Moutaineer's horse shopping thread.

[Moutaineer]

So, I'm actually going to try a horse that's in my trainer's barn tomorrow! 14 year old, PSG with a bit of I1 schoolmaster, Oldenburg with a little shot of Arab in there. Trainer's concern is he might be too little for me, but I'm into little nowadays. Depends on how my leg sits on him, I guess.

Fingers crossed--it would sure be the easy button...

[StraightForward]

Good luck, that sounds ideal! I think dressage rides tend to over-horse themselves size wise, and might be happier with smaller mounts. Unless he's a pony, I bet it won't be a problem.

[khall]

Fun!

[Chisamba]

best of luck!

[blob]

height can be deceptive! Hopefully the horse you're trying has enough of a barrel.

But also, I have to say RP is the first horse i've had that I can actually fully wrap my leg around the barrel and it is a NICE feeling.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Very fun! Sounds promising. Fingers crossed!

[piedmontfields]

Fingers crossed for sure!!

My little 15.2 mare takes up a lot more leg than most of the elegant Irish eventing athletes (min height 16.2) at my barn. Blob, I cannot imagine wrapping my legs around my horse---that is simply not an option for me! lol

[blob]

Fingers crossed for sure!!

My little 15.2 mare takes up a lot more leg than most of the elegant Irish eventing athletes (min height 16.2) at my barn. Blob, I cannot imagine wrapping my legs around my horse---that is simply not an option for me! lol

MM is like your mare! She's only 14.3hh but takes up a lot of leg and my 6ft instructor looks totally normal on her. RP is 14.1 but with his tiny barrel, my heel can go past his belly. And I'm only 5ft tall Just goes to show that height can be very deceptive!

[Moutaineer]

Well, I really liked this little horse, who's not so little--I'd say 16.1, so about perfect. My trainer always thinks I'm built like her, (I wish,) but though we are about the same height, her legs go up to her armpits whereas I spend my life re-tucking my shirts in because of my long torso, sowe do fit rather differently on a horse.

I felt safe and comfortable on him. He demonstrated a mild version of his spook, which wasn't very dramatic, and I honestly had more fun than is probably legal in the State of Utah riding him

She's going to ask the owner to release his vet records to me (we use the same vet) as there are a couple of things that need investigating before we can really hammer out a deal (and I really need someone to quote me an actual starting price!!!) and I'll go back and ride him again next week.

On my way down there, I had a text from the Arizona people saying that the black horse was still available. I'm weighing up whether to go see him--I can't get down there until the middle of next week at the earliest anyway. I think I'll see how things play out here for a couple of days before I make the decision to get on a plane.

[Josette]

This is a great update viewing this horse. I laughed at 16.1 hands because that is large for me. The critical word that jumps out is FUN!

[blob]

sounds like a great trial ride! And a very, very promising prospect.

could be worth checking out the AZ horse as well if it's not too difficult of a journey, just to keep options open!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Mountaineer, fingers crossed!! Sounds like a fun guy!! Keep us updated.

[StraightForward]

Fingers crossed that the vet records are acceptable and you can hammer out a deal!

[Ryeissa]

Oh! yes! Now, my horse is 14.3 so that is small
Best of luck. Sounds like a great horse

[demi]

Fingers crossed! And laughing at the visual of your trainer with legs up to her armpits.

[Moutaineer]

Well, that's charming. They just jacked the asking price up by 25%.

NEXT.

[khall]

Ouch. Will you go see the black horse?

[Moutaineer]

That's the plan, Khall. Waiting on a call back from the seller.

[demi]

That’s crazy. You must be really PO’d . Can they do that?

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Well, that's charming. They just jacked the asking price up by 25%.

NEXT.

That's so crappy. I'm sorry. What bull!!

You'll find the one! Fingers crossed on the black horse.

[Moutaineer]

Demi, I guess they can do whatever they like. Bad move embarrassing our mutual trainer and wasting our mutual vet's time, but there you go. As my trainer said, they'll wait a while to get that price with his maintenance issues, during which time they are paying her board and training fees, so it's probably not a great financial move on their part. Oh, well.

[Ryeissa]

Demi, I guess they can do whatever they like. Bad move embarrassing our mutual trainer and wasting our mutual vet's time, but there you go. As my trainer said, they'll wait a while to get that price with his maintenance issues, during which time they are paying her board and training fees, so it's probably not a great financial move on their part. Oh, well.

yeah, this happened to be too but they decided to not in the end and accepted my offer

[piedmontfields]

M., that is a bummer. But I will say (given experience), this is one of those things where you keep horse hunting and keep an open mind if they come back to you with a more reasonable offer and ask you to reconsider. It does happen---quite a lot to be honest. Of course you might do another basic vetting at that point, but it could be worth it.

Bottom line: Horse people be, like, C R A Z Y. Be calm when dealing with them. You might still get what you want.

[Moutaineer]

Eh, if it's meant to be, it will happen.

Meanwhile, I've made an appointment to go see the black horse. We couldn't get it together until the week after next, but that's actually OK, as DH will be 5 days out from his first vaccine by the time I get back. Maybe something else will crop up to look at down there, too.

[Moutaineer]

Meanwhile, meanwhile...

The black horse whacked himself in turnout this morning and they want him to see the vet before I go down there. So, trip plans postponed for this week.

I was rather looking forward to a nice, warm little mini-break next week. But at least they a) care enough about him to make an effort, and b) bothered to call rather than gluing him back together and pumping him full of bute.

Agh.

[blob]

That's a bummer. But horses will be horses! Hopefully you'll get to see him soon.


I don't know if Nevada is too far for you, but this mare could be interesting. She has changes in her jumping videos.

https://warmblood-sales.com/horse/harriet-0

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Bummer Mountaineer! I agree, at least they gave you a heads up. Hopefully he's okay and you can go see him soon.

[Moutaineer]

Well, they sold him in the mean time. I think the lameness thing was a stalling tactic.

Oh, well... NEXT!

[khall]

Well dang! That’s some shady business

[Ryeissa]

oh dear! That is really dishonest. I wouldn't use them for anymore

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Ugh! People are so dishonest. I'm sorry, onward!!

[Moutaineer]

It's called horse trading for a reason.

I've got a couple of possibles floating around, but it would really help if sellers would respond when you contact them!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Mountaineer, in Colorado at least, they don't respond because horses are selling so quickly. A few I've been interested have sold in ONE DAY after being advertised.

[khall]

I know this one is probably too far away but I like him
Don’t know what they are asking for him
https://youtu.be/qSxH8jcFmgw

[Moutaineer]

A lot, I bet, Khall

Watch this space... working on something

[demi]

Watching!

[khall]

Waiting!

[piedmontfields]

Dream type horse, for sure! He is not that confirmed in training, though, so there might be more room for negotiation.

[Moutaineer]

So, here i am in rural Nevada, going to have a second ride this morning on a hannoverian/Arab cross who is confirmed at I-1...

He is 16 2, 13 y.o, and a very much more sensitive ride than I am used to, but we got along pretty well yesterday.

He does have a spook, which I managed to provoke pretty spectacularly yesterday, but its an in place rather than a bolt and buck, and he went right back to work afterwards, and it didn't frighten me.

Hes a true schoolmaster. I rode changes and extensions on him easily. He'd not been touched for 4 days and it was wildly windy out here in the desert.

We will see how it goes this morning!

[Ryeissa]

ohhh! my fav cross. Good luck

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Sounds awesome Mountaineer!! Fingers crossed!!

[blob]

good luck! sounds really promising!

[Moutaineer]

There's nothing like test riding an unknown horse in a saddle thats 2 sizes too small for you!

[Imperini]

Oh I bet I know the horse you're looking at, I tried to talk my DH into him but he disagrees on me needing more than one horse Good luck hope this morning goes well.

[StraightForward]

Fingers crossed for you!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Your horse shopping experience is more fun than mine! Let us know how second ride goes!!

[khall]

So fun! Hope he works for you

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Hopefully this one works out for you, but if not I saw this one on FB in texas. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1855073 ... 229973064/ hopefully link works.

[Moutaineer]

Well this one's a puzzle.

Lovely, easy, responsive ride, nice mover, knows his stuff. Great ground manners, nice personality. But, under saddle, he's always on the lookout for something to spook at, and you have to be on it the whole time to keep his attention on you and not have him decide he's going to have a meltdown over something trivial. He's not bothered about dirtbikes roaring down the street, helicopters and planes landing a field away, flapping carboard against the perimeter fence, but, inconsistently, the judge's box, the flowerbox in the corner... oh, the drama. Not going to kill you drama, but sure disrupts the training flow. And I think that's why he does it.

His show record is as long as your arm, but very inconsistent scores from about third level up, and I'm sure this is why.

He's had trouble with his feet. Current owner is a barefoot trimmer who has done a good job with him. she reckons he was very footsore, had terrible deep thrush and generally messed up when she got hold of him, and she thinks that may be part of the root of the problem. He's now very sound wearing boots in front, and she reckons would be fine to go back into shoes with a good farrier. She's worked very hard with him on the spooking issue and has improved it a lot, she says. But she's a Gold medalist, and I am not. He didn't scare me, but do I really want to deal with that every day, even for the talent? (And I have no idea how he would react to an indoor arena.)

If I owned him already, I'd be dragging him all over creation to every kind of experience I could find for him from horsemanship clinics to chasing cows--I think he needs to get out of his head and learn that there's other things going on in the world. I'd also change up a few things about his diet and supplementation program. But I don't own him already.

So, that's where I am.

[Josette]

Well this one's a puzzle.
Great ground manners, nice personality. But, under saddle, he's always on the lookout for something to spook at, and you have to be on it the whole time to keep his attention on you and not have him decide he's going to have a meltdown over something trivial. oh, the drama. Not going to kill you drama, but sure disrupts the training flow.

Well, I'm certainly familiar with this type - I really love my little hairy guy even if he can be so frustrating and inconsistent. He is who he is and that is the critical fact - he will never be completely reliable from one ride to the next. It certainly provides variety though.

IMO - it sounds like this horse has been exposed to a lot with his extensive inconsistent show record. If you have showing goals as your priority then this horse will not be reliable and may really frustrate you. Do you want to take on this type of mental project with no guarantee you will succeed? This is how he is mentally wired. Would you get any enjoyment or satisfaction trying to rewire him? Do you want to spend that effort and time doing so?

My comments are not meant to discourage you. There are several riders here who could take on a horse like this and make some progress with it. However, I'm coming from it as an older rider with fewer riding years left - so I myself would not purchase another Drama Queen.