Buying A New Horse? Make Sure You Get The Right New Horse

If you are considering buying a new horse, there are several issues of concern to you. Smart buyers and riders know what they want before speaking to horse sellers.

It is important to know everything you can about the new horse. Learn its history, blood lines, habits, preferences, skills and overall attitude. It is also important to find out about its inherent traits. All horses have their own unique traits. Know which ones are most desirable to you.

Traits to Consider

Some horses are better at certain tasks than others. When buying a new horse, pre-determine what skills you want the horse to possess. Some to consider are:

• English riding

• Showing and jumping

• Racing

• Western riding

• Trail riding

• Roping

• Team roping

• Barrel racing

• Endurance

Questions to Ask Before Buying a Horse

How much do you expect to pay? Look only at horses within your price range. What gender, color, age and size are you looking for? Weed out horses that don't fit within your requirements. Does the horse load and unload from trailers well? Will it tolerate shoeing and hoof trimming? Score your prospective horses on a scale of one to five for these items. The higher scorers will help you determine which horses are of the most interest to you.

When buying a new horse it is important to be sure it has been thoroughly evaluated. An initial inspection of the horse must be performed by someone capable and experienced. If you don't know what to look for, bring someone you trust who does. Here are the areas you need to check:

• Eyes. Make sure the horse can see out of both eyes. Do a flinch test by waving your hand quickly in front of each eye. Check for any differences.

• Ears. Check for excess ear wax or over-sensitivity when the ears are touched.

• Mouth. Check for any lesions or sores. Be sure the teeth are normal and aligned. Watch the horse chew to check for normal biting ability.

• Head, neck and chest. Check for symmetry and balance of muscles. Be sure the horse moves its head, neck and chest freely and without difficulty.

• Feet. Inspect all four feet for swelling and sensitivity to touch. Flex and extend all joints to look for pain, resistance or head lifting that indicates pain or discomfort.

• Rear end. Check for good tone, signs of discharge and signs of diarrhea.

• Lameness. It is imperative that you are able to observe the horse trotting in circles in both directions and in a straight line. Watch closely for irregular bobbing of the head, sloppy movements or skipping that may indicate pain in any of the legs.

If the horse has passed your initial evaluation, it is time to take it for a ride. Observe its stamina, nerves and whether or not it is alert and well behaved.

If you have any doubts, either walk away or arrange an agreement based on the findings during the veterinary examinations. This is common practice and a legitimate horse seller will agree to some reasonable terms.

Be sure the three required exams are performed by a veterinarian of your choosing or one that has a neutral opinion. The required exams are:

• Health certificate, which is usually for crossing state lines.

• Insurance exam, to satisfy mortality and other questions related to insuring the horse.

• Pre-purchase veterinary exam, detailing the medical status of the horse at the time of purchase.

When buying a horse, you want to find one that is healthy and has a good attitude. The horse's experience and dependability levels must closely match, or be above, that of the primary rider. A willing and intelligent horse can be trained to bring you years of pleasure and skilled work habits. Choose your horse wisely.

By Rachel Harding

Rachel Harding has been riding horses since she was five. Sign up for our free newsletter and get all the information you need at Horse And Rider Info

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Horse Training - An Exciting Career

Like any career be sure that is really want you want to do before registering for horse training course, you must answer the following questions truthfully.

1. Is horse training your passion?

2. Have you participated in horse shows and watched horse races before?

3. Are you willing to gain new information about the kinds of horse feeds on the market, as well as the required dietary allowance for each type of horse?

4. Do you mind grooming horses every day?

5. What do you think if you are asked to talk to them? The reason for this is, studies have shown that horses obey more through human contact, especially the human voice.

6. Are you encouraging?

7. Can you be a leader?

8. Would you be able to put tacks or harnesses on the horse in order for them to be habitual to the tools?

9. Are you willing to ride the horses and to observe their behavior with each temperament when required?

10. Are you going to be calm when training them?

Why do you have to answer the ten basic questions? These questions are usually asked by horse training instructors to whoever that like to be around horses. It is important that horse trainer is there because he wants to because it can be very dangerous being around horses.

There are usually some expectations from each horse trainer when you choose horse training as a career because it is just like any other career. Mostly the owners would like the trainer they chosen to handle their beloved horses can stop from kicking, resisting grooming and bolting every time their reins aren't secured.

You must know you job as a horse trainer even before you choose horse training as your career. Therefore when answering the ten questions, answer truthfully. As a horse trainer you are responsible to teach the riding, driving and racing techniques to the horse. If you can bestow the horse the knowledge, the plan training as well as the techniques, you are doing your job well as a horse trainer. The owners have the option to pay independent operators or have their horses put at a training school. Whatever their choice, horse trainers are in demand.

Finer breed of the horse are more expensive. Even the ordinary ones are expensive. Since it is a good investment there are some horse trainers who are knowledgeable about the mating of horses pair up a stallion to a mare, depending on the horse type, in order to come up with a good breed of foal.

Horse training as a career can be a good choice which will give you good returns but you must love what you are doing. That is the bottom line.

Getting as much information on the basic care for your horses is important, make sure you check Heidi Edris' excellent free report on Horse_Training_Aids

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Does Your Horse Diet Need Fats?

Horse supplements with added Fats or (EFA's) Essential Fatty Acids should be an essential part of your nutrition program. Look at the label to make sure that they are in the ingredient list as many supplements omit them. Feeding EFA's alone is okay, just make sure that the product is fresh, look to see if there is a manufacturing date, or just smell it. Old oils turn rancid which changes the make up of the oils and your horse doesn't gain all the benefits and it smells terrible.

EFA's are important for many biological processes in your horse's body. The fats are critical for production of hormones, cell membranes and for the absorption of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Your horse's body metabolizes these fats into tri-glycerides which it stores as an energy source or it can be used as an immediate source of fuel.

Feeding of fats can help your horse in many ways. The obvious one is the healthy, shiny hair coat; however, more importantly is the dense source of calories which provides the energy. Calories from fat are 2.5 times greater than the calories from proteins or carbohydrates. Horses fed EFA's in the morning slowly metabolize and utilized them throughout the day providing the needed fuel.

Is your horse considered a "hard keeper"? Most horses will benefit from the addition of fats to the diet as it slows the digestive process and helps to stabilize the blood sugar and provides a calming energy source. You will notice a gradual weight gain and even a better temperament due to the lack of sugar related mood swings (yes, they do occur in horses just like humans).

Another benefit is that fats produce an anti-inflammatory process in your horse's body which helps to fight off infections and build up the immune system. Also, the fats make the feeds more palatable for your horse. These unprocessed and unrefined oils provide a pleasant aroma and taste to your horse whereby you can reduce the amount of molasses fed (reducing diabetic tendencies) and reducing the dust factor of the feed.

What type of Essential Fatty Acids should you be feeding your horse to gain all these benefits? One of the more important factors is to make sure the fat is unrefined and unprocessed. A pure and highly digestible oil is a soybean and coconut oil blend called Cocosoya Oil. This cocosoya oil is naturally high in tocopherols (Vitamin E) and sterols and is crude unrefined oil with no chemical solvents. The natural phospholipds and tocopherols of the soybean are retained in the oil which is the highly nutritious solid portion of the oil. The cocosoya oil is much more digestible than the ordinary corn and vegetable oil and costs less.

If you want your horse to have a shiny, show quality hair coat year round, along with all the nutrition and energy necessary for proper body metabolism and growth make sure your supplement contains cocosoya oil.

By Audra Jensen

Audra Jensen has 70 head of horses at her barn and feeds a daily supplement to attain ultimate health for her horses. To learn more about horse supplements with EFA's, visit: http://www.totalsupplements.com

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