Looking for a horse -- the hunt has begun!

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

I finally have an empty stall in my barn and enough money to buy a decent
horse, so.....the hunt has begun!  I've looked at a couple of horses so far
(in person), read a boatload of ads, and looked at a lot of pictures.
Since my needs are pretty specific, I want to make sure that I get the best
horse possible for my buck (how unusual, huh! ;-))  I would prefer to find
the horse in the PNW to lessen transportation fees...and since there are a
lot of good horses in this area.  I will, however, consider hauling a
greater distance if the horse is worth it.

Here's what I'm looking for:

Arabian or Arab-cross gelding (will consider mare with good temperament),
5+ years old, tall enough and stout enough to carry someone who vacillates
between heavy middleweight and light heavyweight (I have very heavy saddles
<bg>), good bone and conformation (!!)...ie, bred to do endurance, and all
the rest that goes with a horse that, with proper training, could someday
top-ten in 100s and do the Tevis (low resting pulse rate, short, stout
cannon bones, long reaching strides, smooth gaits, etc..)  

Since I teach lower levels classical dressage, s/he also needs to have the
right stuff to be a good dressage and schooling horse...able to collect and
extend, do lateral work, built with a naturally good topline and so on AND
be okay with other people riding during a lesson.  I don't care for the
showing part of dressage myself but I *really* like the training part.  I
will probably have students who will want to attend schooling shows in the
future for an intro the show world of dressage...(another reason for the
horse to be an acceptable larger size without being too big and possible
sacrificing soundness in endurance.)  

When I go out into the hills to ride, I almost always take a student or
two...so the horse would need to be tractable, sensible, not spooky, okay
to be in the lead, and enjoy his work.

I definitely want a horse that's started but I'm okay with a sane, green
one since I can teach him dressage basics and trail.  I would prefer one
with a dressage background, if possible.  I also want one that has a big
"self-preservation" instinct (ie eat, drink, and pee without problems)
since I usually have people with me when we're on training rides that have
questions or need supervision (especially if they're on one of my horses!
;-))  S/he should be okay with strangers...adults and kids, altho I always
try to match up student abilities to the right horse.

Please email me directly since I'm a couple of days behind in my digests.
Thanks a bunch!

Sue 
sbrown@wamedes.com




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