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NO, I’M NOT HORSE SHOPPING. Everyone calm down. I think the only thing that could possibly ratchet up my anxiety level any higher than it already is at the moment would be horse or saddle shopping. But a reader (hi Christine!) emailed me and asked for a post regarding how I’ve gone about finding and buying horses on a low budget, what’s worked for me, what hasn’t, what I look for, etc. Input and experience from others is welcome, as well. Before I share my own thoughts, I will repeat my favorite caveat: I am not a professional. But for someone who isn’t a reseller, I’ve bought some horses before… some great, some not, and I’m more than happy to share what I’ve learned along the way.

My budget has always been really low. As in, of the 14 or 15 horses I’ve purchased, none have cost more than $1500. Let’s be real right off the top – you aren’t going to get a sound, trained, sane, good quality horse for that money. Pick one of those qualities. At 5k, which is still pretty limiting, you’d have more leeway. So while you’re looking, keep saving your money. I’ve always shopped projects, either out of someone’s backyard or off the track. I’ve bought a couple off of craigslist, one off of facebook, one off of a literal paper ad in a feed store, one from a herd dispersal that I heard about randomly, one from CANTER, one off the old forums on pedigree query, one through a local thoroughbred charity, one at an auction, etc etc. Keep your eyes and ears open, and definitely TELL people that you’re looking. You never know what you’ll find via word of mouth. If you see one you like, act quickly, and have your money ready. The good ones get snatched up fast.

I’ve also very rarely gone out deliberately shopping for a horse. I think I’ve tried a grand total of three horses, and only actually bought one of those three. Most of mine have just fallen in my lap. I see something I like, and if I have the scope to take it on, I buy it. But I really like projects, I get a lot of enjoyment out of taking raw material and turning it into something. Usually for me that has meant a horse off the track, but I’ve also bought a few unstarted horses, or ones that had previous issues/mishandling. I think the blank slates were the easiest to bring along, although I will always love me a recycled thoroughbred. That said, starting horses under saddle is certainly not something to take on if you’ve never done it before – outsource that job. And while I dearly love thoroughbreds, they aren’t for everyone, especially straight off the track. Be brutally honest with yourself about what you can handle, and if you’ll need professional assistance to get the horse where you want it to be. If you do, be sure to factor that into your budget as well.

The question of what I look for in a horse is a little bit harder to cover. Mostly I look for something that seems reasonably athletic and intelligent. An athletic, trainable horse will always be good at something, so even if I end up not keeping it, the horse still has value as a resale. I’ve been open to different breeds, although most of the horses I’ve owned have been thoroughbreds because they tend to suit my purpose best. Depending on what you want to do with the horse, a lot of breeds could be appropriate. Never discount a quarter horse or a draft cross. Shoot, for the lower levels of eventing or for dressage, you could look at all kinds of breeds, including ponies. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just athletic and trainable. Everybody wants the fancy warmblood but very few actually need (or can ride) the fancy warmblood. Remember that the trot can be improved quite a bit with training, so if you’re going to buy off of one gait, I put the most emphasis on the canter. Especially if you’re going to be jumping.

I’m definitely really into pedigrees, but it’s not the be-all-end-all. To me a pedigree is a factor, but it certainly won’t be the one thing that my decision hinges off of. There are certain lines I don’t care for, but if I really like the horse I would buy it anyway. And there are certain lines that I really love that will definitely make me take a harder look at a horse. I think anyone who has ridden or bought/sold enough horses develops favorites, and they vary from person to person. I personally will stop dead in my tracks to look at any thoroughbred with Danzig in the pedigree.

When you’re shopping on a small budget, you also need to develop the ability to see a diamond in the rough. People ooooh and aaaaah over the big fat shiny horse with all the chrome and the high quality photos, but can you picture a version of the same horse in a scruffy winter coat, 200lbs lighter, with 10 inches of mane, nary a white mark on it, and bad cell phone pictures? Learn to see bone structure and proportion, not fat and muscle. Look at other peoples’ before and afters. You can change so much about a horse’s appearance just with good care. The best deals I’ve ever gotten were found in the plain, non-descript horses who weren’t presented well. If you learn how to spot those horses through the rough exterior, you can snag a really great horse. Pretty is as pretty does.

Close your ears for this one, children: I’ve vetted precisely zero of the horses that I’ve purchased. I know, I can feel you cringing. To be clear, I would never recommend that to someone else, but it’s the truth. I’m pretty realistic about the fact that no horse is going to vet absolutely spotlessly, and all sorts of things can show up on a vetting but never be a hindrance to a horse for the job you need it to do. So, definitely get the horse vetted, but also be realistic about the findings, especially as they relate to it’s intended job. A lot of people hear one relatively minor thing and bolt – that’s a mistake, IMO. My best horses, and soundest horses, certainly would not have vetted perfectly. Oh, and uh… if you buy a mare, make sure she’s not pregnant. I learned my lesson on that one, and it happens more often than you realize.

I think the most important thing is to be realistic. You aren’t going to find a trained, sound, issue-free horse for next to nothing. Well ok I’m sure it’s happened, but the odds of it happening to you are slim to none. Give up on that dream. Instead sit down and really think about what you can handle as a rider, what you really need (size, age, training, certain gait or temperament or conformation features that are your must-haves), what you can live with, and what you can’t. Also don’t forget that if you’re shopping cheap, you’re probably signing up for a long process to get that horse to your end goal. Don’t look at other people’s endings and think they’re a realistic beginning. Henry is my favorite horse that I’ve ever had, and he’s taken me places I never imagined, but he was a walking basket of training problems when I got him, some of which will always be there, and it’s taken 5 years to get as far as we have. Keep good professionals in your corner that are available to help. Involve a couple of good friends that you know will be honest with you no matter what, not just tell you what you want to hear. And at the end of the day – trust your gut. It’s never steered me wrong, whether I’ve actually listened to it or not.

What advice would you give to someone who’s horse shopping on a very limited budget? Let’s help her out as a group!

This hasn’t been the best week for me. It started with my existential crisis last weekend that left me feeling relatively down in the dumps for no particular reason, continued with plenty of stress at work, and then finally came to a crescendo with news of the barn closure. I am doing that thing where I’m very calm on the outside but screaming internally.

We’ve made a little bit of headway with the barn hunt, in that we’ve discovered that we’re pretty screwed no matter what, so that’s cool. We’re going to look at a barn on Monday that seems good on paper but I’m too dead inside to allow myself to be that optimistic, and either way it’ll more than double my barn commute. See above meme.

So for the past few days I’ve been latching on to happiness wherever I can find it. Mostly with horses, naturally. And, dunno if y’all have ever seen a baby horse, buuuuut those things are like walking instant happiness.

Michelle keeps sending me pics of Nalah and I’m like more please, my soul needs this right now. I mean, squishing a baby horse in person would be better, but cute pictures of a baby horse are better than no baby horse.

Stormie is due in a few more weeks, and I’m feeling like a tiny pony baby is going to be even more squishable. 320 days (what is considered the minimum for normal gestation) would be on Sunday, so any time after that would be great, although I don’t think she’ll go that soon. Right now she just looks like a beached whale. Which admittedly is still entertaining.

I been watching the Badminton coverage (I’m late with my In the Blood post for that, it’ll have to be an after-the-fact version next week since I’m only about 75% of the way through my stats), and for the second week in a row Ollie delivered a really entertaining moment in dressage. He’d just laid down a fantastic test (that scored a freaking 19) and he knew it, and amid all of his celebrating after he was finished, he stopped really paying attention to his horse’s feet, and the horse stepped over the little fence. It was his face after it happened, though, that was the best part.

Also, did anyone else see the lady in the front row that’s been knitting while she watches dressage? It’s fantastic.

I can’t wait to further drown my sorrows in some live stream XC tomorrow.

Perhaps not pony related, but I stopped at a gas station yesterday and discovered that Little Debbie makes a couple of their snacks in a Double Decker version. I dunno how I was only yesterday years old when I learned this, but holy shit.

I only saw the Fudge Round version, which excited me plenty since Fudge Rounds are my favorite, but apparently they also make an Oatmeal Creme Pie version. And you can buy them by the case on Amazon. I’m not quite to that level of depression yet but I’ve definitely tucked this knowledge away for future use, just in case. Will I stop today and pick up another single or two? Odds are good, not gonna lie. Especially because it’s currently raining it’s ass off.

And last but not least in the self-medicating for the week (so far anyway, the day is still young…) I totally caved and pre-ordered a couple of Ride Heels Down’s new mantra wristbands.

Mostly because I feel like I’m gonna be Suck-It-Up-Buttercupping quite a bit in the months to come. Hopefully there will also be some Have-A-Great-Riding, but I know for sure there will definitely be a lot of Suck-It-Up-Buttercupping.

This is fine.

So, I got an email yesterday around lunch time saying that our barn has been sold, is closing, and the horses all have to be out by June 9.

Yeah, not kidding.

I’m equal parts sad and upset. Sad because I have really enjoyed being at that barn. The fields are huge and beautiful, it’s small enough to where I could do whatever I want and no one cared, it was 20 minutes from my house, it has lots of turnout, and it was NEVER too wet to ride. The barn worker is fantastic and takes amazing care of my boys. Plus I was getting a great deal for having two horses there. The place wasn’t fancy by any means, and it had plenty of short-comings, but all-in-all it’s worked really well for me for the past 2.5 years.

A place like that is hard to find around here. Land is at a premium, there isn’t a lot of space to be found anymore, and good ground is even more difficult to find. A lot of places have that terrible black gumbo soil that will suck the shoes right off a foot when it’s wet, but gets huge gaping hoof-swallowing cracks in it when it’s dry. We won’t even talk about how much the standard of care can vary at boarding barns, y’all know how that goes. Boarding is EXPENSIVE here, and traffic in Austin is so bad that if you don’t find something relatively close, you’ll end up with a wicked commute that just isn’t doable for the 7 days a week that I go to the barn. Something will have to give, I just don’t know what yet.

I’ve had the feeling for a while that the owners were going to sell the place, but they’ve hinted at it several times before and never actually followed through. This barn used to be out in the middle of nowhere, but as Austin has exploded, development has moved in all around. The big chunk of land that it’s sitting on is worth a buttload to those gross subdivision guys, and the barn owners are elderly. I don’t blame them for cashing in, but I was hoping they’d hold out. Which they have up to now, but I guess my time has run out. The barn as been sold… to developers. Just the thought of those fields being bulldozed and covered with houses legit makes me want to cry. I’m devastated. It’s a fucking travesty.

It’s also a travesty that we’ve been given such short notice. 5 weeks isn’t much when you’re talking about moving 3 horses. Finding somewhere suitable is hard enough, finding somewhere suitable without a waiting list is even harder. So now here we are, scrambling, trying to find another needle in the haystack. I have no idea where to even start with finding a place that will suit our needs. It’s even tougher now that I have to consider that I need the right facilities to keep a Prelim horse fit and sound… that adds a whole ‘nother layer of footing and space concerns that I didn’t have when Henry was competing at a lower level.

Luckily we won’t be hung out to dry completely, no matter what happens. I’ve had several very kind friends that have generously offered me space at their own farm as a temporary or even longer term solution, if needed. Most of them would be quite a long drive, but they’re options that are there if it comes to it, and that peace of mind is definitely appreciated right now. It’s the only thing stopping me from entering full blown panic attack mode, to be honest. That and I basically put all my feelings inside a whole bunch of brownies last night and ate them until I wanted to puke.

So far, from all of the internet scouring I’ve done since yesterday, there’s nothing that seems particularly promising yet. Big compromises are going to have to be made somewhere. I’m so sad, y’all. It’s the end of an era. I LOVE MY FIELDS, and they’re going to be murdered, and then disgusting cheap cookie cutter houses are going to be erected on their graves. Just the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach. It’s not right.

Most of the time, Presto is a really good 2yo. He’s pretty chill, his manners are good, and while he is a bit cheeky (a feature I actually quite like) and likes to toe the line, he almost never crosses it. A finger pointed in his direction and a “NEEHHHH” are enough to dissuade 99% of his disobedience. But… he’s still 2. And sometimes he gets these bright ideas where he thinks he’s gonna be real naughty. Usually these rebellions are easily squashed, since he’s a rule-follower at heart. On rare occasion though, he likes to remind me of his age and breeding (73% turdbred/27% dumbblood).

I haven’t been doing quite as much with him lately as I had over the winter, mostly because I’m pretty busy with Henry. I still get him out a couple times a week to at least groom him, and he’s done a little bit of ponying/walking over poles/ground driving here and there very sporadically, but definitely not much or on any kind of regular basis. And you know how the saying goes…

Plus he’s gotten a little more swagger since moving into the turnout pasture with Cannavaro and Dobby. I have no idea why, he’s so far down on the totem pole it doesn’t even register. But he thinks he has friends now, and he feels pr-etty darn cool. Combine his newfound swagger with having very little to do, and his behavior on Sunday was the perfect storm. Presto has always been best when I’ve kept his brain occupied, and I definitely haven’t done my part lately.

The day started out well enough. I pulled him out of his pasture, groomed him, and got him ready to take out to pony. While I was currying his butt he pushed into me, which earned him a reprimand, but that was about it. I tossed Henry’s sidepull on, grabbed Presto, and went out to the mounting block. We have done this dozens of times, Presto knows that Henry stands next to the mounting block and he stands next to Henry. Except he didn’t. He wiggled, he tried to bite Henry, he tried to graze, he tried to walk away, he did literally everything but stand. It took me a few tries (and some helpful pinned ears from Henry) to get that turd to stop moving for 5 seconds so I could mount.

And honestly, that was the best he behaved the entire time. He was in rare form, trying all his tricks. He’d try to leap ahead of Henry, then plant his feet and refuse to follow. He’d be walking quietly along and then suddenly slam on the brakes and start grabbing at the grass. He lunged at every tree and bush we passed, trying to eat whatever he could get in his mouth. He tried to bite Henry. He tried to pull away. I mean good god, he has never been that bad at all once.

The nail in his coffin was when he swung his butt toward Henry and gave a half-hearted little kick out (as brave as he’s going to be toward Henry ever, I imagine). That did it. You lift your little turd feet at King Henry and I will rip them off and shove them up your butthole. He got a few HARD wallops with the end of the lead rope, and I immediately put him out on a circle to trot around me and Henry, getting his feet moving and taking some of the wind out of his sails.

We finally got back to the barn and I turned Henry loose to graze and then took Presto into the arena to have a discussion. As soon as I put him on the end of the line and asked him to move, he tried to bolt away and kick out. Fatal mistake, tiny turd. Fatal mistake. I do not tolerate the hind feet leaving the ground in my general direction in any regard – not when they’re loose, not on the lunge line, not towards Henry, and definitely not in a ground work session. He knows this. He’s known it for a long time.

The “discussion” turned into 20 minutes of groundwork, moving his feet, yielding his hindquarters, yielding his shoulder, changing gaits, and sending him over and through obstacles. At speed. With enthusiasm. Until he sweated out his demons.

Presto met Jesus in the arena that day, and he saw the light. By the time I let him stop moving his feet, he was born again. Anything I asked him to do got a quick yes ma’am. I finished up by doing a little bit of in-hand show practice, which was foot perfect aside from the fact that he swore he couldn’t get enough oxygen to trot that fast (hey kid, that’s the result of your poor life choices, not mine. Suck it up.).

Since he was nice and sweaty and hot and born-again, I decided to baptize bathe him. He isn’t a fan of baths but lol I don’t care, so he stood there while I hosed him and soaped him and scrubbed him and hosed him again. He half-heartedly tried to put his front foot in the bucket at one point, but a “no sir” had him putting his foot back down and lowering his head to pout.

After that I decided he’d been tortured sufficiently for one day and put him back in his turnout. Cannavaro immediately lunged at him, bit him on the ass, and chased him in circles. It’s tough being a snot-nosed kid, I tell ya.

On Monday I got Presto back out, just to check and see where he was at. He was a perfect gentleman, full of yes ma’am and please and thank you. He stood like a rock in the crossties, and when I took him out to the arena for groundwork he was so good that we were done in less than 2 minutes. The new religion is sticking, at least for now. We’ll see by next week…

 

While I definitely was a little sad about missing LRK3DE again this year in person, I was really grateful for the live stream. It’s pretty awesome to be able to follow along with every step of the action, live, over the entire 4 days. What did we even DO before live streams???

First of all, I have to fess up – go ahead and label me a traitor if you want, but by the time we got down to the final 2 in show jumping, I was rooting for Ollie. Yeah I know, I’m severely in the minority. But I love that horse, especially because we have one coming next year by the same sire (Ramiro B) and out of an even more blooded mare than the dam of Cooley Master Class. I’m excited about the foal, and I thought it was pretty neat to see a repeat win for Ollie’s horse, who was absolutely on fire all weekend. Even if it means I get kicked out of America for not rooting for Boyd.

I also liked the commentators on the live stream, for the most part. Specifically the lack of KOC was nice, I have never enjoyed listening to her or her obvious favoritism. I think Doug Payne was my favorite of the rotating dressage commentators this time around, but most of them were fun to listen to and did a good job. Didn’t really love Laura’s showjumping commentary though, it was a little boring. Kinda felt like “they’re gonna want to rebalance here” and “he/she got away with it” on repeat, with a lot of silence in between. Given her experience in pure showjumping it seems like they could have gotten some good conversation there but I thought it fell a bit flat.

I was glad to see so many helmets in dressage, with 88% of riders choosing them over a top hat. I have to admit, I think top hats just look goofy AF these days, and it’s so rare to see an American rider in one that I do a double take. It makes me happy to see so many people that care more about protecting their melons than they do about “fashion” or relatively silly traditional attire.

The best part of the dressage, though? Ollie’s salute. I was DYING. He’s like “Did you bitches see that? YEAH YOU DID. BAM!”. I want to start saluting like that, maybe the confidence will help my scores.

As for cross country day, the rides that really stand out in my head aren’t the big name guys. It’s the first timers getting it done on sheer grit, and it’s the people who have made it this far with their one special horse that they trust 110%. It’s SO fun to watch those true partnerships, like Sara Gumbiner or Allie Sacksen. They have so much faith in their horses, and their horses have so much love for the game. Their rounds might not be as picture perfect as some of the bigger names, and they might not have the scores that are competitive enough to put them top 10, but to me they are way more inspiring to watch. It gives you chills.

Fun fact: the average blood % of the top 10 finishers was 62.8%. If not for Will Coleman’s unfortunate 15 for the flag penalty that cost him 5th place, it would have been 66%.

AND THAT FLAG PENALTY IS SOME REAL STUPID BULLSHIT, I HATE IT. I understand why they put the rule in place, I really do, but I just don’t like how it’s been playing out so far this year. I’m with Will on this one, that horse tried his guts out to get himself over that fence, and the majority of his body definitely made it through the flags. The horse still had forward momentum, he made every effort to jump it with his whole body as best he could… I just don’t like a rule that punishes that. There has to be a better way. Also Will totally said on Facebook what all of us have been thinking for a while:

 

Moving on to showjumping, I gotta give the top 5 some serious credit, boy are they cool under pressure. I’d have been crapping myself. Boyd’s round was about as masterful as you’d want to see, at a couple jumps I’m relatively certain he picked Thomas up and literally threw him over the fence. Talk about delivering when it matters most. The man has ice in his veins.

When they cut over to interview Buck during one of the breaks, I got one of my favorite and most memorable moments of the weekend. Poor guy has yet another broken collarbone, didn’t get to finish ANY of his three super nice horses at a huge event that they’ve been aiming for for months… if anyone has the right to go hide or be upset, it was Buck. Yet there he was, collarbone taped up, watching stadium and coaching and cheering for his friends. When they interviewed him he said something along the lines of “If you want to see real bad news, turn on CNN. We are all so lucky to even be here.”. He had nothing but good things to say about his horses, the people around him, the event, and even the weather. His perspective is one to emulate, and his sportsmanship is off the charts. Much respect to Buck.

Also I tried really hard all weekend to dislike Ollie, after all that drama with him and his over-eager whip last year, but I have to say that either they’ve done a lot of work on his PR or he’s seen the light a little bit. Dude was a class act from start to finish, in a way that I haven’t really seen from Ollie before. Granted, things were going well… we’ll see what happens when things don’t go so well.

One horse that really stood out to me a lot over the weekend was Paddy the Caddy. I’ve seen him before but he REALLY looks good right now, such a classy horse. Whatever they’re doing with him, it’s working. His blip on XC was unfortunate, yet even with a 20 he still finished with only 4.8 time penalties. Once they put 3 phases together, that could be a really legit 5* horse.

I was also left feeling like, once again, the foreigners tend to have horses that are a bit less “fancy” in their gaits but much better trained and well ridden. Just like Michael Jung – none of his horses are particularly fancy, but he’s masterful at getting the absolute most out of them. Piggy’s horse isn’t a great mover, the trot especially, but her dressage test was just SO well-ridden, she got every possible point she could. It’s interesting to me, because we tend to get hearts in our eyes for those big fancy movers (like Deniro Z) and forget just how much you really can maximize a more average-moving horse. Fancy is not required.

Overall it was a great weekend of sport, a good course, and just the kind of competition you want to see. The first ever 5* was definitely a success, even if I didn’t get to see it in person. I did make a little purchase yesterday that eased some of my sadness, though…

See you in September, Burghley!!!