Would you buy?

ghostie

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I've been to see a potential new horse today and would really value people's thoughts on whether they would buy it in my position and, if they did, would you be offering lower than advertised price.

By way of background I'm certainly not a novice rider, but similarly my dressage needs some serious work. I currently have at least weekly lessons with a great instructor, but as my boy is green it is the blind leading the blind when it comes to more advanced work. So I'm looking for a second schoolmaster type horse to learn the more advanced moves with. My instructor thinks this is a great idea.

So today I've been to see a lovely horse. He has been used to give schoolmaster lessons for the past year with a reputable trainer. They have a genuine reason for sale that checks out.

He was incredible to ride, extremely tolerant of me making mistakes but working beautifully when I asked properly. I feel I could learn a huge amount with him and continued regular lessons.

He could comfortably compete at medium tomorrow. He knows the more advanced moves but would need them polishing to be competitive (probably not by me). My instructor would ride hin weekly to help.

chocolate cake to all that got this far :)

He is 11 - a good age for what I want.

The downsides are: he's 16.3hh and looks it! This is daunting from the ground but was fine on board. He was very well.mannered but I worry how I would cope if he decided not to be - although no reason to believe he would.

He was imported from Spain last year so is used to being handled in a certain way.

He has slight wingals (sp) and one small melanoma under his tail. I would get him vetted but no evidence of anything else.

I can't take my trainer to see him as he's the other side of the country.

So, what do you think? In my position would you buy and what would you expect to pay?
 

*hic*

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What points does he get from having been imported and does that impact on the level at which you will compete?
 

shampain

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I think I actually know the horse you're talking about (have had lessons on him and was rather fond of him, so can certainly recommend for rideability/attitude). The melanomas aren't at all uncommon, especially in PREs/PSLs (he's PSL x WB, if I'm talking about the right horse?!), and don't necessarily come to anything serious, however... Personally, having dealt with an awful case of them with a Luso it'd put me right off, and should certainly be taken into consideration in the price.

Also, as aforementioned, as he's competed in Spain you'd definitely need to check out the situation with points as it could potentially be quite prohibitive, considering the level that he's trained at (though, as you mention, unpolished).

If it weren't for the melanomas, I'd consider him a steal at the price for which he's advertised, so it's a tricky one indeed. Also, with regards to the 'certain way of handling'... The majority of them tend to respond best to 'quietly firm but fair', unsurprisingly. From what I know of the horse he doesn't seem to be an exuberant, particularly pushy type, though obviously that's something that'd only come up in daily handling.

I have the feeling that I've just been incredibly unhelpful. Go with your gut and maybe get some veterinary advice about melanomas so that you're more clued up on the facts?
 

PorkChop

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He sounds lovely, yes get an opinion on the melanomas, the windgalls wouldn't worry me at all tbh.

If it were me and he ticked all the other boxes and I wasn't stretching myself money wise, I would go for it, true schoolmasters are worth their weight in gold and the healthiest horse can go wrong tomorrow :)
 

bakewell

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Are you sure it's a melanoma rather than a wart; latter are a characteristic of some lines of PRE/ (therefore PSL before separation/ common ancestry). Suppose it depends who the grey parent is!

Either way I wouldn't be bothered by it tbh. However, as you are talking about using him as a schoolmaster would you want to sell him on in the future... if so these would be more of a consideration in an older horse. Also I would consider competing unaffiliated rather than trying to downgrade the points, it's unlikely that an older horse imported from spain trained in dressage is going to impress them with his lack of skill if assessed to get downgraded; it is a real pain in the bum.
Points relevant only to PSL component:
As far as handling goes (having imported a few horses from spain and portugal), they like a leader, rather than a cuddly friend. However they will return this by bonding to you for life. Once you have their trust they will do anything for you.
Do keep an eye on condition as they can go cresty quite easily and laminitis is not unheard of. Likewise there's a tendency towards certain types of colic (ie having being bred to be on the less lush forage of mediterranean).
 

oldie48

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I can't add the the excellent answers that you've already had except to comment on his size. I've recently bought a full up 16.2 having said I didn't want anything bigger than 16hh max and 15.2 ideally. Actually I don't find his height an issue and as he's much narrower than my other horses, he's much more comfortable to ride, however, if he was big and wide, this would be an issue for me as I'm not very tall.He sounds lovely and true schoolmasters are really hard to find and are usually very pricey. I know, I've spent lots of time trying to find one
 

lurcherlu

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All I'm going to add is about the size thing , our Shetland scares me more to my girl who is 4 and still growing at 15.3 and was only meant to be 14.2 I'm 5' and my horse is far more mAnageable when she's naught and I'm on board as there is actually some horse I. Front of me , the Shetland and other ponies I school for peop,e are Hellers when they are bad as you have nothing to ho,d on to if they spin etc
 
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