News: Articles: Buying and Showing Arabian Horses

An Amateur Point of View

A little patience goes a long way when buying and showing Arabian horses
by Russ Vento

The other day I got to thinking about how buying habits have changed in the Arabian industry. We amateurs are the ones buying most of the horses, and we’re buying them for ourselves to ride. We can do it—but we have become the most impatient group of people there is. We buy the horse and we want to ride it and win with it right away. Except in the very short term, and for a select few very talented riders, I can’t see how that is doing any of us, amateurs or horses, any favors.

Years ago, buying a horse and fitting it to an amateur was simple. You bought the horse, and if it was a youngster, it went open before it went amateur. Or in western, it went hackamore, then it went amateur. That kind of rational approach to putting together a good team resulted in horses with long careers in the show ring, and added up to a lot of happy amateurs.

With that in mind, I considered how we amateurs could start winning from the beginning—by being smarter about the way we buy horses. Taking the time to “buy right” is the first step on the road to success.

There are five points to remember when buying a horse.

First, realize your ability and what your goals are

The most important thing to do before purchasing a horse is to sit down with your trainer and discuss what you want to do. State your goal: “I want to be national champion in country, western, hunter (whatever your preference).” If he replies, “Well, you want to be national champion in country, but you are a national champion hunter rider. You need to go out and buy a national champion-caliber hunter horse. You don’t need one in country,” then you need to decide if you are in the right place. You don’t come to a trainer best known for his abilities in English if you want to become a national champion in western. You go to the best western trainer that you can get to and afford. So the first thing that you need to do is to figure out what you want and where you are.

To achieve your goals, you also have to be brutal in analyzing your own abilities. I know I’ve said this before, but I rode for a long time without winning a prize. I wanted to do English and all the tough stuff, but I didn’t win any prizes, and that just trashed my confidence. Ask your trainer or your partner for an honest opinion. He or she might say, “Well, you know, you can’t ride English. You’re wanting to ride a horse that’s wrong for you, and you need a horse that’s right for you. You need a horse that you can hang on the bridle or you can kick a little. Let’s go look at those.” Or “English is too fast for you. Let’s get you something slower, softer, something country or hunter.” When I got those opinions and started aiming myself for the right divisions, I started winning. And then I got over all my insecurities and a lot of my bad habits, and I got better

Question two: Based on what I am capable of doing,what kind of horse do I need?

Do you need a purebred or Half-Arabian? Am I going to hang on to that horse’s face? Am I going to kick or spur? Are my arms strong enough to control the speed? Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Then don’t go buy a horse that is strong in the bridle if you aren’t strong in the arms. Don’t buy a horse that is sensitive-sided if your legs have a lot of movement. This applies whether you’re interested in English, western, hunter, whatever.

At this point you have realized your goals and your strengths; now realize what height of horse you need. So many times, we see a five foot 10 inch girl who wants to ride a purebred Arabian, so she buys a 14-hand horse. It may be the greatest horse in the world, but the picture is wrong. A five-10 rider needs a 15.2-hand purebred. The key to the size of the rider on the horse is the length of the horse’s neck. If you are long- or short-waisted, a neck can hide a lot of size.

It is wise also to give some thought to where a horse needs to be in his training for him to fit in your plans. You don’t have to find a horse that is perfect for you right this minute; I’m a goal-oriented person and I don’t mind buying ahead. Besides, until your trainer spends some time with the horse, you’re not going to be exactly sure where the limits are. When you sign boarding and training agreements, the trainers ask for six months for a training evaluation. I think that’s fair. (Before I was involved in a training barn, I would have said, “Oh, no, we can do it in two months.” Well, it looked like we’d done it in two months! Now that I’m fortunate enough to have a different perspective—I can confirm that it takes six months!)

Remember too that if you are purchasing a young horse, it will take time for your trainer to develop him or her. With very few exceptions, unless you are a professional-level amateur, your trainer needs to be showing your horse. The concept for those classes is that they are baby classes, where a trainer can give a horse experience. When you put an amateur on a horse at that point, the trainer has to work the horse twice as hard. Instead of training the horse, the trainer has to school the horse for the amateur. It is confusing and desensitizing for the horse, as the trainer thinks, “Well, she’s going to bang on his face or jerk on his bozel; maybe I need to use a kimblewick instead of a snaffle, so my amateur can control his face.” The control buttons that the trainer is in the process of installing aren’t there yet, and to put the horse and the amateur together too soon is confusing for both.

Point three: consider your plans in relation to your money

If you are planning on buying a $50,000 horse and have only $15,000 for training, it may be that it is more realistic to split that difference—buy a $30,000 horse and have more money for training. If we just have patience, instead of racing each horse through a minimum program, there is the potential for our horses to be even better and greater.

So part of figuring out which horse is right for you is being realistic about where you spend your money. Too many people think, “Omigod, I can buy a $45,000 horse and put it in training—but gosh, I can only put it in training for four months, and then I can put it in the ring, but I’ll have to sell it at the end of the show season to pay—” My answer to that is, get a grip. That’s way too much pressure.

The whole plan of the game is the important part. If you can find it, buying the horse is the easy part. Putting the whole package together is what takes the time, but it’s what will spell success in the long run.

Point four comes when you have made all those decisions. Now you have to do your research.

That means looking through the magazines and on the websites, calling friends, finding out who’s got the horse to suit your needs. Then there is calling all those people to find our availability—“Are you going to be home on the weekend of the 27 th? I want to come and look at horses.”

Then be open to what you find. You may tell the sellers what you want, but you may actually need what you find. You may say you want a national champion English horse, and when a farm shows you just that, you find that you can’t ride it. But a smart trainer may then put you on a horse that you actually can ride. And you say, “I wasn’t even thinking about that one, but I love riding it!”

If this sounds confusing—considering that if you have followed the steps so far, you should have figured out your abilities in steps one and two—all I’m saying is to remain open to what each individual horse tells you.

Good trainers will show you a horse that meets the criteria you specified, but also lets them evaluate what caliber of rider you are. It will be a horse that is safe and sound, but you can ask it for more or ask it for less. A really knowledgeable horseman will say, “Hey, this girl can ride, let’s get her a little more horse,” or, “This girl is on all she can handle, let’s not get Black-Eyed Joe out of the barn for her.”

If you buy a horse who can be ready for you after your trainer works with it, step back and give your trainer some time. Stay off the horse. Go watch him, pet him, watch your trainer show him. If your trainer thinks it needs six shows, then let him or her have six shows and figure you can ride your horse at the end of whatever length of time you agree on. And get yourself ready to ride your new horse.

We talked in the last article about learning the halter process—how some trainers basically say, “Stand in front of it and I’ll teach it to do the rest,” so that you basically never learn anything. I recommended dragging your broodmares out and teaching them to stand up, just for your own practice. There is no reason in this day and age why you can’t also ride your broodmares or your old geldings.

I always have things I need to work on to get Monrovia or Ames Queen around the ring better. Bob works with them, so I go out and grab my old 15-year-old gelding. If I have to figure out how to balance that second way, or how I can stay stronger at the strong trot, I practice on him. He loves it!

So—you’ve found your horse, you’ve set your goals.

Now comes point five: the vet check.

The trainer gasps. The owner gasps. The vet gasps. The buyer gasps. Omigod, is the horse going to pass? With the technology now, veterinarians will find something on every horse. A lot of what they’re finding comes only because the ultrasound machines and radiographs are so much better now. Those problems may have existed then, but our equipment didn’t pick them up. Or problems that were deal-breaking years ago can now be corrected or managed safely. So that means more work on your part. Find out what will be dangerous or debilitating, and know what you will be able to work with.

Let’s say you’re buying a horse who vets clean everywhere except—let’s say hocks, for example. What is wrong with the hock? Does it have a chip? Arthritis? Is the joint flat? Is it a young horse or an old horse? All the things weigh into the conversation on that problem. Discuss it with your veterinarian. What is the maintenance going to be for this horse? Are there oral medications you can give him, or am will you have to have injections? Know exactly what you are dealing with—don’t brush it off with an “Oh, my trainer said hocks are no big deal.” Educate yourself. Your trainer is looking out for you, but it’s your money and your horse. Get involved.

There are health and soundness issues that you definitely want to stay away from, and that’s where you are going to have to trust your veterinarian and your trainer. But there are issues that are totally manageable. Find out what the management is of those issues and then make the decision if you want to do that. Research is more than talking to your neighbor next door who’s had a horse with that problem, and definitely more than reading a book written 20 years ago. Research is doing all those things. Don’t be in a rush; take your time. Give the sellers a deposit and spend a week finding out everything you can about the problem. They’re going to refund your deposit if they get another offer.

The other thing to remember about prepurchases is that the sellers may not be aware of the seriousness of a particular problem on their horse. Let’s say a club foot, for example. A club foot is a deformity. It is one of the three major faults they tell us about in judging school. A club foot does not necessarily mean that a horse is going to be unsound or that you are going to have to do a lot of maintenance, but your seller may not know that a club foot is an ongoing process that you have to be aware of. It can affect a horse’s movements and range of mobility. Once again, educate yourself. In my opinion, a club foot is a concern; there are different levels of it, and knowing what you are dealing with is key.

I trust my trainer. When he tell me it’s okay and then it’s not okay, whose fault is it? Is it my trainer’s fault because he said it was going to be fine? Or my vet’s, because he said it was going to be fine? No, it’s mine because I didn’t learn enough about it. If you doubt what Veterinarian A tells you, there’s no problem with getting a second opinion. But if Veterinarian B tells you the same thing, you probably don’t need a third opinion.

Okay, let’s say have purchased your new horse and your goals are set. You know what the problems are, or else you have no problems. You’ve gotten your horse home. Don’t stop using common sense now. Your horse is going to need time to adjust—know that and give it to him. Those first few weeks in its new home, your horse is going to be going through a lot of change. It’s no different from your son or daughter going from elementary to high school; they have to learn a whole new program. It’s a different place, with different food, different bridles, different weight on its back. They have to have the time to learn. Maybe where he was before, he had a stall with windows and now he doesn’t. Maybe he was lunged first, but now he’s not. He ate grass hay, but now he’s on alfalfa. Nobody thinks any of those things come into play, but they do. Whether it’s a horse going into a training barn or an amateur taking a horse home for the first time, learning about your horse and/or giving your trainer time to learn about your horse, it’s all the same.

In building your relationship with your new horse, go back to that goal process again. Just take your time. We don’t need Scottsdale or Regionals to be our first horse show. We need to go to smaller horse shows. We need for our horses to learn. As good as that horse may be at home, he’s different at a horse show. You’re tense, you’re uptight; he’s tense, he’s uptight. Go in there and learn. You don’t have to win—just learn. You might think, “I can’t spend that kind of money and go to a little Class A show and lose. My husband will kill me.” Well, honey, you’re not going there to win. You’re going there to learn. There’s the mentality that if you can’t win there, you can’t win at a large show. Not true. It’s just a step.

And enough of those steps, taken with intelligence and patience, add up to blue ribbons and trophies.

Russell Vento Jr. has been involved in the Arabian industry for 25 years, and since 1989 has been a partner in Battaglia Farms. He was honored with the APAHA Amateur Horseman Male Award in 2001. To date, he has owned or shown 30 U.S., Canadian and National Show Horse national champions, and he now enjoys watching his daughter Skyler win on many of the horses with whom he was successful. He has been a Large R USAE/AHA judge since 1996.

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