Buying a horse is a significant investment. Not only is there the cost upfront of buy-in the horse itself, but the ongoing boarding, feeding, and caring for a horse only adds to the overall price tag. To that end, you want to do a significant amount of research before investing in a horse, not just in regards to the purchase of the horse itself but also in terms of the long-term planning for caring for the horse. Here are three steps to buying a horse.
Identify what matters most for your needs
The type of horse you will want to buy will depend largely on what you plan to do with the horse. If you are buying a horse for breeding, you may not care as much about its temperament, but if you are buying a horse you want to ride, its temperament will matter a great deal. If you are an experienced rider, you might prefer a steed with a bit more fire in its belly, but if you are just learning, you probably want to ride with a much more gentle temperament. In addition, you want to choose a breed that is of a size you can manage.
Shop in person
While these days you can even buy a horse online, you want to always try and personally interact with any horse you might be interested in. A horse is not a piece of machinery, so each horse will always be very different from another, even if they are the same breed. Although there will certainly be similarities between horses of a specific breed, there will always be vast differences as well. This is why it is so important to interact with a horse before purchasing personally.
Plan for their care
Before you purchase a horse, you need to ensure you have a place to board it and plans in place to provide for its care. Even if you have space available to board it at your own home, you want to ensure that you have someone or a few people on the call that can provide care for your horse while you are on vacation or if you are called away for any reason.