Horse question?

Question

Right now, I do eventing on my TB gelding. I love it, but he is getting older (15 next year). So I'm kind of looking at getting a new horse. (I have also done reining, barrel racing, hunter o/f, dressage, showmanship & english pleasure)
First of all, I'd probably get a horse 2-4 yrs old, thats pretty much green broke.
The thing is, I'm not sure what discipline I really want to do. I love eventing but it's kind of expensive and there aren't a whole lot of oppurtunies within 6 hours of where I live. If I did want to keep doing that, I'd probably get another off the track TB.
I also like huntseat and showmanship, and there are a lot of those shows in my area. They are less pricey, too. If I did that, I'd either want a Quarter Horse or Paint with a lot of Appendix-Thoroughbred breeding.
What I'm kind of leaning towards is getting an Appendix type horse and doing hunter/over fences/english pleasure classes at breed shows.

Anyone kind of in this situation before? :-P

Answer 1

A Hanoverian is an excellent choice for eventing and dressage. That's what I have. I used to have a QB, he was GREAT! But for dressage, which is what I do now, my warm blood is wonderful. I used to event, but I've given up jumping.

It's hard when your horses get older. You should stop jumping him at 14-15. A QB/TB mix is good. I'd look for something with German warmblood, TB's are so overbred it's hard to find one without problems.

Good luck and happy Jumping! It is a BLAST!

Answer 2

Yah, when I was looking for my horse. I am in 4-H but I didn't know what event I wanted to get serious in. And I was a beginner rider. So I really was looking at some pricey horses. I really wanted to get into jumping, but there really aren't that many shows within a reasonable driving distance. And I had never been above a trot. So I posted some wanted ads online everywhere and I ended getting called. A woman came to look at the horse that I was called about 4 times. She came once byherself once with a vet and once with a fairier. And then she came a final time by herself. She couldn't decide if she wanted to buy her or not. So I had Weaver (the horse) put on hold for me. Witch meant she couldn't sell her. I came down that sunday, and bought her sight unseen and everything. The lady had wanted to come a final time and make her decision, but she was told unless I didn't show up the horse was sold. I ended up traveling 9 hours there and back to get a 400 dollar, barrel racing beginner horse that was trained for western, english, and jumping. Although we had to hire a trailer it was worth it.
Now I'm going to show next year in a walk trot class, and train for jumping. Now 2 months after I got her I am now an intermediate rider, jumping and a speed demon!!
I found acmehorse.com a really good and helpful site.
Good luck.
I would go with the hunt seat.

Answer 3

If you truly would like to do the breed shows and Hunter Under Saddle (HUS) and Showmanship than I would definitely go for a Quarter Horse or an Appendix Quarter Horse. Many of the judges in my area are very partial to these at the open shows and there are also a lot of breed specific shows you can also participate in. If you get a TB or Warmblood then you are limiting yourself to non breed specific shows, and, depending on where you live, limiting your opportunities. I have a TB, who I raised from a foal, and as much as I love him, I do get sad to see the others go to the breed shows that I can't go to. Even at our local shows, I have taught my horse to carry his head low and to stride out so that he looks more like what they want in the QH. Don't limit yourself though. You can also find a nice QH/Appendix that can also do eventing or stadium jumping. Good Luck.

Answer 4

I think you should still ride your horse that you have now until something happens to him like an injury. There is nothing wrong with riding him. Don't be afraid. Just don't give him more than a 3 hour workout at a time. Some friends of ours had a horse that lived to be over 33 years old. We rode him up until like 32. But we didn't do a lot of stuff on him. Just like trail riding. If you really want to know whether you should retire your horse, ask your veterinarian. Ask them if you're giving him too much of a workout or not.

Answer 5

ok for a throughbred 15 is old but not to old he has about 5-10 yrs left. my throughbred is 23 years old. horses live to 25-30 years old. my quarter horse is 32. try going to
www.equine.com
to find horses. good luck and keep in touch

Answer 6

IF YOUR LOOKING FOR HORSES GO TO:
www.horsetopia.com

Answer 7

err no