What would you get?

[Tempi]

Im going to be buying another horse next year, well a youngster.

Ive found a foal that i want with excellent breeding and that i know will be perfect for me (provided obviously birth/pregnancy goes well as its not due to April 2007). Its going to be DonnerhallxDonnerwetterxHohenstein and they want £5k for it (non negotiable). So i could get this foal when its born, but it means il have to wait end of 2010 before i can do anything with it. And i dont want to keep Bloss going all that time as shes really not going to get beyond medium, and i want to retire her to hunting as i know she loves it. I could possibly loan her out to a BYRDS kid but id want her to stay where she is at my yard, so that probably wont happen.

Mum wants me to get a youngster (ie 3yr old) so ive got something to start work on straight away (next year). But, a 3 yr old with that sort of breeding is going to cost a small fortune....which i wont have. I know my trainer can find me what i want in Germany but again this is going to cost a lot and as im going to be raising all the money myself (not by loans or credit cards i might add) its going to take me forever to save up..........

What would everyone else do if in my situation?

 

[SillyMare]

Bite the bullet and get a 3 year-old. If you shop around I'm sure you will find something for your money (could you lease Bloss to a BYRDS kid rather than loan her - at least that way she can pay something toward your new horse?).

A foal will take such a long time before it is any use for you and has all that opportunity to break itself in the meantime! Also with a 3 year-old you will have a better idea of what the final product will look like.

 

[ihatework]

I would personally forget the unborn foal, too many things can go wrong in the next 4 years.
I'd be looking for a 2/3 year old.
1. Sell the posh lorry - a nice to have but not essential, what comes out of them is more important.
2. Finish the summer season with Bloss and then start to cut back on what you do with her, save the competition/training money you spend to put towards new one.
3. Are you at a point where you can now compete other peoples horses for them?

 

[Kelly1982]

I would keep looking around now for a youngster as you never know one might come up cheaper than expected.

If your in no rush to find one then it wont hurt to take time and look.

The only problem is if one does come up and you haven't got the money to buy it.

 

[Tempi]

id love to compete other peoples horses, but unfortunalty working full time i dont get around enough to do that. I ride my trainers horses for her, and her youngsters that she brings on and have lessons on them, but not oportunity to compete

Not selling lorry (mum loves it and it will last us a good long time to come).

Already cut back competitions, only doing once a month really i know ive got a lot coming up this wk, but its because of the nationals and the talent spotting.

Bloss would be good for a BYRDS child but like i said id have to find someone near me and id still school her regularly for them too. As id never let her out to someone, she can be difficult at times and i love her to bits so shes never leaving where i am!

Looks like a 2/3 year old is a good option then........

 

[severnmiles]

Its amazing how quickly time goes regarding a foal but I'd go for a 3y.o or maybe even a 2y.o.

Does it have to be those bloodlines? Or would you consider anything with amazing movement?

 

[Nic]

Don't forget to add on 3 years keep to the cost of a foal.

What kind of cost would you be looking at for a 3yo with those bloodlines?

Personally I would rather go for a 3yo.

 

[Tempi]

i wont have the money til around april next year anyways, so looking now isnt really any good to me as if i do see something i like il get really fed up as i wont be able to afford it!

 

[Tempi]

il pay up to 8k for a 3yr old. Id preferablly want Donnerhall/Sandro Hit lines to be honest.

 

[Rambo]

Forget the foal....it's a lottery, and a lot can happen in 4 years !

People with much deeper pockets than ours spend hundred's of thousands of pounds buying up yearlings in the hope of finding the odd one that will make it to the top

Get yourself the very best 3 or 4yo that you can afford and work with that

 

[AmyMay]

I would definately go for a 3 year old. Just to pay livery for your foal until it is old enough to be broken in is going to cost you a minimum of £9k. And so much can go wrong, that there is no certainty you will end up with something that is damage free - let alone talented enough to do what you want to.

At least with a three year old you will be able to see what it's confirmation is, how it moves, temperament etc. And be able to start it straight away.

 

[Tempi]

i like your advice, thankies!! that is what i want to do

Im hoping il be earning more aswell when the time comes to buy as im starting a course related to my job in a couple of weeks on a open learning scheme, which once passed i should get a fair amount more money.

 

[S_N]

I personally would not commit to an unborn foal - unless of course you were breeding it yourself! However, I would consider anything already on the ground - you have more idea of what you are getting then!

 

[Tempi]

yes i think you guys have convinced me its a bad idea...its just the breeding that really attracted me to it!! Im sure i can find a 3yr old just as good when i get round to looking nxt year!

 

[_jetset_]

I take it you're not breeding from Bloss next year anymore...

I would do what everyone else has said and look around for a three year old. I know how irritating it is going to be to have a good horse that you can't ride until 2010... Then again, I could keep working on my Dad (or just kill him off an inherit everything) to buy a nice youngster of Fleetwater line... Hmm, now there's an idea!

Seriously though, you will know more about the horse if it is three and it's way of going will be much more clear than that of a foal. How exciting... you're pony shopping!

 

[seabiscuit]

PG, You know that Sandro Hit mare that K had in....the little one? Well that will be available for sale next year I think...K has turned it away at the momment.

But think you are really tall?! That mare will only make 15.2 ?!Might ride bigger though...

 

[Iestyn]

I'm in a fairly similar predicament at the moment. I have been searching for the right solution for about 2 years now and still none the wiser. I have a little TB that is doing well at a bit of everything. He events with OH and will hopefully get to Intermediate and I have decided that it's not for me so have decided to do more dressage on him - I love it anyways. However, he is fairly downhill but has nice paces. He does a very calm, obedient and correct test but always gets marked down for being on the forehand (not his fault though). I've been told by my new trainer that he'll be competitive up to elementary and there's no reason why we shouldn't do medium but I don't think he'll ever be able to engage and collect enough to go much further. I'm in a dilemma whether to loan something mroe experienced (maybe an ex-eventer looking for a quieter life doing some dressage) to give me experience at elementary/medium now or wait and save like you and buy a youngster in a year or so (talking 3/4 yrs old), but to buy something with the paces and potentail is going to be costly - so do I buy a foal now? It'll be a few years before I can do anything with it - even thought people have said time will fly as you're always doing something with them anyways. However my trainer said today that I should wait, save and buy a 7 - 9yr old, but I'll never be able to save that much - I'm trying at the moment really hard to save but what I put aside comes straight abck out again!!!

I think what I probably will do is wait and get my boy to a good level - I can learn on him as he cost us nothing as an ex-racehorse and has already achieved more than we could ever have asked of him. In the meantime I will try and save some money, but if something like a loan comes along I will go for it, but if not I'll continue to save to buy a 3/4 yr old.

Good luck in whatever you do. How about selling Bloss as a good allrounder now so that you have some capital to put towards your "superstar"?

 

[ttm]

hello you. S-V pm me your msn addy please as I have lost all my addies and a chat would be lovely

 

[Tempi]

yeah its only 15'2, too small for me - fab little mare tho, but i know what shes going to be asking for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (not anywhere close to my price range!!)

 

[Tempi]

I would NEVER sell Bloss, plus she would honestly be worthless, even tho she has over 100BD points. She naps out hacking (something i can deal with, but needs a very strong rider) and she also rears and has the most HUGE buck imaginable, also hates clippers, ok in the lorry but sometimes a pain to load if feeling mareish. For these reasons i would get nowhere near her true value - horses with her points that have got there as quickly has she has fetch around £15k, but she would probably only sell for around £4k (if that), nowhere near what she is worth.

She sounds everso similar to your ex racer - shes on the forehand (v croup high), altho lots and lots of hard work and shes now starting to use her hindleg. her mediums will never be fab, infact they range from rubbish to AWFUL!! But im working on it. She really will make a fab BYRDs horse for a YR wanting to do elementary and medium (shes just learning halfpass and shoulder in is now mastered) but shes not going beyond that. I also will only lease her out from my yard so i can keep an eye on her (shes my baby!!!)

I do think a 3 yr old is going to be the way forwards, just going to take lots of saving up on my part!!

 

[Iestyn]

I know exactly what you mean about not being able to sell - P is with us for life as he's so special to us - however, he's incredibly straightforward and an absolute saint. He's put up with a lot whilst I've sorted my riding out, but we're getting there slowly.

P is very croup high as well - but he can do some very nice mediums - he usually scores 7's and sometimes 8's for them. Funny how they present their weaknesses in different ways! We're working really hard on getting him to use his hind leg and engage more. He goes in a lovely outline, but it's very false sometimes as he's not truly working from behind and engaging. Plus, getting any sort of muscle on him to help him carry himself better is hard with his breeding! I'm going to be obsessed next time I buy something in making sure that it's uphill and active! Part of me is saying to just concentrate on P until we reach his limit, which is going to take a good couple of years and he's still only 7 now.

See, I think my trainer is recommending that I look for something like your mare nexdt - something that has been schooled and competed to a good level (uphill though!!!

) because I won't have the funds to buy something "perfect" of that level, but she knows that I will cope with that sort of behaviour as long as it's good in the arena and at competitions. I, on the other hand, would far prefer to start from scratch with something as I've enjoyed bringing on P and will be able to afford something with that "wow" factor at a younger age. We'll see what come along!

Anyways, good luck with your search - there's a lot of good youngsterds around as long as you can weed out the real potential from the "claimed" potential.