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Knowing The Facts

The Adventure of My First Horse: Knowing The Facts

When I was thirteen my parents finally agreed to buy me my first horse. I had been leasing a horse for the last year so I had learnt the skills I needed to take care of my own. I knew it would be foolish to buy a horse without having those skills. Owning a horse is a big responsibility and it requires a commitment of both time and money. My first step would be a budget. I needed to take into account not only the price of the horse but also the price of tack and monthly fees. From leasing a horse for the last year I knew that the maintenance of a horse isn’t cheap. Every six weeks they need their feet trimmed and shoes put back on as their hoofs grow like finger nails. I knew I needed a low maintenance horse. My parents agreed to pay $4500 for a horse and tack, which wasn’t much to work with.
Now that I had my budget I now needed to figure out exactly what kind of horse I was looking for and what breed would best suit me. My coach and I decided that an older horse would be better for me as it would already be trained and easy to learn on but not too old that I wouldn’t be able to move up and do higher level competitions. I wanted a horse that was sensible and reliable which means I was looking for a horse that has been ridden and jumped regularly by a good rider for several years.
With my budget and my horse criteria set I was ready to start looking. My coach went to other coaches to let them know what I was looking for and to see if they had any available while I went to the horse classifieds and read bulletin boards at tack shops. We phoned a few prospects and did small interviews over the phone to determine if the horses were suitable and then arranged to go see them.
For every horse we went to see my coach and I took our time looking over it for conformation flaws or blemishes. We observed it while being groomed and tacked up to see its attitude. Then we watch the owners ride to determine if it was...