So this past weekend I put my toe in the waters of horse shopping for the first time in 5 years. And boy, did I just in head first- 4 ponies to try on the first day. In respect to the sellers’ interests and privacy, I won’t talk specifics, but I’d like to share what the overall experience is like as I progress through this journey.

First, these were all riding horses. As such, it’s important to me to see them worked by their typical rider before I get on. In a perfect world, with any horse, I want to see them brought in from the field, cross tied, groomed and tacked up in front of me. You never know if a horse is girthy, or hates currying, runs away in the field, or is a beast to pick up his hooves (or all of the above), so I like to see the process from the very start. But in this case, there wasn’t time, and all the horses we looked at were in and cross tied and ready to go.

All the horses were ridden by their person, walk, trot, canter, and over fences, since all of these horses also happened to be started jumping. There was one candidate that I immediately just didn’t feel was for me, but the rest I opted to hop on myself.

The first horse that I got on, I won’t lie to you, I was nervous as hell. I was about to ride a strange horse, in front of strange people (there were about 5-6 people watching besides my friend), for the first time since my last Intercollegiate Dressage test in 2009. I must have been holding my breath or something, because I was out of breath in minutes. I walked, trotted, and cantered around the arena on a sweet little guy that felt really safe, if green, and then opted to take some baby cross rails. First test ride – officially in the books.

Feb 2012

The next two horses went much the same, but for whatever reason I wasn’t out of breath. All three horses were completely different types of rides from each other, one forward, one tense, one well schooled powerhouse. Each one I felt a little more confident riding, that I could attempt to push a little bit more, ask a little bit more and explore what each horse had to offer. Now this may not be unique in itself, since each horse also was more and more schooled, but it was definitely a helpful experience.

On the drive home we spent the hours discussing the pros and cons of each horse, and talking about the process of trying horses. Even though my checkbook stayed intact, it was an important day, and showed me that I could get out and try horses and be semi-competent, if not entirely confident. Later today I go take a look at a different kind of horse, which I’ll share tomorrow!

You may have noticed yesterday that in terms of budget, I classify myself as “champagne on a beer budget”. I won’t go into financial details, but Foster’s inconveniently going to pieces 3 days after I purchased a car (a non-towing car, I might add, with the hopes of buying a truck in a few months) left my bank account in a place where, let’s just say, buying a fancypants new prospect wasn’t going to be happening any time soon. So I’ve been scrimping and saving, and I’ve finally got enough pennies to go shopping. But still, the horses that fit my criteria seem to fit into two categories- that is, spring chicken or Made but needs maintenance.

Let’s go over my (eventual) goals, first and foremost:

• Be competitive at 3rd level
• Ride at training level eventing with no jumping faults (time faults will be forgiven)

Given the need for a horse that can sit, with good movement, and can be forgiven for not being the best galloper, that tends to point to warmbloods or warmblood crosses. So let’s look at my options a little more closely.

The Spring Chicken
These typically end of being 3 yr olds at or near the top of my budget, but within budget nonetheless. They may or may not be started at this age. The horses I’m interested in have great conformation and most of them have moves like Jagger.

One of my babies as a yearling

Ideally they have good brains, and a good look at how they handle life (as in new experiences, as well as routine life around the barn) can be an indication as to how easy they will be to train. A peek into bloodlines can indicate some idea as to their potential ability, but the key word here is potential. They have not been tested, have not had to answer many of the questions I would ask, but have the flip-side advantage of not having wear and tear on precious legs. There is a risk in not knowing how they will react, but there is also the bonus of being able to make the horse you want from the ground up.

Made with Maintenance
These guys tend to be a little easier to find, but also tend to be a bit more than I’m financially comfortable with. They’re also at or slightly above my age range, being 8-12 years old, even up to 15. They have show miles, good records, great attitudes, and are proven athletes. But they come with caveat, and that is either a questionable soundness history, or a questionable soundness future.

Riding a horse of this type in Intercollegiate dressage, where many Made but Maintenance horses find themselves

The pro to these guys is as my friend puts it, they are “sitting on go”. I can immediately get in the saddle, start showing and competing, and maybe knock my goals out of the park in the next 18 months. The risk with them is of course with what happens afterwards. What is the Plan B if and when those maintenance issues flare up and interfere with the work asked of them? Of course there is no guarantee with any horse’s (or rider, for that matter) soundness, but the knowledge of previous issues is both a blessing and a curse.

The Question
I have my own (many) opinions on what I want, and obviously there are outliers that fit neither of these types, but I ask you- What would you choose?