Horse of My Dreams Blog

With new horse auctions popping up seemingly almost daily, we get asked often for advice on whether it’s safe and legitimate. There are really two separate issues we’re dealing with in the horse industry. One category is actual scams where there isn’t a real horse involved; the category we’re focusing on here is real auctions with real horses. We put together this short guide and list of tips to help protect you and enable you to make a more informed decision. 1. Vet The Horse Ahead Of Time Most auctions are very clear about the lack of any substantial guarantees. They basically will only guarantee that a horse will have vision in both eyes, will not crib, and will be sound for 24-72 hours, depending on the auction. This can be costly, especially if you’re looking at more than one horse, not knowing if you will be the ultimate buyer, but it’s much better than spending $20-200,000 on a lame horse. If x-rays are provided, make sure they have the horse's registered name on them. While most vets are honest, it doesn’t prevent an unscrupulous seller from using a barn name and switching the x-rays with another horse. 2. Attend The Sale In Person You are much more likely to know if a horse is legitimately being represented honestly, and the seller is someone you can trust if you talk to them personally. Since you have little recourse after getting…

Here are some tips for riding your new horse or pony for the first time. Although you have the benefit of seeing your new horse on video and our insight on how it will ride, it's still prudent to be cautious and proceed slowly while getting to know your new horse. They have personalities and minds of their own and you need to get to know them while at the same time establishing yourself as the leader. This is basically an outline of how we ride new horses that arrive on our farm for the first time. 1. After you have followed our tips on Acclimating Your New Horse, it's time to get ready to ride for the first time. We always start by having a Join Up session in the round-pen. There is a video of this process on our website. It really sets the tone for your relationship and establishes you as the leader. 2. At this point, we would normally go back to the barn, put the horse in cross ties, and tack him up before going back to the round pen. We generally will then free lunge the horse again briefly in a walk, trot, and canter since it's the first time it will be ridden in this saddle. This ensures that you don't have any fit, pinching, or soreness issues that could affect the ride. One of the important reasons for riding your new horse…

These tips are based on our extensive knowledge and experience in bringing all different types, ages and breeds of “new additions” home for the first time. We ask that all customers thoroughly read this page which we created to help you help your new addition to settle in.The first and cardinal rule with horses to remember is that they are, of course, horses! What this means is that they have a personality, a functioning brain, and a body system that is similar in many ways to ours. Remember your first day of school? Some kids were lucky enough to feel right at home, but others were quite devastated. You’d been many places away from home already – to the park, the store, your relatives’ – but each time you were with people you knew, loved, and trusted. School is the first real test you have at being on your own. And, lucky for you, after the first dreadful day of school, you get to go back home to the same people you know, love, and trust. You can draw parallel lines between these situations and the ones we put our horses through. Going to horse shows, trail rides, and moving to a new barn presents the horse with a new situation to deal with, but he is with the same people he knows from his regular environment. When a horse is sold, it is like your first day of school, without…