Attitude is everything when buying a horse

As the old saying goes, “Green on green equals black and blue.”

In general, it’s a good idea to consider an older, more experienced horse for your first. Sky was twelve years old when we bought her (even though the ad accidentally said she was ten), and everyone told us it was a good age. Usually by that time a horse has settled down from their crazier years and has been exposed to more.

Which isn’t to say you can’t buy a younger horse and end up with a great partner. But make sure you either know what you’re doing or have someone who can help you. 

The number one characteristic to look for in a horse is heart. Yes, heart. You can train a horse to do just about anything, but you can’t train its personality. (That’s not to say that kindness won’t go a long way to reforming a horse who has been mistreated.) How can you spot a good heart? Look at their eyes. Many suggest looking for a “soft” eye, but that’s sometimes hard to quantify.

Kate Bradley’s Western Horseman magazine article describes the soft eye as an Elsie the Cow type of eye: round, open and kind with few worry wrinkles.

In the same article, horseman Lester Buckley says, “Horses’ eyes are built pretty much the same, except the pigmentation varies. It is the tissue around the eye that expresses the emotions, like the frame on a picture. The bridge of the [horse’s] nose and the tissue around the eye are indicators of its attitude and the refinement in the horse’s bloodline; therefore, they indicate what kind of leader or rider the horse needs.”

Look for heart, willingness to try, and a gentle personality. The first time we met Sky she willingly approached us. She allowed us to groom her without fuss, pick her hooves, and feed her an entire bag of carrots!

Horses are born prey animals, so they will often run or shy from things that are new. But they also have an inborn curiosity gene unlike any other. They can’t resist checking out that strange lawnmower in their field, but they might run away from it the second it roars! That said, some nervousness is normal for a horse, especially when moving to a new barn or changing owners. But you’ll recognize heart when you see it.