If you have ever considered selling or buying a horse, I wanted to share with you a little bit of personal experience. When most people call about an ad it’s good to feel that they have actually read the ad. You will get this sense if they ask questions about whatever isn’t listed in the ad. During my years of buying and selling horses, I was very reasonable about this. When I am interested in buying a horse, I have a lot of questions as well and there are some statements in horse ads that are rather ambiguous.
So I thought I would talk about a few familiar terms you might see in horse ads. There are tons of jokes for what the terms are and what they mean, but I have my own interpretations.
For example, once one of my ads stated “I have a paint mare for sale”. A Paint is the breed, of course. I had no less than three inquiries asking me what breed the horse is.
This was not an auspicious beginning!
I’d listed both mares as green broke. What does that mean?
Well, for some people it means you’ve shown the horse a saddle. For others, it means you’ve saddled them up and swung a leg over their back. For still others, that means you’ve saddled them and done basic walk/trot/canter. All of these definitions, depending on your perspective, are completely true.
My definition of green-broke is easy to explain. I’ve saddled the horse, they understand the commands from the ground, they’ve been ridden at least three to four times and we’re starting trail riding in order to get them more used to the rhythms and vagaries of being a horse under saddle.
Do they still buck?
Occasionally.
Do they still refuse?
Quite possibly.
Are they a little uncertain?
Most definitely!
All right, what about the part where you list they need an experienced rider?
I stated experienced rider because in my experience you do not put a green rider on a green horse. Why? Because it’s an accident waiting to happen! Let’s face it, green broke horses aren’t experienced enough to handle everything they are going to encounter on trails or even in an arena. They need a confident, collected and cool-headed rider to help guide them through these pitfalls. They are going to experience moments where they will staunchly refuse and perhaps even buck, an experienced rider might get hurt under these circumstances. An inexperienced rider definitely would!
So, I’ve covered breed, training and experience. Let’s talk about about temperament. There are lots of different types of horse temperaments. There’s quiet, there’s lively, there’s rambunctious and then there’s firecracker. I tend to like lively, but lean towards quiet. Some people prefer a really hot horse, because it does add to their action and performance. But I don’t want a battle every time I ride. I have enough of that out of my green broke horses.
But to each his own, of course. A sharp, lively horse with good stepping action and a strong spirit is never to be discounted. They will usually give you their all and they can be more than worth a few high strung flaws here and there. But the quiet horse, with good action who doesn’t blow up all that often has these good points, too.
So what am I ultimately saying here? Read the ad. Make your own interpretations about what the horse owner is saying and when in doubt, ask! Because perspective is everything, a horse I might think is too lively may just be what you’re looking for!