if the reasons were right...

Tuff_up

Tuff_up

New Member
Jan 31, 2006
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spruce grove, alberta
would you buy a youngster for a first horse if.....

the horse was better than any been there done that 14 year old in calmness

was less expensive

beautiful color

awesome temperment better then the been there done that guys

when you rode that horse for the first time it was hailing the wind was bad and everything was an icey slush

needs a bit more training but once they are finished could be the greatest horse for anyone experienced or not a one of a kind find

not spooky and fell in love with a soon as you got in the saddle.
 
Depends on what other experience you have had I'd say personally.

Just because you havent owned a horse before, dosent mean you dont know enough for a younger horse.

However some people dont I think you need to know abit more to have a youngster.

It also depends on the condition of the horse, if its upto weight and fairly fit when you tried it and healthy then all the better and you know what your getting, if its underweight etc, then chances are it will change, and its yet to go through its teenage strop if its not more then 5 (in my experience they usually strop at this age)
 
Yes - but organise a RI that you get on with and AT LEAST fortnightly lessons.

A youngster owned and trained by experienced full time calm people who can work it every day can change to a totally different beastie when a less experienced pqrt-time rider is hassled after school/work.

An experienced RI who really gets to know the horse can make all the difference.
 
well it depends on the horse as my first horse i brought an unbroken 15.2 tb x connemara and he was 4 years old and i never regretted it,he was a lovely horse by the end of it and i got him jumping a cross country course which was a big achievement at least they can`t get ruined by anyone else and there history riding wise is known.
 
we did, twice. my first pony was a just broken 3 year old, my first horse also just broken (literally, i swear they'd only backed him a matter of days before we bought him coz he was still shellshocked).

You MUST be prepared to put in the hard work and you MUST make sure that if you can't do something yourself, that you get professional help. at one stage, i was having 2-3 lessons a week on my cob to get him started on the basics. now thats a lot of money (thankfully i'd an understanding dad willing to pay for them). you've got to be prepared to sit it out through the bad times and temper tantrums and not give up. getting a youngster is a huge responsibility. YOU are laying the foundations of their education.
 
yeah I did it :) Archer was sold to me as 6 but vet and dentist said more like 4 he was honest and sweet and tolerated my kids on the lead rein. He just melted me and he wasnt at all what I was looking for or the horse I had gone to that yard to see! Its been hard work but worth it.
 
You just described my horse Cisco when I bought him at age 4. We had a thorough vet check because my OH thought he might be drugged the first time we saw him. The vet said he was the calmest 4 year old he ever saw. He has a lot more energy now at age 6 and loves to canter, but he is still the calmest horse we have and rarely spooks.

He was my second horse, but I did not do much with my first horse Dancer, except sit on his back and let him take me for a ride. I had no confidence around horses.

Cisco is the first horse I've done anything with. He did not know much either when I bought him, so we learned everything together. I think that in some ways it slowed down my learning curve because he was not very experienced. On the other hand he is so calm that he is a real confidence builder so in that way he accelerated some of my learning. If I had it to do over again I would still have bought him as a 4 year old.

I would see if you could take him home on a trial basis. If not, make sure that you ride him several times and get a vet check before you buy him.

Best of luck and keep us posted.
 
With enough experience and the right support system (knowledgeable friends, helpful RI, regular lessons etc) I don't see why owning a youngster as a first horse should be any harder than owning a 12-year-old. My old share horse was just turned 4 and had only just been broken in when her owner bought her, Breeze was her first horse and she never intended to get a youngster, but she used to ride Breeze's mum and when she saw her she just fell in love. :p
My job was to ride and handle Breeze several times a week to get her used to being dealt with by more than one person, and to give her experience hacking and improve her stable manners. I'm not exceptionally experienced myself and we both learned a great deal from her. Her owner is now doing endurance, showing and dressage with her (she's 7 now) and says she doesn't regret buying her at all, even though there were plenty of challenges along the way.
 
But remember the youngster you see is only like that becasue of the handling and owner it has (usually). It's not nessesarly going to behave like that for you (unless you're also experienced and confident). All horses can change, but a youngster more so.

Know a lovely balck and white cob who's novice owner bought her as a just turned 4 yr old. She was a sweetheart to handle when she saw her and dead good to ride - she was broken and traineed by a very experienced horseman. Took her home and she deliberatly walked all over the new owner, who couldn't beleive what was happening. It's taken years to sort her out. Be warned - it can go wrong;)

Doesn't mean it will though. If you have the knowledge and confidence to work with a young horse, it could be a brilliant decision.
 
Pink's lady said:
But remember the youngster you see is only like that becasue of the handling and owner it has (usually). It's not nessesarly going to behave like that for you (unless you're also experienced and confident).
Click to expand...

Sometimes the calm temperment comes from breeding and not handling. When I bought Cisco had not been handled at all for 1 year. He was just one of the herd out in a pasture 24/7.

We breed German Shorthaired Pointers and bloodlines make a HUGE difference in temperment. We've never bred horses, but I would think that it would make a difference too.
 
Pink's lady said:
But remember the youngster you see is only like that becasue of the handling and owner it has (usually). It's not nessesarly going to behave like that for you (unless you're also experienced and confident). All horses can change, but a youngster more so.
Click to expand...
I would agree with that to a certain extent. I bought Alfie when he was rising 6, as my first horse. He had an incredible laid-back temperment, and that never changed. But I did have problems with him which I hadn't picked up on before hand, and probably would have done if I'd had him on trial.

I think it was a combination of his age and my nerves that led to him getting a stubborn nappy streak when he decided we'd gone too far from home. I went through a long point of thinking I'd "ruined him" (some of you might remember me crying about it on here ;) )

However, we worked hard and now, although he's not perfect, I have absolutely no regrets. His temperment never changed, which I think is key. If you're willing to put the work, time and effort, there is no reason (IMO) why it shouldn't work.
 
I do agree with Pink's Lady and Alice25 that handling can make a huge difference in how well a horse behaves and whether or not the horse remains calm. I just wanted to point out that breeding is a big factor too. I think it's a lot easier for a beginner to start out with a laid back 4 year old than a spooky, nervous 15 old.
 
smaggi said:
I do agree with Pink's Lady and Alice25 that handling can make a huge difference in how well a horse behaves and whether or not the horse remains calm. I just wanted to point out that breeding is a big factor too. I think it's a lot easier for a beginner to start out with a laid back 4 year old than a spooky, nervous 15 old.
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree with that too. When I got Alfie he had that lovely chilled attitude that people often expect cobs to have. And he still has that, and has never lost it. So now we're getting over the last of our napping problems, we have a great foundation to work on. As long as you have the confidence to sort out any inital difficulties, in the long term I think the general "personality" will have just as much (if not more) impact.
 
I bought my first horse at 4 years old. I had lots of people around me to help, I'd ridden for 12 years and I thought I could do it. Never looked back, but it isn't easy, in the slightest. Silver has tested me (and still does at 5/rising 6) all the way and you have to be consistent and clear with signals etc. There is another youngster on our yard who is slightly older than Silver - he is bolshy, dangerous in the field so YO refuses to turn him out (has put two grooms in hospital), is now awful in the stable, can't hack out at all because he bolts and is now becoming awful in the school. He was an angel when he first came :rolleyes: xxx
 
well guys i already bought the horse a year ago and i got the pro training for about 6 months and i must say i don't think her riding has developed from when i got her but her ground manners have improved and i can bathe and spray and lunge her also i can feed her carrots and cookies which she wouldn't eat either which was something her last owner wouldn't dare do. so just wanted to see if i was really doing something that was really impossible because i am only 14 and only did professional riding for a year before i got my own horse and went solo.
 
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