Buying a Horse: Tips for Finding the Right Mount.

Buying a new horse can be quite a daunting process.

In today’s age, buyers can access a plethora of platforms that promote horses looking for new homes: professional websites, horse traders, social media pages, magazines etc… As great as it is to have choices, it certainly can be confusing to cut through the noise and successfully negotiate your way through to finding ‘the one’.

As someone who has spent the last 8 years re-homing a LOT of horses, working in the life after harness racing space, I’ve had the privilege of sitting on the other side of the fence. Being someone who considers herself to be quite ethical when it comes to dealing with the novice buyer, it’s a little frightening to receive enquiries for horses from people who really have not considered the specifics of what they’re looking for in a horse and the questions to ask in order to find this mount.

This has spurred me to pen a few tips to help less experienced horse people to set themselves up for a safe and streamlined buying process. This article has been drafted to serve as a bit of a tool for lay riders looking to source an established riding horse from an unknown seller.

Be prepared to take your time.

Finding the right horse can take months. Working your way through hundreds of adverts, making endless enquiries and trying to marry up the buyer and seller’s schedules for viewings is not always a linear process.

Rush out and buy the first horse that comes along and, sure, there is a chance you might end up with a happy ending. But the reality of the situation is that horses have minds of their own, sellers will often say whatever is needed to move a horse on and getting to know a new animal takes time.

My advice is to find a great riding school where you can get your horse fix (if you don’t already have a mount) and embrace what can be a wonderful journey if you go about it with patience and a positive mindset!

Set a reasonable budget.

It’s no great secret that the purchase of a horse is the cheapest part of the entire ownership journey (unless you have a $10,000+ budget, in which case: adopt me?!)

A sensible way to set yourself up not to be disappointed time and time again by sellers is to do some steady research into what value horses who suit your needs are selling for. You might not want to spend over $2000, but this may be the reality of the situation and something to consider before you start looking.

As a rule, sound horses with solid training and of a good age hold value. Horses with performance bloodlines more so.

If your budget is modest you have a couple of choices:

* Be prepared to compromise on factors such as the horse’s age (an older horse suited to performance disciplines will decrease in value in its later teen years) or training (a green horse will be cheaper to buy than one with plenty of riding experience, but be aware that you may need to factor in the cost to have a professional work with the horse, riding lessons and your own ability to manage an inexperienced mount).

* Stall your immediate plans to buy and save your pennies. The bigger your budget, the more options you’ll have in regards to available mounts. This extra time could be used to continue to further your riding experience via lessons, which again means you’ll have more options of horses you’re capable of managing with increased skills in the saddle.

Buy for purpose.

If you’re looking to go trail riding, buy a horse with lots of miles under its tyres. If you’re looking to take your horse to riding club, buy one with experience in a club setting, at competitions and around other horses. If you’re looking to show jump, buy a horse which can demonstrate temperament and technique over elements. Your best bet is to view a horse proven to suit the desired role and to test ride in the same type of setting you will be riding in at home.

Beware of speculative advertisements.

“Horse should make a nice jumping horse”.

Shudda, wudda, cudda. Look for proof and experience, over a good sales pitch.

Buy a horse in work.

A horse’s temperament can change between its sedentary nature and when it is on good quality feed and fighting fit.

A horse coming into work also may not also display soundness issues which present once undergoing regular training.

Don’t leave things to chance: go out and test ride the horse whilst it’s ‘in the zone’ and able to perform the tasks you’re going to ask it to do as your own mount.

Cut through the fluff.

“Horse can jump 1.20m at home”, but only competing 60cm rounds? Fluff.

“Shoulder-in established” but only able to complete a Level 4 dressage test? Fluff.

You only need the horse to be able to do what it is required to do at its current level consistently + starting to train movements at the next level. After all, what good is a horse who can do a flying change if it can’t ride a 20m trot circle evenly?!

Know your ‘must haves’.

If you need a horse that is excellent in heavy traffic, this is what you should be looking for as the #1 priority. If the horse must be well behaved at competitions, only consider mounts with history of being successfully campaigned and ask to see some tests/judges feedback. If you’re 5ft tall with bad knees, the horse might need to stand under a certain height limit…

Take a pen and write yourself a big long list. Be specific. Then refine it down to the essential points your new horse MUST have. Arm yourself with this checklist when enquiring about horses for sale and don’t feel bad about asking lots of questions and not compromising on the things that really matter to you!

You might pass up a few nice horses who don’t quite tick off your list, but just think about the awesome ones that could be just around the next corner…

Don’t budge on your ‘dealbreakers’.

Just as important as ‘must haves’ are your ‘deal breakers’. These are the undesirable traits that a horse may exhibit that rule it out as your potential match.

Maybe you’ve had a horse who’s gotten hot out in groups before and you’re not confident enough to manage this again. Jot it down as a dealbreaker! Perhaps you’ve had a horse in the past who was nasty and arrogant to its paddock mates and this caused issues at your agistment property: whack it on the list!

Acknowledging your dealbreakers and asking direct questions to horse sellers surrounding these points is crucial to cutting to the chase, ensuring you don’t waste anyone’s time looking at the wrong horse and it can save you the immense stress that comes from loading a mismatch onto your float.

Trust your gut.

Ask the owner to ride first.

You only have one body, so look after it! Climbing aboard half a tonne of unfamiliar animal off the encouragement of a complete stranger is a huge risk. One which many experienced riders aren’t even prepared to wear (myself included!)

Yes, there are often explanations offered as to why someone can’t show you the horse first: “I’m injured and can’t ride…I’m pregnant…. [Insert generic evasion story]”. The long and the short of it is that if someone really wants to sell a genuine horse, they will either get on it first and show off its talents, or they will arrange for a peer of theirs to put the horse through its paces for you first.

If not, plenty more fish in the sea…

Don’t feel pressured to buy on the spot.

As a personal rule, I would never buy a horse off one test ride. I prefer at least two different viewings on two different days, ideally in two different settings and with some varied weather conditions (wind is a bonus) before I can be sure that the horse is consistent in its behaviour.

Now, barring my own inability to get out to the horse twice within a reasonable period of time (because it would be unrealistic to expect a seller to hold a horse for someone who inevitably may not buy and lose traction on the market), I would never allow a seller to pressure me into a purchase on a whim by telling me “there’s heaps of people interested and a lady coming tomorrow, so you need to decide now.” And that is REALLY tough when you’re keen on a horse (trust me, I get it!)

Granted, good horses will always be popular. I acknowledge that thoroughness might lead to someone missing out on a particular horse, but the reality is that taking home half a tonne of animal is a huge commitment nobody should make hastily.

Trust that ‘what’s meant to be will be’ and if the horse is meant to be yours, it’ll end up in your paddocks soon enough.

Take a knowledgeable friend for a fresh perspective.

This one’s pretty self-explanatory: objective eyes can help to point out things you may not be able to feel whilst riding, or miss during the haze of a viewing.

Select a pragmatic friend who will rein you in if you’re ‘falling in love’ and challenge you to use your head along with your heart during the purchase process.
Ride the horse out and away from familiar areas.

My favourite tidbit!

A horse can be totally chilled and well-mannered in their comfort zone, then morph into an insecure, hot-headed nightmare when out in new or open areas.

To really test buttons, ride the horse from its familiar riding space out and away from where it’s most comfortable, its friends etc.

If you’re not an experienced rider, ask the owner to get on and demonstrate the horse’s behaviour away from the safety of its routine before attempting this yourself.

I’ve seen more than a few horses come undone during this test in the past (and some absolute doozy dummy-spits that I was grateful not to be aboard for!)

Listen to the owner.

If you’ve fallen head over heels for your new equine BFF, but the owner is expressing some concerns please LISTEN.

Trust me when I say that nobody knows the horse as well as the person selling it and you are darn lucky if this person cares enough about their mount to potentially lose a sale based on their assessment of a prospective mismatch!

There is nothing more awkward for an honest seller than to express genuine reservations, only to have these not taken on board. Asking “how do you think we look together?” is a great way of prompting the seller to speak freely – take the time and courtesy to ask this question (but also take their response with a grain of salt if you feel it’s a big push for you to buy and you’re not feeling 100%).

Basically if either you or the owner doesn’t think it’s a good match, it probably isn’t! It’s just that buyers sometimes forget that there’s more than one opinion to be considered in this process…

Consider a vet check.

Yes, getting a vet check is expensive. But so too is buying a horse, getting it home and discovering a major ailment that you didn’t pickup during the viewings. Often by then it’s too late for take-backsies.

If you don’t know enough about equine health, conformation and gait analysis to be sure you’re making a good choice, pay someone who does.

Bonus tip: view the horse being worked on a flat surface. This will give you the best space to assess for soundness or gait issues that may be concealed or justified on uneven terrain.