Re: purchasing an endurance horse(long)

[Teddy Lancaster <Teddy@runningbear.com>]

I bred a few for myself and love 'em all.  But, I find I cannot ride them
all or even find time to train them they way I would like.  So, I am
offering them for sale. I am NO big-time breeder, but have more than 25
years of riding and raising horses (at least a dozen) and I bred them for
ME, not with the intention of selling.  I am just as picky about the home
they get as the buyer is about getting a good horse.  Hence, take the horse
home even 90 days!!!!  Insure him, try him out, have him vetted, GET TO KNOW
HIM.  If you don't like him, I am NOT a looser.  1.) I would not let anyone
lease him without knwoing them or egtting references, 2.)  The horse at
least gets USED.

As far as pedigrees go, we all have our preferences.  I have seen supposedly
TOP bloodlines (in someone's opinion) have the WORST conformation.  A horse
is worth what a buyer is willing to give a seller and visa versa. You have
to weigh the pro's and con's of every horse...no a one out there is perfect
and there are NO guarantees.

Anyone interested, go to: http://runningbear.com/NEWCAT/HORSES

Teddy

David Freed wrote:

> A few of you may remember when I was in the middle of my quest for an
> endurance horse just over a year ago.   An experienced friend traveled
> with me and my family and we searched for 6 - 8 months and looked at
> everything under $10,000 here in California.  (Okay, there were a few we
> missed....)  You haven't experienced disgust until you've driven 500
> miles to look at a horse or prospect that has been advertised for
> $10,000, well broke, excellent conformation (and viewed the videos)
> only to find off-set cannons, never been out of an enclosed
> arena....etc....
>
> We also found a couple of rescues waiting to happen.  A lovely older
> couple (70s+) with more than 100 horses, all well fed at this time) and
> only two broke.......   We actually liked one of the mares and discussed
> a price of $3500 ..the man cursed at us (you g-- d--- endurance
> riders...always looking for a bargain...)   Apparently he had been
> involved with straight egyptians since the 60s and 70s and had seen the
> prices go by in te tens of thousands.   I can just imagine the auction
> that will take place when these folks pass on....
>
> A second where, again, there were more than 100 well-brd animals.  The
> one in particular we went to see had 60 days under saddle.When we got
> there we also saw that she had a seriously twisted knee.  The rest were
> in over-grazed pasture and no hay in sight.  I could count vertbrae on
> the majority.  I called the SPCA on that place and they told me they
> couldn't  anything unless THEY could see the animals from the road......
> A year later,  I heard several of these horses that had finally been
> sold  2000 - 9000 below asking price, whole saled out for a few hundred
> dollars a piece..  The one I saw in person was underweight and uncared
> for.  These folks had been breeding racing lines, and they too were out
> to make a fortune.
>
> I talked to people on this list with horses for sale but , as I can well
> understand,  many wanted top competitors to buy their animals and that's
> not me.  This is my hobby. I hope to do 5-7 rides a year.  I finally
> returned to a green CMK mare, one of the first horses I had looked at a
> year ago last October and picked her up for under 2000 after a month's
> trial.
>
> We would have paid more for a well-broke translate "safer" horse - if we
> could have found one.  Arabs are overbred and undertrained.  I wonder if
> it is the same in other breeds?   I also think there are way too many
> stallions around.   It's a little sad to see all the "back-yard"
> stallions that have done nothing to prove themselves .
>
> Individuals really need to examine what their goals really are.  Some
> day I will have to decide whether to breed my mare or find another that
> someone else has already bred.  I don't think us "laymen" make money on
> hobbies, as a rule.  You have to be doing it for other reasons.
>
> If you have well-broke, sound and well-conformed horses,  I think you
> will find people willing to pay.   I also think a thrity-day trial is a
> great incentive for someone to take a second look at an animal.  It may
> kjust be california (we drove 6000 miles looking at horses and found
> that most folks don't know what straight legs are or a horse that is
> broke.  I'd love to see a count of Arabs that haven't been out of their
> paddocks in months or years....its disheartening....
>
> sorry for sounding off so long....I may be looking for a back-up one of
> these days.....jan