On the Buckle

LP

Welcome Back Horse Shoppers

by Whitney Weston

By now you have done your homework and assembled a team of farrier, vet, dentist, trainer and barn owner. You know where you will be keeping your future unicorn, and you have trust in the team to get you there. In Part II of this series, we went over some options and ways to identify what your perfect “unicorn” might look and behave like. Now, it is time for the actual shopping and test riding to begin.

And guess what—it’s spreadsheet time again! Once we delve into the market, you will need to keep track of potential matches as it can start to become confusing very quickly when you are heavily researching 20 or more horses. There are many categories for each horse that must be filled in on the spreadsheet in order to give you an idea of what this horse might be like, and whether he is worth the time to visit. If we find out something that removes a horse from being a good match for you, strike it off before spending time, money and effort to drive to that horse’s stable.

Start the spreadsheet by filling in the age, height, sex, breed, color and markings. Then make sure to inquire about special shoeing or veterinary care, often referred to as “maintenance,” that might be a financial or risk factor that you may not want to take on. Be sure to ask about old injuries, and find out if the horse has limitations due to them or special care and medication for ongoing support. No horse is perfect, so if a healed injury does not hinder or bother the horse for your planned level of activity, don’t strike him off the list for that reason alone.

I also ask about special feed, supplements and lifestyle requirements that are out of the norm. For example, a horse that has stable vices (like chewing wood or cribbing) might be difficult to place at a boarding facility. Most barns will not allow horses with major vices that are destructive to the facility. If the horse hates to be stabled, but only stall board is available at your chosen facility, then that’s a deal breaker.

If videos were not available on the advert, make sure to inquire. Depending on who I am shopping for and what the horse’s future job will be, I might ask for competition videos or showing the horse on a long line (basically a long rope that attaches the horse to a human while making a large circle around him) with no rider or equipment.

My pet peeve is music on sales videos or too many screen cuts. I want to see an unedited version of each gait, walk trot and canter, in both directions. If the horse is meant to be for a dressage rider, I want to see an entire test from start to finish. If it is a jumping horse, we want to see an entire course from start to finish. A short clip of a sales horse jumping one or two big fences only shows that a horse is athletic. It doesn’t tell us how he handles a rider or a course.

In fact, I want to see the horse knock a rail, then see his reaction to the next jump. I want to see a horse accidentally stumble, and see if he takes the mistake calmly or has a temper tantrum. If I am shopping for a young or amateur client, I love to see videos of the rider leading the horse to a mounting blocking, getting on, doing a ride, then dismounting. Even if a horse checks all these boxes, we need to see it for ourselves in person, and make sure the rider/horse chemistry is spot-on.

Now it’s time to test ride the horses on our spreadsheet! I hope the trainer you are working with will be able to put together a shopping trip with several horses in one go, much like a realtor showing you several homes on a Saturday. The farther geographically we travel from home base, the more horses I would like to see to help the odds. If I’m shopping locally, we might visit one horse per visit. If I am shopping overseas, I expect to see 8-10 horses daily. Be sure to bring protein bars, water and towels, and be ready to ride as soon as you arrive at the stables. Shopping might sound like a leisure activity, but it can be a marathon!

Test riding can also be dangerous, so make sure someone at the stable is able to do a brief ride on the horse first. We need to see walk, trot and canter in both directions, as well as jump (if that is the job of horse we are looking for). If the horse is deemed suitable still, the trainer would then hop on. When I test ride for a client I have a formula that is very efficient. Test all gaits, whether the horse can move forward and come back easily, can turn both directions without fuss, then whether he will allow me to improve on him a bit (take direction).

If a horse is combative or stubborn, he will not like a rider coming in and asking for more or something different. This means he might not be easily trained, and what you see is all you will get. And that might be enough, depending on his future job.

Next, I want to see how the horse handles rider mistakes. I might become unbalanced, irregular rhythm, kicking and pulling a bit too much or too little. If the horse is good natured and can tolerate a learning rider, then it’s time for the client to hop on. We will then work through a sample lesson, seeing if the horse and rider get along and understand each other. This is where I am looking closely to see if the pair could be on the same page emotionally and trust may be established.

From here, your trainer will help you set up a veterinary pre-purchase exam, and handle contracts and funds transfer.

After all this work, you are now ready to begin a relationship with your unicorn. Please remember building a solid partnership takes time. I tell my students to mark their calendar for one full year later, and at that point I expect a horse and rider to know each other well. Lots of things change for a horse when he is sold. Different farm, feed, turnout, routine, rider, stablemates and more! Happy trails and good luck in your search! PL

Whitney Weston is a professional horse trainer with more than 30 years of riding experience and competing at the international level of eventing for 15 years. She trains out of her Southern Pines farm through Valkyrie Sporthorses, and runs Southern Pines Riding Academy.

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