When you bought your horse, how much was based on his/her appearance?

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Charla

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Just interested to know.

When I bought my boy, he was only 2 and a half so obviously buying him didn't go on how he was to ride. In all honesty it went on his movement, temperament and appearance. He was black (the colour I love most) with a symmetrical white stripe, and 2 very even hind white socks. He looked striking to me. Especially the way he moved.

I picked my filly out of a pen of foals (none looked great because they were all in poor condition) but I must admit I picked her because she had the prettiest face and was a lovely colour.

A friend of mine is currently looking for a horse to buy and I send her ads with suitable horses in her price range and she takes one look at the photo and if it isn't what she classes as 'stunning' she's not interested. So to her it's purely chosen by looks.

Would you be put off a horse if it had a real wonky stripe or wasn't the best of looking?
 
When I bought my mare it was love at first sight :) I went to view her and there were 5 bay mares in the field, not knowing which one was her I said to the owner "I like that one" and low and behold it was her. We went over, she nuzzled me and was so gentle, I fell in love with her personality. I rode her then had her on loan to buy for a month, within the first week we just really gelled so I bought her.
 
25% I searched for ages for a palomino colt specifically, I would have liked more white on his legs but that wasn't important enough to stop me seeing him.

The rest was breeding, temperament blah, blah, blah

I bought this as a 2yo:
DSCN1634.jpg


and he grew into this (6yo):
b7adf4a1.jpg


If I am looking for a horse to do a specific job then I don't care about colour, markings, breeding, if it ticks the boxes then I'll consider it.

That's why I have
a bay (not my first colour choice)
Morgan (not my breed of choice)
mare (unregistered - so useless to me)

BUT...she's gentle, trainable, broken English and Western, jumps and my daughter likes her which is what was most important in her case.
 
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None. I wanted a section d but got a tb, because he was the sensible choice (backwards I know!!).

My selection process;

Price (i was on a tight budget)
Soundness (needed to be 100%)
Behaviour (have done my time with naughty horses, its my turn to have a sensible one!!)
Looks would have come in around here but I only went to go and see one (officially) so didnt end up having to do pro's and con's!
 
Mine was not a looker when we bought her - she was still growing so very unproportioned, he neck was scrawny and her legs didn't fit her body.
It was also the middle of winter so her coat looked very dull.

She does look a bit better now though :p
 
Captain's looks weren't important but he is a good looking horse, in my opinion , although he was extremely thin when we bought him, he was bought as a dressage horse so paces and confo were extremely important, but most important was his instant attachment to Elizabeth, it was amazing. She just spent 5 mins in the arena talking to him and he was following her around like a puppy. We thought he was like that with everyone, he isn't, in fact he is one of the most stand offish horses I have ever met and is extremely wary of strangers especially men due to having been abused.

Fany her breed and her hacking out alone were what attracted us. Then Elizabeth, right next to the dealer said "she is the one" Great, not haggling then! She has the most beautiful eyes and the rest just grew on us, she was meant to be temporary to give Elizabeth back her confidence after an accident out hacking, she is now permanent.

Both had to be 100% sound. Which they were.
FDC
 
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Absolutely doesn't matter. I mean, its nice to see something pretty and if its got dreadful confirmation then I might have a problem. But if its something which could improve with time then definately don't care. My current horse looked horrendous when I went to see him - he was very thin (full of worms we found out when we got him home), hadnt been rugged (even though he's a very lightweight horse) so his coat was all long and straggly. My dad embarassed me terribly by announcing on seeing this pitiful creature dozing in the back of the stable "oh my, it looks like a donkey!" in front of the seller... Anyway, I bought him based on the fact he seemed to have a really nice nature about him and it worked out great (I was right). He's the horse in my siggy and although I wouldnt say he's absolutely stunning I think he's a cutie and nothing like he used to look!

Have bought a few "project" ponies off hillsides too who'd rarely been touched let alone tidied! 3 of them where natives, all obese and extremely unkept. Thing is because they're so scruffy, they go cheap (I guess some people have no imagination) but once taken home and trimmed/tidied and put into work they turn into stunners!
 
Appearance is towards the end of my horse shopping list (unless by appearance you also mean build/confo). However all the horses we've bought are all gorgeous (well I may be slightly biased).
 
Pretty much nothing on 'prettyness'! She looked poor and under muscled which made her slightly bum high appearance look much worse, she also moved in a rather less than average way!
She did have alot of ticks though!
safe as houses on the road
beautifully clean, strong legs
right age, height and build
fitted in our (not v big!) budget.

Nearly 2 years on she is still wonderfully level headed, though her increased fittness has made her into a little bit of a minx with a sense of humor not totally allied to mine; moves really beautifully (there is alot to be said for balanced feet and correct schooling); is a nice weight and has developed correct muscle which brings her into proportion; she is also the most beautiful mare in the world now as she looks so well and really wears her heart on her sleeve with her big personality!

I love her appearance now (she really is a grand mare), but it really wasn't up to much at all when we got her.

Your friend should try and see what the horse could be, not necessarily just what is presented to her. You can spend alot on a v pretty and flashy looking horse, doesn't mean it has any talent or isn't a total bugger to deal with though!!
 
If I think a horse is good looking, it will make me even more careful that it is what I want - I would need to be sure I wasn't overlooking something just because I liked the aesthetics!
 
I provisionally bought mine on movement and looks alone! I was lucky in that my YO was happy to keep her for me until she was backed etc before offering her to anyone else!
 
It is difficult not to place too much emphasis on looks when you are trawling the adverts. A pretty dapple grey or a stunning coloured with nice photos looks so much more appealing than a dark brown with no markings in plain photos.

Prettiness isn't really important, conformation, temperament, size/build and ability are far more important but first impressions do count and a pretty face helps a lot!
 
1st for me was height
2nd price
3rd area

Prettyness was a bit of a fail really as although he is handsome and has grown into himself abit his head and neck are still ridiculously large for his body.. cant say I care though :)
 
Well I like an ugly oss, seem to have a soft spot for them.

On a serious note, guess it depends on what your buying the horse for.

I wasn't buying to show, so wasn't looking for anything too pretty.

I actually went to view his 3yr half brother a coloured DW but for some reason I was drawn to my lad as I didn't think the other had a very good natural topline.

Didn't really get to see him move as well as I'd of liked as he wasn't trained to lead, but I got him moving a bit, he was in his winter woollies again that didn't help neither but I just looked at his legs, feet, over all conformation and his cheeky character, already seen his sire.

He was busy bossing his half brother in the field that was actually a year older than him and for some reason I just took to him, liked his cheeky character and it was pretty much love at first sight.
 
By appearance I presume you mean the whole 'package', looks, demeanour and movement - whether they 'fill your eye'.

As I've only bought youngsters for many years now then it's almost all on appearance and that indefinable something that makes you instantly like a horse - presence, the sparkle in the eye - call it what you will. I always get a horse vetted, even a youngster, though before purchase - I like to know any potential for problems as my horses usually end up 'for keeps'.
 
Def not with Lottie, thought she was quite a plain little horse with a big head, donkey ears and massive knees, but she was sweet natured and the right height. After 1st Pony who bit and kicked I was ready for a rest with a nice horse, then someone else tried her and I saw them hit her so I bought her. She turned out to be totally unsuited to me riding wise but absolutely perfect. And she IS very pretty (to me anyway!)

I took someone with me to look at B as I wanted a spotty soooo badly but knew I couldn't afford a nice one and I could almost afford her, queue assumption she would not be that nice! The second I saw her little spotty face peeping over the gate, I asked the friend not to let me buy her because she was purple and I wanted her for that reason alone!! She's coloured out now and is a very light liver chesnut and white but still as pretty with her little square head, blonde mane and tiny curly ears!

'I' I fell in love with from her internet ad so mainly picture and her breed, (type not exact parentage!) Again took a friend as she was half the price of anything similar, she bit me and aimed a kick which explained price but I saw her jump a muddy puddle so I figured she might jump when she grows up and bought her!
 
oh god no!
Hovis was the exact opposite of what i wanted looks wise. But having tried lots of sleek handsome loonies I wanted something i felt safe on.
I think hes grown into his looks as he's got older but he was a funny looking little thing when i bought him
 
The one ive just brought was 80% because shes beautiful and breeding material, 10% because ive known her years and always fancied her and 10% because I think there is a chance I can fix her :)
 
I had my pick from a whole yard full of neddies. They were all well bred arabs or PBA's, so they were all stunning IMO. I chose my girl because she was the only mare and she was fab in traffic. I wanted an arab/PBA, mare, sound, sane and good in traffic.
 
Hated the sight of the first pony i bought, because he was a swap in a riding school for my favourite, however, loved riding him and eventually bought him :D

Second pony - I had already agreed to buy a different pony but the seller pulled out (decided she couldn't part with him), she had shown me around the livery yard and there was another lady selling her boy, the minute he popped his head over the stable door nuzzled me for food, i was hooked & i had to have him, he was so different looking & cheeky with it there was just something about him, and there still is :D
 
Usually its 'fit for purpose'.....but seeing as I fell in love with my current horse about 4 months before I actually bought him.....yep, I admit it- my head was turned by a pretty boy:o

Although I did see his movement/confo as he ponced about the field.....and I had friends who knew a lot about him and advised me ( mostly NO! don't do it:D)....but as Kenzo says, there was just something about him I liked and couldn't put him out of my mind.....
 
Not at all. She's my first horse and wanted something safe and sensible that would look after me. She's the first out of all those I tried that I didn't feel the slightest bit nervous on so that did it for me - had seen some much flashier horses, but I love her cute face and moustache and cheekiness - she is gorgeous to me! :D
 
No it doesn't play a big part in my choices at all. My first pony was not pretty at all although she improved hugely when she was fitter and happier. I have a one-eyed horse who is beautiful but obviously has a socket which isn't easy on the eye. I think my Welshie is just stunning. His coat is a beautiful reddish conker colour and he has a lovely white blaze on his face. However, I bought him because I like his personality and he's a nice safe horse, not because he's a beautiful boy.
 
pinktiger said:
none!!!!!! mine was uuuuuuugggllly!!!!!! was about confo, price, and breeding in that order!!!
Click to expand...

kinda going with that ^^ lol


mine was just a brown blob and i wasnt going to ring up until i realised what do i have to loose by just ringing

so i did and she was perfect.... price was right, her temprament is spot on (no breeding) but shes fab :)

i still dont think shes that pretty (because shes brown and ive had 2 bays before her).... but shes a lovely horse :)
 
Well at the start none really! although i dont like hairy cobs haha as always had fine/middleweights.

As long as the horse fitted all my ridden requirements and the usual things like temperement i wouldnt really mind within reason although i like a horse with nice conformation :)

any looks other than that are a bonus!

With Java, when i first saw him i was shocked how nice he looked and instantly thought he would be really fast, but he fitted all my requirements and was the only horse i didnt want to get off when i tried so i bought him
 
Looks were way down my list which is just as well, my horse is a boring bright bay, no white on her legs (dislike plain bay legs!), big ugly head, unappealing stripe, short forelegs and horribly downhill. But a thoroughly nice person with a cracking jump and enough spark to be fun. Her breeding is good enough to warrant a super foal too which is a bonus - just have to carefully choose a delicate, attractive uphill sire to balance out her bad points! :)
 
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