A Guide on Buying and Caring for Horses /
Buying your first horse is a thrilling time; your emotions are humming and your hopes high. Of course, you're flush with ideas of precisely what your ideal horse will be. It's easy to forget what to look for when buying a horse. Whether you’re selecting horses for an equine therapy business or pony rentals for children's birthdays, look no further. We've prepped you with some paramount considerations and what to look for when buying a horse, to help you choose a steed in optimum health.
Examine The Horse As You Would A Car
Don’t miss what to look for when buying a horse. Thoroughly inspect any horses you check out. It's similar to purchasing a car. You have to look under the hood, check the “tires,” verify any “leaks” or other potential problems, and determine if they are items you can fix or can afford to hire a trained professional to remedy. Overgrown hooves can lead to lameness or limping and gait abnormalities.
If you’re purchasing this horse for an equine therapy business that offers therapeutic riding to children with autism, you can’t afford to miss costly mistakes. Your horse needs to be healthy to assist in providing smooth, safe rides to your clients. Riding horses for a child with autism, according to Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation, promotes their sensory receptors for balance, hearing, and vision as well as independent life skills for optimal social functioning.
Structure Or Conformation
If you plan to ride the horse and or perform with it in equestrian sports events, the distribution of the horse's muscles, bones, and weight are critical.
No matter the equine's size or weight, you want it balanced from front to back, all quarters, pasterns, and hooves. Attention to detail can reveal lameness in the horse, but poor conformation isn't grounds for automatic dismissal. The better balanced, the more smooth its movements and gate will be.
Triple Check The Horse's Legs
Are all of its bones adequately placed? Ask questions if something about the stance of the horse seems off. How are the horse's muscles?
Temperament
As you observe the horse pay close attention to what happens when you interact, this will introduce you to traits, ticks, and quirks that don't come up in conversation. Look closely for signs of aggression, compliance, or trauma.
Other questions you can ask:
What has the horse's history been?
Can you provide official vaccination documentation?
Why did you decide to sell?
When did you purchase the horse?
Breaking Down Horse Costs
With a larger budget, you can acquire a quality horse, though you can purchase a horse for a few hundred dollars. A horse-trading business can teach buyers how to negotiate a good sell price and offer lessons to the inexperienced. You can’t know if you’re being swindled if you don’t indeed know the answer to that wise question, “how much does it cost to buy a horse?”.
The cost of the horse is based on its mannerisms, breed, age, colour, health, and performance. A horse in its prime will cost more. You can miss these checkpoints without the practicum. Thus that same horse-trading business owner would benefit from an equine marketing agency guiding its content creation to attract the inexperienced buyer with, e.g., videos of horse examinations to bring down costs or add value at a sale.
“The average sell price for a thoroughbred steed is about $6,900—however, the most expensive racehorse sold for $70 million.” - Horse And Hound
Additionally, when evaluating the cost, consider its maintenance needs. A horse buying calculator can help you assess all of the horse's other requirements.
Caring For A Horse
Horses need daily care. Think about necessities. Food, water, bedding, stable rent, vaccinations, the Coggins tests for road travel, training, grooming such as hoof maintenance, and regular vet visits can come with a hefty tag to the unprepared.
Factor all of this ongoing upkeep into your horse purchase before you buy.
Just like purchasing and caring for a horse requires intentional strategy and hard work, so does your equestrian business, whether you want a personal website for your horse club or to sell horse mannerisms courses.
Our equine marketing agency is tailored to your values whilst leaving nothing to chance. Connect with us, and together we will achieve your marketing goals.
