when trying a horse...

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bamboozle

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what do you want to see a horse doing when you try it? do you ask to see it jump bigger than you'll want to jump if you buy, or do you you just watch what the owners show you?-even if it is smaller than you want it to jump? just out of interest!also do you/would you ask to take it to a show so you can see it away from home?
 
When i bought my last one i watched them ride and jump her. They asked me what i wanted to see so i watched her flatwork for a bit then we put some jumps up so i could see how she jumped really. I also rode her - i wanted to take her out for a hack too - she came with me on another horse and i asked her to canter off without me (last horse went totally nuts if someone did that and i didn't want it again!)
It really depends what you want to do with it.
Some people might ask to take it to a show - it depends what the owners would allow really.
 
Confirmation, temperment.
Things like height of jumping can be improved with schooling and mucsles. If you watch it jumping on the lunge you can tell if it enjoys jumping and its style.
Does'nt bother me if not schooled as you can sort out, but confirmation can't change and temperment is so important as you want it to enjoy its work.
I doubt if they would let you take it to a show, but you could watch it go if they take it....
 
Currently horse hunting... I'd want to see it trotted up to check for lameness, dishing etc. Then I'd watch while it was being tacked up to see if it was good to handle. Take a note of the bit / noseband.

I'd want to see it jump at least as high as I wanted to jump, & make a tidy job of it. When I jumped it myself, I prob wouldn't go so high as long as it gave me the 'feel' that it knew what it was doing & was competent. Maybe that's wrong but I wouldn't feel confident to jump top of the wings on a strange horse, cos I'm a one-horse owner & am not used to riding strange horses.

I'd try hacking it up the road to check for nappiness / attitude to traffic. Maybe get onto a bridleway if poss to see if it ran off when it got some grass under its feet.

Then get it vetted before buying!!
 
It depends entirely on your level of experience and what you want the horse to do. Is it a youngster? Or a more experienced horse? We've been horse hunting recently and learnt from some of our mistakes. I fell for a lovely 4 yr old mare and got my hopes up but she failed the vetting
frown.gif
We continued looking and saw a few...interesting...horses. We went to see one that was supposed to be a Dutch bred horse and 16hh but was more like 15hh and a Connemara x. The girl jumped it before I got on and when I did the thing was so razzed up I couldn't get it to trot! I was looking for something to dressage and showjump. I then went to see 2 lovely horses withsome lovely people (that I need to actually call) and I saw them ridden, rode both of them, then watched them being jumped and then jumped them myself.

I have now gone for a 5 yr old chestnut that was bred to SJ but also has the attitiude and paces to do dressage as well. He's being vetted this week so cross your fingers.
 
When i was looking for a horse, i looked at its general attitude, on the flat, over a jump and in the stable. I was looking for a baby horse, so when riding i did not want something dead to the leg, but something that felt nice to ride, and then for jumping as i wanted a baby, i wanted something that was genuine and that made a nice shape over the jump.... also price!!!
 
When i look at a horse we see it in the stable and groom it and mess about with it touch it all over and see how its temperment is! Then we tack it up ourselves and then the owner gets on and shows us what the horse can do then we get on and try didfferent things to our way with it!!

We then get a vet check and depending on the vet check we then may negociate the price depending on what we thought! xxx
 
I like to see horses from start to finish..... out in the field, being caughtm groomed, tacked up, ridden by owner first, hacked out alone and in company and then finally in the stable..... I also think its a good idea to call in ad hoc with about 5 mins warning (if the owners are there and its local enough) so that nothing can be done beforehand such as lunging etc etc

Maybe ask the owners when they are competing it next and go along and watch....
 
I always try a horse twice. The first time, I would want it groomed but not tacked up when I got there so that I could see it in cross ties or in its stable and see how it was to saddle. Then, I would watch the horse's normal rider flat it, then jump. I would want that rider to show me what it could do over fences since I wouldn't jump it as high. If I liked the horse, I would get on and work it a little on the flat before taking it over some fences.

The second time, I would want to handle the horse myself and ride it without having its owner on first. I might not jump, but I would ask it for more on the flat to get a feel for its level of training and willingness to try new things. I would take some video as well.

It is great to see the horse competing, but if not, ask if the owner has a video of the horse. Sometimes they do and it makes your mind up very quickly!
 
For starters, if I dont like the look of a horse I wont even bother trying it. I dont want to waste anyones time, trying if I have no intention of buying.

When I bought my current horse, I got her off a fab sports horse dealer. Saw her jumped over 1.30 and bought her subject to vetting. Didn't hack her etc, as I wanted her for jumping. She is the best horse I have had....Does everything with manners to burn.

So depending on what you want to do, will determine what you do on the day.
 
I like to see the horse doing some flatwork, then some jumping. Ive always bought young horses so TBH, I just get to see what they can do. Jumping-wise, I just want to see the shape they make / attitude etc. If I were buying something like a schoolmaster (which I never have done!) then Id expect to see it jumping the height it competes at and also see it do some XC (if this is what it does).

Id love to see them at a show, but would never ask specifically for them to take it to one. Id just go along if it happened to be competing. I do like to see video footage of past events though, if its done any. Usually I ask to see this before I even go to view the horse.
 
I wouldn't want to get on a horse straight from a field if it has been stuffing itself all day. I can't imagine most horses would give you their best in that situation! I would want to meet the horse in the stable, look and feel around legs etc once it has had a head collar put on. Then lead out and stood up so I can see the whole horse, then trotted up to see movement.

If the horse has been broken, I would then expect the seller to hop on board and work the horse in as normal. I would like to see the horse in the school by itself and also working with another horse if possible. If it was for jumping, then I would like it to jump the height corresponding to the level that it was advertised at i.e. RC horse to pop over 2'9/3ft (but only if the owner were confident to do that). I would then ride and pop over a smaller fence.

We don't worry about whether horses are good to hack out as we can take them to the park in the lorry so no proper road work. It is more important that they are free from lumps and bumps and have good movement and good attitude.

I try to chat to the owner when in the stable with the horse as you get to see how the horse behaves with company and what sort of relationship the owner has with the horse which can be very telling. If they are comfortable with each other, then you can be fairly sure that the horse and rider get on OK and probably most of what you are being told is the truth!
 
I would want to do a bit in the school, and a bit of jumping, nothing big. Most importantly would be that its safe on a hack and will go by itself and in company and be fine in traffic.
 
I brought mine as a just backed 3/4yr old. He was first looe schooled, to see his movement, and popped over a pole or two to see his technique. We the tacked him up, and owner showed him in walk/trot/canter. I then hopped on, and di 10 mins of walk trot/canter and tried him over poles and literally tiny fences (18 inches) to check his attitude. Basically I wanted to see his overall attitude to work, and see how he reacted to new things. Went back next day and spent time in stable, etc with him. Youngsters are more of a "risk" then more established horses though....
 
First thing we always do is go in the stable without it tied up - is it friendly? then run hands down its front legs without it being tied up.
Next we get it walked up and trotted back twice on concrete. We have often not gone any further than this because we can see its not what we want or it dishes too much etc.
Next watch it being tacked up and then owner/rider sits on it does flatwork and then jumps it. You can tell how good the rider is then and whether the horse has potential. Then we would sit on it. Walk, trot and canter on both reins - does it get upset if you play with it a bit such as transitions, does it learn if you want something improved? Then jump it - I will try and get it wrong slightly to see what it does and what its attitude is like. If in a school we ask to take it in a field see what it is like on grass. We will also hack it for 200m down road to see if it naps. Finally watch it untacked and offer it some water to check it has not been dehydrated. We know usually straight away if we want it or not.
 
Well the first thing we did is go and catch pickle with the owners which was showed his temperament straight away. Then had him on the yard and watched him being brushed tacked up etc. Then owner rode him while my dad videoed him being ridden on the flat, then video jumping and doing some XC, he then vidoed me riding him and then me cantering him up a small field. Then we went to our very knowladagable YO and gave me the DVD to look at he then liked him and came and saw him and checked him out for us so we had a slightly different expereince
 
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