Where & how did you find your horse?

[NewHorseMom]

I am wondering how you all found your horses? Do most people look online, or in magazines or look at posters put up in local barns?

My instructor found my horse for me. He was at one of the other barns she teaches at and when I told her I thought it might be time to get my own horse, she showed me him and then that was it! There was no hunting around or trying several horses. So how did you find your horse(s)?

[horse99]

My current horse I found on the internet (back in 2002). He was a young foal located all the way accross the continent and after searching for about a year and getting VHS's of one ordinary foal after another, I ordered a tape from a warmblood breeder in New England. There were lots of fantastic foals on there. They were double my price range but I then realized if I wanted what I really wanted I would have to pay for it. One foal jumped out at me on that tape and a few days later I was on a plane to see him in the flesh. After he was weaned, they shipped him out and he is now 8 and we are loving life together.

My very first horse was an off the track TB mare that my riding instrutor at the time had aquired. She was so beautiful, but only 3, and quite reactive and marish. After having her a while my instructor would let some more the the advanced students ride her, and then I got to ride her. I ended up leasing her for several months and then she went up for sale, so naturally I did what any other 13 year old girl would do. I begged my parents to buy me the horse and they did!

My second horse was another one that I found word of mouth when I was switching trainers. I wanted to do Young Riders in dressage, so was pointed to a trainer known for developing young riders. I told her I was looking for a horse and she had a YR school master for sale. I tried the horse and it was love at first sight.

So basically, before the internet was around, I found my horses through word of mouth. Now that the internet is here, I do all my horse hunting online. Now and then I will browse a magazine, but not too often.

[striderrider]

Internet, internet and internet!

I have found all 5 of my horses online. I am an online horse shopping junkie, I am always looking at ads on horse classifieds. Whether I am looking for a cheap project, or my next show horse, I find everthing online on either a horse classifeds or somebody's website. Sometimes I will look in print magazines, (I used to a lot when I was younger,) but even there, if I see a horse I like, usually I will go to the person's website and check it out there.

I LOVE the internet lol!

[alove4horses]

I found my horse online also. I shopped around on the internet for months. I must have looked through a hundred horse classifieds and other peoples websites in my area. One day I found my horse on one of the classifieds so I emailed the ad to my instructor who said he sounded really good so she went with me to ride him. I love shopping for horses online, I still look around and browse the classifieds even though I am not "looking" for a horse. It's just fun!!

[saber]

My daughter kept saying "Daddy I want a horse" (neighbor girl had one at the time) So Daddy goes to a sale to buy a tractor and ends up buying the horse. NO one in our family knew anything about taking care of a horse didn't even have a fence up or shelter. The only thing we had was about 2-21/2 acres for him to be on. We boarded him for about 2 wks. and put up a fence and a lean to. Well time goes buy and daughter decides that she doesn't like taking care of the horse and really didn't want it. He was a green horse and we all were green too. Hubby siad he just had to buy him because of the way he looked at him when he was lead out. He was brought out under saddle. Some people at the barn who we knew said that some people had been riding him. Neeedless to say he became my horse and is still here many years later and I'm glad he came along. It's given me a hobby and opened many doors and made me lots of new friends too.

[horse99]

That's a great story Saber. Not many would have kept the horse after daughter loses interest. They really do give us a lot out of life- if we look for it. I find even doing simple barn chores make me feel good and when I ride I get a sense of accomplishment and peace.