Where to Buy a Horse

Private Vendors - Most people sell their horses privately. They will put adverts in horse magazines, in newspapers, at tack and feed shops and at riding stables. If you are looking through a horse magazine (for example) and an advert for a horse that should suit you catches your eye, contact the owner of the horse and arrange a day for you to go and test the horse.
This may sound simple, however, people often will only write about the good characteristics of their horse that they have for sale, leaving out all his or her problems. You may read about a perfect, well-schooled, Dressage horse and go there to find that the horse does not load in a horsebox. Never buy a horse without going to see it yourself.

Dealers - Dealers generally can be very helpful when you are looking around for a horse to buy. They have reputation to uphold, so they will more than likely not sell you a bad horse. Your riding stable can put you in contact with a dealer, or you may see one advertising inside a horse magazine. Dealers are great for buying horses because they generally will have several horses for you to choose from, and they will give you plenty of time to handle and ride the horses for sale. Some dealers may even let you take the horse home of several days to try it out before you buy it.

Auctions - If you are buying your first horse, you would be well advised to not buy a horse from an auction. At auctions you cannot ride or handle any of the horses for sale. If you are lucky you may be allowed to look at the horses for sale before the auction starts, but that will hardly give you any idea of whether the horse will be right for you. Buying from auctions takes an experienced eye and lots of attention to detail. If you are experienced enough, you can try to get a horse from the auctions. Who knows – maybe you’ll end up with the right horse?!

Breeders - There are thousands of horse stud farms which breed and train horses of all sorts. They may keep several of their horses, but the majority of them are sold at about three or so years-of-age, maybe even younger. If you have the experience train a horse yourself or money to hire a horse trainer, you may want to consider buying a horse from a breeder. There will be more horses to choose from and more horses suited to your sort of riding, depending on the stud farm you go to.

To see more pages to do with buying horses, click on these links: Buying a Horse, You and Your Horse and Trying a Horse