It may seem strange for a horse website to include a "Buying Tips" page, but it's important to understand that no decision will influence your riding experience more than the horse that you choose. The right horse will bring you years of joy, the wrong one will turn your experience into a literal nightmare. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of owning a horse, for many it's the realization of a life long dream. My advice is to take your time and not fall in love with the first furry nose that nuzzles against you. Horses are large animals that can cause serious injury or death. Riding, like any other highly technical sport, is not an innate ability, everyone needs to learn the skills requied to ride safely. Sky diving is just jumping out of a plane and pulling a cord, but you wouldn't consider doing it without some type of instruction. Horseback riding isn't any different. If you're new to horses or have been away from the sport for a while invest in at least a few lessons. It's a good way to determine if you really want to pursue riding before making a substantial emotional and financial investment in a horse.
General Tips
1. Determine what type of riding you want to pursue and buy a horse that's already trained in that discipline. For example a trained barrel racer is good choice if you want to learn to run barrels, but it's not a good trail riding candidate. Riding is a partnership and as in all good partnerships you'll be much more successful if one of you knows what they're doing. A well trained horse will not only help teach you, it will allow you to relax and learn. It's hard to enjoy riding if your entire life keeps flashing before your eyes.
2. Repeat after me "There are no dead broke 3 year olds." I don't care what the ad says. Most reputable trainers agree that a horse shouldn't be started under saddle until they are at least 3 years old. A horse's joints don't start to close until then and riding them before that time can cause permeant damage that will appear later. If the seller says their 3 or 4 year old horse is dead broke, it's either been started way too young or their idea of "dead broke" is probably different than yours.
Age does matter, no one can put 10 years of training on a 5 year old horse. In my experience most people buy horses that are too young and inexperience for their needs. Due to advances in care horse are living longer than ever, a 12 year old horse isn't washed up, it's just coming into its prime.
3. Spring is here and with it comes the horse buying season. When looking at horses you'll find them in all types of body conditions, from obese to skin and bones. It's terrible to go look at a horse only to find that it's severely underweight, it tugs at your heartstrings. To top it off the horse rides quietly and has a gentle disposition. Why would anyone starve such a good natured animal? Unfortunately, the horse may not be nearly as calm and quite as it appears. Many people have purchased wonderful, gentle thin horses only to find that after they've made a considerable investment in time, food, worming and vet work, what they really bought was a fire breathing dragon. Skinny horses are lethargic, they don't have enough energy to put up a fight. Once they have regained that energy you'll often find that the horse takes on a whole new personality. The owner may or may not have intentionally starved their horse, but ask yourself do you want to buy from someone who doesn't even know how to feed a horse or the alternitive, someone who knows the horse has problems and starved it to make a sale? Either way you're the one who will end up paying the price if you put it in your trailer. This is probably not the horse for you, but you can still help, take some pictures of its condition and contact the nearest law enforcement or humane society and report the situation.
4. Horses are no different than anything else, you get what you pay for. There are lots of cheap horses out there, and they're usually cheap for a reason. A good, dependable, well broke horse is hard to find and is worth the extra money. It's been my experience that you can pay for a horse several ways:
a. you'll pay upfront for all the time and training that goes into a well broke horse.
b. you'll pay a trainer to try and fix the problems that came with your bargain horse.
c. you'll pay in DVD's and training seminars, trying to lean how to deal with the problems on your own.
Option A will save you a great deal of time and money in the long run. Trainers are expensive and trying to fix the problems yourself is time consuming and frustrating. Then there always the chance that no matter what you do or how much time and money you invest, the horse's temperament will never be suitable for your riding level. We're all getting older, the more time you spend on problems the less time you'll spend in the saddle.
Our Commitment
The internet is a dangerous place to buy a horse. From old fashioned Horse Traders to people who misrepresent the severity of their horse's problems, cyberspace is open to one and all. There are also honest reputable sellers out there, but it hard to tell one from the other based on an ad and a phone call.
Our first and foremost commitment is to match riders with horses that are appropriate for their specific needs. We understand that riding isn't a sport it's a passion and by taking the time to match riders and horses we can help people achieve their dreams. It's also the commitment that we have to our horses, we want to place our horse in responsible permanent homes. All of the horses we offer for sale have either been raised by us or we've owned for many years. We know their health history, their training history, their temperaments and their backgrounds. We strive to represent our horses accurately, from temperment to training level. We offer a wide variety of ages and training levels available, from young horses for experienced horsemen to older well broke horses for less experienced riders.
We encourage all buyers to come and visit our facility and meet our horses. We'll will work with you to assess your individual needs and match you with an appropriate horse. You'll send time riding and getting to know the individual horses, allowing you make an informed choice. There's never any pressure to make a decision, we want you to take your time and feel comfortable with your choice.
Please feel free contact us if we can be of any assistance in helping you find your perfect riding companion.
