Advice About Buying A Horse

[Lady Ravyn]

*sigh* ok, yesterday my aunt, my grandma, my mom, and i went to see about a 3-year-old belgian we were thinking of buying. when we got to the place, it was a total dive. it was a ranch i guess; there was lots of live stock, but the place was run down and not very clean. the guy said he had brought up the belgian from the fields in the back where he turned out his horses most of the time. when i first saw him, i liked what i saw. he had a sweet face, and his eyes were so friendly. even though he had been advertised as a 3-year old, when we looked at his teeth, he looked more like 2, not quite 3! and he was 16 hands (small for a belgian, but he'll grow- i'm guessing he'll be about 16.3-17 hands) he was just standing there, placidly grazing. but when i really looked him over, i saw that he had a nasty-looking wound on his left hind-foot, and his right eye was red and missing its bottom lid. we walked himaround, and he turned out to be so sweet and gentle! he was like a huge teddy bear. in the ad we had seen advertising him, the guy said that the horse was green broke and could drive double. when we asked the guy about that, he said that he had only had the belgian for 3 weeks, and they had been riding him bare-back, so didn't know how often the horse had had a saddle on him. they put one on him, though, and the guy's grandaughter rode him around in the riding ring. he didn't do anything bad and knew how to walk and trot, but doesn't know how to canter (i think). my aunt got on him next; she's and excellent english rider, and rode him in that style even though he was wearing a western saddle. she managed to get him to trot around the ring a couple times straight (he was so slow and quiet he was reluctant to move- but that's fine with me! i'm a beginner and love slow paced horses! ) after her i got on him. i think i may have confused him because he backed into the corner of the ring a couple times, but once i got my message through, he was fine. the only thing i noticed was that we would only go clockwise around the ring- so that his undamaged eye was facing out. when you walked him the other way, he'd stop until you turned him to go clockwise. so we were thinking that maybe he can't see very well out of his damaged eye. after our ride, we hosed him off (something he'd never experienced before, but he still reacted fine.) he hadn't been worked that hard in about a year- and all we'd dome was little more than walk him! while we were brushing him down, we asked about his medical stuff. the guy said that he didn't know when he'd had his last shots, but had given him a couple shots of penicilan when he first got him. he had NO COGGINS TEST DONE! and he had come from virginia originally! but he's so sweet, and he didn't even know his own name! he'd been out in the field with 100 other horses, and he probably didn't have a name until we asked the guy what his name was- the guy probably made it up! that's so sad!

*sigh* i fell for him. i want him SO BAD! i can't leave him there in that cess pit where his wound won't be looked at, his feet won't be looked at (they've got lots of cracks in them) and nobody even knew his name! i can't! i'm so upset and bummed out over this- i've been thinking about him all day. he's waaaaaaaaay over-priced for his schooling level, and to get him vetted- out will cost alot too. my question is: is it worth it? should we spend that much money to vet out something we don't even know if we'll get? what would you do? i'm so bummed out over this i had to ask someone. please tell me what you think- it's knind of important to me

[Lady Ravyn]

i don't usually beg for replies and i hate it when other people do this on other forums, but PLEASE post your opinions! this is REALLY important to me! ok? sorry ta be all whiney... lol

[Laurelyn]

I don't know diddly-squat about buying horses, but I'm going to go harass Elenka for you because she has a horse, and make her tell you her opinion.

[Elvengirl]

Ravyn, I'm not an expert but it sounds like it would be a lot of work, money, and time to bring him up to good health and training. Does he have the potential to be the type of horse you are looking for? and how much are you willing to put into him?
From what you said, it sounds like he's a sweetheart and has a great temperament, which is always good. Aslo it's great to want to save him from that place, but again how much can you put into him?
I'm afraid I'm not too much help, but if you look at every aspect and judge whether buying him would be the greater good for everyone involved. If it would then it is the right decision.

When I bought my first horse, I had to put a lot of time into him to even be able to ride him. He's a sweet boy and has many great qualities, but he's not the best horse for riding. Though I do love him, I almost wish I had gotten a horse that was rideable from the beginning, then I would enjoy him more.

Whatever you decide, definitley let me know, ok?

[Lady Ravyn]

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ WE BOUGHT HIM!!!!!!!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!


well, actually, my aunt bought him, but i'll be helping her train him and stuff like that! i haven't been able to stop thinking about him and isn't it great that it all worked out and he'll be so happy and well cared for with us and i wonder what we'll name him and we'll have to clean out the other stall for him and oh my god I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!
thanx for your advice, elvengirl, it really did help; it grounded my love-at-first-sight feelings and i was able to look at things objectively. as a matter of fact, yesterday i was ready to give up and say oh well, what with him being green driving too, but my aunt and a friend of hers went to look at our boy today and she said that for such a mellow, sweet, and willing-to-learn type horse, the asking price wasn't all that bad. SO NOW WE HAVE HIM!!!!!!!!
boy, i gotta calm down! lol