Would you take a horse for free even if it wasn't your 'type'?

I decided almost 3 years ago to get myself a foal to bring on myself to be my dream horse. Wish list was a palomino that would make 16hh or over. After being let down for a viewing on a beautiful pally foal I went to see a local filly bay bay to make 16.2hh and they also had her half sister for sale black filly to make around 15hh.

I fell for the black filly, her temperment was so sweet and gentle! She's now 3 years old and 14.3hh I'm hoping she will grow a few more inches but I'm so loved up with my little black beauty I wouldn't change her for the world :)
 
JoshuaR97 said:
Horses that are given away for free have something wrong.. If it was half decent you would wanna sell it for money..
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I suppose this could be true in some cases, but my last horse was given to me for free and had nothing wrong with her. In fact she was more than half decent, she was b****y fantastic! Her owners circumstances had changed and the loan home she was in didn't work out. I ended up having her and she was amazing. She lived out her days, well 10 years, with me and taught me so much. We had a wonderful time hunting, eventing, dressage, you name it and she never had a sick or sorry day. Again, she wasn't really my "type" and when I saw her ridden I thought she was really straight forward. Not true!! We clicked and I loved her to bits. In fact, one of the things I liked about my current horse when I tried him was that he felt a bit like her to ride! Go with your gut instinct OP, and if it feels right it generally is. Good luck!
 
OMG get him, without hesitation. Well I say without hesitation. This whole 'dream horse' thing often just doesnt work out and ends in tears. this horse sounds like an absolute poppet and will look after you. You see more and more cobs doing very well in competitions - they really are very able. Only hesitation would be health. If he's healthy then go for it. Ive had three horses given to me now. First one turned out to be horse of a lifetime. Second one was the most beautiful horse who was given to me as he previously failed a vetting to be sold. He was an extremely well bred horse and on paper, ideal for me, but sadly he was bred to compete, and just a bit too much for me. I stuck at it for 10 years and in the end was left with absolutely no confidence (PTS due to constant and unfixable lameness). My latest horse was gifted to me by a friend and is a cob and were just getting to know each other. Shes proving to be a star and I feel well have lots of fun. I say go for it !! :-)
 
JoshuaR97 said:
Horses that are given away for free have something wrong.. If it was half decent you would wanna sell it for money..
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Not necessarily, some people value the quality of the owner / home and the long-term prospects for the horse in that home over the money (particularly if you are talking an ordinary horse that isn't worth vast sums). Particularly when its a transfer between people who know each other or within a local area / community (rather than actually advertised as free).
 
JoshuaR97 said:
Horses that are given away for free have something wrong.. If it was half decent you would wanna sell it for money..
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What a totally stupid comment. Not everyone is mercenary and I know of some incredibly well regarded people in the showing world who gave away top ponies for nothing when the pony's showing careers were over with them; the ponies could have commanded good prices on the open market as there was nothing wrong with them apart from the next batch coming through.
 
Get him! Something you click with and feel safe on is worth more than what you 'think' you want...I've seen so many people get the dream horse and realise they don't actually want it.

My last two have been freebies and the old pony is a chancer who came on short-term loan almost 14 years ago whilst we looked for the perfect pony, and just never went home :D
 
As someone who gets offered free horses quite frequently, and have taken on a few, if you like him, have him. If you wouldn't buy him and don't like him, leave him be. It sounds as though you really like him, though, so the answer is obvious :-)
 
laura_nash said:
Not necessarily, some people value the quality of the owner / home and the long-term prospects for the horse in that home over the money (particularly if you are talking an ordinary horse that isn't worth vast sums). Particularly when its a transfer between people who know each other or within a local area / community (rather than actually advertised as free).
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^^ that's how I got mine. Once upon a time I had a dream of a 16.2hh lovely big warmblood that was going to be my megastar horse and I was going to adore it and feel all special.

Then I got Millie (free) who was not AT ALL what I wanted - wrong height, breed and sex - but has an attitude to die for and has taken me to places I never imagined because she is so trainable.

Now I've added Kira (£2) to my 'herd' - I took her as a punt due to owner giving up in the circumstances as described by laura above. She has already exceeded expectations even as a little lowly 14hh section D - I can tell she has bags of potential and is a very nice 'person' who lives to please.

neither are the original horse of my dreams - in fact I seem to be getting further away from the original dream horse as I'm going smaller and more native!
But, I've changed my dreams - now I just love training what I've got to the best of my ability and enjoying their super temperaments. You don't need a flashy big horse to have a whale of a time :)
 
I wouldn't take it just because it's free but I wouldn't not take it because it's not your type.

I spent 4k on my "type" and am now 4k down and have the opposite of what I would usually go for/want. And I absolutely adore him.
 
JoshuaR97 said:
Horses that are given away for free have something wrong.. If it was half decent you would wanna sell it for money..
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Not always. I was given a grade A show jumper with 2525 BSJA points (including 27 1st places) for free as the owners wanted a guarantee that someone wouldn't just bute him and carry on jumping him 1m60 (he had mild arthritis). He was sold at the peak of his career for£150,000 and even when I bought him, they could have asked ££££ for him. What do 16yo schoolmaster BSJA horses go for who are capable of still jumping 1m/1m10, just no longer the big tracks?
 
It really depends how desperately you want to compete in what you want and to what level. Personally I don't have a 'type' as such (although they do end up quite similar somehow) but I generally go by temperament more than anything else. Usually I have green or unbacked horses so I figure I can have fun with the horse getting it going and any horse will do a bit of every disipline. I like to event and showjump mainly so most will go to an alright level which I'm fine with nowadays. I don't plan to keep horses forever anymore, I will sell if I feel the horse will be happier with someone else (like if it showed a talent for dressage over jumping, I'd rather sell for that because I dont get any enjoyment out of dressage!). I wouldn't ever take on something that really wasn't the type to compete (like a big heavy cob isn't going to jump round a half decent BE track). I think if you have serious dreams to do a certain level then yes you should probably buy something that will hopefully get you there, but if you just want some fun then I'd consider it.
 
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JoshuaR97 said:
Horses that are given away for free have something wrong.. If it was half decent you would wanna sell it for money..
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My last 2 horses were 'free'. Both I probably wouldn't have looked at had they been for sale in a magazine for example (both were word of mouth). One because he's a massive 17.2hh warmblood (I don't like warmbloods and I get on better with smaller, hotter types) and the other simply because she's a mare and is a little on the small side (15.3) and is older and wasn't backed when I got her. The Warmblood is extremely well bred (top Olympic SJ bloodlines throughout) but he arrived to me with a box hoof and was lame on and off slightly then unridable after a year sadly, he did have underlying lameness issues which would have been long standing. He's retired now mechanically lame (no cause could be found by vet). For that year though he showed me what it was like to ride a serious quality horse. The mare has turned out great though, touch wood nothing has been wrong. She was free simply because she'd been sitting in a field and never been backed, I backed her and am now out competing and enjoying her very much. If you're prepared to put the work in, some freebies are brilliant. As long as people are honest as to why the horse is free then I see no issue. I'd only be wary if someone was advertising what sounded like an amazing horse for free...

I bought a horse years ago as a teenager who I thought should have been my type - a horse who they claimed would compete at the level I wanted etc. He cost the most amount of money of all my horses and although he was a total sweetie by nature, he'd been totally screwed by the previous owners so he'd given up competing. Tried for 5 years with him but eventually gave up and sold him to a hacking home. So even when you think you're buying your dream horse, often you're not!
 
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When I was old enough to buy my first horse (30) I wanted something sleek and brown and beautiful..I met and fell in love with my traditional h/w cob - and here we are 16 years later I still have him, he is 23 and retired but we have had some wonderful times together and he is in Canada with me...yes I could of replaced him here but he is part of the family and makes me smile everyday - we just clicked!

I do have the brown sleek and beautiful too...but my first love is still the very best horse in the world!
 
EQUIDAE said:
Not always. I was given a grade A show jumper with 2525 BSJA points (including 27 1st places) for free as the owners wanted a guarantee that someone wouldn't just bute him and carry on jumping him 1m60 (he had mild arthritis). He was sold at the peak of his career for£150,000 and even when I bought him, they could have asked ££££ for him. What do 16yo schoolmaster BSJA horses go for who are capable of still jumping 1m/1m10, just no longer the big tracks?
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But that one did have something wrong with it - arthritis.

I don't agree that all horses given away are bad eggs though. The kindest and most straightforward horse I ever had I got for free.
 
Op, My daughter and me had in mind something similar to your dream horse.
Scrolling through Facebook one morning I saw a coloured Coblet and found myself enquiring about him.
Daughter was unimpressed but agreed to come and see him with me (for me not her)
We both absolutely fell for him the second we turned the corner of the yard and saw his little face.
I had to pay for him but am just saying the best horses are sometimes the unexpected ones!
 
ImmyS said:
Because I grew up around people with that type of horse I guess and it was something that was always out of my reach - the age old case of wanting what you don't have. As long as I can hack and hopefully attend some clinics/low level stuff I would be more than content I think.
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Then the cob is the one you need!
 
Thank you for all your replies and stories.

I had another little ride on him today - hacked out and he was foot perfect. I think I'm in love!
 
We got a great pony for free. It doesn't follow that a freebie always has something wrong with it. Sounds like this person wants a good home for the horse and maybe knows what the op needs better than the op ;).
 
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