Your Horse Purchase Guide – Questions #4, 5, 6.
Question #4.
Registration and breeding are important factors that affect the value of the horse. If the horse is not registered, then it is usually considered a “Grade” horse even if the owner thinks or believes it to be a specific breed or crossbreed. A registered horse is sold with a piece of paper that documents the registration. The information on the registration should verify that the horse you are buying is the horse described on the registration certificate. The registration number can be used to verify show and point information that the owner discusses with you. Some breeds, i.e. Irish Draughts and Swedish Warmbloods etc., can be registered and inspected. These horses are evaluated and scored. Inspected horses with good to excellent scores are generally more valuable than those that are not inspected.
A grade horse generally sells for substantially less than a registered horse, unless it has some special talent or a proven performance record.
Always ask the owner if s/he has the registration papers.
If you are satisfied with the information to this point you may continue.
Question #5.
How many people previously owned this horse? What you are trying to determine is: if there is a reason to suspect this is a problem horse. If this horse had a behavior problem or a recurring health problem, then previous owners may have turned him over.
The horse sounded good until you asked this question but, now the owner has told you that this 5 year old horse has had 4 owners and you could be #5. This should be a yellow caution sign that may signal future problems. If a used car was bought and sold 4 times in 5 years you know you have to be suspicious about the car. The same is true for this horse. You may not rule him out but we have to be careful. Why was this horse sold so many times? Depending on the answer, you may decide to end the call and begin the process again on the next horse. Or, there may be a reasonable answer that the current owner may provide.
Question #6.
Why is s/he selling the horse? Acceptable answers include: Financial problems, divorce, I’m a breeder, and many others. Unacceptable answers include we’re moving, this horse has this or that wrong with him, my husband/daughter can’t handle the horse etc. (unless you have the training or experience to handle this type of problem). There are many reasons people sell their horses that are acceptable. This is another question that helps you build your knowledge about this particular horse. Later, when you compare all the answers on this horse with all the information you’ve accumulated on the other horses you’re interested in, you will be better able to make a knowledgeable versus an emotional decision whether or not to proceed to the next step in the buying process.
Here’s a quick horse purchase story:
Buying a horse can be quite an experience, be it your first, second or fifth. I remember my first horse purchase. I thought that I got the horse cheap. He was a 7 yr. old, 15.2 H.H. AQHA that cost $2,000. Only 2 grand,“ how bad is that? I can’t lose, I thought. Several months later I discovered that the horse had navicular disease and over the course of that first year of ownership I invested another $3,000 in vet bills and special shoes etc. My $2,000 cheap horse was now a moderately priced severely lame horse that couldn’t be ridden. To ride a horse I had to go out and buy horse #2 at a cost of $3,500. If you do the math the same way I do, that first horse really cost me $8,500. If only I had known. But you don’t have to make the same mistake.
As we help you develop this guide, we expect to put you in a position to avoid making this kind of mistake.
