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 Expert
Posts: 1631
   
Location: Somewhere around here | So after a few years of waiting I should be able to finally buy another horse next spring. Due to some past hospital bills though my max is $2,000, which I'm happy with but I know it's not going to buy me a great prospect or anything 1D prospect caliber. So for me my two options are buying an off-the-track Thoroughbred or Quarter Horse, or buying a ho hum horse with papers, or grade, but has a fairly decent confirmation and it's riding around good. I'm not against buying an off the track thoroughbred, I have done in the past but she died 2 months after I bought her, so I don't really know what the difficulty of the process is to retrain them. From this standpoint what do you think would be the best best way for me to go? | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | If it was me, I'd find a great trail horse (between 6 and 11 years old) that was well put together, good minded, and willing, that has been hauled around for trail riding but maybe isn't fancy broke or had any specific discipline training.
Then I'd get them nicely broke and started on barrels then competing. If they ended up only being a 3D horse you could still sell them for more then what you paid, and if they don't take to barrels you can resell them as a well broke family type horse.
Buying off the track can be great but you may end up paying more in vet, farrier, and feed bills to get them healthy, and happy then you would if you bought something else a bit older that has been hauled around for trail riding. In my area TB's just don't resell. We have a track close by so the market here is just flooded with them.
Good luck | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
| RunNitroRun - 2017-11-21 3:11 PM
If it was me, I'd find a great trail horse (between 6 and 11 years old) that was well put together, good minded, and willing, that has been hauled around for trail riding but maybe isn't fancy broke or had any specific discipline training.
Then I'd get them nicely broke and started on barrels then competing. If they ended up only being a 3D horse you could still sell them for more then what you paid, and if they don't take to barrels you can resell them as a well broke family type horse.
Buying off the track can be great but you may end up paying more in vet, farrier, and feed bills to get them healthy, and happy then you would if you bought something else a bit older that has been hauled around for trail riding. In my area TB's just don't resell. We have a track close by so the market here is just flooded with them.
Good luck
^^This is great advice. You may also be able to find a nice cow horse or reject reiner for that price. If the horse is broke enough and has a good mind, you can do just about anything with them, IMO. I am not a huge fan of OTT, but I also lack experience in that area so I'd be comfortable with the other route. Plus, if the horse doesn't work out for you, I feel your resell is much better. | |
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 Expert
Posts: 1520
Location: Illinois | I'd honestly just try out a bunch of horses that catch your eye in your price range and are close enough you can go try out without feeling like you need to buy them because you traveled so far. You might find things in certain horses you don't like and can weed out others in the future. I try not to buy one without looking at a minimum of 5-7. If you fall in love with the 2nd, still go try the others. If that's the one you're meant to get it will still be available. I'd find something registered that's decently broke if it were me. Like stated above, OTTBs don't have much resale value around here as you can go to Chicago to the track and get a reject for a couple hundred, plus they generally need time to wind down and a bit of food. Make it a project, teach it a discipline. Even if it is a 3D horse like above, someone who is getting started wanting a nice horse to learn on isn't probably going to care that it's not a DashTaFrenchStreakinBling whatever. Around here buyers seem to have better luck in the fall buying, as most don't want to feed that horse through the winter if they don't have to. So maybe keep that in mind in your area as well. Sellers are usually more open to offers around then and it would give you a few extra months to maybe save up some more. | |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| We just picked up a 4 year old colt with athletic lines and about 120 days under saddle in your price range. He is old school athlete bloodlines, built well, and moves like a big horse despite being 14.3.
What you’re after is out there, just gotta know where to look and what to look for. | |
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What would be the better option?