My Future Horse! Help!?
I want to buy a horse but don’t know what kind to buy, so I am asking you for help. It must meet at least three qualifications from below:
One/Two Solid Color
Able To Ride On
No Ponies
At Least 15 Hands High
Good Riding Horse
Oh, by the way what are hands? I said 15 hands high because all the other sites had that as the height.
As everyone else has said, it seems like you are putting the cart before the horse. Now before you get upset I’m all for people owning horses. Being a member of my local 4-H I support that very much. I think that it is a great way to not only teach kids respect and discipline but it is also a great way to teach their parents a way to bond with the kids. Now I just have a few questions that I feel compelled to ask, of course I’ll give you my opinion on each as well. But it is just my opinion.
First I’ll handle your qualifications:
“One/two solid color”
I’m assuming you are referring to a paint or pinto? That is the only thing I can think of that would be two solid colors. As far as search criteria…I personally would not limit my horse selection by color. For example when I was looking for a new horse to train I swore I wouldn’t own a light colored horse. A few months later I was scrubbing the white mane of my grey horse. Well technically he is a rose grey, but that is a different discussion for a different day. But anyway he is one of the best horses that I’ve had the pleasure of training. So don’t rule out a horse because he/she isn’t a certain color.
“Able to Ride On”
Now I’m again going to assume that you are a beginner. So you may want to narrow your search here. “Able to ride on” covers a broad area. A two year old may be able to be ridden as well as a twenty two year old. For a beginner I really recommend something between the ages of 8 and 15. Some may argue with that but that’s just me. Also you may want to check into what the horse is trained to be ridden. If you are interested in Western you want to make sure your horse isn’t trained to be a jumper and vice versa.
“No Ponies”
Depending on your height this could be a wise choice. But if you are shorter than 5′4″ you may want to look into ponies. Also some ponies are great little animals. The grey I talked about earlier? Pony. Good little pony too. He will go from western pleasure, to jump 2′9″, to running barrels. To him it is all within a days work. From my own experience ponies are whole lot more beginner/child friendly. Not saying that you are a child; I’m just covering all the bases.
“At least 15 Hands High”
I’m really not going to say anything more than, go by your height. If you are 5′ 0″ you may not want a huge horse to begin with. But if you are on the taller side than go for it.
And as for your last question. A hand is four inches. A horse is measured at the highest point of his/hers withers. Which brings me to my next question.
How much do you know about horses? Have you come up with a rough estimate of how much it will cost to take care of a horse for a week? A month? How about a year? I’m not trying to put you down. I’m speaking from experience here. I jumped into owning a horse, a foal nonetheless, way to quickly. I really wish I would have researched it. Of course I was only like 10 years old…so that part of my reasoning had developed yet. But my recommendation is this: If you are seriously interested in owning a horse do yourself and the horse a favor. Become informed. Make a budget. Make sure you can afford it. Check to be sure there are farriers and vets in your area that you can take your horse to. Is there a barn local to you in case you are later interested in lessons?
I commend you wanting to get a horse. Like I said, it can be a rather good thing. Just be sure that you are able to take care of the animal, because if you do so properly they can be your very best friend.
Therapeutic Horseback Riding : Picking a Horse’s Hoof
|
|
Horse Show Judging for Beginners: Getting Started as a Horse Show Judge $3.39 A veteran judge’s authoritative yet user-friendly guide for beginners, for both English and Western disciplines, including license requirements and application procedures. … |
|
|
Working With Horses: How to Obtain the Right Qualifications, Training and Job Opportunities (Jobs & Careers) $19.95 Working with horses is the dream of many people from an early age. This book shows the wide variety of opportunities available and outlines the qualifications and skills necessary in each area. It includes racing, riding schools, studs, showjumping, eventing and showing yards and hunting. The book describes each job in detail together with the work environment, the qualifications required and deta… |
