idea being it would be easy to do, cheap to keep being native and sensible to ride.
I did get a Connie, he was a yearling, very well breed, but the exception to every rule, he is an opinionated coward, and eats enough to keep a hunter alive in the winter. Still, he will be 16 this year and I still own him:)
 
Spec:

Low octane sensible grown up, for happy hacking and a little hunting. Usual suspects: sensible old-fashioned cobby sorts, ex-hirelings, hunters in search of a quieter life....

Bought: Very green, complex, arrogant, talented, deeply quirky 6YO ISH with a mainly TB brain. We just kinda clicked.

Result? He's scared hell out of me, but has taught me a HUGE amount. And we are (very slowly) getting there. And I do love him loads :)
 
I was looking for a medium sized youngish horse primarely for hacking out, but also for low level jumping/eventing (if so inclined -just for fun). Comfortable to ride, on the sensitive side and should hack alone and with others.

Ended up buying a 3yo ex-racer that wasn't fast enough. Got everything i wanted, and as a bonus it seems her temperament could be ok for driving, so she might end up doing a bit of that with my dad.
 
I was looking for a share to get back into riding during my placement year, no big commitments or anything silly... ended up with a 4yo standing 16.3hh (and still growing) tank of an IDxISH after his owner decided she couldn't keep up with him!

Best decision I ever made!
 
We've usually always ended up with what we set out for. Except for one. I was looking for a new riding horse to bring on and show whilst my other was put of action. The idea was we would get a 15-15.2hh bay (with minimal to no white) or grey mare to do intermediates and ror with. I ended up with a 16.1hh dark bay gelding with 3 white socks and a massive great big blaze.
 
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