06/20/2024
To replace a good horse!
The best horses are built over years of hauling, hard work, tough times, good times, bad times, big spooks, little spooks, their mistakes, our mistakes and continual love and care.
No, your breaker can not turn your young prospect into your old faithful in 30, 60, 90, or even 365 days. It takes years.
Iâm plagued with the problem of trying to impress on people how long it truly takes to build that dream partner. Thereâs not a smooth paved path. Your green horse will embarrass you, frustrate you, and maybe even hurt you. For some of you, buying a $20,000-$30,000 horse is going to be worth it and SAVE you money. Even that more finished horse will take a year or more to sync up with.
Cheap rate for horse training is $1,000 a month.
1 year of training: $12,000
2 years of training: $24,000
Many of you wonât believe this but your dream horse is on the other side of two years of training. In reality, itâs likely around two years of training and two years of seasoning (hauling them to town). Will that horse still make mistakes? Yes, they all make mistakes until the day they die. But that horses mistakes probably wonât put you in serious danger and that horse will probably pack your grandkids around.
If youâre trying to decide between a $3,500 prospect or a $15,000 proven horse. My advice is to do an internal inventory and figure out what you want. Buying that prospect is like the first roll on the Jumanji board. Youâre entered up, get ready for a journey of ups and downs (possibly quite literally!) If youâre buying that finished horse decide what you really want, get ready for a lot of shopping and painfully overpriced shđ©tters. Take a friend or a trainer on this journey with you and try to double your budget (thatâs right, 30k). Be smart and buy something OVER 8 years old. Donât buy that pretty 5 year old they only want 20k for. He isnât old enough to be proven for you. Lots of horse traders are trying to flip horses, anything under 8 is likely twice as green as he looks in the video. Maturity, both mental and physical will be key when looking for a safe horse.
If you want a project and a challenge Iâm not hating, thatâs what I want in a horse too, so I buy young ones. If you need a safe one, bring lots of money and quit thinking you need a 6 year old. You probably donât have what it takes to mentally support that 6 year old through new situations.
The biggest reason I bring this up is because as folks retire their old faithful they are so far removed from when that horse was green and did dumb stuff. They forgot how tough those two years were back when he was 4-6. They only remember the amazing horse he was when he matured. The 3 year old they just bought is YEARS from filling that horses shoes when it comes to training level and safety level. I see people hate on trainers because the trainer couldnât make their young horse, âfinishedâ in 90 days. Itâs honestly the biggest reason I like taking colts for 30 or 60 days. The expectation is shockingly lower than when I take one for 90 days. Itâs weird what people expect from a 90 day start. Most people should commit to sending their young horse out for a full year. Two years would be even better.
Green horses do green horse things, donât blame others for the challenge you bought yourself. Accept the challenge or pay the price for one further along. No matter which path you choose with horses, itâs going to cost you.
(I didnât write this one Iâm not sure who did, however every word of it rings true)
Edit, author Craig Moore
