Buying a Horse

Lesson 2: Buying Your Horse

The Initial Evaluation

Your initial evaluation should start as soon as you set eyes on the horse you're interested in. The first thing I always do is to see where the horse is being held and whether they already have him caught, tied or saddled. If any of the latter applies, alarm bells start to sound. Now there are some sellers that are trying to save time, but remember we all need to be skeptics and to be skeptic, we need to question everything.

If the horse is already haltered, we won't know how easy he is to catch nor can we do that initial body language assessment when we approach him. If a horse is already saddled, we won't know how he responds to being saddled, or whether he is girth shy, or refuses to stand still for his grooming and saddling. Essentially what we want to see is the horse loose, preferably with other horses out in a pasture. If the horse isn't like this when you arrive, then ask the owner to turn him loose. Any reputable seller will understand the need for you to view it "all."

Once the horse is loose begin observing. Approach him and see how he reacts. If you feel comfortable, ask if you can halter him and lead him out away from the other horses. See how he responds to being away from his herd buddies. Is he happy to be led away or is he anxious, implying he may be barn sour? This exercise will also allow you to see how well he leads and whether he leads nicely without pushing, pulling or running you over.

Once he's away from the pasture, ask if you can tie him and see if he stands still and is calm and relaxed. If he starts to pull back when being tied then that can become a dangerous issue, especially if you plan to trailer him away from home to ride. Once tied start checking him out. Pet him all over and see how he responds. Does he shy away when you touch certain areas? Is he nervous when you're around him? Watch his ears primarily to determine this. Also, you'll want to pick up his feet and tap the bottom of them with the palm of your hand. See how he responds to them being picked up and whether he minds you tapping on the bottom of them. It's essential that a horse allows this as he'll need his hooves picked out regularly and will require trimming and possibly shoeing.

If you're not at all comfortable doing this, then ask the owner to do it, or take along a friend that has horse knowledge and won't mind doing it for you.

Before asking him to be saddled, ask to see him loaded into a trailer. Watch how he loads. Is he calm and relaxed, anxious, hesitant or fearful? Also see how he unloads, does he wait to be led out or does he panic and try to rush out? A scared horse can be dangerous, especially within the small confines of a trailer.

If all looks well at this point, have him saddled and bridled. Again watch his body language as this is happening. Is he comfortable with the saddle, even when being cinched? Does he take the bit well enough, or is it having to be forced into his mouth? What bit is being used on him? That's always a good thing to check because if a horse is being ridden in a harsh bit, then there is usually a reason. If the seller saddles the horse watch how they do it. Are they hesitant as if worried that the horse might react negatively or are they calm and confident? Once the horse is saddled approach him and start making some noise on the saddle. Slap the seat with your hand, flap the stirrups up and down so that fenders smack and see how he responds to that noise. If he becomes anxious then he might not be as used to that saddle as first thought. You can also jump up and down beside him as if to mount and watch his reaction there too. He might wave his ears back and forth but he shouldn't move nor pull back or away from you.

Essentially, remember this. If you have any negative responses from the horse then think carefully about purchasing him. Horses are very good at making mountains out of molehills and what might seem like a "small" habit at the time, could well develop into a great habit, unless you know enough about training to overcome this habit yourself.

So far so good? Okay then, let's try him out.

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