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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 725
  
| We have had the absolute worst luck looking for a kids horse. Where have you had the best luck finding a nice babysitter horse that you can put anyone on? . We have traveled all over the state and out of state, even went to a performance horse sale, bought two, and they turned out bad. I've been looking through horse ads for the past two years and we still haven't had ANY luck! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| Word of mouth has been the best resource for me.
We had been looking for two years, but I had very specific criteria, broke, babysitter, gentle on the ground, enough go that the horse/pony could be easily coaxed into trot or loping but wasn't going to run away and on the younger side of 15.
I had posted in every horse sale facebook page in my own as well neighboring states, combed through craigslist every day, traveled thousands of miles just to be disappointed. I posted on my own wall almost everyday, but it wasn't until we actually started talking to people face to face that we found the very best babysitter ever.
It's going to take time and money, expect to pay a pretty penny. We lucked out and got ours as a lien sale, but I had a $4,000 budget and still couldn't find the package I was looking for. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Ive found older ropers to be the best kids horses. They usually have harder more forgiving mouths, and usually are push button. If the kid wants to walk all day they will or run everywhere they go they will for a while.
Luckily we are blessed to have family friends who rope and who offer us their older ones. The tyoe that usually come to us at 17-18 and have a name like red, mare, grey, or black. LOL Those are the best.
I wish you luck. There are facebook groups out there specifically geared toward kids horses. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 333
| friends work best...something they maybe have out-grown physically or speed wise. |
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
Location: Texas | Word of mouth for us mainly. My first horse was one of those ponies that you see at the fair on the walker. She was an awesome little horse, I had rode her quite a bit because my mom was friends with the guy that owned the little pony ride thing. When he sold out he told my mom and she went and picked one up for me. Loved that horse never had a problem.
My next horse my grandpa had a roper renting his arena. He noticed their kids riding one of their horses, so when my mare had to be put down he talked to the man an offered him the magic number apparently. The man told his kids to get off their horse he just sold it. They were apparently ready to step up anyway, but he was just dragging his feet. They never really liked me after that lol. |
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 Professional Amateur
Posts: 6750
Location: Oklahoma | I have nice ones and the Child Gone Wild and I are both running them. I don't budge on my pricing because the horses are what I say they are. That has been the hold up on me selling a couple of mine, people just don't have the money, but my child's safety is priceless, and I will never be able to replace them once they're sold.
I had a family over yesterday that have a child that previously had a stroke (younger than the Child Gone Wild), and she wants to ride as part of her therapy. I didn't hesitate to offer up one of my mares to help the little girl. We are blessed to be able to use our horses and help others. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 456
Location: SW MO | Are you located in Iowa? |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Most good ones stay within the family and get passed down.
It also depends on what you are willing to spend. This is where a lot of parents go wrong. A safe kid proof, well broke, sound horse are priceless and if they are for sale they can be anywhere between 6-10k |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1074
| I agree about spending money on them. The cheapest kid horse we've bought for our kids has been $8500. They are worth every penny!!! I can chunk my kids up there any weather, any circumstance and any place. I don't worry about them. I know they are horses and things do happen, but I don't have to worry. My children are 6 years old and 18 months.
I also agree with buying horses by word of mouth.
Edited by barrelrider 2015-10-29 1:38 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 667
Location: Southern Wisconsin | The best horses are not advertised it seems like. I too have been searching for awhile. 6 months to be exact. Looked all over. Had a wanted ad here on BHW. I got a message from my wanted ad. "My horse is over your budget and were are in CO. He is a 1D/rodeo horse and I know you were wanting a divison horse but he will allow you to run a 1D time, come out and throw your peewee on him and he will go right back in at a walk" My budget was healthy, so I thought. Haha. Anyways! The best ones are being held onto.... we drove 1200miles one way and am blessed to have my new guy.
What I found out by my endless searching is WATCH the horse on show day. I watched my new guy at 2 LBR rodeo performances. Along with 30+ videos and checked stats. I watched a few local horses on show day that were not as described. Honest sellers are few and far between. Heather that posted above also has a very nice mare we were considering. Feel free to PM me, I am in WI and may know of a couple depending on your criteria! |
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Professional Amateur
Posts: 6750
Location: Oklahoma | Barrels&Babies - 2015-10-29 3:12 PM Honest sellers are few and far between. Heather that posted above also has a very nice mare we were considering. Feel free to PM me, I am in WI and may know of a couple depending on your criteria!
Thanks! I have several nice ones and am up front about what they are. Tons of videos, references on the horses, etc. I rely on referral and repeat customers. |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | I just PM'd you. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 929
| IRunOnFaith - 2015-10-29 10:25 AM
Ive found older ropers to be the best kids horses. They usually have harder more forgiving mouths, and usually are push button. If the kid wants to walk all day they will or run everywhere they go they will for a while.
Luckily we are blessed to have family friends who rope and who offer us their older ones. The tyoe that usually come to us at 17-18 and have a name like red, mare, grey, or black. LOL Those are the best.
I wish you luck. There are facebook groups out there specifically geared toward kids horses.
THIS!! I had the best, seriously bombproof, easy to load, stood tied for hours and put up with all kinds of crap that little girls do to their horses kind of horse. I now have a foundation bred mare that can get out there with me and run a 17 second standard pattern and if you put a baby or kid on she drops her head and plods along. |
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I Really Love Jeans
Posts: 3173
Location: North Dakota | I went to Facebook on bombproof kids horses and got cheated! I talked to the owner two times about a mare she had. I was told the horse was 100% bombproof and the safest kids horse I could buy! I tried the horse at a show and the horse was a great deadhead just walked etc! Within 48 hours of getting this horse home whatever she was drugged with wore off! I had a reputable trainer and jockey ride her and he said she was dangerous! Old owner hung up on me so I was SOL! People will lie to your face and endanger your child to turn a quick buck! Word of mouth is the best way to get a true kids horse! Expect to pay $4000 plus easy unless you get a horse with lameness issues or just very old, nothing wrong with that though! I have a retired roping horse now that's beginner safe, retired ranch or roping horses make great kids horses usually! |
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 Lady Di
Posts: 21556
Location: Oklahoma | I have one, but I'm like Heather. He's not cheap and if he doesn't sell, I'll just keep him until he's geriatric, because not only is he a great kid's horse, he's a great old lady horse and that's what I need these days. ;) He's the perfect size (14.3), he's blue roan, and he can win the 3D at a 500 horse show with an adult. Idk what he can do with a kid at a show that big because I've never had any ride him except at local shows. I figure he would be even faster w/a lighter rider. You can do most anything on him, and he's a DTF grandson. You're going to have to pay at least 5 digits to get him, though, but really, what is the price of a child's safety worth, plus the fact that this one would last until the child is grown. Good ones are hard to find. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1131
| Best ones are usually the ones I run into at barrel races that their rider is outgrowing them and ready to step up. Can't beat true experiences with them. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 464
| I sold one less than a month ago. I let the people keep him at their house for two weeks to make sure he was what I said he was. They took the whole two weeks, that kinda surprised me. I'm ashamed to say I didn't know them very well. They seemed nice enough, and their check was good. They send me pictures every now and then. I'm glad he's there. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 729
Location: south central usa | i think it depends on what your goal is at this point. are you looking for something safe to go and play around on or something safe that the kiddos can compete on? the latter is where the horses start to get expensive.
we are still in the stage of just out to have fun - ditto on the older roping horses, but just b/c they are older doesn't equate to sane.
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Word of mouth, absolutely. I bought a bomb-proof retired roper for $800 when he was 24. 3 years later he's still healthy and sound and packing kids or myself around whenever asked. My daughter's first barrel horse we bought from a friend. It's been my experience people generally don't like to put their good beginner type kid horses up for sale to the general public, they want to get them in a good home (because they're usually older and have served well), so you don't see very many actually advertised.
I did sell a really good pony a few years ago and advertised him on here. He was an inch too tall at 13.1 for the pony classes in our circle, so no one wanted to pay what he was worth as a very broke, well patterned beginner friendly large pony because he also wasn't fast enough for the 13 and under. A guy in NM bought him for his 4 year old and he was perfect. I had bought him from a rodeo family for my 5 year old son, who turned out to not be interested, and my daughter at 2-3 years old needed something slower footed (she kept falling off the pony and is a more timid personality, he just didn't fit at the time). I sold him off a video for what I paid within a day of listing him. |
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Member
Posts: 48
| Word of mouth, and some people are still honest when they advertise. I have one for sale now, but you would have to come to Canada for her and she's not cheap...well for you guys with our dollar... |
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| RodeoCowgirl4u - 2015-10-29 4:44 PM
IRunOnFaith - 2015-10-29 10:25 AM
Ive found older ropers to be the best kids horses. They usually have harder more forgiving mouths, and usually are push button. If the kid wants to walk all day they will or run everywhere they go they will for a while.
Luckily we are blessed to have family friends who rope and who offer us their older ones. The tyoe that usually come to us at 17-18 and have a name like red, mare, grey, or black. LOL Those are the best.
I wish you luck. There are facebook groups out there specifically geared toward kids horses.
THIS!! I had the best, seriously bombproof, easy to load, stood tied for hours and put up with all kinds of crap that little girls do to their horses kind of horse. I now have a foundation bred mare that can get out there with me and run a 17 second standard pattern and if you put a baby or kid on she drops her head and plods along.
I also agree, my first show horse was a roper. He was such a gentle, patient soul. |
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Expert
Posts: 1586
Location: west of East Texas | What age is the kid? There is a wide variety of horse for a 3yo kid or a 10yo kid. The ones I've bought were all online. Before that, the first one was word of mouth. The first couple I bought - kids were 5 & 7 - I bought retired horseshow horses that had done all the judge events. These horses have SUPER training on them and really allowed my girl's horsemanship to develop properly. After that I never specifically bought a horse for the kids, they just steal mine after I have spent a year or two getting the horse ready for them. |
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Buying a Kids Horse