Would ugly looks put you off...

Firewell

Firewell

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When buying a jumping horse??

In a purely cosmetic, shallow way.

If you could have everything you wanted (safe, honest, talented, immaculate competition record, easy, genuine, desire to win, sound ) but it came in the form of a hideously ugly horse, the type that has an upside down neck like a flag pole, huge head, very very plain, would you still buy it?

I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder but we all see those horses that everyone can appreciate as being a stunning looking animal with that 'wow' factor. Its also nice to be on top of that horse and have all eyes on you, people coming up and comenting on how stunning it is, would you sell it etc etc.

Would you buy that ugly but perfect horse that no one looks at, or would you rather wait till something comes along thats more asthetically pleasing?

I know what I would choose but im interested to hear others thoughts. I am talking about a showjumping/event horse here, not a showing or dressage horse where obviously looks do count.


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I think that the right answer is that looks shouldn't matter that much, however ....
When I was looking for my horse I went to see a horse that would have done the job but didnt buy it as it was not my cup of tea and not that good looking. I subsequently bought most gorgeous equine ever laid eyes on - he has taken 3 years to get to an intro (long story including injury and the fact that bought it off the track) whilst other horse was storming round a pre-novice within weeks of me looking at it!! Still wouldn't swap mine as the big brown eyes sucker me everytime!
 
Nope, couldn't bring myself to buy an ugly horse. Could cope with plain if it ticked all the other boxes, but definitely not ugly! I did once have this dilemma when looking, I tried out a horse that was perfect in every way but it was cremello and I just couldn't face looking at an ugly head over the door every morning, so went with a bay that wasn't as good but far prettier!
 
As the owner of one of those 'stunning' horses (vets and other professionals have commented how well put together he is) with 'wow' paces, whose sj performance sadly never matches up to his looks.....I would go for the ugly one
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To be fair, he was bought as a hack/fun horse, but does have talent which seems to be confined to the school at home
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, so if I was looking for a horse to do a competitive role in future I would go for one that could do the job.
 
as long as its not conformational and therefore could bring up problems then no it wouldbnt bother me. I bought a v pretty horse who turned out to be a pain and sold her and then bought my horse (which my vet says looks like a 50yr old donkey) who is just super in all ways. He was for sale when i bought the first one but i didnt like the look of him so didnt buy him. Now he is soooo special to me i love him to bits and more. (hes the one in my sign with OH and sprog on)
 
and to quote Graham Fletcher from back in the 80's.....

"Good lookin orses are like good lookin people, not much use for any real work!"

Me and my horse are both butt ugly
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I think all of my horses are gorgeous but to some people some of them aren't (having had one described as an 'it' and looking like 'Miss Piggy').

If the horse were perfect and I liked him as a person then I'd buy him. For me it's not really looks but I have to like who the horse is and that said if they are really ugly at least I'd be safe knowing no one would nick him!
 
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and to quote Graham Fletcher from back in the 80's.....

"Good lookin orses are like good lookin people, not much use for any real work!"



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Thats brilliant! I don't mind ugly, if its kind of quirky ugly, and it has something in its eye. My sister had a very sweet pony once, although he'd had a broken nose so his face was a bit messed up - but he was by far the best jumping pony we ever had.

I would choose ugly and talented over plain aand averagely good anyday
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i think its important to remeber that conformation ultimatly affects performance and soundness and as long as its conformation was good and it was good for the job required i would buy it!
 
My friend had a pony once that we called "the cut and shut"!!! It had the head and neck of one horse, the middle of another and the backend of something else. However, it won EVERYTHING (bar showing of course) and was an absolute superstar in all ways!
 
With a background in showing I would struggle to buy a truly ugly horse. Plain, yes. But downright ugly, and by that I mean really poor conformation combined with upside down neck and huge head, no I couldn't.
 
Absolutely not, I love the ugly ones (big ears and lips
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)...on a serious note if you buying the horse for a particular job, does it matter what the horses face is like, its the jumping, speed and technique that wins the prizes not the pretty face and flashy looks.

Ugly ones are always the best ones
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I'd prefer not to have ugly horses but I did buy one and she is absolutely perfect for my daughter. My daughter would also prefer to have a "look at me" animal and we do have a couple of those too but for confidence giving and performance she chooses the "unfortunate" looking one every time.
 
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If you could have everything you wanted (safe, honest, talented, immaculate competition record, easy, genuine, desire to win, sound ) but it came in the form of a hideously ugly horse, the type that has an upside down neck like a flag pole, huge head, very very plain, would you still buy it?

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Blimey, are you talking about UncleJr's horse, Faisan?
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(although he's not that easy, he's very consistent)
As long as horse hasn't got any glaring conformation faults, looks don't bother me at all... although I'd prefer a horse that was pretty as well
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