How to Buy a Horse

Series Summary

Man has enjoyed a unique relationship with the horses on this planet for many years. Horses have carried us into battle, brave and without fear. They’ve helped us travel over long stretches of terrain. In some parts of the world they still pull our farmer’s plows and carry our loads. They’ve been indispensable in herding and driving our cattle. And the police have mounted horse patrols for crowd control situations in urban environments. No question, horses have proven to be well-suited for human life, expressing qualities of loyalty and bravery, responding to commands, and usually having a calm, docile demeanor. Owning and caring for a horse or horses takes a large commitment. In this free video series, our expert will show you how to groom and care for a horse. Learn great tips for buying a healthy horse, grooming the horse's head, body and tail, and care for horse hooves. You will also learn about horse care equipment, what and how to feed a horse, how to ride a horse, and how to exercise horses. If you are new to owning horses or need to brush up on your horse care skills, let our expert teach you everything you need to know in this free pet care video series.

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Sharon with Goldenrod Performance Horses. We are going to talk about buying your horse and what to look for. First we are going to look for a horse that is balanced. You want a horse that is even from their head to their neck, their neck to their haunches and with good strong legs and a good mind and good movement; that there is nothing wrong in the movement as far as being lame or short strided. You want to look for a horse with a good clean eye and intelligent look for them, their ears are forward. You don't want them to be looking down all the time or lazy looking thinking that there might be something wrong with that horse's attitude or with their health. You also want to look for a horse that is not extra flighty so that they are trainable but not too flighty that they are so excitable that they won't listen to you. You also want to look for a horse with good sound hoofs so that you know as far as you are going to travel with him, that those hoofs are going to hold together. In general, you want to look for a younger horse. If you are a new person in the horse business, you want to look for an older horse that knows more than you do so that the horse teaches you more about having that horse. If you are looking to start raising horses and you are looking for a brood mare, you certainly want to know her background. In a brood mare, you want to have good confirmation and so there is no crooked legs or anything that might be thrown into her colts. So that when you find a good stallion, you have a good fold. If you are looking for good stallion material, then you want to look for that very perfect horse in good mind and body that has excellent confirmation because the stallions are the perfect horse that should be allowed to reproduce. So as we go forward, we want you to look for a horse that is in color. Some horses are a different color and some horses are large, some are heavy and some are light. So you need to look for the different breeds. Do you want an Arab? Do you want a Morgan? Do you want a quarter horse or a warm blood depending on where you are going with the horse and what you are looking for or just a good sound horse that is wonderful on the trails. So as you go forward, be sure to consult your friends, trainers or somebody that knows about horses so that you will find the right horse at the right price. "