How To Buy Show Horses
Finding horses for sale is a large undertaking, as is the purchase and care of the animal itself. To ensure you are happy with the horse and are able to give it a good home, think carefully about a few questions before you even start to look. With something this long-term and expensive, you do not want to make any mistakes. You need to understand exactly what purpose you wish the horse to serve. It is just for fun to ride around your land, or is it for racing, for competitions, or for breeding?
The life expectancy for horses ranges in between twenty-five and thirty years. Some have been noted to live quite long, the oldest being in its fifties. Between three and fifteen years old are when horses are in the best condition for physical activity. Show horses and race horses tend to have shorter careers. Any smart horse buyer would get a guaranteed age of their horse by documented papers and pedigree and by inspecting the animal in person.
Check the teeth for signs of age. No seller could ever hide a horse’s real age from its teeth. The more worn down they are, the more years they have been in use. Hooves may not be as true an indicator of age, but it can give you some idea of the use of the horse, both in its past and future. Cracked hooves or poorly nailed shoes can indicate rough treatment and limit what the horse is physically capable of doing.
If you are going to use it to compete or breed, knowing the age of the horse can help you get it in the correct category. Not just any horse of any age can enter any competition. If it is a male, see if it is gelded. This has an obvious effect on breeding, but can also determine race or competition entries.
Training an animal yourself is very important when it comes to having a good bond between rider and animal. The younger the horse, the easier it will be to make your impression on them and teach them habits you want them learning. Some buy horses young to breed them as much as possible, but you should never breed a horse until it is three years old. If you can wait until it is six, that is even better.
A horse’s skeletal system keeps growing until the age of six, so premature breeding will put a lot of strain on the animal and cause problems with the foal or ruin the grown horse for both physical and breeding purposes. It is also important that nothing take away from this valuable training period. Pregnancy could certainly do that.
Breeding for the sake of making money is often a full-time job that requires a lot of specialized knowledge of horses and their genetics. The goal is to manipulate the genetics through careful breeding to produce horses with certain characteristics, be it strength, speed, color, or long legs for jumping. This is an extremely heavy undertaking that should not be done recreationally, though it can make a great deal of money if you are in possession of a horse with great genetics.
Most people buy horses for their own amusement and to ride in their free time. If you are not entering it in any competitions or races, you can buy just about any horse which suits your fancy. The only thing to make sure you know is the age and temperament of the horse. Not only do you want to have it as long as you can, but you also want to make sure it is not skittish or disobedient. Having its pedigree is not a bad idea, either.
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