Want some words of wisdom based a lifetime of Horse Trading – Here’s what Les has to say about Buying a Horse

Get Professional Advice
First and foremost, if you’re not a professional, get professional advice. Most non-pros are somewhat inexperienced when it comes to the “dos and don’ts” and traditions of horse trading, so choose a professional you trust and who has a good reputation in the industry.

First off, when you begin your adventure with your professional, make a payment agreement. You’re hiring this person to represent and protect your interests, and that’s a good thing. Sometimes pros work for a flat rate – maybe $500 – and sometimes they work on a commission. You’re better off to work on a flat rate because if you pay commission, the more you pay for the horse, the more the professional who is working for you makes, which is to your disadvantage!

Choosing a Professional
Should you recruit your trainer to help you buy a horse? You bet, but it has to be your trainer as far as protocol goes. If you don’t have a trainer, then you just want to find someone that you respect and who has a good reputation.

What to request from the owner/seller
Before you even spend the time to go look at a horse, here’s what you should get from the seller:

• A video or DVD of the horse: It’s nice to have video of him working at home, but for sure get a show video. A horse tends to change a lot in the show pen – some will really get pushy and opinionated. What you see outside the show pen is not necessarily what you’re going to get when you go to show.
• A copy of the horse’s show record: If he is being represented to you as a show horse and he’s a six or seven year old horse with no show record, there’s a reason.  You can verify show records, with most of the organizations (AQHA, NRHA, etc)– or with Equi-Stat, which is a company that keeps records on money won by horses in open shows.
• Veterinarian records: Vet records are important. Make sure you ask if the horse has ever been to a veterinarian? If yes, which one? Where x-rays taken? And if they were, request that those x-rays be available to you to present to your own trusty vet.
• Papers: Request the horse’s papers, or at least his registered name or number (since everything’s online anymore), so you can do your research.

If the owners/sellers of the horse hesitate to give you any of the things in this list, you should run the other way as fast as you can, and don’t look back.

What to ask about the horse
You always want to ask these questions point blank, to both the trainer and the owner; in fact the previous owners too:

• Has this horse ever been lame? The past owners on the horse’s papers should be contacted and asked about any lameness.
• What’s this horse’s temperament?
• How does he show?
• The big question to ask is, “What do I need to know about this horse?” Usually they’ll cough something up for you, and it’s usually not too bad, unless they have a problem with the horse and all of a sudden they hiccup and say “Well he’s a cribber, and he kicks when you haul him, but other then that he’s a really nice horse.” Those are major problems that you wouldn’t have discovered unless you asked.

What if you don’t like the horse?
When you first see the horse, look him over for bumps, scrapes, scars. Look at his tongue. If he’s got crisscrosses, nicks, and scars on it, then he’s been ripped around and there’s something really wrong somewhere. Maybe this horse has big ears or maybe he’s lop-eared, or maybe he’s got one white eye and if that turns you off, discard the horse before you ever get on.  Don’t waste your time or theirs! Say “Thank you very much, but he just isn’t what I’m looking for.” Don’t EVER say anything negative about someone’s horse. It’s the rudest thing you can do.

What if you do like the horse?
If you like the appearance of the horse, then you would be smart to watch the seller or trainer ride the horse first. While he’s riding, video him and the horse. It’s hard to watch and make decisions, so it’s better if you have someone with you to do the videoing.

If you liked him and everything is plus’s – you liked his appearance, you liked the way he went, and you think this seller’s legit – you have to do a test ride. Do you jump on this horse and run and spin and slide and go work a cow fast? No. I think it’s totally rude to go try to burn someone’s horse up.

You’ve already seen that he stops and turns and changes leads and so on. So when you hop on:

• Do the Five Easy Pieces, which is a series of body control exercises that I have perfected. It’s kind of like looking at a speedometer on a car, only it’s on a horse. If he shows the whites of his eyes, pins his ears, or gnashes at the bit and grinds it, pops his tail or switches it, hates life, hates doing these exercises, then it’s a good time to step off right there. You don’t even have to trot the horse -  just get right off.
• Look for the softness in the mouth and the neck and look for body control with no shoulder crossover or activity. In other words, if you ask horse to move his hips at the walk, trot or gallop and sense that he wants to respond with some shoulder intervention on the opposite diagonal (hips to move left), get off right there. Ask the trainer how long he’s been behaving that way. It could indicate that he’s been sore somewhere like in his hocks or stifles. You can’t win with a horse that wants to use his shoulders. You don’t need him. You might as well buy a burro. You’d have more fun.
• See if you get along with the horse. If he doesn’t like you, and you don’t like him, he’s not a horse for you. What you are looking for is willingness, responsiveness, and sensitivity. Is he a dead head? Is he a clod? Is he enough horse for you? Does he have enough get-up-and-go for you when you need him? Or does he have too much get-up-and-go?
  If he’s hot, get off. You don’t want to buy a hot horse. Be sure to ask the trainer if the horse has already been ridden that day. If they galloped him for three hours just to get him ready for your visit, I don’t think you want that horse. If he’s been ridden already, ask if you can return the following morning, first thing, so you can see what he’s like when he’s fresh.
• Have your friend video your test ride too.

Before you buy
Be sure to get a vet check. When you have the horse vet checked, you want to do it with your veterinarian. It’s also a good idea to have x-rays taken. I always x-ray hocks, stifles, ankles, for navicular syndrome and possibly the knees. It all depends on how much you’re going to be spending–the more expensive the horse, the more you should spend on x-rays. If he’s a four-year-old horse, he’s probably not got serious problems yet, but he could be developing them. If he’s a war-horse, he’s seven- to ten-years old, he’s been shown and used pretty much, and he’s never taken a lame step in his life, then he’s probably pretty durable.

The younger horses are harder to determine, but if I pay very much, I have x-rays taken. I’ve seen too many bad decisions, I’ve had too many sore horses, some of them never recovering because they had something that you couldn’t fix. Also, if you were able to get x-rays from the owner, it’s a good idea to have your vet compare the old x-rays with the ones you had taken. 

Negotiating
Don’t show to be an over-anxious buyer. In other words don’t give the seller the idea that “Yeah, I’m gonna buy this horse.”

The reason you don’t want to be anxious is because you might get a deal. Try to act like you can live without him even if your heart is beating fast and you’re in love with the horse. Then, if they are asking a certain price you might get a discount. I would never, if a person wants a certain price for a horse, I would never step up and say, “Ok, I’ll give you what you are asking.” You should politely say, “I like the horse very much, but I am not sure I can afford to pay what you are asking. I have other horses that I am looking at also. What is the very least that you will take for this horse?” If it was $10,000, they might say, “We’ll I’ll take $9,500.” That’s a good time to walk away and there you begin the negotiation. You walk away and say, “I would like the right of first refusal,” which locks you in at that price.

By the way, negotiating price is something you should do, not your trainer/professional. It’s your money and you need to do the negotiating. In my opinion, I think you’ll do it better if you do it right.

If you ask for the right of first refusal, you have the first choice. If he comes up with another buyer at $10,000 or $12,000 or $15,000, he is ethically committed to you, to call you and say, “Look, I’ve got a buyer for the same price or more than you are willing to spend. Are you going to step up to the plate and buy this horse or not?” You have to make your commitment then or loose your right of first refusal.”

My advice
Buy the best horse you can afford. I’m not saying go buy a $100,000 or $200,000 horse, but even if you cannot afford it, if you really like the horse, borrow the money to get what you want. If you buy low, bottom feeders are what you get. You’re buying someone else’s problems.  If you borrow the money to buy the horse of your dreams, and you are making a payment each month, trust me, trust me, trust me, you’ll be making the payment willingly. The sacrifices you make to make that payment are made with a smile ‘cuz that horse will make you smile. He’ll deliver the emotion, the sensation, all of the wonderful, wonderful feelings a good horse can give you.

It costs the same to feed that good horse as it does a mediocre horse. If you get the good horse, then you write the check each month with a smile on your face. Your destiny is totally decided or determined when you say “Yes, I will take that horse.” So buy the good one!