Look at the teeth to detect age and condition of the horse. Horse newspapers have lots of ads and some advice. There are auctions for horses too; once you find out about them you can get on the mailing list and visit a few before you buy. Classified ads are a very good sources of horses for sale.

When you go to look at a horse to purchase; take along an honest and reputable person to help you with that purchase. A good saddle horse should cost you from $2,500 to $5,000. A trained horse can cost much more but may well be worth the cost. Specialty horses of course -- Arabians and Thoroughbreds for instance can cost more than a nice home or in some cases more than a nice shopping center. You don't always get what you pay for... but you can count on paying for what you get.

Watch for conformation (shape and bodily proportion) in the horse; which can be learned from books and then there is Attitude -- this is the same as for humans. If the horse has a bad attitude it's hardly worth owning at any cost. The horse should be checked perhaps even x-rayed by a Veterinarian. This is called Vetting a horse; done in a pre-purchase exam. This usually costs about $300 to $500. A lot of lameness can't be seen with the eye and will only show up with strenuous training, or during work or competition -- just when you can't afford it. ===
Happy Trails and best wishes to a lot of good horsin' around for all you readers who want horses. Horses can bring out the best and the worst of a person and give you endless hours of pleasure, exercise and frustration. But most horse owners and lovers wouldn't have it any other way.

TALLY HO!

Copyright 2004 by Jody Hudson

www.Kate-Jody.com and www.TheRuralSpecialist.com

numerous other articles at http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html

Email   MrJodyHudson@earthlink.net