abbijay
Well-Known Member
Last year I had to retire my first horse and horse of a lifetime.
He took me from being a self confessed riding school numpty of 20 years to the beginnings of a horsewoman.
He came on loan as a happy hacker but I ended up buying him and he turned into a successful County Show horse, willingly let me bumble round one day events before we turned our hands to dressage and he took me to working Medium. Add on to this he was a real eye catcher so people recognised him everywhere we went, he was easy to handle (apart from being a shit to load) and was quiet enough that my beginner husband could jump on and gallop him across the field or my kids could do lead rein on him. Picture just because I can't not show you how much I love him!
For the "winter" i have had a shire horse on loan but he needs to go back to his owners imminently. He has been wonderful and given me a great opportunity to assess what I want from a horse. He was little more than backed and ridden away when he arrived with me so I'm not against something green but he is SHARP. He can be tricky to hack alone, he's greatly improved and I'm more than confident to sit on him when he's pratting about but there is no way the kids or the hubby could ride him. With lockdown and the kids riding school being shut it has made me realise that I'm selfish to have a horse that can't also be part of the family. He's been tons of fun and will make a cracking dressage horse but he will never be our pet and I can't see him ever turning into a truly easy ride.
But I have never even thought about horse shopping before so I don't know where to start. I would love to find Alfie mark 2 - a clydesdale we can all love - but I also know he was one of a kind. All I really want is a horse that can hack out alone or in company without thinking about it but is also quiet enough to go on the lead rein in the arena with the kids that is in good health - it gets bonus points if it is already w,t,c in an arena and pops a cross pole without losing its mind. Anything else I want to do a horse that willingly hacks will be able to learn. I'm 5'6" and 9-9 1/2 stone so don't need a big horse but I do like big horses. Really it is temperament and attitude over everything else but lots of ads just talk about size, age, abilities and they're just not my priorities but i can't narrow the search engines down in that way! I also don't have an infinite budget - I don't wish to spend more than £4-5k but for a straightforward hacking horse surely this isn't an unreasonable budget?!
Suggestions welcome!
He took me from being a self confessed riding school numpty of 20 years to the beginnings of a horsewoman.
He came on loan as a happy hacker but I ended up buying him and he turned into a successful County Show horse, willingly let me bumble round one day events before we turned our hands to dressage and he took me to working Medium. Add on to this he was a real eye catcher so people recognised him everywhere we went, he was easy to handle (apart from being a shit to load) and was quiet enough that my beginner husband could jump on and gallop him across the field or my kids could do lead rein on him. Picture just because I can't not show you how much I love him!
For the "winter" i have had a shire horse on loan but he needs to go back to his owners imminently. He has been wonderful and given me a great opportunity to assess what I want from a horse. He was little more than backed and ridden away when he arrived with me so I'm not against something green but he is SHARP. He can be tricky to hack alone, he's greatly improved and I'm more than confident to sit on him when he's pratting about but there is no way the kids or the hubby could ride him. With lockdown and the kids riding school being shut it has made me realise that I'm selfish to have a horse that can't also be part of the family. He's been tons of fun and will make a cracking dressage horse but he will never be our pet and I can't see him ever turning into a truly easy ride.
But I have never even thought about horse shopping before so I don't know where to start. I would love to find Alfie mark 2 - a clydesdale we can all love - but I also know he was one of a kind. All I really want is a horse that can hack out alone or in company without thinking about it but is also quiet enough to go on the lead rein in the arena with the kids that is in good health - it gets bonus points if it is already w,t,c in an arena and pops a cross pole without losing its mind. Anything else I want to do a horse that willingly hacks will be able to learn. I'm 5'6" and 9-9 1/2 stone so don't need a big horse but I do like big horses. Really it is temperament and attitude over everything else but lots of ads just talk about size, age, abilities and they're just not my priorities but i can't narrow the search engines down in that way! I also don't have an infinite budget - I don't wish to spend more than £4-5k but for a straightforward hacking horse surely this isn't an unreasonable budget?!
Suggestions welcome!