May trade for a new horse thoughts please?

[arabianequine]

Quarter horse mare - $400 (Olympia, WA)
Date: 2010-10-19, 11:47AM PDT
Reply to: see below

Quarter horse mare for sale, sound, very sweet, easy to catch, clip and load. Was previously used for hunting, but has not been ridden much in the last year and needs and intermediate rider. Has foaled at least twice. Is 18 years old. Asking $400 obo. Call 360-456-2125, leave message after 7th ring if no answer.

It won't let me post pics on here from the ad though.

 

[EweSheep]

Pretty mare! Maybe she has a bit of "fire" for hunting/jumping that may be the reason for intermediate rider.

My only concern, as far as the pictures goes, her pasterns and feet are small for her big body. Maybe a better shot close up would be the thing. Bring your teacher or instructor or experienced horse person to take a ride and how she does.

 

[patandchickens]

I would guess that "been used for hunting" probably means hunting with guns, not foxhunting or hunter/jumper

She is a bit light of bone but I would not sweat that for an easy-recreational horse as long as she is sound (can't tell odds of that from those pics). I can't see too much leg or foot detail in the pics, but nothing comes across as an obvious red flag. She's rather tubby.

She may very well turn out to be too much horse for you, either because of being a bit fast or becuase of having some sort of bad habit ("intermediate rider" typically means the horse has some problem like minor bucking or running back to the barn or such but has never actually hurt anyone yet). However it certainly can't hurt to find out more, possibly even go see her. You never know.

Pat

 

[hunterjumper999]

try Chronicle of the horse forums give away section...

 

[2pinkmom]

I might have missed the answer to this way back in the thread, so I apologize if I'm being redundant. You mostly plan to trail ride this horse? I'm assuming that you will primarily be walking and trotting, and little or no jumping? If so, are there any riding schools around you that you could ask if they have any horses that need to step down to an easier life? I got my old TB that way. He had arthritis from racing and couldn't handle 10 hours of lessons a week any more. He could handle what i needed him for, however. I was just getting back into riding after taking a break to have my girls. I just wantef something well-trained and quiet that could do 3 or 4 moderate rides a week. He was just the ticket. Fabulous horse. He had been a very successful steep chaser and hunter/jumper, and had been a staff horse for one of the local fox hunts. No horse is bomb proof, but I really never had to worry much with him. On the rare occasions he did spook, he would hop a couple steps to the side and then practically blush with embarrassment!

Similarly, there is a lovely horse at my training barn that actually competed at the Rolex horse trial in his youth. As he got into his teens, he was no longer equal to world-class competition like that. But he was far from ready to retire. He now happily hauls a junior rider around the lower levels of horse trials, and seems to relish every minute of it. (i'm sure the current owners paid a tiny fraction of what he was worth in his heyday) Everyone likes to feel useful, I suppose. Even horses.

Try to find something that is currently in work, even if it means you have to go a little older. PP are right, nobody doesn't ride a good horse. If it has been sitting in a field unused for a year, something is wrong. Is there any way that you can take your trainer with you? I know you would have to pay a commission, but it would be a lot cheaper than in the long run than ending up with a horse that belongs in a can. Trainers also tend to know about good horses in the area, horses that don't ever show up in the sale ads.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Well, I went back and looked at last nights Craigslist and can't find the horse I was thinking of.

Found this one though that looks alert. Seems like alot of the horses we've seen just look sad.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/grd/2014361693.html

Josie is a reg. breeding stock paint that comes out of Sonny Dee Bar, Josie is a 13 year old mare, she is 15.2HH. Josie is a Barrel horse/gamer and is an amazing trail horse. Josie is a very good gamer with the will to win. But she also loves the trails and can go on them all day. Josie lunges, loads/hauls, clips, bathes, stands for farrier, and ect. Josie is UTD on everything. If you want to come out and see her or want more imformation please call (360)915-4549 my name is Amy.
P.s. Sorry there is an english saddle on her, that is the only saddle we own right now because my daughter is doing english instead of western riding.

 

[Hound]

I may be the Grinch, but here comes my 10 cents worth.

Someone who wants a bombproof, beginner-friendly horse doesn't need anything that has the remotest possibility of running barrels well. The danger is unintentional cues. That is why beginners are put on plugs. Someone lacking in confidence needs a horse they know they couldnt make run off if they tried.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the recommendation to consider anything described as needing an intermediate rider. A beginner-friendly horse is the easiest equine to sell, as (obviously) there are a lot more beginner riders than there are experts. There are a lot more people who want a dull, dependable horse than there are that want a rodeo. For this reason, if someone selling a horse can plausibly describe it as beginner-friendly they will.

I'd suggest sending the cows to the sale and then buying a horse. That way you have the pick of what is in your price range, not the pick of horses owned by people willing to trade for cows.

My final thought is that the idea that the horse market is flooded with cheap wonderful horses is a myth. People with great horses will generally hang onto them rather than sell them cheap, as you have found yourself that they are like finding a needle in a haystack. I'd highly recommend saving and taking some lessons in the meantime;that in itself might help you find 'the one'.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
100% agree totally!

I wholeheartedly disagree with the recommendation to consider anything described as needing an intermediate rider. A beginner-friendly horse is the easiest equine to sell, as (obviously) there are a lot more beginner riders than there are experts. There are a lot more people who want a dull, dependable horse than there are that want a rodeo. For this reason, if someone selling a horse can plausibly describe it as beginner-friendly they will.

I agree with you 98%. However I have known someone, and encountered a couple of others casually, who refuse to say "beginner" in an ad on general principle, one of them because they want their horses going to someone with at least *some* existing knowledge, and the others because they are concerned about liability type things.

So as mentioned in my earlier post while I really suspect that any given "intermediate rider" horse IS likely to be too much horse or have a bit too much problem... in my experience a few very good beginnery horses DO get advertised that way, so if a person is really feeling like investing in phone calls and maybe drives out to see the horse, I do not think it is entirely un-worth looking into.

Basically a person just has to be prepared to stay on the market (looking vigorously) for potentially a looooong time if they want something bombproof and usably sound AND very-cheap-or-trade-for-cows. It can happen, it just isn't going to happen on a timetable or deadline.

Pat​

 

[michickenwrangler]

Quote:
Well, I had a lovely 10 yr old Arab mare that had endurance miles, legion points from mid-60s dressage scores that I gave away because I had gotten laid off from my job and I KEPT my semi-psycho Arab-Saddlebred because that one WOULDN'T sell because she bucks at a canter, won't walk until she's gone 5 miles on the trail and tries to race other horses.

Most barrel horses are intentionally kept a little on the high-strung side

Some lessons would be a good idea, also to put you in touch with the local horse network. That is much better than browsing through classifieds.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Quote:
I too disagree with this based on my experience. I bought the green horse the first time around (my fault). For the second horse, I wanted the dead broke, experienced, older, great pasture mate horse and found that in Dixie, 17 yr old Tennessee walker who was being sold by a gal going through a divorce. Her and her husband had camped all over the Pacific NW. That was proved in the vet check. No sign of arthritis and healthy heart. She was boring but very safe.

I lost my job and taking a while to get a new one, so I basically gave away the greenish and spunky 7 yr old spotted saddle horse Kitty that was fun to ride (yet unpredictable) and Dixie, the safe & boring one for $500.00 for both horses and all their tack, blankets, buckets, feed, EVERYTHING if she promised she would keep them together and I would get my first horse back if she couldn't keep her.

I had paid $3500.00 for Kitty and $2500.00 for Dixie. Nothing was wrong with them - I just couldn't keep them.

I believe it is possible to find the same today.