17 of 17

Write now Article Tools

In fifty years of teaching people riding, driving, and horsemanship I've been fortunate enough to work with most popular breeds and a lot of "rare" breeds.
With this background I have to say, when someone asks me about getting a horse for the first time, I always recommend lessons first, and then a well-trained horse. Age is a critical consideration. I don't believe a first time horse owner should get an animal much less than twelve years old. Horses live to be thirty or forty years old and their best years are from about ten to thirty. Breed, and any other requirement, such as size or color, ALWAYS comes second to training and experience.

The right first horse isn't necessarily a slug either. A person with ten years of riding lessons and events under their girth will require a very different "first" horse than the person just getting involved with horses.
I recommend that no one consider buying a horse until they have had at least four years of lessons because it takes that long to really learn how to deal with a horse.
Horses are prey animals that have had millions of year of out smarting predators (and we ARE predators) so everything we do naturally around horses is wrong. We have to unlearn our natural reaction and retrain ourselves in highly unnatural reactions.
The kind of horse a person needs for the first few months of learning to deal with horses is very different from the one they will need six months later. Eighteen months from there a still different horse will better suit that person. A good lesson facility will have those different kinds of horses and, when the student is ready, find the right match.
Another, perhaps even more important, reason for lessons before buying is the most expensive lessons are cheaper than one year of horse care.
Experienced horse people say over and over it isn't the purchase price of a horse it is the upkeep that chews up the money. In my part of the world it costs five to six thousand a year to keep a horse if you don't have your own place. That cost is bare minimum without any equipment or accidents involving extra vet trips.
Even if you have a place of your own the cost will still run around three thousand and up in a year. Some other places are cheaper, but some are a lot more expensive.
I didn't include the cost of equipment in those figures. Lessons in this area cost between one and two thousand a year. For four years of lessons you can experience a variety of horses and conditions without investing a great deal of your money.
If after that you want to buy a horse you have a much better idea of what will best suit you and you won't have to figure out how to sell an unsuitable horse. And I promise you this-it is a LOT easier to buy a horse than it is to sell it.

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth J Baldwin.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about The best breed for beginner horse riders?
We want to hear your view. Write now!