Would you buy?

ycbm

ycbm

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I am very very tempted by a lovely foal that has come up for sale near me. I like him a lot, character, colour, shape, action, price.

But I know that his mother has been operated on for kissing spines and that it didn't resolve her issues with being ridden, which were probably caused by fetlock arthritis in the hind legs. She had done almost no real work before being retired to stud.

It feels as if it would be madness to buy him. Would it? He really is my kind of horse!


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how old was the mare when the arthritis was noticed?
I am definitely one to take a punt on a horse if it's cheap enough and to outsiders I probably make some weird decisions but I probably would give that a swerve :(
eta. Unless it's by something AMAZING in which case.... yeah!
 
Sorry but no, sometimes you do have to think with your head and not your heart as hard as that it:confused:
But I guess as milliepops said it does also depend how good a price are we talking?
 
milliepops said:
how old was the mare when the arthritis was noticed?
I am definitely one to take a punt on a horse if it's cheap enough and to outsiders I probably make some weird decisions but I probably would give that a swerve :(
eta. Unless it's by something AMAZING in which case.... yeah!
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Mare was backed at six and retired two years later having done nothing to speak of meanwhile.

Cheap is max £1500, possibly less. I wish he was more, it would be easier to reject him. I keep trying to remind myself how much it will cost to get him to four even if nothing goes wrong with him.

Father is an unregistered backyard stallion, nice enough but nothing special. Mother is a reasonably well bred German warmblood.



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ycbm said:
Mare was backed at six and retired two years later having done nothing to speak of meanwhile.

Cheap is max £1500, possibly less. I wish he was more, it would be easier to reject him. I keep trying to remind myself how much it will cost to get him to four even if nothing goes wrong with him.

Father is an unregistered backyard stallion, nice enough but nothing special. Mother is a reasonably well bred German warmblood.



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Ooooooo far to risky and far too much money.
 
ycbm said:
Mare was backed at six and retired two years later having done nothing to speak of meanwhile.

Cheap is max £1500, possibly less. I wish he was more, it would be easier to reject him. I keep trying to remind myself how much it will cost to get him to four even if nothing goes wrong with him.

Father is an unregistered backyard stallion, nice enough but nothing special. Mother is a reasonably well bred German warmblood.



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Mothers history would worry me and £1500 is way more than I was expecting you to say!
 
ycbm said:
Mare was backed at six and retired two years later having done nothing to speak of meanwhile.

Cheap is max £1500, possibly less. I wish he was more, it would be easier to reject him. I keep trying to remind myself how much it will cost to get him to four even if nothing goes wrong with him.

Father is an unregistered backyard stallion, nice enough but nothing special.



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with the extra detail, not for me.
I am in a funny position of having a fairly young write off that is in foal at the mo but my vets felt they knew enough about her condition to make it no greater risk than any other mare, and I already knew quite a bit about what she was like to ride. Whereas this sounds a bit more iffy? and quite a risk. If it was by some megastar stallion then I would probably feel different because the lower price would bring an exciting prospect within reach financially but for it to be something ordinary and with a question mark over future soundness I don't think it would be a risk worth taking, personally.
 
PapaverFollis said:
Nope. Seems risky. Also wouldn't want to support someone breeding from a thoroughly broken down mare as that is morally dodgey to me. Breeding from one that got injured, fine as long as she's sound enough to carry the foal... Breeding from one that just hasn't stood up to work? No.
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Great point.

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I wouldn't, for the same reason I wouldn't buy a dog from a puppy farm. I do not support irresponsible breeding of anything.

The heightened possibility of arthritis would be enough to put the final nail in the coffin for me. Also as you have mentioned above, the financial costs and time costs to get a weanling to 4/broken/working nicely etc are very high for what could be a non existent career.

I am sure I read an article a while ago about how the ID breed is full arthritis due to some unscrupulous breeding practises.

When someone asks me how much it costs me to keep a horse I say around £200 per month (where I am). So that is £10k+ before the horse is broken.
 
I keep my horses at home and in a way that means he would cost £3000 including his purchase price to get to three years old, if nothing went wrong. And that would be about what he was worth backed and riding quietly, if he retains his movement, temperament, and grows straight. Having met him, I would buy him in a heartbeat if I did not know his mother. He is extremely unusual, and finding a three year old like him would be a search for a needle in a haystack. I do love unusual! I think he would make a wonderful horse for my final years of riding.

Ah well, never mind.

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im not sure, i think id like to know if there was a reason for the fetlock arthritis. i know you mentioned that the horse hadnt done much, but could she have injured herself some how in the field?
if you know her breeding, does she have any direct siblings out competing? could she have been badly shod for the 2 ridden years, or done alot of hard road work, after spending years doing nothing. Did her tack fit, or could she have been compensating for the rider for 2 years (being ridden wonkey in ill fitting tack for several years) would the sellers allow you look at the mares medical records/speak to there vet?
 
With most of the others, if the mare had been proven in some way maybe, if the stallion was also proven maybe but with one being a crock and the other possibly a crock with no evidence of anything to prove otherwise I would not want to risk the foal also being a crock by the time it is 6.

I think this type of breeding is exactly what we should be getting away from, horses are getting arthritis younger and younger often without doing any real work and not due to injuries, however smart they look on the surface so many seem to be ticking time bombs and break at the first sign of work.
 
ihatework said:
No I wouldn’t, out of an unproven broken down dumb-blood for one, and I also don’t support raising a foal without other youngstock - people do, obviously, but I don’t think it does them any favours.
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Very good point. Maybe I should buy two 🤣. (not going to happen!)

OH has made his opinion VERY clear 😂

I'd better not go near the foal until he's sold, I hope he goes quickly.

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Well its like this.
I am the total idiot who psid 2000 for a broken down 18 year old gelding from a dodgy dealer..probably with dodgy dealer written on his sign post..it was all that obvious.
After 6 months of him trying to kill me and me crying my eyes out we went on to have 12 amazing years. He was bloody brilliant..and i would pay the same again to live it again.
So if you like the horse pay what he is worth to you..
 
2 6yo at my yard, one PTS 2 weeks ago with multiple degenerative conditions in her back, the other going through lengthy rehab with osteoarthritis and hock issues. Both had thousands spent on them over the last year to find out what is wrong and then try to sort it out. Huge amounts of heartache with it too.
I would avoid, but hey I'm still a total novice at this stuff so I wouldn't buy anything with a question mark over it. Other than my loan horse who I worship. :)
 
Another no, I might be a little more tempted if it was the stallion that had those issues and the mare was in good health, I don't know why I'm just running on the assumption that the foal takes more qualities from the dam than sire, but I still wouldn't be paying £1500 for it. If you can (?) follow his movements over the next few years and see if he's going well once ridden, maybe he'll end up back on the market at some point.
 
When you say unusual, I assume you mean colour?
Put your sensible head on, and think about what you would advise someone less experienced, if they came to you and told you they wanted to buy a foal from a mare who hasn't stood up to work, by a stallion with no breeding to speak of - just because they liked the colour.
 
The price for what it is is much too high, had it been cheaper massively I would maybe have been swayed. Realistically any foal can break despite great breeding but one with proven history on dam and no history on dad for that money may be a step too far.
 
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