Are You Searching For The Perfect Riding Horse?

To save you the time and money finding that perfect horse, I shall tell youthe truth; the ‘perfect horse’ does not exist. Even the greatest looking ‘wellbred’ horses fall short of the mark. Before you go to great expense of buying ahorse, you need to consider how much commitment and time you will be investingin your riding career. You can even evaluate how good a rider you are, and howmuch you really know about horses and horse care. All the above are moreimportant than the amount of money and time spent ‘upfront’.  At the startyou have to be honest with yourself; do you need the training to become abetter rider?  Do you need books and videos to look at the theory of horseriding to begin with? You need to really consider this huge commitment.

Your Horse

Some people search for a black horse, some look for a white horse, others agrey horse. For the perfect riding horse there are 3 main ingredients:conformation, temperament and time.  Generally you do not have to searchfor too long; as long as the horse has a reasonable conformation and a nicetemperament, which is all that matters at this stage.  With training andtime spent with your new companion, it is possible to create a wonderful ridinghorse from almost any horse you choose. What size and age of horse would workbest for your riding?

Now that you have fallen in love with a flashy looking equine – hisconformation is great and so is his balance. You notice that your horse has thepotential to progress quickly and easily, to get the results you want. Whatwill you do next?  Is your horse a happy horse?  His conformation maybe great but if he is an unhappy horse, he will not be much fun riding. Checkthe horse’s temperament: is he quiet, feisty, pushy, amenable, or grumpy? If this is your first time with horses and you are not very comfortable withthem, my advice is not to get a pushy horse, as you will find it ruling you,and not the other way around. When you have found your dream horse what do youwant to achieve and is THIS the horse for you? Are you going to be horseracing, horse riding, hunting, driving, barrel racing, or jumping?  Areyou going to ride at all? Are you learning to ride or improving your ridingskills? You can also get horses just to drive.

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If you are not comfortable with horses, do not get a pushy horse, as youwill find it ruling you and not the other way around. Temperament is important.When your horse is willing to work with you and is open to learning and tryingout new things, it then becomes so much easier to further his training andprogress. You both have to share the journey and experiences; you both have toenjoy the riding experience. Your horse’s character and spirit must shinethrough, and you must feel in control of him.

A word of advice: if you do not have horse experience, then do not buy ayoung horse and try to train it. One reason is that you will be morecomfortable with an experienced horse and also for safety reasons to yourselfand your horse. Wait until you have more experience or you will have to pay theprice for your mistakes – such as injuries to you and your horse because youdid not know what you were doing.    Take an experienced friendwith you to check out horses. They can help you assess the horse so you do notend up buying a horse that is way too much for you to handle. Your experiencedfriend can also ride the horse for you to assess if it would work foryou.  If the current owner is riding the horse, and they insist you do notneed to try the horse – do not walk away from them – run away from them asquickly as possible!

When you have your horse what matters most is what you actually do with yourhorse, and how much time you put in.  If you do not train him or do verymuch with him, he will not become a very good riding horse.  You havesearched for your perfect riding horse; don’t you want to ride him too? If youare learning to ride take a look at your videos and books.  Now you havethe theory you are ready to go. Finally, you may not have thought about this,but in reality, every time you sit on your horse, you are training it, eitherin a good way or in a bad one.

Tags: Horse, Perfect, Riding, Searching

Category: Horses