I seriously have the kewlest fans ever! Allison sent me an awesome video recently and asked this question, “I am just starting out and preparing to get a horse, and my dad is an expert. But just in case, what would be some basic things a city girl like me should know that I need to approach the new horse with?”

Well first off Allison. Thanks for the video! I LOVED meeting you horses and getting the tour of your stable! It reminded me of my stable when I was younger and living with my parents in Texas dreaming of owning my first horse! Thanks for letting me share it with other fans of HorseGirlTV as well. Check out Allison stable tour and meet her horses below…

Now to answer your question with some questions you should ask yourself. Owning and caring for a horse (another living breathing creature that doesn’t live in your house with you like the dogs and cats) is a BIG responsibility. Before anyone should go out horse shopping, these basic questions need to be answered so you know what you’re looking for and have a basic plan of care and career with your first horse.

  • What type of riding do I want to do? English or Western. Competition or trail? Perhaps working in-hand at halter?
  • Do you know anyone in your area well educated in the horse world that can guide you? Who? What are their credentials?
  • How do you know if you’re buying a healthy and sound horse? This is where you can work with a veterinarian.
  • Where is your horse going to live? Do you have land and proper shelter for a horse or will you find a local boarding stable? How much does it cost?
  • Have you studied horse grooming, nutrition and know the basics of first aid? Whether you board or not this is a good skill-set to have.
  • Buying the horse is often not the challenging part, especially if you have the assistance of a well-educated professional. Knowing how to properly care for a horse and all the expenses involved is where the challenge is. Create a spreadsheet with all the monthly bills you’ll incur like feed, stabling, tack repair, grooming supplies, supplements, semi-annual vet visits for shots, lessons, blacksmith every 5-8 weeks.

These questions are not to overload a first time buyer but rather educate them before going out to look at OHHHHH too cute ponies and horses, fall in love, buy them before having a plan for their life with you. 🙂

I’ve been fortunate to interview some top industry professional over the years and have actually interview both a western (reining) pro about horse shopping as well as a english (dressage) pro about the same. You can watch these episodes to see more supplemental horse shopping info on each. They are respectively, International Horse Shopping For Sport Horses with Geoff Butler and How To Reining Horse Shop with Mike McEntire.

Also, there’s quite a few books out there on buying your first horse as well as caring for them. I’ve heard good things about these first three and the second three are some of my favorite horse story novels:


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Thanks so much for your questions Allison! Best of luck with finding the perfect first horse for YOU!

As always, suggestions or comments on this blog are welcome and you can send me questions via the Contact Page. For day to day, you can Follow me on Twitter and Like me on Facebook OR Like HorseGirlTV on Facebook too!

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2 Comments

  • Haha! I didn’t realize how silly I was! those are my mom’s glasses. 😉 I LOOOVEEE it!! Makes me laugh and have a speicial stuffed-horse to human moment. Heehee!!

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