What should i do!

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bubbledreamer

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Hello,
I have a friend who has been riding for about 3 years and is getting her first horse. Shes not really sure on how to look after one and is completely used to riding school ponies. I took her out on a hack with my two easy going ponies and they spooked at a lorry and she looked petrified as she had never experienced this at a riding school. Any way she was asking my advice on what horse to get, i said its really up to you but try to make sure you can get one with loan with view to buy so she can really get to know the horse. She has now told me shes going to see a thoroughbred who is advertised as NOT FOR NOVICES AND CAN BE DIFFICULT hence the low price. I dont want to sound like i dont want her to buy it but i just know its not for her and i dont want her to get the wrong horse. What would you do? Thanks
 
Take her out on some more hacks where your pony spooks and frightens her to death (ideally not in front of a lorry though!) Far better that she decides not to buy a horse because she has been frightened than buys something unsuitable and end up injuring herself or someone else.
 
i wud let her experience trying it and learn from it so she can come back down to earth (maybe with a bump) but it might show her what she is capable of. Then again the above idea is proberbly less likely to cause injury
 
No horse can be will be perfect and behave like a machine,sorry what concerns me is her abilty to cope with the 'looking after side',what if it blows a tendon,has colic,comes in with a wound,etc....horses are high risk animals,would she be able to cope.....when we in the depths of Winter,and it's throwing it down,the horse needs to still be done....and buying a TB as a first horse,mental,the costs to start with....I had years of owning them,granted you get the odd TB who is fine,I now own a cob.....and even cob's can be quirky.....out of interest would she depend on you for help and advice,would you be happy to do that!
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How about asking her if she would like to help you look after your ponies (under your supervision) so she can get a taste of what it is like in all weathers, how time consuming it is and how the time you spend riding is far less than the time you spend looking after them. That way you could show her what to do and all the things she needs to keep a check on to make sure her horse is healthy and happy.
In return take her out for a hack or two (away from the roads) so she gets the idea that riding school horses tend to follow on behind each other where-as your ponies have other ideas.
Failing that say to her about the BHS horse owners courses, they are a good thing to start with before buying your own horse as they teach the basics
 
When she first said to me what should i get i tried to recomend a cob instead of something like a thoroughbred, I said some of them can be highly strung andthey genraly need more maintanance than a cob which can live out all year. She is dead set on getting one. She is very like i was when i first got my pony who was an old NF not a thoroughbred! I was at a livery so had alot of help and i learned alot. Shes going it alone in her own field! I dont want her to injure herself and she really needs a novice ride.
 
She is taking an Equine science degree so she should learn a bit through that, but even the basics like not changing feed suddenly and mud fever as we are coming into winter, she dosent have a clue. I know how exciting it is when buying a pony and how anoying it is when some one is trying to tell you its not for you so i dont want to sound like that. She is just looking for a horse in her price range which is big enough.
 
Well if she goes ahead with a TB in a field on her own and given it is not a novice horse,then it is a bad mix.....it would be better if she had first horse on Full livery,so help was at had...lets hope you can get the idea out of her head!
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I also have a friend who insisted on looking at TB's as her first horse, which suprised me as she had had two major accidents in the past which hospitalised her on both occasions. I think sometimes the temptation for new horse owners is to want to buy theyre dream animal a big sharp looking horse as opposed to a smaller hairy sensible looking animal. I went with her to look at a few horses and we eventually found a really nice little cob and they are now madly in love.
Maybe point out the cost implications of owning a tb type horse, more feeding, more rugs, usually more likely to be on first name terms with the local vet. I have a dales mare who is now 20 years old, i've had her 10 yrs and shes never been lame (Touch Wood) or had the vet apart from, vacs, teeth and general overhaul and swabs before going to stud.
Hope this helps
 
I agree you should speak to her and letting her ride yours a few more times. Have you had a look at anything in the area that might be more suitable? I would really stress that a TB is unlikely to do well living out all winter (My old TB would have been appauled by the thought). It might be easier to steer her away that way than making her feel her riding isn't good enough.
 
Tell her straight, that because you like her so much, you worry about her buying a more challenging ride...can you not steer her to initially look at TB crosses, then perhaps full ponies
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or cobs?
Muddy_grey - my 18 yr old TB lives out all year...and does rather well...she hates being in although I have a stable for her.
S
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