“Carrot Man” is a 16hh, 6 year old, chestnut TB gelding. He has a very gentle temperament, loves attention and is super easy to handle. Well schooled on the flat scoring 60% on his first dressage test. Lateral work commenced with leg yield, shoulder in and flying changes. Nice paces with soft snaffle mouth. Competing introductory eventing and showjumping to 90cm with very scopey jump showing excellent potential. He is bold and neat xc, fine over ditches, apexes, arrowheads, banks. Highly regarded during lessons with Jamie Coman, Murray Lambert & Blyth Tait Also done mustering, trail riding, polocrosse. Super quiet, can double dink, ride bareback in halter, crack stockwhip off, lead other horses off. Easy to shoe, catch, wash, float etc. Will make a great all rounder"
I rang up about him and he sounds like a lovely sweet boy. Green though - still falls out through his shoulder on the corners at times. Will give anything a go though.
These are two short videos that the owner sent me. What do you guys think? I really don't know a lot about jumping but is he coming in very close to the jumps? It is just that he is located 5 hours away so I am trying to figure out if it is worth the drive. Pros and Cons without seeing him compared to Nic the school master -
Pros - #a lot younger so possibly sounder
# smaller in height (Nic is 17hh)
Cons -#education level is not there
#they are asking for more money than Nic
Sorry I couldn't really think of any due to not seeing him yet. I think it is his education level that is making me think twice. I am no good at 'training' I don't feel that I can educate a horse further if that makes sense. So do I find the school master to learn on, I already have a green quiet horse - though not as educated as this guy.
Thoughts?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS I LOVE HIS NAME!!!!!!! I know that it not a reason to buy a horse but I think it is really cute!!!!!
4 comments:
He looks a little strong, and green, to the fences - he's pulling pretty hard - or it could be that it's his owner/rider who's pulling on him - it would be better to see him jump without having his face hung on to see what his jump is really like. He's over-jumping a bit, which is also a sign of greenness. He does look pretty eager, too, which is in his favor. Also, he has a jumping fault that could become a problem over bigger fences - it's apparent in the still photo as well - although his front knees are even, they're a bit dropped, which could also be due to the lack of any release of his mouth by the rider. But he does sound versatile and fun - my biggest question is always why is the horse available? He could well be worth a look-see.
Hmm... I'm not crazy about the way he jumps, but it could be just an awkward photo or could have something to do with the release he's getting, it looks from the video like his rider jumps over her hand a little (not a big release). That could definitely be effecting his jumping style. He does look green though, and I know you said at the beginning of your search that you really wanted more of a schoolmaster type. But, bottom line, if you're interested, go see him... just stay objective, and don't fall in love if he's not truly the right horse for you.
I had the same thoughts...something about the way he's jumping is off. He really uses his head and neck, but his front end is hanging as he approaches the jump and in the air. His forelegs should be parelell(?) to the ground over the jump ideally, with knees not down. Although in one picture his knees are up pretty good. In eventing, you definately want a horse that normally pulls his knees up square and is tight below them. Safer.
As for him being sounder than the older horse, that may not be the case. This horse has a pretty long list of what he can do. He may have acutally been started younger and may have had more wear in that short time frame than the older horse. You just never know. Have him xrayed to see his joints if your worried about that. Horses growth stops around 5 or 6, and the bigger they are, the longer it takes. I just started lateral work with my 6 year old cus he was still growing at 5 and I didn't want to cause any unnecessary wear to his joints too early, on the vet's advice. That's just me though. Good Luck!
I have not yet watched the video, but based on what you've said before, you're looking for a schoolmaster to gain confidence on. This horse is not it. He's pretty, he's flashy, he has a nice name, but he's green. I love my green mare, but she's not a confidence builder for sure.
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