Pick a Prospect - A "How To" from Hoyt Rose

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We've had a lot of questions on the process for picking a prospect. Since I'm a trainer, my first piece of advice comes from the experience of people coming to me after picking a prospect without me and then asking me to work with them and their new horse. If you're going to have a trainer work with the horse instead of doing the work yourself, you need to have your trainer be a part of the decision making process. The trainer will work harder for you if he or she has direct responsibility in the purchase decision. The trainer will also have selected the animal knowing you as the client, and what your goals are from the purchase. A trainer isn't going to pick a horse that he doesn't like. A liked prospect always makes the training process easier.

Second, when looking at a prospect you need to decide what you ultimately want the horse to do. This sounds pretty simple, but if you‘re looking for a reiner you'll be looking for different qualities than you would if you want a halter, hunter, or western pleasure horse. You need to take breeding, age, and previous training into consideration when thinking about what you want to do with a horse. That said, there are a few things that are important when evaluating a prospect that crosses all disciplines.

Attitude is very important to me. If a horse is pulling on the lead and pushing the handler around, I'll usually pass -- especially if the horse is more than five years old. Any horse that is pushy on the ground will end up being the same once you get on its back, or start to train for a set purpose. Remember, no matter what you are going to do with a horse it will involve some interaction. Any horse that is disobedient will make that interaction more difficult. Five years old isn't necessarily a magical age, but if a horse has been getting away with being pushy for two to four years, changing the horse's mind or retraining his habits will be much more difficult. Watch carefully to see if the horse is biting, kicking, pushing the person leading, walking around the handler, or dragging behind as the handler leads the horse. These are indicators that the horse's attention is focused on something other than the handler , clueing you in that the horse has not had Manners 101 and may have his own agenda when it comes to how he should behave.

Something some of you may know about me is that I pay a lot of attention to a prospect's front legs and feet. If the horse is knock-kneed or has a club foot, most likely there will be some lameness issues at some point in the horse's career. I've known plenty of horses that have had issues with their legs or feet and still had a thoroughly successful career. Those horses are just better adjusted to handle their legs and will not interfere or hurt themselves. Some are just tough and will not show you that they are lame. These, however, are exceptions and not usually the rule.

Pay close attention to the hip of the prospect. No matter what discipline of riding you do, your horse will need to propel itself forward with its hind quarters. This means a horse needs to have a hip that is long enough to push his body forward with the stride of his hind legs. He needs to have the hip angle at about 45 degrees so he can stride with his hind legs under him pushing his body forward.

Don't forget pretty. Ty Murray once said while announcing the NFR that a bucking horse was “easy to look at.” This is so very important. If you don't like the looks of the horse, chance are no one else will either when it's time to sell or show. In the Arabian world, we use the word sexy. Keepin' it real – we've all seen a person that is just plain good looking and we need to look twice. Both men and women do this, and if you say you don't, you're lying. The same is true for horses. If the horse makes you look twice, it will probably make a judge or prospective buyer look twice. For the working classes, or disciplines like reining or cutting, this will still hold true in the sales end of things but not so much in the show pen. The roping or timed events are not usually solely on the speed of the horse. With the timed events you really need to refer back to the confirmation and the attitude. If those are off then the horse will usually disappoint in the long run.

Finally, you have to remember that you're purchasing an animal that you are responsible for taking care of including feeding, cleaning and housing. This means that you may have to feed this animal until it dies. You need to know that you can afford to do it, and will have the time and heart to care for it for life. A purchase is not to be taken lightly.

Let me know what you think by commenting below and check out the Top 10 – Checklist for Purchasing a Horse that goes hand in hand with this piece. Hoyt Rose - P&H Horse & Cattle Co.