Ok I need a little bit of info here. My hubby just got his raise and our allotments are now off his pay so its back in full. Well he told me I could get another horse if I want. Well heres where I need your opinions. I found 2 nice lokin lil grade colts one is 2 and the other is 8 mths they are brothers. Both will need to be gelded. The person that has them bougt them off a man that had them roaming about 500 acres and they had never been handled. So ya know the drill herd em into the trailor and haul em home from there. Ok well they are now gentling down abit and showing some honest curiousity. Its 600 for the pair. He will haul them to me since I am pretty sure t wouldbe ruff loading them. Anyways I nkow it will be a long road ahead of me in training them I had originally intended to go ahead and get a greenbroke horse and work from there with it. I pretty much trained my lst one so I know I can do this without a doubt in my mind but I keep asking myself do I want the headache. Part of me says yes and the other says ummm think again. Lol weird but true. As far as looks go I really love the way the 8mth old is built and his color is very nice as well. My husband likes the 2 yr old and is therefore gung ho about it. However the argument between us is that I insist on gelding them both. They are grades and in my opinion I believe it would be better to geld them should we ever have to resell them. Besides if I even thought about not gelding one it wouldn't be the two year old either way he would need to be gelded. His conformation is off a bit. I mean if he was squared up and had really nice conformation I would see about registering him with the PtHA however its not. So far the 8 mth old is squared off nicely has a good head and a nice chest. Even with that I still want him gelded. They have both got negative coggins and UTD on shots. What is your opinion of this situation? Should I go ahead and say no and run the risk of him refusing to let me get a greenbroke horse (found one I really like and he hates) or just get the pair and train em. They will only be sold as a pair which I dislike a bit. Anyways though opinions would be appreciated. Thanx and have a good one.

Unless you have ALOT of experience with young untouched horses, ALOT of time to devote to not only 1 youngster, but 2, and ALOT of time to WAIT until you can SAFELY ride them, I'd say you should run away as fast as you can!! 

Just my opinion

Nancy

I have no idea what you enjoy doing. Myself I prefer to be out trail riding vs working young horses in a round pen. And my trail rides begin at around 10-12 miles minimum.

If you want a horse to ride, especially for any kind of distance and still want a green broke, Get 4 year old (or older) that is ready to put some miles on. You can spend some time refining his schooling. Teaching him to side pass, stand still while you tie ribbons on trees or open gates. With the babies you are stuck with watching them grow up and doing ground work. Which is fine, if that is where you get your satisfaction.

Keep Looking.......Keep Looking.....Keep Looking.  Do not be hurried by anything, if you want a horse to work with and ride... buy one that is ready for that purpose.  $600.00 for two young, unbroke, unmannered, grade stallions is NOT a bargin.  I wouldn't put myself through it and I have been handling & training horses for 20 + years.  Check on Dreamhorse.com.  There are a lot of horses to look at there.  Good Luck and be picky

Personally I'd pass. But it's your time. Here's a paralell I couldn't help but notice after reading your post.

It's funny, that the horses less than perfect conformation is a reason to geld him. Imagine if all children were looked at that way, and then it was detemined which would be castrated due to less than perfect features, a finger that is missing a knuckle, a slightly curved spine maybe, or a head thats to round. Doesn't matter that he might pass on incredible intelligence to another generation.

Lively,

The CHEAPEST part of owning a horse is the initial price you pay for it. With the young ones, think of the feed, vaccinations, and vet bills, etc, etc., that you will encounter until you have a well broke horse....if they work out to have the good mindedness for trail riding. If one or both do not, you are SOL. However, if training youngsters is your passion, then go for it!  Look under the thread titled "Exciting Weekend" for some good comments on gelding a horse.

Brenda

Way overpriced in todays market.  You can buy nice registered colts that are gentle for that price.

As far as the gelding question, there is virtually no market for a grade stud as a breeding horse.  The issues and liabilities of stud ownership are not worth it.  The romance of owning a fiery, spirited stud is a myth, the reality is that it is one big headache.

Lively, I'm not sure what's to like about this arrangement.  You have to train them, it sounds like you'll have no control over the situation, you want them gelded (ask your husband if he wants to train two stallions with no future for breeding?) It doesnt sound like you're getting a lot out of this deal but a challenge that you may not really want, plus a number of arguments with your dear hubby.

I'd say get a nice mare or a gelding. If your husband wants a stallion then let him know what breeding is all about (the expense, the advertising, the handling, the insurance, liability, vet bills, the soft market for stud fee's, etc. etc.) and ask him if he wants to be in the breeding business of train a stallion and face the possibility that it will never really be rideable or profitable.

Don't get me wrong, I love stallions but you really have to be prepared to breed them or they are not a carefree ride, especially when they are so young. If your husband wants to get into the breeding business tell him he'll have to pay a heck of a lot more than $300.00 per horse to make it worth your while. (Teach him about breeding lines, testing for hypp, all of the color options....by then he'll be so confused he'll just let you decide!

Good luck and let us know what happens.