All the young cobs...

[Little Dolphins]

Just a thought as I peruse umpteen horse sale ads for my first horse.
So many listed as ideal first/second horse, 100% everything, but all only 4 or 5 years old.
They get 'em young and unbroken, sort 'em out, sell 'em on. They may be honest, willing, unspoilt- perfect for an experienced and skilful person to take forward and onward- but it isn't fair on the horse or potential buyer to offer them as suitable for a novice.
Where are all the 8yrs+ cobs suitable for novice owners? Answer= held onto like gold-dust!

Am I right, d'you think?

[bexj]

Absolutely!

[BeachRiding]

Yep, absolutely correct! Same with every other breed...

[Dolly_Brat]

definately... i know someone who bought a cob when she was 2 and a half.. rode her staright away. She now has a dipped back but the most gorgeous temprement! Also with not being schooled shes very lazy and doesn't move as well as she should. She's 6 now and with the right experienced owner she could be an amazing horse! She is suitable for novices as she is slow and very docile but would thrive under and experienced hand!

[pedantic]

From my experience people only sell a horse because it has some sort of problem, I mean they cant ALL be "oh it's because I am having a baby" or "oh my
daughter is going to university", it''s a bit of a giveaway when the horse is about 25 hands high and the daughter is 4ft tall and they say " oh she has got too big to ride him :rolleyes:
Namara was sold to us as doesn't buck or rear, wow she can do all of that spectacularly without even getting out of the yard, Polo has stiff back legs which makes him very bouncy, and I keep him on Glucosamate to help, because I am 51 year old male it's not too big a deal as I dont fly aroud everywhere like a teenager, but it wasn't mentioned to me by the seller.
It's a bit like politicians, they aint there to serve us, only to advance there careers, people dont sell you a horse for your benefit, it's for their gain, either for profit or to get it off there hands, I think all you can do is be careful as possible.
Went to look at one horse to buy for my daughter, lifted it's front legs up no problem, went to lift it's back leg up and it nearly kicked me in the face, the lady said "ahhhh she always does that" errrrrrrr at what point were you going to mention it, after all my teeth got knocked out, duh, :mad:
Asked if could jump, oh yes she said, it would barely go over a pole on the ground and then nearly landed on it with it's front feet, it had the weirdest back leg action as well, needless to say we didn't buy that one.

[nutkin]

I went to look at a cob for sale yesterday. She was described as a bombproof novice ride and as she was for an elderly man to ride sounded perfect on paper. When we got there we looked her over and she was very quiet to handle. We then asked to see her ridden and she was the total opposite. She was nappy and could buck for Britain. The young lad who was riding her was a novice but being young he thought the bucks were fantastic. His mum then proceeded to laugh and say isn't she a sweetie. Needless to say we didn't buy her. She wasn't a young horse either. She was 10.

[cazrider]

I think you can be lucky and find one the right age etc, but you do have to be very lucky. I got Sennie indirectly via a dealer, from a girl who'd simply moved onto boyfriend and job and didn't have time for him any more, and I do know that's true, as they've visited him, cried over him etc, but I do know just how lucky i was!

I was the first person to see him during a hurricane, which put other people off, and the dealer was fair with me, and didn't sell him from under me when other people offered to buy him without a vetting. (I insisted on a 5 stage). However, that was luck as the dealer told me he had sold a previous horse from under a buyer that way and got punched on the nose for it:rolleyes: so he had decided not to do that again! He did actually have to "hide" him though, round the back of the block, as people were offering to buy him straight out of the stable. My vet said he thought he was a "little gem", and he is, so, yes, I was very lucky.

Probably word of mouth is best.

[pedantic]

I thought assaulting someone was an offence, oh well how times have changed, dropping litter, spitting in the street, riding a bike on the path without lights in the dark doesn't seem to be an offence anymore either.

Glad you got fixed up with a nice bobbo ;)

[bluejules]

WHen I was looking for my first horse I saw the advert for Snoopy and thought he sounded ideal - Dales x Cob (I'd always loved Dales), lovely temperment....the owner said that she had bought him to get her confidence back after a bad fall, and she now wanted to move on to something "more challenging" (ie, cross country, ODEs, that sort of thing). Snoppy, "born to hack", didn't really fit the bill any more.

The only thing that put me off was his age -just 5 years old. But I went to see him, tried him out (in traffic!), and thought he was much less manic than some older horses I'd seen. Some people did say don't touch anything under about 8/9 years old, but there was something about Snoopy...

He passed the vetting with flying colours, but after I'd bought him the dentise told me that he was "just coming up to 5" - so even younger than I thought!

I've had him for nearly two years now. I am a total wimp of a rider, but it's not down to Snoopy, who has been great! I certainly wouldn't part with him and don't regret getting him at all.

I think that it is possible to get good young cobs, especially if you have experienced people to give advice and help if necessary. But it does depend what you want them for; I wanted a safe hack. not a show cob or eventer. But I know that there are some really, really naughty cobs around.....!

[bexj]

I think that there probably are some lovely 4 and 5 yo cobs about, but as they often mature a bit later than the average horse, then they can hit their "Kevin" years at 6 & 7 years. That's when the novice handler will run into problems, and cobs can be incredibly strong and incredibly opinionated. With the right handling, they can come out ok at the other side, but will surely challenge an inexperienced and/or nervous handler.

[nicolaj]

I have a young cob, about five years now. Had him at about 3ish.

Overall he has a super temprement, but can be cheeky and I think might be having a spot of the 'Kevins' at present. However, he is a lovely forward ride, not too spooky. If he does not like something, he tends to jump a bit and then wants to have a look at what has upset him, but doesn't want to get too close.

I want to ride for fun and do some small shows, nothing serious with him, he was placed at his first show in the in-hand coloured, which I didn't realise, if he had been CHAPS registered would have qualified for some national championship show!:eek:

It is so hard to find the right horse, especially your first one. We bought from somewhere we thought might be reputable?! All the books/magazines tell you to take horsey knowledgeable friends with you, but at the time I didn't have any, but now I have loads:D ! If I was out to buy a horse now, with my own experience and those of my friends, it would be totally different, but that is with hindsight.

I have been lucky in buying a young cob, who overall is coming along well, but there have been times when I've really felt like selling him on and buying an older 'been there and done it' horse, but even older horses can have their problems, which again for an inexperienced owner can be too much.

I have a lot to thank my new horsey friends for really helping me get over those trouble spots, help and advise, and pick me up when my confidence has dipped:D .

Now with the help of a brilliant instructor our riding has increased heaps, and when those schooling sessions go well and you come back grinning ear to ear, and when you call him at the gate and he gallops down the field to great you, with a nuzzle to say 'hello mum', it really makes it all worth it.

So in answer to your question, sorry rambled at bit:o , we would never sell Fatty, so I suppose once all the hard work has been done and they settle into a nice family allrounder why let them go? Worth their weight in gold!

[Peace]

Happens all the time over here, only with paints and quarter horses. The lady from whom I bought Quanah was told he was suitable for her and her ten year old son's first horse - as a two and a half year old stud colt!:eek:

He'd have been suitable for a family of aerialists, more like, as he was a champion rearer and bucker.:rolleyes: Probably a combination of pain at being worked too early in badly fitting tack - and a case of the kevins, as y'all would say. He's growing out of it now that he's a 6 year old gelding.;)

I can't tell you how many novices I know with 2, 3 and 4 year olds. It sounds like a good bargain to people with little experience, who don't realize what lies ahead. I know, I was one of those folks at one time!:o

[ambatt]

I have a very quiet, safe, kind, suitable for novice cob - thing is I could not sell her, even though I want to move on to a GTi version now. Kind quiet genuine ones like mine are difficult to find, it took me a few months to find her and even then I had a wibble.

Dolly is 9. She is 14.1 and a nice even tempered girl, not beautiful but she has a beautiful soul.

[~Perdita.M~]

not beautiful but she has a beautiful soul.

She is beautiful you fibber! :P

p.s - oh dear, where have my smilies gone?!!

[Pink Pony]

Sorry, this is going to be a long one! I remember going with some people to look at a horse. The horse was to be the teenager's first horse and the girl had seen and ridden the horse earlier telling the seller that she would be back with someone who could help advise them the next day. Well, as soon as they got home the lady rang and said that unless they put down a non refundable deposit of £1500, that day, she would sell the horse to someone else. As I knew the people and did not want them to end up with something totally unsuitable I asked them to take me with them to see this horse before they parted with any money. I heard alarm bells ringing but the daughter was madly in love. The lady was so nice and the horse had done everything! It had been hunting just the day before! It had a current 5 stage vet cert! Some other people had viewed the horse, loved it had it vetted but, although the horse passed with flying colours, they decided that they didn't like the colour of the horse. (Yeah, I know!)

Anyway, as soon as we stepped out of the car the lady looked at me and said, "He's just been fed, so you can't ride him!"

I told her, "Fine, we're only looking at him". The lady moaned that the people only needed to leave a deposit; that the girl had seen, tried and loved the horse. Well, she relented and let me take a look but asked me not to take his rugs off. !?! The horse was the saddest looking horse I'd ever seen! Once out of his box the lady ran off to fetch his vet certificate (an obvious fake) and I took off his rugs. The horse was in an appalling state. He looked like a walking toast rack, his feet were very long and his shoes where being held on by the owners wishful thinking. By this time the girl was crying because she had ridden the poor horse. She had no idea what it looked like because the lady would not let the rugs come off! I told the people to leave well alone. We told the lady she should be ashamed of herself and that we would be reporting her to the relevant authorities. I wanted to bring the horse back but I couldn't and I was certainly not paying £3,500 for it.

All this happened twelve years ago now, but you've so got to be careful because if you're buying a horse, especially a first one, these sort of people are waiting for you!

[Jo F]

I'm no expert but I would say, find your intended livery yard first, somewhere you feel relaxed and welcome and you don't feel silly asking lots of questions. Get a more experienced rider, either a friend, intructor or someone from the livery yard to go with you. You can always go on your own first just to look and suss the owners out. A genuine owner looking for a good home for their treasured horse won't have any qualms about you visiting umpteen times. And always buy with your head and not your heart. Go home, think it over before you commit.

Also, take your time getting to know your new horse, they always try you out after a few weeks! Do things at your pace. A riding companion with a similar view on things is worth their weight in GOLD!

[shirley]

On the yard we are on are some lovely young cobs. They are only 4 - 6 years old and are ridden by young teenagers, but they are very safe for their young charges. They all do however have weekly lessons with a very good instructor, who is also the yard manager, they do regular stable management lessons as well towards their various Pony Club tests. So these young cobs are not only being bought on, the youngsters are being taught to bring them on gently and not to rush them, they are also having fun and owners taught how to look after them well.
As for older cobs, well I have one of those and he is so worth his full weight in pur platinium!!!It took several monthes to find him a number of years ago, but he has been worth it all and I could not have found a better horsey friend to share great experiences with over these past several years.
But would also agree with previous posts there are lots of lovely horses out there, not just cobs that are suitable for novice riders. We have someone on an arab on our yard and he is as gentle as a lamb, well mannered, a lovely ride, he is older though, but a genuine gent.
So yes we have to be careful, as with anything we go and buy, there will always be the unscupulous people who want to make a quick buck and unsuspecting people - only if the horses would kick them where it proverbially hurts!!!! It is easy to let our hearts rule our heads, so we need that good friend who is always the voice of reason and sensability in these situations.
But there are cobs out there wanting a good home, just keep searching.

[Little Dolphins]

Some well-balanced views expressed in positive ways: thanks all! It's easy to get disheartened, so it's absolutely true that a reliable companion on viewing trips-and generally as a listening ear- is invaluable. Hopefully, during the next few months, I can find such a trusty pal to help me.