Trail horse

[KopperBuck]

if you show up to look at a horse and it's sweaty...leave.  Ask for a trial period.  We have done that when selling a horse, or go for a good trail ride with the owner. Go off the farm to a new area to see how it does.

  If they know what they're doing they'll lope them down and give em a chance to cool out, but a trial period is a great route to go. Really get to see the whole personality and all their quirks.

[Echomules]

The preceding comments pretty much sum it up, but would like to add one thing. If you are not experienced, take somebody experienced when you first go check out an animal.

I have a buddy that grew up riding but hadn't been doing much recent (he would not admit that). Went to look at a horse (by himself), no issues apparent, climbed up for a test ride in a round pen, ok for a minute or two before the critter went wacko and he ended up in a helicopter flying to Harborview Hospital. Through my local BCHW chapter we found out that the person selling the horse knew all about this trait. Buyer beware.

You are admitting to asking for help so you are starting off right from the beginning.

[TheHunt]

I know nothing about horses but I do like the idea of bringing someone along that knows his/her stuff. 

[Machias]

I also like to have them leave the horse or mule in the pasture.  I don't want to show up and see a horse or mule all saddled up and ready to go.  I want to see them catch the animal, lead it, tie it up, brush it, saddle it, load it in a trailer, pick up it's feet.  I don't want to see them all tacked up and ready to go.

[Mark Brenckle]

When we were first starting out, we had even less experience than you.  We went to a couple barns, talked to a few trainers and found one that we liked.  We took some lessons from her and she arranged for us to see a couple horses.  We ended up buying two horses from one of her other clients.  They do O.K. on the trails, not great.  If I had to do it over again, I would've gotten them out of the arena and onto the trails before agreeing to anything.  Lessons learned, if you go through a vet or a trainer, make sure you know their relationship and history of the people that are selling the horse. 

  If you can, lease the horse for a month!  This saved us from buying a total train wreck of a horse.  We had to pay to board it, and ended up paying for an emergency vet bill and some staples in its head... I consider that money a great investment.  (Turns out the horse started out as a 'show stallion', so scaring the crap out of it while it was tied up to make the nostrils flare and get a good sheen on its coat meant that it was forever scared of being tied up!  huh! Who would've thought!)

[steen]

I agree life's to short to ride an ugly horse.  I ride Arabians and they do it all.  Start with an older horse to build confidence and go looking with an experienced rider.  Don't buy a horse someone has already caught, chances are it is hard to catch, watch them saddle bridle etc... the horse.  This way you know what to expect.  Then have them ride the "fresh" horse not a lounged horse.  Training doesn't always mean much if you don't have the training to ask the horse the way the trainer does.  Take some lessons.  A horse left in a pasture for years is probably not a horse for you.  Buy from a reliable person, someone you know, they have to live with you coming back.  Go one rides with someone before you buy, you will know better what you can put up with, not what someone else may put up with.  Every horse has his own quirks, some you will hate and some you can live with.
Good luck!  If you lived nearby I'd take you for some rides on an Arab.

We've even done fox hunting!

[Hunting Cowboy]

We grew up on some acreage and mostly raised beef and I got into showing. I sold out when I went to college got married and when the family came along, tried to get the kids interested in cows, pigs, sheep, and horses. Our kids were really into sports, so between their activities, our careers, and family camping and hunting in between, we weren't left with a lot of time for critters. Once the kids moved on, I built a barn and put together a corrals, and a round pen and slowly over the course of a couple of years collected our gear, tack, horse trailer etc. Our horse search took some time. We were looking for good temperment/disposition, good confirmation, good health history, etc. I was concentrating on quarter horse geldings but we ended up with a quarter horse gelding and a mare. Not sorry with how it's turned out.

We have a coming 10 year old quarter horse mare and a coming  6 year old gelding. Depending on what you're
looking for you should be able to find what you want for around $1500 - $1800. We spent a little more because of training and pedigree. But you don't need to have registered horse to have good horses, It's just something we wanted. Remember though....there are 3 ways to get a well trained horse. 1) Buy it trained, 2) Pay someone to train it, or 3) train it yourself.

We have had our horses going on 3 years and we couldn't be happier. We found lots of prospects (hundreds) and we looked at dozens of horses ( maybe 20) before finding what we wanted. I was amazed at what some people will try to do to sell you their horses. Watch out. There are some great folks out there and I feel fortunate to have found our horses from such reputable people. We have actually became pretty good friends and stay in touch and meet in the summer for some rides.

If you can, I would strongly recommend a trial period. At least two weeks and more if you can get it. But with a trial period, if anything happens to the horse, you'd be responsible.

In the meantime, learn all you can about horsemanhip. I thought I knew a lot about horses and riding becaues of my experiences growing up. There is a lot to understand with horsemanship. And to be honest, one of my greatest enjoyments about owning horses is learning how to ride them and train them. And you do have to spend the time. At least that's what I think. It really is a way of life and a life style.

If your horses are put out into a pasture for 6 or 8 months at a time and you think you can catch them and ride them for one day and have them behave, well I think you may be in for a disappointment. Also, most horse will have some issues from time to time and having the knowledge and confidence in knowing how to correct those issues are what is all about. Of course some issues are bigger than others.

Our horses come running when they see us. We handle them everyday. They are easy to catch, easy to saddle (although my gelding developed a bit of an issue saddling last fall. I think I have that corrected now) Our horses load and unload easily, good travelers, good with the farrier and vet. Easy keepers, and healthy. We spend a lot of time with them and we had a pretty good set up with our facilities before we got serious about horse shopping and bringing anything home.

I think we got some amazing horses for what we paid mostly because of the economy, and what the horse market was doing. Ours are registered quarter horses and the only thing I take issue with is the damn rain here on the West side!! My wife and I take weekend trips with our horses and in the summer we go for extended trips like 7 -8 days.

Horse Trailers: We have two horses but we bought a 3 horse slant on the advice of our neighbor who has had horses for years and owns a covered arena. A decision I am glad we made!

It's a journey but well worth the time, effort, and expense.....In my humble opinion of course! Good luck.

[PolarBear]

If you are planning on extended rides, IMO, it is tough to beat a quarterhorse/Tennessee walker cross for endurance and a nice smooth gate.   

[Mulieman]

Lots of good advice here. One thing I have found over time is "seasoned" rope horses make outstanding trail horses. You don't want to look for an active rope horse because of the price that they are worth to ropers. You would want to find one that is on its way out of the roping arena. It will be priced more to your liking.   

[stillhunter]

I agree with Mulieman, I grew up with quarterhorses and always considered them the best but my wifes family had walkers.  When we would go out on the trail, it was a chore for my horse to keep up and the walkers could go all day at that fast walk.  besides they are smooth rides.  We now have three walkers and love them.

[halflife65]

FOOL!  DON'T DO IT!!!!!

I married a woman that had horses all of her life.  Expensive pains in the ass that I feed and she rides.  Hell, I can't even get her to come and get me with after I kill something.  Way cheaper just to get a drop camp every year, if that's a concern.

I have 3 of the damn things now...I have a fancy 1 ton diesel that I rarely drive and a horse trailer that I rarely use and am always fixing fences, doctoring horses, buying hay, building outbuildings to house horses and store hay...paying for shoeing, paying for worming, paying for shots, paying for whatever is wrong with them that involves having them stay in a stall for a few weeks until they are better.  "It's a stone bruise, it got kicked, it's an abscess, it's something that requires some weird hippy to come over and crack their back." 

Oh, and if you're really lucky, your wife will barrel race and you'll get to buy a bunch of cowboy hats and sparkly belts.  We have 5 saddles, none of them cheap POS's either, and only one of them belongs to me.  For some reason she needs 4 saddles...along with an infinity of the following: bridles, bits, splint boots, bell boots, tie downs, cinches, pads, blankets and halters.  Then you'll need to get a lunge whip and rope, unless you decide to build a round pen, which I've also done.

Have a blast - your marriage will either explode or will be the stronger for it.

[KopperBuck]

FOOL!  DON'T DO IT!!!!!

I married a woman that had horses all of her life.  Expensive pains in the ass that I feed and she rides.  Hell, I can't even get her to come and get me with after I kill something.  Way cheaper just to get a drop camp every year, if that's a concern.

I have 3 of the damn things now...I have a fancy 1 ton diesel that I rarely drive and a horse trailer that I rarely use and am always fixing fences, doctoring horses, buying hay, building outbuildings to house horses and store hay...paying for shoeing, paying for worming, paying for shots, paying for whatever is wrong with them that involves having them stay in a stall for a few weeks until they are better.  "It's a stone bruise, it got kicked, it's an abscess, it's something that requires some weird hippy to come over and crack their back." 

Oh, and if you're really lucky, your wife will barrel race and you'll get to buy a bunch of cowboy hats and sparkly belts.  We have 5 saddles, none of them cheap POS's either, and only one of them belongs to me.  For some reason she needs 4 saddles...along with an infinity of the following: bridles, bits, splint boots, bell boots, tie downs, cinches, pads, blankets and halters.  Then you'll need to get a lunge whip and rope, unless you decide to build a round pen, which I've also done.

Have a blast - your marriage will either explode or will be the stronger for it.

 

No truer words spoke my friend.

[6x6in6]

 

[TheHunt]

FOOL!  DON'T DO IT!!!!!

I married a woman that had horses all of her life.  Expensive pains in the ass that I feed and she rides.  Hell, I can't even get her to come and get me with after I kill something.  Way cheaper just to get a drop camp every year, if that's a concern.

I have 3 of the damn things now...I have a fancy 1 ton diesel that I rarely drive and a horse trailer that I rarely use and am always fixing fences, doctoring horses, buying hay, building outbuildings to house horses and store hay...paying for shoeing, paying for worming, paying for shots, paying for whatever is wrong with them that involves having them stay in a stall for a few weeks until they are better.  "It's a stone bruise, it got kicked, it's an abscess, it's something that requires some weird hippy to come over and crack their back." 

Oh, and if you're really lucky, your wife will barrel race and you'll get to buy a bunch of cowboy hats and sparkly belts.  We have 5 saddles, none of them cheap POS's either, and only one of them belongs to me.  For some reason she needs 4 saddles...along with an infinity of the following: bridles, bits, splint boots, bell boots, tie downs, cinches, pads, blankets and halters.  Then you'll need to get a lunge whip and rope, unless you decide to build a round pen, which I've also done.

Have a blast - your marriage will either explode or will be the stronger for it.

Now that is an honest post...   Made me laugh my ass off but very honest.  It is also called a Been There Done That... 

[fillthefreezer]

hahahahahaha