[SnicklefritzG]

This is a companion thread to the one I posted recently entitled "How long did it take to find your horse?".


I'm also curious how much time people spent with the horse before making the purchase. In the past I've bought after spending several days with the horse, but that was a case where the horse was out of state. Wondering what the norm is though...


and for trainers: Do you care whether the prospective buyer is the one who makes the initial inquiry or do you prefer that the trainer does this?

[Void]

I highly doubt my case is the norm at all but my trainer had my horse as a sale horse while I was in college, and I would come home on breaks and ride him in lessons, he was a very opinionated fresh off the track horse but I like his chutzpah and for some reason I got the best performance out of him compared to the WS, Assistant Trainer and Juniors at the barn. People who came to try him didn't admire his brass and I ended up buying him (for bargain basement pricing) after spending two years riding him anyways.

I've owned him now for several years and he's still a buttmunch <3

[HappyTalk]

The last three that I have bought, I spent very little time with. For one of my favorites, I drove 5 hours with my then instructor, rode the horse for 20 minutes and then made an offer which was accepted. Horse was vetted at a large clinic and then was shipped to me. I still have this horse 16 years later and he was one of the best ones I will ever own. The next horse was a TB at the track. I spent about 30 minutes with him; walked and jogged him up and down the shed row and just interacted with him in the stall. He was vetted the next day by a DVM friend of mine and then I went and picked him up the day after the vetting. I don't own this horse anymore, but a fellow COTHer does and is very happy and successful with him. My newest purchase was a weanling that I picked out at the breeders. Made an offer the day after I saw him and had him shipped up to me.

The longest was one week. I leased the horse for a week because I didn't want any else to ride him while waiting for the vet check.

[SlamDunk]

Well the last two I've bought have been unusual cases

One I had a free lease on because the owner couldn't afford to keep him in training with my trainer, I showed him from July to September and then bought him in October.

The other one I bought after I'd been riding him for a couple of months while I was in Ireland, so in both cases I knew the horses quite well before I bought.

Usually you get to try the horse about two or three times and then you have to make a decision. I probably wouldn't let someone try a horse more then three or four times at the absolute max with out some serious discussion on purchase etc in most circumstances.

[hj0519]

This time around: week trial then month lease then buy. I'm a little picky and want to be sure it's the right one. Other times it's just been a week trial.

[Big_Grey_hunter]

I tried my horse once on a Sunday, vet check was Wednesday, and he came home on Friday!

[Sonoma City]

My last horse was a quick sale. I had tried about 40 horses in close proximity (~150 mile radius) and was finally fed up. I had a good feeling about one that was about an 8 hour drive, so took a day off of worked and drove down. Rode him for 30 mins, groomed him, etc. Thought about it on my long drive back home and decided to go for it, so called a vet to arrange a vet check, and he was shipped to my barn the next week!

[SnicklefritzG]

Interesting range of responses. I'm imagining that one ride will tell me most of what I need to know about the horse, but like hj0519, next time I buy (next summer/fall), I'd probably want to do a 1-2 week trial/lease to be sure I was making the right decision.

[Outyougo]

One white foot buy him
Two white try him
three white feet look well about him
Four white feet and one white nose cut off his head and feed him to the crows

but tho horse with no feet is fit for a king!

in 10 minutes large big boned plain brown came home

that was 4 years ago and LOVE my moose

[mypaintwattie]

I watched my horse be groomed, tacked up and ridden for 10 minutes by her former owner, got on and rode for 10 minutes myself, got off, untacked her, took a good look at her and got out the checkbook!

Couldn't have been a better match!

[joiedevie99]

Tried horse on Sunday afternoon, offer accepted by dinner same day. From that point, vetting and waiting for drug screen and bloodwork, to getting on the trailer was about a week. Don't regret a thing.

[JumpinBean17]

Horse 1: Free leased for about 5 years (horse was pretty much mine that whole time) sealed the deal, had her for 12 years now my wonderful old lady

Horse 2: Worked with her off the track, ended up buying horse 1 instead of Simone...fast forward 5 years, Simone ends up being donated to my college and of course I had to take her home with me (great graduation present!)

Horse 3: Went out and tried my new big boy twice, made offer/set up vetting, had him just over a month now and couldnt be happier!

[Carolinadreamin']

Saw him on dreamhorse, called and made appointment and then drove to neighboring state and knew he was the "one" after 10 minutes. Called and made the offer on the drive home. After extensive PPE, he was delivered a week later. Our first two horses we bought after each was on trial at our barn for a week. This third horse, our true dream horse - 10 minutes and we knew.

[netg]

First time I saw my horse I thought he was the most beautiful horse I'd ever seen. (He's a dark bay with no white - palomino is my favorite color, and I love chrome. There was just *something* about him.) Knew nothing about him at the time, thought he was completely wrong for me, he was completely out of my price range. 6 months later I had gotten back in riding shape and was starting to actually look to buy. His owner just had a feeling we'd fit well from watching me ride, and despite never having sold a horse before lowered his price to my range for me.

Knew on the first ride I wanted him. Took a couple lessons on him (my trainer had ridden him the previous year, former owner rides w/ my trainer), and previous owner insisted I lease him for a month. I had specific training goals I wanted to see progress on which he far exceeded, and the vet had trouble believing he had raced by the range of motion he had in his joints. Vet check was a week and a half in, and knew for sure I was getting him at that point, but it wasn't official until the end of the month despite everyone knowing he was my horse by then.

My previous horse, we agreed to a price the day we first saw him pending a vet check.

[KateKat]

Week long trial but I definitely knew I wanted her after the first ride. The week trial only sealed the deal!

[jetsmom]

About 15 min on first visit, 1/2 at vet check. Jet was an unbroke 2 yr old, so no riding.

[Atypical]

Depends, first horse I went to look at I saw standing in the crossties of a busy sale barn. Didn't know this was one of the horses I was going to be looking at, but thought he was lovely. Turns out, tried him, loved him, vetted him took him home. Still have the horse nearly 16 years later. He's my forever horse.

2nd one: 14hh pony that i started. Owner couldn't pay me, wound up giving her to me about 3 months in.

3rd one: Got a call from a former employer about a horse that would not sell, supposed to be crazy etc etc, and was getting put down if he didn't find somewhere to go. Went, tried the horse, thought the people were more nuts than he was, took him home.

4rth one: 8 yr old paint mare, green broke, that hadn't been ridden in a year. Went out, lunged in tack for ten minutes. Rode W/T around the arena with a swather running next to us. Pulled out check book and purchased, no PPE.

5th and current guy: Bought on word of mouth and a picture as an early 3yr old. PPE and had him shipped. This one i think may be special

[arena run]

Horses generally have "fallen into my lap", so have very rarely gone shopping for one.... but I do want to share Chappy's story.

The first time I saw him (he was not for sale and I was not looking) he was frothing at the mouth, wild-eyed, jigging, had a tie-down and a curb bit (we ride western down here), and his rider was asking me how in the world do you teach a horse to let you catch him in the pasture.

LOL

But -- there was something about him. I must say, if I HAD been looking and was faced w/the very same first impression, I would have loaded him up that day. He was begging for someone to help him.

As it was, I ended up w/this little man just a few short weeks later when I traded them for a horse I had. It's going on 4 years later and that wild-eyed little nutzoid is just about my "heart horse". He has put his complete trust in me. He still sees horse boogers, but he listens to me and allows me to make the life-or-death decisions. <lol>

.... He has come a long, long way, to the point that yesterday I walked up to him in the pature, led him over to a slight rise by his forelock, and hopped on bareback, no bridle, no halter, no hay string, no nothing. Oh, and then proceeded to attempt picking up a bucket from the ground and ended up past the "point of no return" and sliding off underneath his neck. He looked at me and said, "You know... *sigh* ...whatever."

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mr. Chappy and it took me all of 0.063 seconds to know he was one I would want in my pasture.

[hunter-jumper-rider]

Well, I am brave and I bought my mare from back East completely sight unseen.......soooooooo I got to know her from a five minute video first

[rockfordbuckeye]

One ride at horses home barn, then week long trial at my barn. The trial was really just a formality - I knew I wanted her at first ride.