Possible new project horse..

someday · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:10 am Post subject: Possible new project horse..

Well, I'm looking at buying this horse...Please tell me if i'm being stupid...i'm often blinded when I see a horse I think I want. Ok. this guy is a 13 year old 17 hh TB. He was raced from 1994-1997. Did pretty well, looks like he just graded out as he got older. Got donated to Texas Tech off the track, girl working there bought him(I have spoken with her) because she fell in love with him and didn't want to see him go to the sale and had him for 6 years, just pretty much rode him around pleasure for 6 years. Had health problems and couldn't keep up with him and 6 other horses..so she sold him in September to the current owners. They bought him for their daughter's fiance, but they broke up and are having some financial trouble and want to sell the horse. Supposedly he's sound, had x-rays when the first girl owned him and was clean. He's a very laid back and a sweet horse. I want to turn him into a Dressage horse. The horse is in Texas, i'm in Missouri. I was going to go look at him Easter weekend, but they're sending him to the sale on the 25th if they haven't sold him by then. So, my mom's going down there to see him this weekend for me and video him for me. Is it stupid to try to buy this horse without seeing him myself and not riding him myself. Oh yes, I looked up his pedigree online and his dam is a full sister to my horse's sire...so I really like the bloodlines. I have pictures, but they are from, the first girl who owned him and are about a year old. The new owners say they've put about 200 lbs on him. He's only $500.
Here he is:

OTTB lvr · Member Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 54

We buy horses all the time that we don't get to see, or ride first. If you're thinking about doing that, see if you can get a video of him. Also, getting him vetted yourself is the best way to guarentee that the owners aren't hiding anything.

Sara · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:01 pm Post subject:

I've seen and heard of MANY people who get horses they don't see or ride themselves in person. With a video etc... you can pretty much get the idea you want to see... Since your mom is going down have them video the owner riding her AND your mom riding the horse... I would tell them that if they'll have a second vet unknown to them... I'd pay for that too... He's not terribly expensive so you could at least break even with him if he's not EXACTLY what you're looking for... BUT he sounds good to me and I'd really consider it if I were you!

someday · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:04 pm Post subject:

well..that's the plan so far...mom's going down on saturday to video him and ride him. Then as soon as she gets home my little brother is going to put the video online for me. How would I go about finding a vet down there? I'm not familiar with the area, and it would cost more than the horse itself to send ours down there..lol.

Sara · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:56 pm Post subject:

You could contact their vet and then see if he can give you the names of the other vets in town to contact to get a less biased opinion on the horse... Talking to their vet might be all you need to do if he's really sound. The Vet has nothing to gain in the transaction in this case so he might just be enough...

Do we get to see this video?

I couldn't see the pics you posted either... Hmmm...

someday · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:04 pm Post subject:

Well..of course i'll post the video. I have a feeling it may be sad though. These are very western country people and have no idea what they have in a 17hh TB other than a very large horse that eats a lot. so, all the muscles I want developed are not there and they enjoy his slow lazy trot. So, this video is purely to see if he's sound and if my mom can get him to even think about lengthening out his stride. He'll hopefully be a diamond in the rough. Hmm..I have the photos on yahoo and it's funny sometimes...here's the link to the album
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/somedaypj/album?.dir=82f5&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

Sara · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 7:13 pm Post subject:

oh my... The pics are of him underveloped and so I can picture his frame only...overdone...with the western folks... Poor fella in the wrong tack and all that jazz! Looks good though... WITHERS wow... I see Hunter Hack too... Hard to see what he could be considering he's so out of shape in the pics...LOL... He looks like he could very well be a diamond in the rough... Needs some work though...definately!!!

Rode my boy yesterday finally... did good and he's got a lot of suspension and he certainly doesn't have much of a jog in him...he's lazy and can do a fast walk but to get him to Jog will/if I choose to ride western on him...be a challenge... Need to get pics up... After I get used to riding English again it's ENGLISH all the way for my boy! He's got the stride of a 16 hand horse IMO...

Can't wait to see what you decide etc...

someday · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 7:20 pm Post subject:

LOL...the first thing I thought when I saw those pictures were..oh my god, look at those withers!! Gonna be fun fitting a saddle to this horse...luckily my horse has fairly high withers and I have a saddle with an adjustable tree...so..we could make it work... Mr. Green

Sara · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:22 pm Post subject:

Can't miss those withers for sure!

horse_child · Member Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 433

very pretty boy, but holy cow does he ahve some withers! Also he seems a tad skinny too, i think another 100 pounds would do him good. looks good though!

someday · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:39 am Post subject:

Well..I found out some bad news. He's a cribber. He also bucks every time they get on him. Funny how this didn't seem to come up in the conversation last night. I really would still be interested in him, but since I plan to resell him in at the end of the summer, I really think it will be harder to sell a cribber. So, I dunno..I'm still having my mom go out and tape him, but not ride him because she's not the best rider and I don't want her to get hurt. so..we'll just have to see.

horse_child · Member Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 433

hmmm, that's a shame that he bucks so much. I must say, though, that my hrose bucks alot and he never has REALLY tried to throw me, he just gives it a couple tries and when he gets his butt kicked he decides to give up. You could try a cribbing collar too. I think that if you aren't in love with him and if you want to make some money off him at the end of the summer, maybe he isn't the best choice.

seaecho · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:04 pm Post subject:

I agree he may not be the best choice. The cribbing explains why he's so cheap. From what I've seen, its almost impossible to sell a cribber. And trying to keep weight on them is a real challenge - that's probably why he needs more weight. As to him bucking when they get on him - depends on how bad the bucking is. But it seems that most horses who start the habit of bucking are very hard to break. Most people aren't crazy about that either. I'd pass on this one, but that's JMO

Sara · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:20 pm Post subject:

Since you can't see him...if your mom isn't sure and your video doesn't help much...I'd probably pass too... Given that he's got some problems etc...

HOWEVER... I had a friend here in town that just got a TB gelding... 10 years old...sight unsean... I don't even know that she saw a video of the horse. He's a 16 hand fellow, grey and he apparently drug his owner everywhere on the ground and had TERRIBLE ground manners... Knew his size and used it to intimidate... His owner is a smaller 14 year old...so...we see where there might be issue... Anyway the horse was good supposedly under saddle but TERRIBLE on the ground... Regardless she bought the horse... It could go either way but given that he's already got some pretty serious vices (cribbing and bucking) I'd pass on him...there's better out there for that much... I think he's less diamond and more rough... Keep us updated of course!

someday · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 5:03 pm Post subject:

I did end up passing on this horse. I almost bought him though. I got a very nice e-mail from his former owner, who had nothing to gain from the sale and determined the bucking was simply due to poor handling from the current owners, which made me call my mom and ask her to go ahead and go get him because I just felt sorry for the poor thing, but the people called he rwhile I was on the phone saying they had sold him. So, oh well. It's better for me that way I suppose, because I just can't have a cribber, well, I wouldn't mind because I could keep a collar on, but he's be ver hard to sell. I do however, have another prospect, but I'll start a new thread.