From: Suzanne
Dear Jessica, Thanks so much for providing such a great service. I am a beginner rider, adult 48 years old. I am taking riding classes and want to purchase my first horse. My level of riding is somewhere between getting on and falling off!
I have read your articles and see that I need to be sure to get an older seasoned horse. I have been looking in the paper for the last 6 months. Most of the ads say experienced rider or the horses are very young. As you are well aware they all look great on paper but the few tht I have gone to look at were not for me. I think one may of had drugs on board because he was falling asleep and yawning alot. The farm that I take riding from does not have any horses for sale. What do you recommend for a first time horse buyer and a novice rider when it comes to places to look for horses for sale? A horse friend of mine bought a horse through a horse dealer but he stated he will not take the horse back if it is not for her but will find her another horse. This sort of scares me. I have several good books that I am reading on first time horse buyer and owner so I know the questions to ask and some things to look for but just not where to look! My horse friends say that I will know when I find the right horse, but I am not sure if I will as I feel very inept! I live in Memphis, Tn. (not a huge horse community). Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your wonderful service. Suzanne
I don't want to discourage you from riding and eventually owning a horse of your own, I would like to ENCOURAGE you! But timing is everything - and when you do get a horse of your own, I would like you to be READY to own a horse. I would like you to get the right horse, and take care of it well, and ENJOY it in health and safety and without finding yourself on an emotional and financial roller-coaster - and all that is much more likely if you can wait a bit longer.
My recommendation for a first-time horse-buyer and novice rider is that she continue to take lessons - and take MORE lessons - until she is no longer a novice rider.
As a beginner rider, you're in a good position to look for the best instructors and spend your money in a way that will help you and help the horse you eventually own. I'm talking about taking lessons! Before you buy a horse of your own, you really should be well beyond the beginner stage, preferably somewhere solidly in the advanced-intermediate stage, with several years of riding lessons and well-developed horse-handling and horse-management skills.
A horse represents a considerable investment, even if you are given the horse "free, gratis, and for nothing". It's not the initial cost, but the upkeep that causes the financial stress. The time for you to OWN a horse is later - right now, you should be investing in YOURSELF instead. Figure out what it would cost you to buy a horse and maintain it for the next year - add the cost of a year's board, feed, farrier, vet, dentist, tack, equipment, and supplies, then take that sum of money and DON'T spend it on a horse. Instead, put it where it will do the most good: into your education. This will serve you much better, for several reasons.
First, you're just not ready to own a horse right now - it wouldn't be fair to the horse. Horses need and deserve owners whose knowledge base and skills are already in place. By investing another year or two - and some money - in yourself, you'll be able to do right by your horse when you finally buy him. Buying a horse right now also wouldn't be fair to you, because it would, at best, limit your improvement as a rider at a time when you need to be learning as much as you can as quickly as you can. At worst, it could lead to you being injured or frightened, and giving up the sport you're just beginning to learn. That's quite often the result of a novice rider buying a horse too soon - I'd like you to avoid that outcome!
Second, you're just at the beginning of learning basic riding skills, and this is the time for you to focus on getting all the experience and information you possibly can. If you take lessons twice a week, and one day you show up for your lesson and find that the horse you usually ride is lame or sick, what happens? You're put on another horse, you have your lesson, and you learn something. If ALL the horses in the barn are sick or lame, you can have a lesson on conformation, condition, feeding and nutrition, tack-fitting, stable management, or any number of other subjects. If that horse is still lame at the next lesson or for the next month, you'll go on having your lessons on other horses, and you'll go on learning even if you can't ride at all. But if you're at home with your own horse, and he becomes lame or ill, you have no horse to ride, you don't have a lesson of any kind, you have vet bills to deal with, and - this goes back to my first reason - your horse will be less likely to recover well, and will be more likely to go lame or become ill in the first place, if you really aren't quite sure what you're doing. And, since you're a nice person, THAT will make you feel terrible.
Third, since you're just beginning to learn to ride, you haven't yet had many hours in the saddle or even sat on the backs of very many horses. Don't buy a horse until you KNOW how to ride and you've had quite a lot more experience, because until then, you're likely to buy the wrong horse. The horse that appeals to you most right now may not appeal to you at all in six months or a year or two years, because when you've learned to ride, your abilities will be greater, you'll have more options, your interests will be more clearly defined, and you'll have a much better chance of finding a horse that you can continue to enjoy for many years.
It's natural for your wants and wishes and ambitions to change as you become a more proficient rider, and that's another reason that it's not a good idea to buy a horse immediately, when you're just starting to learn the basic skills of riding. Again, this is something that nice people rarely consider until it's too late, and they have a horse for life: IF you're lucky enough (and you probably won't be!) to find a horse that's just perfect for you right now, in another year or two when you feel that you've "outgrown" him, what will you do? You won't want to sell him unless you know he's going to a good home, and good homes get harder to find as horses get older and less sound. You may also love him and want to keep him as a companion for your new horse, and if you have a farm of your own, this can work, but if you have to pay board, maintaining two horses can be difficult or impossible.
You can get around this problem AND keep learning. I strongly suggest that you continue with your lessons and your reading, learn as much as you possibly can, take additional lessons if possible. Talk to your instructor about finding a suitable horse that you can LEASE - ideally a half-lease at first, then a full lease if the half-lease works out well. For some people, a half-lease is as much as their time, money, and energy level will allow, and it's a good way to begin testing yourself as a potential horse-owner. If you full-lease a horse for six months or a year, make good progress in your riding, and find that you DO have enough time and money to take full responsibility for a horse, THEN it will be time to start looking for a horse of your own. At that point, you'll be much better-equipped to enjoy your new horse and take care of it well.
Somewhere during that year of leasing, you may discover that having total responsibility for a horse puts too many demands on your time and income. Horses can cause problems in your social life, too, unless you are lucky enough to have friends, family, and a husband or boyfriend who understand why you're so rarely available for social events... and why you never seem to have any money... and why you insist on talking about "gross" things like manure management and fecal parasite counts, even at the supper table. ;-)
Your instructor should be involved in your projects and plans. If you love riding and want to be a good rider, you'll be taking lessons for the rest of your life, just like the rest of us - there is NO point at which any one of us knows it all and can do it all perfectly, all the time. ;-) You may not always work with the same instructor, but if you have one you trust to take you from absolute beginner to intermediate, you should trust her enough to ask for her help in this matter. A good instructor not only has a network of horse industry contacts who can help her help YOU find a horse, but she knows YOU. She knows what you are like physically and mentally and emotionally, and she knows what sort of horse you need to ride now, and she'll be able to help you find the right sort of horse to lease, and eventually the rigthg sort of horse to buy.
Keep reading books, and look at horses everywhere, and keep talking to people. Get all the information you can, but don't be in a hurry to buy. You can collect a lot of information about conformation, manners, gaits, soundness, etc., but as you've already found, it can be difficult to know just how to apply what you've learned to the horses you find for sale. And there are a few other things you should keep in mind. Even the very best, clearest, and most authoritative books and advice on how to buy a horse and what horse you should buy are never going to be as useful as books and advice on how to buy a car or a stereo system. This isn't just because horses can be drugged (although you are right, that's always a possibility) or because the local horse dealer offers only "return for replacement" instead of "money-back guarantee". You must remember that horses are individuals, horses CHANGE according to how they are managed and ridden and understood... and although you can send a damaged horse somewhere for repair, it's expensive and tricky, and there are no replacement parts available.
Take your time and do this right - you're enjoying yourself so far, and I'd hate to see that change because you got ahead of yourself. Have fun learning to ride and learning about horses, and when you ARE ready to buy one, your instincts will be with you, and instead of "Don't do this", they'll say "Go ahead!".
Good luck - and remember, YOU HAVE TIME.
Jessica
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