May trade for a new horse thoughts please?

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

She just may need the money outright as well.

He seems like he fits most of the things your looking for at a great price. If I had the money, I'd be interested in him myself.

Is it an option for you to get yourself a slant load trailer?

Didn't you say she's going to be at the arena tonight?

 

[arabianequine]

The owner said she would lower his price again if she had to. She needs his stall spot there for a worse horse that was just brought in. She did tell me they were going to a small arena tonight....not the big one on tiller. Do you wanna try for that one tonight? I can get the address and pm it to you. Not money wise its not possible to get a slant. I would trade this one but value is not the same I don't think.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I have a feeling you'd be surprised at the fact that he can fit in the straight load trailer! We've put very large horses in ours, including a belgian draft mare and she fit just fine.

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
The owner has a small straight load she is going to try and put him in hers and let me know how he does. She has never tried cause she has a 4 horse bigger one.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

That sounds good. I wouldn't worry too much about it though. If he's about 16 hands or so, even if he's a bit taller, he should fit just fine.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

OK - I just got off the phone with the seller. Sounds like a great gal who knows this horse, horses in general, has been burned in the past with leases (we all remember RoPo's story), who's not in a hurry to sell other then needing the stall space.

What is important to her is finding a good match.

He sounds like a big lovey dovy, in your pocket type of horse, that you will need to remind to get out of your space. That is something I needed to do with my first horse, Miss Kitty because I treated her like a big dog when I first got her and all lessons were in the saddle.

Then my new young trainer spent a month working on ground manners and it made a HUGE difference both on the ground and in the saddle.

I have made plans to meet her Thursday night at the arena with video camera and several riders riding him so you have an idea on how he does and if I would feel comfortable with him. I haven't ridden in 3 yrs and only owned my horses for 3 yrs, so consider myself green and a beginner with some knowledge after working with my trainer for 2 of the 3 yrs.

I will see how he does with ground manners leading him to see if he stays out of my space, stops when I stop, backs up when I walk towards him, see if he moves away from pressure if I place my hand on his side, how he does having his feet picked up, stands still while mounting and stays still until I tell him to move, etc.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd want me to do. OK - funny question since I only have experience with mares - do you touch near the goods to see if he has an issue being touched down there since you have to clean the sheath a few times a year?

Does he move off the leg, neck rein, or direct rein? Did she say what kind of bit?

I'm excited to go see him. I think he is going to be a great horse for you.

 

[arabianequine]

That sounds great....I really appreciate your help. The owner does sound wonderful.

She did not mention what bit he wore. Would need to know what kind of bit he takes too. Does he have a sensitive mouth? It would not hurt probably to check to see if he minds being touched down there but I am not really sure either.

I would like to know if he knows any voice commands other then the HARK which I would like mentioned and see how he does with that. The owner had said after he is all tacked up and you are ready to get on him....you tap his left leg and say park out and he stretches out his left leg and lowers his whole body so he is shorter for you to mount he won't get up till you say ok lets go then he back out of it. I think that is really neat. So check that please. If he leg cues and neck reins would be nice to know.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

The seller was going to call in the last couple days to confirm our plans to meet tonight. I haven't heard from her yet.

I'll give her a call around 10 am, if I haven't heard back from her.

Anyone want to chime in on what to look at on this big guy?

Those with geldings - do you check out how sensitive they are in the sheath area when looking to purchase a gelding?

Thank you for your input - great day,
Nancy

 

[patandchickens]

~*Sweet Cheeks*~ :

Anyone want to chime in on what to look at on this big guy?

Quite honestly, I think that as basically a beginner (which in a way is really GOOD, since that is the kind of horse being sought!

) you are better off not trying to get clever or investigative... just make sure you see the basic things done. Since the horse is being trailered over you will not get an opportunity to see him being caught or led in from the field, but you should see the usual stuff:

standing tied while being groomed/tacked
having his feet being picked up for cleaning
having saddle and bridle put on
standing still for mounting
generic 'being ridden' stuff
it's not a bad idea to request the seller to take her coat off (while she's riding him) and hang it on the arena fence, so you can see his
reaction, unless she feels that he might not like it (which is not necessarily a dealbreaker but something useful to know about his brain)
if the facility and weather permit, ask if you can see him ridden down the laneway or into the field or something else like that, going away
from the barn/trailer by himself for as far a distance as circumstances permit
do not get on the horse yourself unless you are 100% comfortable with the idea from what you've seen so far, and if at any time you feel
like maybe it was not such a great idea, get off BEFORE something bad happens, you are not there to earn a bravery badge

There are some other things I'd do trying out a horse, but are going to either be unsafe or uninformative in this situation. You can also ask questions like "what type things is he most apt to shy at?" or "what has his soundness been like, is he ever stiff or off?" but not because you should *believe* any answers you get... and IMO unless you really like chatting up sellers it is probably fine for novices to skip this, as not really losing any useful information.

E.t.a. - one thing that it is wise to be on the lookout for, although you will scarcely ever see it even if you look at hundreds of horses for sale, is for the horse to be perpetually "dangly" in his personal bits. If the penis is half-dropped through most of the time you are looking at the horse and seeing him shown to you, there is a high chance he has been given some form of tranquilizer. This is rare, partly because not THAT many people do it and partly because those who do generally have the correct dose down well enough to get some calming effects *without* making the horse all dangly down there

-- but, it is well to be aware of the possibility, b/c you never know.

Those with geldings - do you check out how sensitive they are in the sheath area when looking to purchase a gelding?

Nah, I wouldn't bother. It is virtually-always SO easily dealt with by having the vet sedate the horse, if necessary, that personally it would not alter one iota my decision whether to buy a particular horse, so I really don't care. If the seller *offers* to show you how he reacts to being felt up, sure, but don't try it yourself and honestly I don't think it's worth asking to see.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I know that I did, but I checked all over the horse. I lifted feet, tugged the tail, looked at the anus...I did EVERYTHING to make sure the horse wasn't going to freak about it.

I probably went overboard on it though...even with mares I would fiddle with those areas, just in case there was ever a need for it I would know how she would react.