Why cant I find a new horse?

Ashy

Ashy

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 January 2007
Messages
54
Visit site
You would think it would be easy to spend a few thousand pounds on a new horse but I am getting so frustrated and disillusioned because there doesnt seem to be any out there just now (well within 300 miles of me anyway!). Surely a sound, vice free, sensible, uncomplicated, well put together and nice moving horse with a competition record isnt the holy grail? Or maybe I need to spend more than my £6-7k budget? Is it the time of year? I have looked at hundreds of adverts and tried about a dozen horses now and those that have made it onto the short list have either had sarcoids, wind sucked, couldnt be hot shod, wouldnt hack, did bronco impressions around the school or had some other kind of issue. Im getting a little dejected.. Any recommendations for sources in Scotland / N England? Good luck vibes needed please.. Thanks!!
smile.gif
 
i think its the time of year :/ it will get better trust me
smile.gif
when the snow clears and its not quite so cold more people will advertise.. its just they think no one will want to come and see horses in this weather.. so there not advertising... OR they havent got the facilities to show thier horses i nthis weather..
 
try turlood stables i got my lovely 4yr kwpn mare from there in october and shes fantastic they usually have a few good horses at pretty good prices ... he is a dealer though but a good one in my opinion i tried a horse out before i got on the one i bought and it wasnt for me and he could see that and told me he wouldnt try sell me it because he could see we didnt "click" before i even said anything which i think is pretty honest for a dealer


good luck xx
 
ooh thanks toomanyhorses26 I will follow that one up. Despite trawling all the sites for months I never came across this ! Looking primarily for dressage horse but one which has had a good allround education so looks very promising.

I have been looking for a few months now, so not just during the big freeze, but yes I suppose people are holding off advertising now until the weather improves.

It just annoys me when you travel so far to see a horse and people have forgotten to mention some deal breaking issue it has! I guess they think you will fall in love with it and not care about whatever the issue is?
 
What exactly are you looking for?
O would have said it was buyers market at the moment unless looking for something very specific...
I am not looking and keep seeing tempting ones anyway !!
 
Hmm, not really... Do you think my budget is low for what I am looking for? I thought it was pretty spot on really.
 
The requirement for a competition record is likely to push up the price - depends what you expect really. A decent BE/BD/BSJA record will certainly make a difference whereas good performance at RC/PC level is harder to prove and will not bump up the price so much.
 
Well it really doesnt need to have affiliated results, I just want the horse to be a nice sensible allrounder and RC level is fine. As long as it has been out and about a bit and got experience of competing and behaved well in that environment then that's all I want.
 
Your budget may need to increase a bit as basically you wil likely pay for what is effectively a no ifs/buts horse. Try horseselect.co.uk, most horses are borders/Northumberland, North based. There is also QC Sporthorses in Carlisle.
 
Forgot to add, google any dealers before you go. Although no dealer has 100% success, some definitely have a less good reputation than others. Or post on here, you normally get the good/bad and ugly replies!
 
Thanks Decca. Bit wary of dealers if truth be told, (had experience before) although I am willing to look. I would really rather know the history of the horse and be able to ask questions and look the seller in the eye without getting an 'I dont know' reply and be none the wiser and have to base a decision on an hour's trial if it is not local... I know a lot of horses go to dealers to be sold because they are a tad tricky for their owners although Im sure there are a few hidden gems to be found, like owners that are emigrating! will have a look at the one you suggest - thanks for that, havent heard of them before.
 
There's a lot on Horseselect that may suit. I've seen loads I'd want to view, but don't need another horse!! And all at good prices too.

Got a friend who's got a couple of cracking 5 year olds for sale who do an absolutely stunning dressage test and both placed PN BE consistently. But they're out of your price range I'm afraid.
 
very unfair on dealers! we deal and are as honest as we can be with sometimes limited knowledge of the horses past, we allow clients to take them hunting before purchasing if thats what they want to do, take them x country if they want to event, no point us saying it will then finding out its frite of water etc. we always take the jumpers jumping before telling anyone that they are good in the ring, proven competition record bsja doesnt mean they havnt chucked the towel in since! wouldnt put a child on anything i wouldnt put my son on. and when we get the know it all clients on the phone looking for there super horse!! we always put them on something quiet first to check there ability, as we have to repair the damage when they ve bounced around on something thats sensitive

so dont write all dealers off there is good and bad in every walk of life.
 
I think that your budget is realistic and, as I posted recently, the market isn't as dead as others have suggested, or if it is it hasn't filtered down to vendors. We're also looking for something albeit in a different price range and are getting no where. Everything I see that is green and needs some work done on it is 5K and it seems to tie in with your experiences if the horses with more mileage and proven results are more than 6/7K.
 
I dont think you are being unrealistic with the price. I would try the pony club website, farmers guardian & maybe even adtrader horse sales, if you have tried all the usual. I would also try reputable dealers, i know i have nearly always bought from dealers.
 
You and me both
grin.gif


I have a bigger budget and still can't find a top class middleweight show hunter

Bet you if we didn't have the money there would be exactly what we want becoming available every day
tongue.gif
 
I am sure you do but have a list of absolutely everything you can think of to ask before you go to view including the sublimely obvious! Years ago (20 plus) I was looking for a show jumper to bring on and sell, went to see something, liked it,agreed to buy it subject to basic vetting, when vetted vet said to me almost in passing and "of course you know it wind sucks and/or cribs" (seller had apparently moved it out of its normal stable which bore the tell tale marks on the door). Now generally that wouldn't bother me but as was looking for something to compete, improve and sell after the end of the summer that put me off because of resale difficulties. Result wasted time and vetting. So I learnt to ask absolutely everything I could think of, had a list when I rang up and wrote the answers down (p.s. am not an experienced horse buyer only bought 5 horses in 25 years). I think your budget sounds fine by the way. Good luck.
 
Horses such as you describe are like gold-dust for teenagers looking to enjoy the few years they have before they go off to uni. You could probably get something if you were prepared to acept something a little limited but from what you've said I suspect you want something with some ability.

I think with your budget you may have to accept the odd "if or but", or else accept a younger horse without much of a competition record, or an older horse. Good luck anyway, incidentally I agree that a lot more horses will come on the market end Jan/Feb time.
 
Cant blame you re: dealers. I've never bought from a dealer before either as I also like to know its history and I always think horses end up at a dealers yard for a reason...
wink.gif


Im in Aberdeenshire too - there's normally heaps of horses for sale up here, but remember it is January, probaby THE worst month for horse selling! If I were selling, Id wait until the spring when most people start looking so this is probably the issue. I think £6 - £7k is certainly a good enough price to find something since horses up here dont seem to fetch such high prices as for the same thing down south.

When I look for horses, I usually look on the Scot horse website (http://www.horses-sales.com/) and this is where Ive had success advertising horses too. You could put a wanted advert on it? Ive also bought several ponies through a wanted advert in Scot Ads. Worth a go, its free. You could also try checking the classifieds pages of the local riding clubs, see if they have any on there.

I can't think of any that match your description locally right now... but I bet come spring there'll be loads. Shame your budget wasn't higher as my horse would have been perfect for you
wink.gif
 
Decca, just picked up your PM thanks v much - have sent reply.

Monkeynuts, I agree there are good and bad dealers, not casting you all the same, I just meant that if I travel miles and miles to visit one down south that it would be difficult for me to go back a few times to try a horse I liked. Ive never been given an option to take the horse out and compete it or ride it away from the premises before. I have been to dealers locally and have been both impressed and disappointed by different ones. But it hasnt stopped me visiting them recently. At the moment they just havent got the type of horse I am looking for, and of course they have limited knowledge of the horse so its harder to find out if it really is going to be a good match.

Magic Magpie, i think its funny you say there are lots of horses with experience at lower prices up here, as I have to say I have found the opposite. I think there are lots more competition horses in say Lancashire/Yorkshire than NE Scotland and the prices there are much more competitive - you just need to look at the numbers for sale next to each region on all the horse sales sites. Again though, maybe its just the time of year, although I have been researching since August and going on trials since oct/nov! (and in fact I have been checking out the 'for sale' ads since, well, forever!! :-)... arent we all?!)

roo2012, i didnt realise aileen sold horses too, i just met her doing a jumping clinic up here once. I will have a good look at the website. Thanks for that! :-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top