When you bought your horse...........

I wasnt even looking to buy a horse at that precise moment as Mini TX has just started riding 9 years ago and I was persuaded to start after a 20 year break by a riding instructor at that riding school, who became a very good friend. I first met my horse (my first one at the grand old age of 41 (me, not him) tied up, tacked up on a very hot day when Mini TX had her very first lesson. He looked grumpy and was shoved at the back of the american barn, was dusty and in need of a good old clip, his tack was pretty rubbish and he had a horrible old saddle cloth on. I tried to pat him and just got glared at.

Well, got persuaded to book some lessons, and turned up to find myself booked to ride this very same horse. I remember him being lead up through the barn, and he looked totally peed off. He was not fat, but he was dam lazy and had learned to evade practically everything you did, and it was only huge pony club kicks that got him going. I was exhausted and when I got off I thought thank god thats over. However, I decided to have a pat and a fuss and was greeted with a very kind and twinkly eye, which did take me back a little bit. I ended up having about 3 lessons a week in the end, just to ride him and I used to help out at the riding school as well, just to spend time with him.

I actually cant say what made me want to buy him to be very honest. I just think we kind of clicked. I did not want to buy a black 14.3hh cob - I wanted a nice smart 16hh dapple grey ID type, but for some reason I kept coming back to him. The very, very odd thing abuot him is that he is a very dominant horse, but very kind and forgiving. His personality is strangely so like that of my husband, father, and business partner, so there was oddly something there.

When the riding school had to close, I was offered the first opportunity to buy him, and I jumped at it. He was a handful on a one to one basis and as he was my first horse I did struggle. However, we developed a lovely bond, and he has taken me hunting, showing, dressaging, fun rides and lots of lovely hacks. He is now a sleek, if a bit tubby hogged boy who is loved to within an inch of his life, and who scrubs up very nicely - I have been told had he been slightly bigger, he would have been a winner on the county showing circuit, but we shall never know, nor do I care.. He is 19 and owes me nothing. However, when I look back, I think it was his eyes - they have a really lovely twinkle in them, as if he is secretly amused and extremely happy. They are also very expressive and I can always tell his mood by them, and he is rarely in what I call a bad mood (if horses get bad moods - lilfe to him is there to be enjoyed) He has a home for life and it was the best £2000 I have ever spent.
 
I wasnt looking for a horse when I got Chloe. A friend was looking for a loan home for her and I said I'd ask around. However I fell in love with her little face and she's quite vulnerable although she can be a diva I wanted to give her a home. OH said that I could take her on loan for 6 months or until someone else came a long as she's a bit on the small side for him to ride.

However 2 years on and she's properly ours, although not an easy ride, she's taught me so much and we've really built up a bond. OH loves her (she's not that small for him) he takes her show jumping which they both love! :)
 
These are all really lovely. Have to admit mine was a total rebound, first horse I went to see, first horse I'd ever bought. I was helping to ride some pointers at the time and managed to fall off one twice on the gallops (one was straight onto my head), decided I'd had enough of bonkers tbs - looked on horsemart and went to see my fell a week later. He was round, fluffy and quiet - and kept eating everyone's sleeves.

Took my friend to see him, she said.....he's nice, get them down on price as his head's a bit common and he seems quiet - if he turns out to be too quiet you can break him in, sell him and make a profit.

He arrived on Feb 13th 2 years ago (valentines day present to myself); his personality arrived soon after, what he lacks in height he makes up for in attitude (small man syndrome), definitely not too quiet and not going anywhere! (my instructor says it's all in the ears - apparently if they curve inwards you've got a cheeky one!)
 
I have a had a lot of horses in my time of the four I have now the ID fitted the job description perfectly in his ad OH got on him horse behaved but did buck one of the reasons it was being sold got him on a short trail got him off the corn and sent OH out hunting on him my horse was off so followed on a quad to observe when we met up 2 pm OH said can I have him he looked really worried I might say no that was it.
Next one is a Dutch harness horse but really an American standard bred as both parents were imports to holland I bought because when I drove him on the day viewed he was marvellous in traffic he was however very nervous and uptight and never settled to HDT I ride him now I class him as a mistake but I do love him.
Next one replacement driving horse for above I saw online ad was for ages I kept going back to it he was so cheap in ever bothered ringing in the end I did spoke to the owner was still sure there would be a catch went to look in the end he was such a bargin I bought with I can clip it ( more hair than big foot )hunt it
and double my money if I don't like him he is a total star we will never part with him it took me a year to settle to appreciate him .
Last one 'my horse' bought last August always admired always looked for a shows just love at first sight I adore him even though he's got a issue with his jaw and is costing a fortune I just don't care.
 
The way he expressed his joy at being out for canters by throwing his legs around but never tried to drop me. And the way he seemed to hate everyone but put his ears forward when we were alone. I wasn't looking and tbh I wouldn't have gone to view him if I had been but something spoke to me. I was a broken being when I stopped working d his owner and seeing him everyday. Took me 3 months to believe he's mine and I still find myself gazing at him smiling. The other one I was looking for and spent ages looking but I knew just as strongly that she was mine. I'm lucky I have 2 amazing horses though big brown pony has not had his best day today lol
 
Well I'm still looking :-(. Travelled 240 miles round trip to look at a horse that actually wasn't bad but again, didn't have that special ingredient. With limited funds I know there will be a compromise but my beautifull Tictac is proving more difficult to replace than I had imagined. But what I musn't do it get to the stage where I feel that nothing is ever going to turn up and just buy one for the sake of it. Maybe come autumn, people will start dropping their prices and I might get myself a nice horse just in time for winter!!!
 
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Good Luck finding something.

I have to say that I think having a genuine seller whom discusses openly every part of the horse's character and general well being and also makes the viewing a truthful insight in to owning the horse does make a difference in your first impressions.

My criteria was a 16 hand plus sports horse/WB type gelding who could compete. I ended up with a 15.1 welsh cob mare who had only ever hacked!

Although, we now jump 3ft courses, go xc, show, dressage, all riding club etc so she ended up fulfilling everything I wanted of her eventually.

I did view a horse at a dealers, who seemed rather truthful about the horse too. Although the vetting brought up that the horse had shivers and I was warned by the vet that the horse had had a hard start in life (7 yrs old) evident in the scars, legs, teeth, sores etc. These things made me pull out of the sale as I didn't want to take a risk and end up with a lame horse.

The dealers didn't try and hide anything, and wanted the horse to go to a nice home. I will always wonder what happened to the horse and whether he ended up with a loving owner which he had never experienced before :(
 
After a huge confidence knock I was looking for a confidence giver. My criteria was 15hh bay gelding 9-11 YO. I went to see a Horse who matched this description. But then I saw a 14.2 coloured mare tied up and I wondered over to say hello to her. Owner said she was for sale and I could try her that day, so I did. The moment I knew she was the one was when I rode into a feild and was able to trot. I know that sounds such a small deal to most of you, but for me who was terriefied of open spaces and had only just trotted my share Horse of 2 years in a field, it was a huge deal! I tried dozens of Horses and most I didn't even feel safe to trot in the school, so for me to get straight on her and start trotting her in an open space was my sign! I never did try the bay I went to origionally see ;). Since I've had her I have canterd out a few times and also started to hack out alone. Which is something I thought I would never be able to do again. Despite her being only 5 when I got her, she was my little confidence giver :) so I am morr confident she is more forward with me and I am now re-schooling her.
 
Madam Min said:
I wasnt looking for a horse when I got Chloe. A friend was looking for a loan home for her and I said I'd ask around. However I fell in love with her little face and she's quite vulnerable although she can be a diva I wanted to give her a home. OH said that I could take her on loan for 6 months or until someone else came a long as she's a bit on the small side for him to ride.

However 2 years on and she's properly ours, although not an easy ride, she's taught me so much and we've really built up a bond. OH loves her (she's not that small for him) he takes her show jumping which they both love! :)
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I think that's how many of us end up with our beasts!! I wasn't looking for a horse to own at the time - I was looking for a horse to partboard (which I believe you call share here). I had a response from an ad posting for a 2-coming-3-year-old unbroke plain chestnut thoroughbred and decided to see this horse. I ended up falling for him - broke him myself and within a month of riding him, I took him to his first show and we only placed 5th in one of the classes but he was a really good boy. From then on, he was mine.

We showed all over and as a 3 year old I took him to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto and ended up Reserve Champion Thoroughbred Colt/Gelding of 2006. First time I had ever shown on the line and first time he had shown on the line.

Last year we started over jumps a little bit here and there and showed in the low adult 2'-2'3 hunters whenever I had a chance.

I currently have him leased out at home but severely miss him!
 
A few of my horses it's been just a gut feeling but my tb mare as soon as I seen her I fell in love with. She bronced me off on first visit and dealer that was selling her made me go back and wanted references on my ability for her. Luckily my instructor knew the dealer well and ensured the dealer we could learn together and I always have lessons without fail. We had 18 months of her broncing me off then stamping on me :( but she turned out to be the most loyal horse I have ever come across :D
She ended up having colic surgery and was very poorly, my mum decided to buy me another. He was a beast of a horse I hated him and really did not want him as he was a total t@t, I had him on trial for two weeks and couldn't wait for the day to hand him back. But by the end of the two week trial I realised that we actually got a session in the school were 5 minutes had passed and no buck or squeal :) . I also realised that when I entered the stable I did not get a a@@e in my face but an inquestive horse. I changed my mind and couldn't hand him back to the life he had so we bought him and he stayed with me till he was pts
 
ok here comes the mentalist :)....i owned a bombproof cob who i loved to pieces but totally out grew, i knew it was time to let go and move on, Kiz came on to the yard when another lady bought her, i'd heard all about her story from a friend, she was terrible to load had reared up and jumped off the ramp and then jumped the field fence back in to the field and was then a night mare to catch, the lady who bought her ended up not having enough time for her so i took her on, on a sunday, i rode her out she reared, she bolted BUT she had talent, i knew that behind the confused messed up mare there was something there, i told a few people that i'd like to buy her (she wasnt even up for sale!) and was told i was mental and it was a bad idea, i phoned her owner and she agreed to let me buy her :) the first few months were terrible i had rope burn from her bolting and i thought id taken on way too, 6 years later i am living the dream, we still have moments when we disagree out jumping but wow she is one in a million :)

AJ x
 
He was the ugliest 1 year old foal u could imagine, forest breed, and small. But there was just this thing about him, we just clicked. 4 Years on we r still together and he has turned into the most stunning New forest pony. We Show, inhand and ridden, and daughter does him as well. Not a nasty bone in his body, I would be lost without him. We all have one pony in life that is meant to be yours and yours only, I was lucky enough to find mine at the old age of 42, but I found him. We will be together until we pop our clogs.
 
Mine was the first I viewed. I liked him and his owner was lovely. He wasn't in the slightest interested in all the fuss but I liked his manner and calmness. He just stood there un-tied, half asleep being tacked up...

I can't say exactly what it was that drew me back to him, but whatever it was I'm glad I went along with it cos it's one of the best choices I ever made... Despite his leg problems I don't regret one minute.

I'd say view plenty of horses but one will stand out and draw you back for another viewing. It's not just the horse though, the owner also plays a huge part IMO.
 
I just took one look and 'knew', it was like they were already mine ;) from my beautiful primadonna who was the roughest diamond when I saw he, to my bold as brass youngster when I saw him at 2 weeks old looking over the gate, it's just a feeling I get before I even interact with them, it's not let me down yet, they were all the perfect partners although I'm hoping this continues when I start riding my youngster
 
Well I think I have finally come to the end of my search. After many journeys around the country I went to view a horse today and liked him the minute he stuck his head over the door. He's an irish Tb and an ex racer standing 16.3 and well put together. I liked him even more when I saw him ridden and I completely knew he had to be mine when I rode him. he's a happy, forward but safe horse and if millions of horse flies, a tractor, mad galloping ponies in fields, screaming babies, barking dogs and ride on lawn mowers didn't bother him, that's good enough for me.

Keep your fingers crossed that my offer is accepted and he can come and live with me :-)
 
I have just bought a new horse and she certainly made me smile when i first rode her. She wasn't what i had planned to buy but i was very open and tried different types. I kept coming across green youngsters then saw her ad and went to try a big 9 yr old mare. Her quirk is what drew me in, she flaps her bottom lip when concentrating. Who cares if i will never get massive dressage scores because of it, it one thing i love about her. Plus she has been so easy going (touch wood!) so calm, taking everything in her stride.

I think you just know inside, there is a 'feeling' although it wasn't bursting out of me i knew it was there and i couldn't miss out on my giant girlie.
 
my first horse was amazing to ride and thats why i got him. wanted a schoolmaster to teach me new things and thats what he did for a week then all of a sudden started going for me and i lost my confidence completely so i sold him on.

second horse it was his face and how he looked at me over the door. didnt really want anything bigger than 16hh or a tb so i went to look at a 16.1hh ex racer. 2 days later he was at my yard and i dont regret it. he is the most laid back animal i have ever met (except when eating!!). had him 2 years now and i love him to bits although this year have had some very expensive vet bills.
 
I owned a Quarter horse mare who I outgrew by age 17, as I wanted to pursue more dressage and the horse didn't. The prospect of searching for a new horse had been briefly discussed, but not in any serious way. I'd mentioned it to my trainer, a few other barn friends, my parents of course. Then another trainer at the barn, not mine but she was a friend, came up to me and asked if I'd seen the ad on the ranch bulletin board for a Shire-TBX mare. I said that I'd seen the ad and the horse looked cute. The trainer then suggested that if I was at all vaguely interested in dressage horses, I should go look at the mare, as the trainer had seen her at a few shows and thought she was pretty decent. So I took the phone number off the ad, went home, and my mother and I decided that looking at a horse would be a nice, fun mother-daughter-bonding way of spending a Saturday afternoon. The horse was only half an hour away and we didn't seriously believe we would soon be buying a horse. After all, the first horse you look at is usually crap, right?

We went to view her and I just loved everything about her. She leaned on your hands like a bloody freight train at the time (doesn't now) and had a four-beat canter (doesn't now), and was on the pushy side (isn't now) and my trainer (not the one who recommended we look at the mare, but my actual trainer) was not impressed at all with her. I can still remember her shaking her head and saying in her Swedish accent, "I don't really like her." Still, there was something about the horse that felt right. I've had her for thirteen years now and she's nineteen and going better than ever.

Buying my three year old was more straightforward, in part because I wasn't looking for a horse I was going to "marry;" I was looking for one I could train and then sell on without too much drama. I found a woman near where I lived who acquired babies from the PMU farms in Canada, put a little bit of work on them, and then sold them. That meant there were a bunch of a two and three year olds I could look at in one day. I "tested" a bunch of young horses out by free lunging them in the round pen and just leading them around. They all had very little handling. Some were clearly traumatized and just wanted to go back to the field with their friends. Some were bold and energetic, but sharp as tacks, and would have been quite exciting to start under saddle. The fellow I bought was the right combination of brave, friendly, curious, but not so hot he'd have crazy amounts of energy and be scary to back. My reading of him during those fifteen minutes in the round pen was exactly right, and he was a brilliant little horse to get started.
 
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For me looking at a skinny, weedy, '6' y/o having never had one of my own he wasn't much to look at. I was more interested in the flashy moving one who was there at the same time, tried them both and Conn did work nicer but I was still undecided.
Went back to see Conn as he had been the nicest we had seen, even if he was 2 years younger than we wanted (or sp we thought) but we took them xcing and no matter what stride I put him on, he cleared it by miles and I felt like we had a real partnership. We gave leads to the horse that was twice his age!

Then got him home and found out he was a 4yo psycopath but hey-ho, c'est la vie ;)
 
Pretty much fell for my horse from her advert (silly!!) - she was described in such a likeable way that I couldn't get her out of my mind and her pictures showed a lovely kind and intelligent expression. I had to wait some weeks before I sold another horse before I could even consider looking at her and was amazed to find she was still available. When I saw her, she was very underweight, with no muscle tone and looked ewe necked. I was horrified. She'd finished racing some months previously, been tried out hacking and found to be safe and sane so then just chucked in a field to fend for herself til sold on. Poor lass had not had a proper 'let down' period at all. I felt mean riding her in such a poor state but had to be sure she didn't have any obvious issues - she gamely tried for me and I didn't ask much of her. I tried to be sensible, went home to think it through, her condition and the ewe neck was a real worry - would she always have such a terrible neck or was it just her high withers and lack of condition? Would she remain calm and sane once I'd got her back up to weight? Well I couldn't leave her in that state so the next week she was home with me! Rugged up, carefully fed on conditionning cubes and with only light exercise slowly build her up, it took me many months of tlc before she started to look less like an RSPCA case! It waas the best decision I ever made (even if it was for all the wrong reasons!), she's never put a foot wrong for me, is kind, sweet and funny, a superb hack, not fizzy or daft like some ex-racers - and she looks absolutely stunning now with not a ewe neck in sight!
 
Well after taking a number of trips back to the UK to see horses and finding nothing that felt right I had decided I would start to look properly again once I moved back permently in mid July.

I joined a local horsey FB group as I wanted to sell some bits of tack when I got back so wanted to check out prices etc.

One day a picture popped up showing a Irish Cob Mare for sale. I thought ohh how lovely and clicked it away, then I looked at it again, and again, and again until a week after i had seen it and after checking everyday to check she was not sold I finally forwarded the ad to my YO/Instructor in the UK to see what she thought. She loved the look of the horse and said she would do an initial viewing.

Long story short YO viewed horse and called me to say "she's lovely, perfect for you out of all the ones we have seen this is the first one I feel Yes about and to top all all she is a lovely horse on the ground and in the stable"

So I bought her from falling in love on an ad and a through going over and recommendation from my YO/Instructor and she arrived at YO's yard last week. All reports are that she is a total diamond and everyone has fallen in love with her.

I can not wait to meet her on the 21st July and if my Husband thinks I am unpacking on that day he is severely misguided
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Yes deffo, all my animals have come home with us because of that ‘just know’ feeling …

Dog – wasn’t planning on getting a dog (well we were but in the future), saw my 9 week old rottie and burst into tears and couldn’t stop … home he came.

Cat – we were in the pet shop getting fish food … little tiny kitten sat on the desk of the shop whilst shop owners were trying to sell him and another kitten … I grabbed him whilst they were looking at the other one, ran off around shop with him and didn’t put him down til we got home 

Horse No1 – went to breeder friend of mine for advice on a yearling arab we’d seen – came home with a three year old just ready for backing 

Horse No2 – saw on internet, wasn’t even looking for another horse, actually fell in love with him on the photos (even though he was sold as un-ridable/project/dangerous) oops home he came again …
x
 
To be perfectly honest when I tried her she was a nightmare, wouldn't stand at all, kept throwing paddys and spooking at things like fence posts, went absoloutley crazy when a jump came out, but for some reason I just loved her, not 100% sure why!

However it was LWVTB so I'm not sure if it had been a straight sale whether I would have taken the risk and bought her but I might have, interestingly rang up the owner yesterday to finalize details of the sale and said how laid back and settled she had become and she said she was like that at the yard she brought her at but had never really settled at her yard!
 
For me, I'd admired my horse for two years and wished I could find one like him for myself. Then one day the owner told me she was selling him. I was round her house within 2 hours and buying him!
 
With benson, I had him on loan, he was the first horse we tried, and just seemed right.
Charlie, not sure really, seemed to tick all the boxes at the time, and I guess we had just got impatient!
And Donovan, he is the only one were I can understand when people say, something drew me to him, as soon as I saw him I knew he was the one. Never understood that until we found him!
 
My OH found him. Wasn't advertised was word of mouth.

Off I went to try him and OH said before you decide ring me. Rode him and just loved his sweet nature. Agreed to buy him. Rang OH and said you need to take a cheque to next hunt meet please :)
 
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