Mistakes People Make When Buying a First Horse
not be the one suitable for safe learning. Buy a horse to match your skill and fitness level, not one to match a dream that may not come true for five years or even vanish.
Buying a Horse to Breed
Do you want to buy a horse so you can breed it and have a foal? Before you do visit an auction where horses are destined for rendering or meat. Pay attention to how many look like the result of backyard breeding experiments. Consider if you can live with this outcome for a horse you have brought into this world. Horses should be bred because they have outstanding qualities to pass on. The fact that you love it or think it would have a really cute foal is not outstanding quality.
Buying a Horse of a Particular Color
While it is perfectly reasonable to want to own a special coat pattern horse like a Paint, palomino or Appaloosa, it isn’t wise to buy for color only. If you have a choice of several horses, and all are of the same sane mind, and good training, of course, buy the color you like. However, don’t base your decision on the color if the mind and training aren’t suitable. When buying a car the adage is "you don’t drive the paint." With horses, you don’t ride/drive the color.
Horse ownership is a big responsibility. Horses don’t stop eating and drinking on the weekend when you want to go away. The expenses don’t stop because you want to spend the money elsewhere, or you’ve been unable to work. Be honest about the time and money you are able to spend on a horse. It's okay to admit you love horses, but would rather spend $30 on a trail ride or riding lesson occasionally and leave all the other expense and fuss to someone else.
