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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Personally, probably not but only in case I needed to sell it on and it put others off - saying that a friend bought a horse that was really ugly - 8 months later it had muscled up correctly and looked a million dollars although she put a hell of a lot of work into it - turned down mega money for it to further it's comp record and then it broke it's pelvis in a freak field accident
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have you looked at any other horses that you have liked? if you have then if you want people to be like "wow" then don't buy it buy another one but if youre not that bothered than go for it- in showjumping looks doesn't get you anywhere, its the talent that gets you somehwere!
 
I would be very put off by anything that was conformationally ugly or had problems in that area but i dont think i'd mind what else it looks like. Easy to say i know but if it ticked all the other boxes it wouldn't put me off.

Having said that, my two do get lots of compliments which is nice and i do quite like that. My bay mare especially gets a lot of people saying how gorgeous she is BUT i would swap that any day if i could make her like eventing!!! Plus beauty really is in the eye of beholder as you say....i expect that Blue isn't lots of peoples cup of tea but i think he's very handsome
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When I bought my mare as a 5 year old she had only arrived form Ireland the day before and was very hairy (mane down to knees) and feet like dinner plates - she looked like a common old carthorse and stood out a mile in a smart yard full of smart, pro produced horses but when I tried her she had a superb jump and gave me an amazing feel. She was everything I could ask for, except nice to look at. I thought about it all the way home and having tried in excess of 10 horses at pro yards that day she was still the one that had left a lasting impression. I called the owner and did the deal - when I picked her up a week later I could not believe the transformation - they led out this smart looking horse that was fully clipped, pulled and trimmed to within an inch of her life. Added to that a couple of months of correct work and decent shoeing = a perfectly acceptable looking horse. And incidentally, she has turned out to be an absolute horse of a lifetime and I have turned down many offers for her because she will never be for sale.
I know its not always possible to transform a horses looks but I felt satisfied that I had bought a horse for all the right reasons and it was just an added bonus that she no longer looked like an oversized thelwell - there are plenty of stunning horses but that is not much consolation when your equine beauty dumps you in the warm up or slides to a halt at the first fence. Have you heard the saying 'handsome is as handsome does'? Worth bearing in mind x
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no not at all i would get the horse as long as its looks didn't make it like ill or anything and it was sound
why should looks matter in showjumping????? its all about getting a clear round!!!
you go for it xx
 
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Tis amazing how a horses looks improve when its winning!

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Good point - Finbarr springs to mind!

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I adore Finbarr, I think with a big, plain ( for "plain" read "borderline ugly"
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) horse you get more wowed by their character, personality and, if they have any, talent. Pretty pretty horses leave me cold tbh. As my best friend pointed out to me, HumungaHorse has got a big, plain head the size of my body
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but he manages to fill the eye in other ways - and I'm not just talking about his dimensions!

If a horse has good conformation and the ugliness is in inconsequential features, it would not put me off at all. How does the saying go "handsome is as handsome does"?
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Would not care whatsoever.

So long as it did what it needed to do and was nice to ride to boot, thats all that I care about.

Would be more of a dilemma if horse was a total rosette machine but extremely uncomfortable to ride!
 
No, I had a youngster in to sell for someone and at first glance he wasn't much to look at, a scruffy, coloured, hairy cob with a big plain head. However once I tidied him up, and removed a lot of the hair, found out he was nicely put together under it all!! I got him working nicely instead of charging around with his head stuck in the air and he could actually move very well. He could also jump pretty well (found this out when we were doing his first xpoles clear round and we had a little misunderstanding about which way to turn and ended up hopping 1.10 over the fence out of the arena!) , I took him to a intermediate show hunter class and the judge placed him second (behind the horse who had won a Dublin the week before) and admitted when he first came in she saw his plain head which was "as long as his body" and his funny eye and was prepared to dismiss him, until she saw how well he went and how nicely he was put together when stood up!!

Just goes to show that looks and first impressions aren't everything. He was sold for a good bit and has since won at the national RC dressage championships.
 
Lars Sederholm used to have a saying (actually he had millions and we had to write them all down which is why I still remember most of them
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) that you spend 23 hours a day looking at your horse and only one riding it, so you might as well have one you like looking at! I do slightly subscribe to this view and find it hard to have a real minger in the yard
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However, I also agree with those who pointed out that it's amazing how much prettier they get when they are winning
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I dont care about ugly. Pretty doesnt give you a good horse! One of my current horses who I think is lovely now, looked like a very scruffy thin donkey when I bought him, as you can see - hardly a looker here!:-

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And this is him now, he turned out to be a one in a million competition horse!:-

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not at all as long as it does the job intended for it.

in my mind if its not so asthetically pleasing the your likely to get on it with not so high expectations! (come on be honest, your not going to be thinking great thoughts) then its a nice ride does the job.... well i'd be happy with that x
 
I haven't met too many really ugly horses but I have no objections to 'plain'.

I too went to an eventing yard to try a few youngsters and walked out the the plainest, hairiest, most cobby 4 year old there. I thought he was a nice riding club type cob that would suit the happy hacking fraternity and with six month's work I could make a nice profit....

Luckily I pulled his mane and tail, cut his tail off short, clipped his feathers off and over the next couple of years his legs grew longer. Phew. Turns out I had bought an eventer after all (though his carthorse looks still stand out the wrong way alongside all the TBs).
 
We have owned mainly 'pretty' ponies, but one of the most successful ponies we have ever owned was the ugliest thing you would eve see. He was a cremello, and was about 13.3hh. His ears were ginormous, as were his eyes, and he was exactly the wrong shade of cream- he alwys looked dirty. His head would only fit foal sized headcollars, vut his neck and legs would have looked better on a giraffe! However, there was only one competiton where they were out of the top 3.

Looks don't matter to me- I like honest and reliable. Also, ugly ponies and horses have the 'awww' factor!
 
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