Buying a first horse..a few 'what not to do'

eml

eml

Moderator
Apr 29, 2002
12,792
1,207
113
Leicestershire
www.ivanhoeequestrian.net
Teaching people to ride is an interesting life, normally people learn and then ask for help finding a first horse. Just a few cautionary tales of how else it can happen:

Rider came for lessons , had about three and declared she wasn't ever going to go faster than walk, hated trotting but wanted a horse. heard later she had a few lessons on a simulator (obviously did not attempt to trot!!) and bought a young Fresian.

Potential rider phoned up and asked for lesson on her own horse, in getting details she assured me horse was a very quiet cob of 2 years! 10 lessons later on school cob is just about to start canter, I stick my fingers in my ears when she drops into conversation how she is just sitting and walking on her horse having told her to turn it away


Rider phones and asks for lessons as they have bought a horse and 'it won't go'

Teenager who was bored at her RS on ponies was bought just out of racing TB by her parents, horse is now back racing and she is having lessons on my RS horses having mended her broken leg.

Having said that I have many successful pupils who have gone on to buy and enjoy!!.

Is it just me??
 
And here was me thinking i was rushing into it, having been back having lessons for a year now AND giving myself another 2 years til kids are bigger and more free time for horsey stuff!!

Maybe i'm becoming 'cautious' in my old age. Or maybe just more sensible! I'd like to think it was the latter:D
 
I have ridden on and off since a young child.

Only started lessons at about 20 years. Am 36 now.

Had regular lessons (3 times a week) for the past 6 years and took my Stage I & II.

Because I never had the opportunity to work around horses on the ground to learn the care side of things, I decided to take my BHS exams to give me the confidence to buy my first horse.

I bought my horse, a Trakehner, through my RI. She had known the horse for 4years and taught with it. He belonged to another instructor who wanted something "more powerful"!

I would never have bought my first horse without learning the care side and without having my RI available to ask advice when needed. She has been absolutely fantastic.

Thankfully because I took the route of getting an experienced person to help me find my first horse, my horse has never put a hoof wrong. I gallop him knowing that he will always stop for me. He is very sensitive and always listens. A complete gent.

His only downfall is that he hates bicycles when out hacking!!!
 
Glad I did it the way I did - having three lessons a week on a lovely yard with a helpful YO who helped me find a horse and stopped me from buying a few mistakes!!! lol, OH was going to treat me to a horse for my 30th (he'd always known I'd hanckered after my own but hadn't had lessons for a lot of years). Good job he didn't I can't imagine what would have happened. Probably would have scared myself and the horse for life and not bothered in the end. Oh dear. I think as you get older you can either become mega cautious or throw all caution to the wind - which is what somebody on my old yard did after having a few lessons went out and bought herself a huge working hunter type fresh of the lorry from Ireland. Needless to say, said horse quickly went back.....which was a shame as it hadn't done anything wrong, it just couldn't work out why she was so scared of it.
 
I used to have riding lessons, only once a week but i used to work voluntarily at my riding school at weekends so i learnt the horse care side whilst i was doing that.

I bought my first pony at 16 and paid for it through a saturday job. I have had horses ever since apart from a 4 year break after having my daughter. I also used to help a local dealer by breaking in horses for him plus i have also run my own livery yard.
 
I hope you're just unlucky:eek: For the horse's sakes as much as anything.

Just over a year elapsed between me having my first adult lesson and starting to look for a horse to buy. However I voluntered at the riding school, did a stable management course and shared a horse for 6 months, whilst progressing to confident w/t/c/g out on hacks. I then bought a suitable horse and kept it somewhere I could get plenty of help if I needed it, so I never had any major setbacks of any kind.
 
Sounds like the bloke down the road from us who decided in his fifties, never having had a horse before, to buy a weanling at a sale. When asked if he needed any help replied no, twas fine, he had a Pony Club annual :eek:
 
Oh god some people are idoits! :mad:

At my old RS there was a few liveries which the more experienced RS Students got to ride.

I remeber i was there one sunday and there was a new arrival, 'Tosca'...beautifull 16h bright bay gelding :)
My RS instructor asked me to ride him and see how he goes (he'd been there only around 5day & hadnt been ridden) Tosca's owners were there and i asked them to tack him up for me whilst i got ready to ride :p
So when i was ready went on down to the school where owner was holding him...and the saddle was on the wrong way round! No kidding! his martingale was also all over the place! so i corrected it, got on and started to see what he was like.
Poor boy, he was SOO sensitive..slightest touch on his side would send him shooting forward, the whole time he had his head as high as he could (his head was nearly in my face for the whole time)
I got off after half an hour he was just so stressed, untacked him and went to speak to the owner.
Me - General questions - 'where did you get him?' 'How long you ridden?' etc
She said 'Ive never ridden or looked after a horse before, i saw him being sold for really cheap, i felt sorry for him and brought him'
I was shocked, what a total idoit. poor tosca obvisouly had it rough.

Few days later went up for another lesson and he had disapered. Apparently she had seen sense and sold him on. Dread to think where he ended up :(
 
i think this is often a case of more money than sense!! when i bought mine i was 24 and been riding since i was 9 ... i still bought good old 'been there done that' angel to be on the safe (and enjoyable!) side!
 
Know how you feel eml! How's this for a humdinger of a "first horse what not to do"...

10-year-old girl, novice rider (less than a year of weekly lessons), not particularly enthusiastic about horses and only rode ponies that had already been tacked up etc for her. Parents who know literally NOTHING about horses decided to buy her a newly-broken, 3-year-old, 15.2 Lusitano x TB mare. On the advice of a friend who "was experienced with horses". Horse was kept at a yard run by a trainer who believes that the best way to teach youngsters is to beat them if they misbehave. Sensitive, exhuberant young mare + violent trainer + inexperienced child + clueless parents = recipe for disaster. Horse started developing very bad manners, no respect for humans' personal space, no respect for horses either. My boss was going there once a week to give the girl a lesson... my boss had a bit of trouble with the horse (although nothing she couldn't handle) and the girl couldn't even ride the bloody thing!

4 weeks ago the parents moved the horse to ours because trainer at other yard has gone abroad. The idea was that my boss would school and hack the mare, give the girl a lesson on her once during the week and the girl would also keep coming to our Pony Club to improve her riding on the experienced ponies. However girl has been out of action due to broken bone in her foot, horse has been out of action being treated for back problems (at the grand age of 3 and a half). So neither of them have improved at all! While the mare's been here my boss and I have been kicked, bitten, shoved, squashed, barged, stood on, pushed and pulled around. Horse needs some major work and we are doing our best but it would need a lot of time and effort.

And we thought we did have plenty of time to work on her. The parents bought a house with land and stables so that they could have the horse at home, and they were going to move her in the summer. Meanwhile, as well as teaching the girl and schooling the horse, we were going to teach the parents how to look after her, as they don't even know how to pick out feet, tie up haynets or recognise the signs of colic!! However last week they said they can't afford any more livery and announced that they are taking the mare home THIS WEEKEND.

My boss, her partner and I have been having trouble handling the mare and we know what we're doing. Parents and girl have NO IDEA what they're doing, but of course they think they know better and cannot be told otherwise. Just this morning the mare was rearing, bucking and spinning round in circles while I took her out to the field. She is going to give them some SERIOUS trouble.

Anyone like to take bets on how this will all end?? Horse PTS for being "dangerous"? Dead child? Or something else?
 
i must admit i had only been back riding for 5 months before i started looking for my own.
However i had ridden for 5 years about ten years ago and had been on riding holidays and knew everything there was to know about horses.
My parents wouldnt let me have one then but now i am older, have my own job and money i decided i wanted to start a new chapter in my life.
A RI friend (although not my RI) took me to see one and i had a good chat with her about what to look for and avoid etc but went alone to see Ruby. I just fell for her but luckily for me so far it seems i picked a good one (friend did approve upon seeing her once she was mine).
Perhaps i rushed in a bit but i am competent and not once have i felt i am in any way disadvantaging Ruby in her care. Also helps i'm on a wonderful yard with super helpful people.
 
I remember when I got back into riding, I was just paying for my hack at the RS when a girl came into the office. We got talking, it turned out she'd just bought her own pony and it was being kept there on full livery. As we were just about ready to go I asked her wasn't she going to go and tack her pony up, as she was coming out on a ride with us. She replied "oh no, I don't know how to do that" :eek::eek:
 
chev said:
Sounds like the bloke down the road from us who decided in his fifties, never having had a horse before, to buy a weanling at a sale. When asked if he needed any help replied no, twas fine, he had a Pony Club annual :eek:
Click to expand...

Love it! Sometimes we can be too too precious. I just hope he got lots and lots of help.
 
On the other hand perhaps, people like me can talk ourselves out of it, perhaps due to over-caution, perhaps to life intervening with potential horse ownership.

I am 50 plus and have a reasonable job and income (if not particularly stable) have been 2x weekly riding for ten years, compete at low (v low) level dressage, sj and xc but still think i know not enough to have first horse.

i also have slightly more competent daughter, - albeit she is about to depart for travels and pastures new at Uni - who would be ace help.

So it may be time to bite that bullet - god knows i have been preparing for it long enough.....
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back