It is very important to have the proper knowledge and/or
guidance from an experienced equestrian when searching for your first horse.
You may end up buying a horse for all the wrong reasons. Many people make the
decision to purchase their first horse based on its good looks or the appeal of
a cheaper price. While both the looks and price of the horse may be a
contributing factor to your decision they should never be the ultimate reason
you purchase a horse.
The very first decision you need to make is what do you plan
to do with the horse - what discipline do you plan to ride? Listed below are
just a few of the many different things you can do with your horse. Many horses
are very versatile and will be able to perform in many different disciplines.
- · Trail Riding
- · Competitive Trail
- · Endurance
- · Competitive Showing
- · Jumping
- · Eventing
- · Dressage
- · Reining
- · Rodeo
- · Speed Events
Because you are new to the equestrian sport and most likely
new to your chosen discipline, it is very important for your first horse to be fairly
experienced in what you plan to do. For example, if you are planning to
competitively jump your horse, you do not want a horse who has never seen a
jump before. This could end up with you and your horse getting seriously
injured. Let’s say you are looking for a
horse that will be easy to ride on the trail. You want to be sure your horse has experience
first. Many people assume that horses
are easy to ride and you can just jump on, say “Giddy Up”, and ride on with no
problems. Trail Riding can actually be
very scary for a horse who has never gone trail riding before. Horses can hear
and see a lot better than we can. Because of this, they are more likely to see
or hear something they believe is scary and take off running before you even
know what is going on. Keep this in mind
while searching for your new horse.
There are many websites that allow people to list their
horse for sale. With the advanced search
options you are able to choose the breeds, age, gender, disciplines, distance
and many more options which may be of interest to you. This is a great way to see what types of
horses are for sale in your area. Here
is a list of a few popular websites.
I highly recommend using the advanced search options as they
are a very helpful tool in narrowing down what type of horse you are looking
for. For example, if you just use the
basic search options and choose a breed of horse and your state of residence,
your search will bring up every Quarter Horse in the state of Missouri. After you have narrowed your results, pick
out 10 – 12 of your favorites from the information that is given on the
advertisement and I would encourage you to call or email the contact person
from each ad and ask them to give you some more information and ask them
questions that may not have been answered from the advertisement. I have put together a few sample questions
below.
- · How many years of experience does this horse have in ____ Discipline?
- · Where did you purchase the horse? What is the background?
- · Does this horse have any vices I should be aware of?
o
Stands quite for the fairer
o
Stands quite for the vet
o
Loads and unloads from the trailer
o
Can I clip the horse
o
Stands quite while being bathed
o
Is the horse sound?
o
Is the horse up to date on Coggins and
Vaccinations?
At this point you can rate each horse between a 1, being the
worst and a 10, being the best based on all the information you now have. After rating each horse pick out the top 5-6
horses. These are the horses you will
want to see in person. Make sure to take
an experienced equestrian along with you to help point out any potential
problems these horses could have. As you
are scheduling your appointments with each person be sure to ask them to leave
the horse unsaddled until you arrive to see the horse. Many people end up with what can be called a
“Cold Backed Horse”. Typically this
means the horse has an issue with being saddled and can become unstable. This is a problem that can be fixed; however
it is not something you need to try and handle with little experience.
Once you arrive, you and your experienced equestrian should
look over the horse’s body condition - ask the horse to pick up each foot and
take a look at it. Walk the horse around and watch his movements to make sure
you don’t see a lameness. If everything
seems to be okay at this point you can ask the owner to saddle the horse and
ride him around to demonstrate each gait and different maneuvers the horse
knows. It is also very important that
you ask the owner to ride the horse first.
If the owner has a problem riding the horse for you normally the horse
has an issue being ridden. After the
owner has ridden the horse and everything still seems okay it is time for your
experienced equestrian to ride the horse. I always suggest for this person to ride the
horse next to learn how the horse responds to different ques and get an overall
feel for the horse. They will be able to
help advise you if this horse has the right mind and temperament for what you
are planning to do. Now it is your turn
to ride the horse! While you might not be able to tell if this horse is going
to be perfect for what discipline you have chosen, you need to be sure that you
and this horse will get along. One of
the most important factors of buying a new horse is that your personality will
not clash with the horse’s personality. You
want to be sure that you and the horse like each other and will have a good
bond.
After riding and seeing each horse on your list you should
now rate and narrow them down again. You
should pick the top 2-3 horses from the group. For this group of horses it would be wise to
schedule a time for a veterinarian to do a physical evaluation on each horse. This way you can be sure the horse does not
have any health issues. If each horse
ends up with a clean bill of health then it is time for you to pick your new
horse. If you are still not sure which
horse you like the best you should schedule another day with the owner to visit
and ride the horse again. Then you
should be ready to purchase your first horse!
