Buy at what age? Foal, weanling, 2 yr +?

[StarRidgeAcres]

I fret over this everytime I get ready to buy another horse! I've tended to buy young horses as my show propects, but is that too much of a gamble? How do you weigh potential against price against history (sire/dam history), etc? If you buy an adult horse you know what you're getting conformation wise. But then it's usually too late to start show conditioning/training. Argh!!! :ugh:

What do you experienced buyers/sellers think of buying babies vs. proven horses? I'm awaiting your responses! :lol:

 

[ThreeCFarm]

If you buy an adult horse you know what you're getting conformation wise. But then it's usually too late to start show conditioning/training. Argh!!! :ugh:

Why is it too late when you buy an older horse? I showed a 9 year old mare last year in halter and driving, and she pulled off some Grands and even went Reserve Champion at the Central Championship show (her last show) in halter. So you have to give the horse a year off from breeding, but if you buy a young one you wouldn't be able to breed for awhile anyway.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Not knowing any better, I thought that you needed to start from an early age with show-type conditioning to ensure an older horse would be in the proper condition. I learned something new!!! :aktion033:

 

[Becky]

I have an 11 yr old stallion in training now for halter!

He is going to be a gorgeous boy come spring!! :aktion033: :aktion033:

 

[Jill]

It's easier to tell how they will turn out the older they get. But, babies are a lot of fun... Sometimes if you have seen some grown siblings of the horse, that can be very helpful. Seeing Erica's two new foals is taking me back to February 2005 when DunIT was born. I wanted him the moment I saw his newborn pictures!!! I was in a state waiting to know if I could buy him from Erica. And the rest is history

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[Cathy_H]

If you buy a young horse try to see as many siblings as possible. Try to see the sire & dam or if that is not possible at least pictures of them. Find out who bought previous siblings etc & try to get info on them.......................... One thing I don't get with some breeders that sell is why they do not have pictures of previous siblings, sires, dams etc. We provide pictures like that & I feel it helps the buyer make their decison easier when they can see those other horses.

 

[targetsmom]

We haven't bought a lot of minis (6 to be exact) but we did a lot of thinking about this very issue along the way. We bought 3 of ours as babies and the other three as 2 year olds or older. The older ones were all purchased in January in the Northeast, so we still didn't get a good look at what we were getting. But we did a lot of homework in all cases. Also, personality, movement, and nice heads are important to us, and those can be evaluated as babies or in the winter.

It seemed to us that the best selection came with babies, and this seemed especially true if you were looking for a really top notch prospect. We bought the filly in my avatar sight unseen based on photos, a tape, our impression from meeting a half-sibling, the reputation of the breeder, and close inspection of the Stud Book online. We checked sibling show records, the production record of her dam (13 babies, including World Top Tens)... you get the picture. Of course we were gambling on how she would turn out and still don't know if she will be able to produce. We also bought another filly and a colt as babies, that we did the same homework on but were able to see in the flesh.

The ones we got in the winter included a gelding that was a 2 year stallion that the breeder gelded for us. He doesn't really count because he was our first mini and was purchased to be a companion for our big horse, but he has been a successful show horse too. We found that winter is a good time to find relative bargains on "older" minis as people make room for new foals, etc. We get photos and tapes for any prospects and have rejected a couple of horses based on their moverment shown on tapes. Ironically our last purchase was a proven broodmare that originally came from Cathy-H! She has the sweetest personality, lovely movement, and has already produced 2 fillies, one a grand champion. She arrived in an ice storm last January. We admit we did get a bit tired of waiting for the young fillies to grow up before we can breed them and we wanted a proven broodmare to start with. Plus we want to continue the show the black and white filly this year. We will be trying to breed the other mare that we got in the winter who is coming 4 now. We did note from her registration photos that if we had seen her as a baby we would probably NOT have purchased her. Nothing special about her registration photos, but she matured into a very nice little mare. So you never know....

Good luck with your shopping.

 

[Lexi]

I like to buy the younger ones so I know what they have already learned.. Plus they are so cute and loveable. I actually just posted a colt on the Sales page. Good Luck!

 

[Magic]

I tend to buy the majority of my horses as foals or weanlings. I've gotten some very nice horses that way, so it works for me!

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I agree with what others have said about older horses too-- you can take a horse that has never been conditioned and have no problem getting them ready for the show ring in just a few months.

It's really up to you! What do you prefer?

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I would have to say of course it depends on what you are looking for.

With miniatures they seem to "throw away" still very young horses compared to large horses. A large show horse is still worth its weight in gold in fact sometimes more as it ages and becomes a been there done that reliable show partner.

Somehow in minis we missed this boat and in most cases 3 or 4 is considered OLD for a show horse.

We have a 11 yr old gelding who can sit for a couple of years but bring him out and he is ready to go. Totally voice trained for showmanship and obstacle.. will jump a full course and does very well in those classes as well as liberty and went res grand in halter.

I Get some GREAT DEALS on those "so called older" horses

I wouldnt trade that horse for the world. So again there are some great buys with foals however of course it is always a chance as to how they will mature.

Me if I am looking specifically for a show horse then I will more often then not choose one that is older and proven

 

[RockRiverTiff]

In the heyday of the industry, we got our best deals on young horses. Paid $3500 for a weanling mare and then showed her to multiple supremes--easily our best mare and best deal. Also bought a yearling stallion at NFC for $2700 (which was super cheap for their sales) and showed him to multiple grands in driving and halter. Both came from big farms with plenty of info on sire, dam, and siblings. Alternately, we paid $10,000 for an extremely well-bred senior mare with a foaling record but no show record, and even after conditioning her she just couldn't compete with the trim 3 and 4 year olds.

That said, nowadays if you want your horses to have show records, I think it's cheaper to buy them as mature animals--the price of horses has gone down, but the price of showing has gone up, and you can often get the finished product (ie the 3 or 4 year olds Lisa mentioned) already with show records for the same price as a weanling (for some reason the "cute factor" seems to keep their prices up) without the gamble.

(Edited to say I am looking for a filly now myself, but only because I like the bond-building you get with a young horse, and because I won't be able to show again for a couple years.)

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Thanks for all the advice. I really do appreciate it!

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I think I'm just needing a reality check because I saw one of the babies just born that was posted on here and I had one of those "I'd LOVE to have that horse" things happen. THEN, the owner emailed me - unsolicited - and said we may offer this baby and it's your type, yadda, yadda, yadda. So now of course I'm thinking it's fate! :bgrin Right! Aren't they all?

But this would definitely be the youngest, by far, that I made a purchase decision on. The babies are soooo much fun, but I've got maybe as many as 4 coming myself! But, they aren't all ones that I specifically selected the breedings on - know what I mean? Two of the four were purchased already bred because I wanted the moms.

Oh, what to do??? :ugh:

This is me with myself: :new_argue:

 

[Lewella]

An old time breeder once told me that how a foal looks at 3 weeks and at 3 months are a good reflection of how they will look when they are 3 years old. It's worked well for me and in my experience has been pretty accurate. Now when I'm thinking about buying a baby I want to see pictures of them as close as possible to 3 weeks and 3 months.

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[Minimor]

I personally prefer buying babies; they're cute and I enjoy working with the youngsters. When it comes to showing, I love showing yearlings. I don't like taking horses someone else has already shown--I like to bring them along myself.

I'm the same as Lewella for judging foals at 3 weeks and 3 months, and it works very well for me.

 

[Devon]

I like to say adult. But seeing grown siblings is a great idea too. Wee Man looked more or less like a backyard pet untill he grew into himself and matured at age 4 :bgrin haha. You should see the pictures of the differances. I was goign to make a post they're so funny.

 

[Warpony]

I don't show. I only buy pet quality minis. Therefor I'm less concerned with future show potential. If I did plan to show I would probably want to buy a mature horse so i was sure what i got would work for me. However as a pet owner I like to buy them early. I bought Sparrow at 4 weeks old. He had decent legs, good teeth, I liked his mom and dad, I loved the way he carried himself and his personality. By buying him that young I know everything he has experienced in his life. I visited with him a couple of times a week until he was weaned and the hardest part of buying a baby was that I had to wait to bring him home.

I will probably be buying an older horse next, though. Simply because I would like to have something I can start driving sooner rather then later... but my preference is to buy them really young.

 

[Charlotte]

Most of our breeding herd we purchased before weaning...or just after. Then they spent their yearling year being show horses, two year old year just hangin' out and were bred as 3 year olds. that is what has worked best for us.

I have bought a 'few' mature horses, but they are never trained the way I like and it takes months for some of them to come around and some just never do.

An old time breeder once told me that how a foal looks at 3 weeks and at 3 months are a good reflection of how they will look when they are 3 years old.

and I agree with Lewella on evaluating babies.
When I look at a foal...a picture, video, in person, alone or in a group, the one that 'grabs' me is the one to buy. No matter how much time I have spent evaluating the babies it has always been the first impression that is 'right'!

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Charlotte