Tips for buying your perfect horse

I\’ve seen a lot of tips and tricks about buying a horse, but strange enough none of them spoke about how your future horse will fit into your equestrian dreams and goals. What is the most important thing you wish you could do with your (future) horse? Have you thought about this at all?

Emotions versus rational
When people buy horses they are often led by their emotions instead of their wit. That\’s ok. If you have examined your dreams and thought about the most important features for your future horse, it is more likely that you will end up with a horse that is a good match.

As riding instructor I\’ve seen riders buying horses that weren\’t a good fit for their dreams because they didn\’t give their dream enough thought before they bought. They were excited to buy a horse and were just focused on buying \”a horse\”, not \”a perfect match\”.

I would like to help you prevent this pitfall, because you can end up creating unnecessary (extra removed) obstacles to achieve your dream and become happy. So you don\’t have regrets if you discover you had unconscious dreams that give you that unaccomplished feeling.

What is your dream?
Most equestrian dreams have seeds in your youth. When you grow up they stay somewhere in the back of your mind and you don\’t realize that they are still there. \”Are your old dreams still valid?\” is another post about this subject.

Maybe you discover that you\’ve always have wanted to ride on the beach, but now you would enjoy endurance riding much more. Or you\’ve always wanted a tall, high energetic horse, but now that your older you would be much more happy, safe and comfortable with a reliable, quiet breed.

Ask yourself: What was my dream? And: What are my dreams and goals now?

Does the breed serve your purpose?
If you really want to make your equestrian dreams become a reality, take into consideration which breed would be more likely to serve your purpose.

If you are a bit anxious and your dream is trail riding, I would suggest that you look for a breed that has comfortable gaits and an easygoing character. Think about choosing a gaited horse, for example the Paso Fino or an Icelandic horse.

Read as much as you can about the breed, their history, their purpose in history, advantages and disadvantages. Visit breeders and try out a few horses to compare differences within one breed.

Icelandic horses are small so that can be a nice feature, but some can be very \’hot\’. Does the size of the horse fit you? Does the breed fit your budget? Is owning a purebred very important to you or can you be just as happy with a crossbreed (remove with the same features)? If your dream is to breed or to win halter classes, owning a pure bred is more important than when your future horse is going to be a companion horse. All important questions to consider.

Write it down
Talk about your expectations and you dreams with a friend, so your vision becomes very clear in your mind (read about finding an accountability partner here). Prioritize your list. Is owing a beautiful horse more important than comfortable gaits? Are you prepared to compromise on gender? On colour? Conformation? Size? Breed? Purpose? Health?

What would you do if you came across a horse with itch? Are you prepared to give the horse lots of extra care and blankets? What about laminitis? Do you think you can/would like to handle that? I think you can handle it, but what about all the worries that brings? Are you willing to deal with that? You will be worried if your fur baby is sick, don\’t take this lightly.

Don\’t forget to write it all down. The best thing about writing your ideas down is that your subconscious will work on them.

Buying with your heart
Of course it will happen: you are going to look for \’that special horse\’ and it isn\’t a match, but that poor little thing standing in the back of the barn… She is so adorable. Let\’s have a look….

This is where your list comes in handy. Even when you didn\’t bring it, you will immediately know on what points you will have to compromise if you buy the \’opposite\’ of what you had in mind. The white mare instead of that buck skin gelding that is on your list. That is totally fine. Why? Because you make that decision deliberately. You might also see that she has a a lot of other features that are high on your priority list, like comfortable gaits or a gentle character.

You will know that you will be very happy with this horse, even though it isn\’t the perfect match on paper it will be in your heart.

Sandra Poppema