The Last Word ... Searching for a Unicorn

Most of us don’t buy that many horses or ponies in our lives and if we’re honest, ensuring that our head rules over our heart sometimes is difficult. When it comes to making a decision, an expert opinion drawn from experiences with the purchase of many horses in his successful career, Equine extra’s humorous blogger John Collier BHSI from Blackdyke Farm Riding Centre in Cumbria is more than qualified to offer ...

... the last word

"I don't think finding a unicorn would be that
much of a challenge!"

I always thought buying a horse was quite straightforward; you tried the horse, agreed a price subject to vetting and if it passed the vet, then you were the proud owner of a new horse. Some vendors might be a bit ‘iffy’ about the horse coming to me, but having seen how the poor horse was being kept, I think he deserves and so he get, better. Of late this seems to have changed though; a horse appears on facebook, or one of the sales web site and when you phone up, it may or may not be for saleand you have to pass the interview stage to be granted viewing rights!

Another thing at the moment is prices – a lot of sellers just seem to have plucked a figure out of the sky. They describe the horse as having potential and he so must be worth a king’s ransom; well he might have had potential as a four year old, but he’s now fourteen and has had a hard life...

A new horse arrived on the yard tonight, and as with all horses and ponies we buy, he will be given time to settle in and we will try very hard to stick to his existing routine, but I do find it tedious having to tuck him in at night, read him a bedtime story and then kiss him good night. He has fortunately come with his teddy bear to keep him company.

It’s always nice to get through the first fortnight and be reassured that the horse hasn’t galloped off or fired the rider off. Time and patience are essential, plus he will be let down, turned out and worked quietly until he learns a new routine and gets used to the endless stream of visitors he will meet. Then there’s the change in diet, to apples, carrots and polos. We have a policy if a horse does not settle with us, then it will be re homed. If we make a loss finding the right home, the good news is that as we operate a business and it is tax allowable.

It amazes me that people buy horses on the internet ‘unseen’. I always feel you need to meet, greet, and sit on the horse you intend to acquire. With some we go and see, we never get that far! I went to see a nice coloured horse not too long ago;  it jumped, had a nice temperament, but couldn’t canter left. It really couldn’t canter left. The seller said that he knew I wouldn’t want the horse when I had seen it ridden, but was I interested in the horse next door - it’s only problem being it had odd front legs. Well if you ever go to Leeds, the city museum has a collection of stuffed animals, one of which is a tiger with very odd front legs. The accompanying card explains that it had spent some time as a rug before being put back as a stuffed exhibit. This horse reminded me a lot of that.

I spend a lot of my time chasing rainbows and these days I don’t think finding a unicorn would be that much of a challenge. I have a very nice lady looking for a new horse and I explain she had her last horse for almost eighteen years and yes it was a four year old when she bought it, unfortunately she is also some eighteen years older and collecting a pension, so perhaps another four year old is not ideal.

A lot of people ‘swither’ once they have made a decision to buy a horse. Very often they have it vetted, it fails the vetting, and then they come to me to ask if they should still buy it. Well you have paid for a professional opinion and in my opinion you would be daft to ignore it. Having said that, a horse passing the vet does not make it suitable; we had one horse arrive that knew every trick in the book not to allow the rider to get on, reversing, spinning round and when confined, lying down on the job. It had passed a 5-star vetting, but I’m still not sure how. I go back to my first point that when you change the horse’s routine and the environment it is used to, horses are unpredictable and you cannot guarantee their behaviour. Time to phone a friend.

I also question why a lot of riders buy retired competition horses, quite apart from the fact if bought from a competitive home it either has not made the grade, it’s old and past it, or it’s on the way down. Talented riders and their horses are a very hard act to follow and if they sell a horse, it is sold for a reason. So expect big vets bills, physio, and a huge portion of disappointment, not to mention an even bigger hole in the bank balance.

The old adage - do in haste repent at leisure - really does apply to buying horses, as it costs more to keep a bad one, rather than the right one. When you do go and view horses take along someone who knows, not your hairdresser.

Contact Blackdyke Farm on 01228 674633 or visit www.blackdykefarm.info

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