Buying your new equine friend.

So you've got the money together or sold your little brother and are now embarking on a quest to find your new equine superstar.  

You'll find lots of articles on buying horses but I think it's important to distinguish the different scenarios and circumstances people find themselves in.  Put it this way.  You go about finding a happy hacker you in a very different way to how you would find a £30 grand+ international horse.  Both need a clever plan to get what you want at the price you can afford.  

Let's start off at the lower end of the spectrum.  I won't bore you with the questions you should be asking. Age, health? etc etc... If you aren't that knowledgeable find someone who knows their stuff to go with you.  Now stop and think about that one.  They genuinely have to know their stuff.  It might not be the most obvious person and it might be someone younger.  Don't look down your nose at people and accept you have to pay people for their time.  It's worth getting someone decent to come with you.  Preferably someone who rides well themselves and has experience in buying AND selling.  Unfortunately, at the very bottom end of the spectrum you may have to drive miles looking and it's likely that you'll see lots and lots. Also, there's the chance you'll sit on a few nutters so sit your experienced helper on first.  When you do find what you want for heavens sake try and avoid "uming and ahing". Make a considered decision confidently and if you need time to think about it, be honest and ask for it but be realistic or someone else will snap it up.  However, make sure you have seen enough of the horse  ie do you really like him but you'd like to see him over some cross country jumps.  Talk to the vendor - ask if there are any references (ie if the last rider was a pony club member then talk to their DC) and check results. 

People very often wonder about vettings on low value horses.  Passing a 5 stage vetting on any horse will leave both parties with the assurance that the horse is fit for purpose and hopefully lead to a happy ending.  

Now let's look at the higher end of things.  The most common way of buying high value horses is through an agent.  Primarily because a lot of high value horses are never publicly advertised.  If you don't go through an agent you miss out on some potentials buys.  Key point.  There are a lot of agents out there so choose who you use carefully.   An agents fee is usually 10% of the purchase price so their services don't come cheap.  The best agents are very open about their fee which is important with such a large investment.  

Hopefully if you're buying a pricey horse you'll know what you're on about and know your game.  The best bet then is to find something by word of mouth.  It's very important to have a very strict criteria.  When you  findi something you can evaluate how well it fits your criteria.  When you're generating your criteria look at yourself and your circumstances.  If you jump very well but don't get on so well on the flat then get something that covers your weaknesses.  Equally, some horses seem to need to see the physio every single day - but if you happen to have a mum who's a horse physio then this might not be a problem but yere.... you get the point.  Look at your circumstances.  Looking further ahead, certain things make horses easier to sell on.  It might seem a long way away and you may plan to never sell your superstar but it would be silly to not think about it at all.  All it means is avoiding things such as curbs or roached backs that may put potential buyers off.  

You have the choice of buying from a professional rather than an amateur.  People have strong preferences but it's worth remembering that some amateurs ride fantastically and know far more tricks than their professional counterparts.  Some people feel that by buying from an amateur the horses are "produced to sell" less so are produced better.  You trade this off against the better riding and therefore producing of a professional.  This does explain to some extent the high prices certain professionals produce horses for.  If you take your time producing a horse and produce it very well on top of that it's not surprising horses go for phenomenal prices.  

Another thing to bear in mind is that on the whole amateurs will make more mistakes than pro's so the horses tend to be that bit more forgiving.  If you are looking for a high level horse then chances are you'll have to buy from a professional though as they're the ones with the high level horses in the first place.  

Happy horse hunting!! 

Comments

[Coach Boots]

How fun! I linked to this on last weekend's weekly roundup and am just now getting around to letting you know. (I guess we were busy celebrating Easter!) Thanks so much for sharing!