Questions (For answers, scroll down or click on question)

I am a total layman who wants to purchase a horse for my 9 year old daughter, can you give me some tips?

We would like to lease a horse for our 12 year old daughter who jumps.  What should we know about leasing?  Fees?   Things to look for?  Is it better to lease or buy a horse?

My family is in the process of buying a horse property. None of us have ever owned a horse.  We're going to do a lot of homework before we buy a horse, but I have one important question first.  What, if any, breed of horse would be capable of comfortably supporting a rider (a new rider, at that) who weighs over 300 pounds?

Note: See also Equerry's "First Time Horse Owner" section.

Questions and Answers

Q: I am a total layman who wants to purchase a horse for my 9 year old daughter, can you give me some tips?

A: [Jill] First, it is important for you to be a critical consumer. There are many people in the horse industry that will be happy to make money and sell you an unsuitable horse. To avoid this it is wise to have a trusted professional check the horse for you before you make the purchase. Second, the important factors in considering a horse for a 9 year old:

1) Kind tempermant and good manners, whether mounted or unmounted;
2) 6 years old or older, with positive training experiences (it can walk, trot and canter easily with its ears up), this you want to see before you put your daughter on the horse to begin with.;
3) Sound, passes a basic vet. prepurchase exam;
4) Is a suitable size for now and has some growth (children get attached to their horses and so you want them to last a reasonable amount of time) -- but too large is not good.

There are good horses in every breed. Size and tempermant would be in a quarter horse, connemara, or some cross of any variety of breeds. Cross bred horses often have good tempermants.

A very good book to read before you begin is Jessica Jahiel's book: Riding for the Rest of Us

Please feel free to ask more questions. Hope this helps by providing a good starting point.  

Q: We would like to lease a horse for our 12 year old daughter who jumps.  What should we know about leasing?  Fees?   Things to look for?  Is it better to lease or buy a horse?

A: [Jessica] My advice is this: first, don't be in a hurry. Even if you know that you're going to buy a horse eventually, don't start shopping just yet. It's a very good idea to take lessons first, and I suggest that you plan on at least six
months or a year of lessons before you begin looking for a horse to buy or lease. During this time, you'll learn more than just how to ride. You'll learn other things that you'll need to know whether you lease or buy: about
horse care, nutrition, grooming, shoeing, routine veterinary care, exercise and conditioning, etc. The more you know before you have your own horse to look after, the happier --and safer -- you both will be! And the longer you take lessons and the more you learn before you get a horse, the more likely you will be to get the RIGHT horse for you.

Take lessons -- as many as you can, with the best instructor you can find -- and read a lot. It's the best possible preparation for horse ownership. If your daughter has a good instructor, encourage her to take as many lessons as possible and learn as much as she can. This, after all, is the person you'll be working with once you have your horse, and this is also the person who, together with a good equine vet (and your instructor will know one), will help you find the right horse to lease or buy.

The more the instructor knows about your daughter, her riding, her physical ability, her style of learning, and her personality, and the more your daughter (and you!)learn about horses and riding, the better your chances of
finding exactly the right horse to lease, and eventually the right horse to buy.

While you're taking lessons and reading, look around to find a good boarding stable -- even if you plan to keep the horse at your own place, you'll probably want to keep your horse at a boarding stable for a few months, until you feel very secure handling his routine care, and until you can make your own arrangements with the farrier, etc. It will also give you time to learn what sort of stalls, fences, aisles, etc. are safe for horses, and time to get your own place ready. And you may find that you prefer to board him -- unless you are at home all day, it's often more practical to board a horse out than to keep him at home, where you have to worry about property maintenance, manure disposal, and so on.

Probably the most useful books for you to begin with are the first two volumes of the United States Pony Clubs (USPC) Manual of Horsemanship. The USPC is an educational organization that teaches riding and all aspects of horse-care, and these new manuals are wonderful. Begin with volume I, and then move on to volume II -- they're well-illustrated and easy to read, and very, very comprehensive. They tell you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and why to do it! The author is Susan Harris, and any bookstore or tack shop should be able to order these for you. I was one of the editors, so I know exactly how good these books are. ;-)

Leasing has certain advantages over purchasing -- you haven't made a permanent committment to that horse, and if it doesn't work out, you can return it to its owner, which is, financially and emotionally, quite a different matter to SELLING a horse that doesn't work out. It's also a great way to find out whether you're really ready to own a horse -- if the time and effort and financial obligations of a lease are too overwhelming, then owning a horse should be out of the question, but you might find that a half-lease could suit your needs admirably. If your daughter is growing, you might not want to commit to a horse that seems ideal NOW but may not be in September if your child has a massive growth spurt over the summer.

When you feel that you're ready to lease a horse, talk to your instructor. Better yet, talk to your instructor NOW, and ask her to tell you when she thinks you're ready to lease a horse, and ask her to keep an eye out for a
suitable horse for you to lease. Then, when the time comes, she can help you hammer out the terms of the lease agreement.

There are as many leases as there are horses and owners -- and as many terms of leasing. Some horses can be leased just for the cost of their upkeep -- board, farrier, and routine vet care. Others will cost money on top of those costs. Some horses can be leased but not taken to shows -- some can't be taken off the property. These are all matters that you'l have to discuss in detail with the horse's owner. I'll give you two pieces of advice about
leasing. The first: get a copy of Sue Ellen Marder's book, LEGAL FORMS, CONTRACTS AND ADVICE FOR HORSE-OWNERS, or a copy of Gary Katz's book, THE EQUINE LEGAL HANDBOOK. Both have copies of sample leases that you can use as a starting point. My second piece of advice: list every single thing you can
THINK of to do with leasing a horse, and write it all into the lease: name of farrier, types of supplements, length of bridle path...The more things you have in writing, the fewer causes for argument there will be.

When it's time to have a horse evaluated, for lease or for purchase, use YOUR vet or your instructor's vet, not the horse's regular vet. Some horses have incredibly horrible-looking x-rays, but keep going and going like the
Energizer Bunny, with no drugs... others have x-rays that look clean and lovely, but are lame! You need a good vet who can interpret what he sees.  When you DO get that vet-check, tell the vet exactly what you plan to do
with this horse, not just this year, but next year and the year after. In other words, if you're just planning to do basic flatwork for a year, but then you want to learn to jump and start eventing, TELL the vet so that he'll have a better idea of whether this horse will be able to do what you want him to, today, tomorrow, and two years from now. If you have a daughter who is jumping 3' and hopes to be jumping 3'6" courses soon, and competing
heavily all season, then you won't want to lease or buy a horse that is happy over a 3' course and can just manage the occasional single 3'6" jump. Prepurchase exams aren't cheap, but they're absolutely necessary. And no matter what they cost, they're a LOT cheaper than buying the wrong horse and paying for medicine and board while you try to figure out just what to do with it.   

Q: My family is in the process of buying a horse property. None of us have ever owned a horse.  We're going to do a lot of homework before we buy a horse, but I have one important question first.  What, if any, breed of horse would be capable of comfortably supporting a rider (a new rider, at that) who weighs over 300 pounds?

A: You are wise to wait until you've done a lot of homework before you start keeping horses on your property!

As for the rider's weight, I don't want to be too discouraging, but as you rightly surmise, there are some entirely practical considerations involved here. You're obviously thinking about all the right things -- "comfortably" is the key word here, and 300 pounds is an immense amount of weight for a horse to carry, even briefly. Horses are not truly designed to carry weight, although they are very well designed to pull it. ;-)   Some breeds, and some conformational types (short back, short legs, deep body, wide chest, strong hindquarters), are better able to carry heavier riders, but to carry this much weight you would need to find a horse that is bred and built to carry weight. Some old-style Quarter Horses could probably manage it for short periods; a sturdy cob or a compact, broad-backed Irish Draught might be the best choice. But this much weight would still present a problem for most horses, and you would have to be certain that the horse was conditioned, well-muscled, strong, experienced, and calm. You would also have to be absolutely certain that his tack fits perfectly, and you would
need to maintain the horse in that condition and be certain that the saddle continued to fit.

Many riding stables and dude ranches have and enforce a rider weight limit (generally 220 pounds). Even though a well-run dude ranch does cater to many different riders including first-timers, and even though the horses are experienced, sturdy and fit, the tack is usually Western, and the rides are of limited duration, supervised, and take place at a walk, it's still necessary to protect the horse's backs.

I'd like to suggest another possibility for a 300-pound new rider. Instead of learning to ride, it might be a much better idea to learn to drive. Horses may have terrible trouble carrying a 300-pound rider, but they will have no trouble pulling a cart with a 300-pound driver.  Driving is a lot of fun, and it's a wonderful way for someone to learn about horses and enjoy horses without putting their own or their horse's body at risk.

There are certain things you can do to make an occasional ride possible for a rider of this weight: first, be sure that the rider has a doctor's approval for both the riding itself and for whatever fitness/exercise program is deemed most suitable as PRE-riding lesson preparation. Then build a large, sturdy mounting block so that the rider can walk up two or three steps until his/her foot is at least level with the horse's stirrup. Attempting to mount from the ground, or from a low-set mounting block, would be too damaging to the saddle and to the horse's back. Find a good Western saddle for this rider -- it will be vastly preferable to an English saddle, as the rider's weight will be distributed over a larger area. This reduction in PSI will more than compensate for the added weight of a good Western saddle.

Ensure that the rider is as fit and coordinated as possible before he/she ever gets on a horse. An athletic, coordinated person of 300 pounds, someone who could easily go for a 4-mile walk or swim laps, will be ready to ride much sooner than someone of the same weight who is completely out of shape. It's important for riders to be fit and strong and balanced; when they are NOT, every tiny mistake or loss of balance is magnified, and in the case of an extremely large rider, such mistakes and loss of balance can be downright dangerous to both rider and horse. Walking and swimming are both excellent, low-impact exercises that can help prepare someone for the demands of pleasure riding.

Much depends also on the physical type of the rider -- a 300-pound, six-foot man will be dealing with different problems than will a 300 pound, 5'6" woman. A 5'9" rider with thin legs and a bulky torso will have different
balance issues than will a rider of the same height, but with short, round legs. Apple-shape or pear-shape, long or short legs, tall or short torso -- all of these will have an effect on a person's ability to balance in the saddle and keep his/her horse comfortable.

Weight does matter, but it is NOT the only consideration here. I've worked with riders who weigh close to 250 pounds and are good riders -- they are fit, coordinated, balanced people who have ridden since childhood and are proficient riders. They don't mind making the extra effort to look out for their horses -- and they are quick to notice any signs of stress or pain.  I've also worked with slim riders who are uncoordinated, nervous, unfit, and
are thoughtless riders -- at 100 or 120 pounds, their weight is not hard on their horses, but their RIDING is!

But having said all that, I should say that a horse's worst nightmare would be a very large, very heavy, unfit, uncoordinated, nervous rider.

You're asking the right questions, thinking intelligently, and you're clearly going to do what's right for your horses when you do finally buy them and bring them home. Do look into the possibility of driving! If you can enlist the right local person, i.e. an experienced driver/trainer, to help you select a horse and cart and learn to enjoy them, your 300-pound rider can enjoy the horse and the sport and the fun of being outdoors, free from guilt or worry.