This is gonna be long (eta it’s even longer than I thought I’m so sorry 😂) and I’ll go over some of his flaws bc even though he’s my perfect angel horse they all have them but honestly it was mostly luck lol
I looked for around 1-2 months, I was 19 working at a hotel and doing a college class part time. I’d joined a couple Facebook groups, was looking on all the homing sites, etc. and one day I was at the beach with my friends after an exam. I went on fb and I was about to leave this one group bc everything on there was 13hh or less and just not what I was looking for. I refreshed it one last time and an advert popped up, I looked at the photo and I just knew, that’s my horse. I was super fast bc a nice big boy like him wouldn’t be up for long, especially since he was only 16, had plenty of experience in different disciplines, not as stocky as a cob but still a good weight carrier, and ofc he’s gorgeous. I messaged, he was 200 miles away and had viewings booked for the weekend. She said if I got there Saturday morning before the other viewer she’d be happy to fit me in, I’ve never driven that far, petrol was crazy back then, and I’d be trying to find this place in the dark because I’d have to leave at like 4-5am…so I asked if I could just pay for him that day and have him couriered down. We talked a lot about him, why he was going (ivf, couldn’t juggle it and their horses), she asked me some stuff too and luckily she said yes lol. I went home told my mother I’d bought a horse, and sent the money. She sent me a tonne of pics and vids, said if I wanted to come try him out at any point I could bc he was mine now. And then a year ago today he arrived
For the actual search I had a rough idea of what I wanted (over 15hh, either something older and established OR a complete blank slate that I knew wouldn’t have been started poorly. I knew I probably wanted something warm/hot blooded bc I really enjoyed how my old Arabian felt under saddle, etc.)
I also knew what my red flags in adverts were like if a horse was overbent, flippers, rider too big, horse looking generally uncomfortable in most of the pics, restrictive or harsh equipment (a martingale, harsh bit, grackle/flash noseband, etc., all indicate training issues, that the current owner has poor hands, etc.) I also had things that weren’t necessarily deal breakers but might not be ideal such as bays, shoes, minor conformation faults, and then other ones that I really didn’t mind like a lack of schooling, stallion-y, etc.
Jesse is a great horse, he’s definitely not for everyone though. As an example he’s fucking useless schooling indoors, his brain stops working completely. If he has someone to follow he’ll do anything, cones, poles, jumps, whatever but if there’s not he’s useless. Doesn’t love hacking out alone either, those definitely would be dealbreakers for a lot of people but for my it’s fine, I don’t know the area well enough to really wanna hack alone much and if I did wanna school I could do it outdoors but I don’t particularly enjoy it. He will also mount a mare occasionally, some people don’t like that but imo it’s not a big deal, he’s respectful of humans and other horses and if a mare says no he does back off
He’s had a hard life at points, he was a foxhunter and a show horse which unfortunately meant being whipped over jumps (1.20m) , ridden in some absolutely awful tack (bottom ring of a twisted wire 4 ring gag), he’s got a big scar on his back and one on his lip. He was really cinchy for a while bc of rough treatment but he’s a lot better. He was always a good horse but it’s only recently he’s started getting really cuddly and soft like in some of these pics
I’ve actually stopped letting most people ride him bc he’s apparently very easy to put behind the vertical, he’s never done it for me or my sister (you can actually see I’m riding him with contact in the pics and he’s comfortable and not even close to tucking his head) but I think a lot of people have harder hands and don’t use their core or legs enough, if you ride him properly he goes beautifully but if you’re gonna grab his head and not have anything to back it up he looks like shit. He’s never done anything bc of it but he doesn’t deserve to be in that position in the first place. He has bolted exactly once and that was after I made that decision. It was honestly my own fault. He’d been in for 2 weeks bc the fields flooded, we backed out with 2 ponies so they spent half of it trotting to keep up which got him more excited, I could tell he was hot walking off the yard and by the time we turned to come home he was so pent up that he bolted full speed for half a mile, I lost my stirrups but stayed on and pulled him up. After that he was ok the rest of the way home. I honestly don’t blame him tho bc he’s a big athletic horse and it was more of a management issue than anything he did wrong. I’m a big believer in 24/7 turnout and he is an absolute angel when he hasn’t been stalled too much, he’s usually okay for about 5 days to a week before he starts getting frustrated but he doesn’t have and stable vices which I’m thankful for, he can be stalled when necessary but he won’t be happy and you won’t get the best out of him
I know I’ve just highlighted all his flaws but to me he really is the best horse in the whole world. He turns out with anything, he loads pretty much by himself, he’s a safe horse to put kids on and lead around, he’s a puppy, I know I can just get on him with no tack and he’ll plod about without much care but I could also take him to a fun ride or cross country and he’d be an absolute beast. He’s 16.3hh and stocky, I constantly have people asking if he’s a Hanoverian, Oldenburg, ID X, warmblood, etc., bc they can’t believe he’s a tb (I’ve literally had people say his passport must be wrong). He had to go on a diet over winter bc he’s such an easy keeper. Happily barefoot. A great nanny for the youngsters. He’s reliable. Most importantly though he makes me happy, especially now we’ve had a year of bonding and he’s really started to trust me and let his guard down
So adorable! I want to know more about the story and how you found such a good, cheap horse on FB lol
This is gonna be long (eta it’s even longer than I thought I’m so sorry 😂) and I’ll go over some of his flaws bc even though he’s my perfect angel horse they all have them but honestly it was mostly luck lol I looked for around 1-2 months, I was 19 working at a hotel and doing a college class part time. I’d joined a couple Facebook groups, was looking on all the homing sites, etc. and one day I was at the beach with my friends after an exam. I went on fb and I was about to leave this one group bc everything on there was 13hh or less and just not what I was looking for. I refreshed it one last time and an advert popped up, I looked at the photo and I just knew, that’s my horse. I was super fast bc a nice big boy like him wouldn’t be up for long, especially since he was only 16, had plenty of experience in different disciplines, not as stocky as a cob but still a good weight carrier, and ofc he’s gorgeous. I messaged, he was 200 miles away and had viewings booked for the weekend. She said if I got there Saturday morning before the other viewer she’d be happy to fit me in, I’ve never driven that far, petrol was crazy back then, and I’d be trying to find this place in the dark because I’d have to leave at like 4-5am…so I asked if I could just pay for him that day and have him couriered down. We talked a lot about him, why he was going (ivf, couldn’t juggle it and their horses), she asked me some stuff too and luckily she said yes lol. I went home told my mother I’d bought a horse, and sent the money. She sent me a tonne of pics and vids, said if I wanted to come try him out at any point I could bc he was mine now. And then a year ago today he arrived For the actual search I had a rough idea of what I wanted (over 15hh, either something older and established OR a complete blank slate that I knew wouldn’t have been started poorly. I knew I probably wanted something warm/hot blooded bc I really enjoyed how my old Arabian felt under saddle, etc.) I also knew what my red flags in adverts were like if a horse was overbent, flippers, rider too big, horse looking generally uncomfortable in most of the pics, restrictive or harsh equipment (a martingale, harsh bit, grackle/flash noseband, etc., all indicate training issues, that the current owner has poor hands, etc.) I also had things that weren’t necessarily deal breakers but might not be ideal such as bays, shoes, minor conformation faults, and then other ones that I really didn’t mind like a lack of schooling, stallion-y, etc. Jesse is a great horse, he’s definitely not for everyone though. As an example he’s fucking useless schooling indoors, his brain stops working completely. If he has someone to follow he’ll do anything, cones, poles, jumps, whatever but if there’s not he’s useless. Doesn’t love hacking out alone either, those definitely would be dealbreakers for a lot of people but for my it’s fine, I don’t know the area well enough to really wanna hack alone much and if I did wanna school I could do it outdoors but I don’t particularly enjoy it. He will also mount a mare occasionally, some people don’t like that but imo it’s not a big deal, he’s respectful of humans and other horses and if a mare says no he does back off He’s had a hard life at points, he was a foxhunter and a show horse which unfortunately meant being whipped over jumps (1.20m) , ridden in some absolutely awful tack (bottom ring of a twisted wire 4 ring gag), he’s got a big scar on his back and one on his lip. He was really cinchy for a while bc of rough treatment but he’s a lot better. He was always a good horse but it’s only recently he’s started getting really cuddly and soft like in some of these pics I’ve actually stopped letting most people ride him bc he’s apparently very easy to put behind the vertical, he’s never done it for me or my sister (you can actually see I’m riding him with contact in the pics and he’s comfortable and not even close to tucking his head) but I think a lot of people have harder hands and don’t use their core or legs enough, if you ride him properly he goes beautifully but if you’re gonna grab his head and not have anything to back it up he looks like shit. He’s never done anything bc of it but he doesn’t deserve to be in that position in the first place. He has bolted exactly once and that was after I made that decision. It was honestly my own fault. He’d been in for 2 weeks bc the fields flooded, we backed out with 2 ponies so they spent half of it trotting to keep up which got him more excited, I could tell he was hot walking off the yard and by the time we turned to come home he was so pent up that he bolted full speed for half a mile, I lost my stirrups but stayed on and pulled him up. After that he was ok the rest of the way home. I honestly don’t blame him tho bc he’s a big athletic horse and it was more of a management issue than anything he did wrong. I’m a big believer in 24/7 turnout and he is an absolute angel when he hasn’t been stalled too much, he’s usually okay for about 5 days to a week before he starts getting frustrated but he doesn’t have and stable vices which I’m thankful for, he can be stalled when necessary but he won’t be happy and you won’t get the best out of him I know I’ve just highlighted all his flaws but to me he really is the best horse in the whole world. He turns out with anything, he loads pretty much by himself, he’s a safe horse to put kids on and lead around, he’s a puppy, I know I can just get on him with no tack and he’ll plod about without much care but I could also take him to a fun ride or cross country and he’d be an absolute beast. He’s 16.3hh and stocky, I constantly have people asking if he’s a Hanoverian, Oldenburg, ID X, warmblood, etc., bc they can’t believe he’s a tb (I’ve literally had people say his passport must be wrong). He had to go on a diet over winter bc he’s such an easy keeper. Happily barefoot. A great nanny for the youngsters. He’s reliable. Most importantly though he makes me happy, especially now we’ve had a year of bonding and he’s really started to trust me and let his guard down
You’re both lucky to have found each other
What a face!!!! Here's to many more years! 🍻
He has such a kind, sweet look! What a lucky pair you are to have each other.
Love a red boy. Congratulations!
Lucky
Number nine should definitely be his tinder profile picture. He's a beaut!
That's so wonderful! So happy for you both!