When trying to choose the right horse, one of the first hurdles you need to overcome is the variety. With so many horse breeds and styles to pick from, knowing where to start can be a challenge within itself. If you would like to get over that problem, you would do well to invest some more time into understanding the critical aspects of what makes the right horse purchase for you.
So, where should you start when choosing the right horse from all of those on sale presently?
Getting Started
The first thing that you should look to work out is preparing the groundwork for owning the horse. You need to have enough space for the horse, to start with. You should perhaps look into local livery yards to try and find out if there is enough space for another animal.
Work out what kind of budget you have to spend. While owning just about any horse is a large investment that you need to be prepared to put the time into, you have to make sure that the horse you are buying is one that fits within what you can afford. Take the time to work out things like insurance, veterinarian bills and shoeing.
The Deciding Factors
In terms of what horse to actually buy, we recommend that you consider:
- Who will ride the horse? Will it just be for you, or will other friends or family members take part? If it’s the latter, you need to find a horse that suits everyone, not just you.
- Are you able to put the time in to work with an inexperienced horse to take it to the level you need? Or do you want the horse to lead the way when it comes to experience?
- Would you prefer a horse that is already at its peak, or a horse that still has some development to do? If so, you want to try and invest with a horse with potential.
- Is this going to be one horse in total, or one of many horses? If so, you need to think about everything from breeding to age to ensure you get maximum value.
- What would you find unacceptable in the horse? Price, build, age – these are things that you need to mark as red lines. What will be the minimum/maximum for you?
- Is there anything that you would like, but would be able to compromise on if required?
If you can think about some of the above, then you might find it easier to make that final choice. Sadly, there is no cut-and-dried way to work out which horses for sale suit you best. Just like horses, we are all different and hold our own strengths and weaknesses. Your challenge, then, is to decide what you can put up – and what is an absolute must.
Hopefully now you have a greater idea of what matters in buying a horse, you can find making that crucial decision a little easier.
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