should I buy this Haflinger??

[Audrey]

Hey all,

I need some advice. Apart from my dream of having a horse someday, I've always thought it'd be interesting to own an animal for light draft work - like hauling manure, hay, plowing, and possibly cutting the field. I am both young and have the time and resources. So I started researching. Read lots of well-informed articles online and found that Haflingers, mules and donkeys are close to what I'm looking for in a small draft animal for a small farm.

Well, I found this 9 year old Haflinger gelding posted on Craigslist and just got back from looking him over. Man! He's a good lookin' pony and now I don't know what to do as I don't think I could find another for a price just as good or less: $650, or the man would cut us a deal. I haven't had much experience with horses except riding now and then, but from what I could tell, after reading charts online, this Haflinger's conformation is good; excellent legs and back, head is correctly proportioned, hooves good, (he does have a lump on his back hoof due to an old injury - wire getting wrapped and caught), clean eyes and nose. For us being strangers he was super friendly, very laid back; he even let my dad lift his two front hooves, and all this while he has no halter on. The gelding has had no vaccinations except for rabies. He is fed 2nd cutting hay in the winter and has free access to pasture during the summer. His coat was very soft, smooth and shiny. Wormed twice a year with Ivermectin. He has also been trained to ride, drive and pull, and has been in full harness before but not in the last two years. The owner is selling because he doesn't have the time to work the Haflinger enough as he also owns a hardware store and works a full time Dexter farm. I'm 5'7" and when I stood next to him his back was on a level with my outstretched arm.

Along with the gelding is a 7 year old mare who is green broke; she is selling for $550. She IS smaller but she is also more skittish. While the gelding came right up to us, whickering and nudging our arms to be scratced under the chin and then following us around, the mare stood off. She let me get close once, smelled my mitten, then backed away.

So my question is: should I buy this Haflinger? What is your opinion? I do have the space - a 2 acre field and two barns, one is old and used like a run-in. Also, I've heard different views on whether or not a horse is detrimental to one's pasture. On a scale of 1-10 I'd say my pasture is 5; mostly weeds, but with a fair amount of brome and orchard grass. Very little clover, no alfalfa. Do you think a horse and cow would get along together? (My cow has horns). How much hay should a horse eat? In my research it said 16 pounds a day for an 800 pound horse. Is this true?

Here are some pictures

this is my dad standing behind Andy's back



Me feeding Andy


Andy's front feet


frontview of Andy with me and dad


Heather and Andy


Thanks for taking the time to give your opinion/advice. I really want to buy him but I also don't want to make a hasty desicion that I'll regret. So far though, this is the cheapest horse I've come across. The mules I've seen are going for $1000+ as well as Haflingers. If he is as healthy and sound as he looks, do you think this gelding is worth that $650?

~Audrey

[bonnierin]

With horses, so much is about their minds, as well as what they can physically do. My Haflingers are busy horses, they need someone doing stuff with them or they get bored, and invent things to do, like a bored puppy--destructive and funny, they get out, they chew things, etc. Make sure you are willing to invest the time to work the horse, and if you've never had one, hopefully you can find someone to mentor you in driving etc.

If I were buying him, I'd make sure he drives and behaves under saddle before I bought, horses get rusty and mine "forget" things much faster than my cows do.

Yes, horses are harder on pasture, particularly if the pasture is wet and if the horse has shoes, also, they have different grazing patterns, and will eat their favorite grasses down to nothing (front teeth, they can bite closer to the ground), so rotational grazing is very important if your pasture is limited.

I know that many horses and cows get along fine. My horses are cow chasers (again, the "this looks like fun, let's try it" personality of the Haflinger) even though my cows have horns. Not all Haflingers are the same though, and if he's the only horse, he'll appreciate the company of your cow, even if she's over the fence.

The price is very fair and friendly is good, do you have anyone near you that drives/rides that can maybe help you evaluate the horse in terms of what he knows/remembers?

Best of luck.

-Bonnie

[jennstewart]

That is a very good price for a Haflinger. I paid alot more!! Ask if you can buy the harness or saddle so you know it fits. We just adore our girl. I am waiting fro my harness to arrive so she can pull our manure. She does not get along with our cow. The cow does NOT like her.

Haflingers are also supposed to live upto 40 years old. We also keeps ours barefoot and feed no grain.

[Leimana]

I am so jealous of you haflinger owners! I have wanted one since I was a kid but have never found one for sale in any of the areas I was living. Now 2800 miles in the middle of the pacific the choices get slimmer:)

[Audrey]

Oh, forgot to ask what is the best electric fence for horses? Right now my field is fenced with 3' woven wire cattle fence.

~Audrey

[bonnierin]

Do you mean 3-inch, or did you really mean 3-foot, as in 3 feet high? You'll need the fence to be higher than that Horses usually need a strand of electric on top of the fence so they can't reach over.

[eljay]

I suggest you have him vetted in addition to what the others have said, and have it done at their place. You should be there to observe him as a stranger works on him. In the pictures you look concerned. Is it because you are concentrating or is there something that is bugging you In the back of your mind? If so, trust that feeling and follow through on whatever that question is.

Laura

[Audrey]

eljay,

haha! I guess I DO look concerned! But that's because this morning was super cold - 27 degrees - and the wind was really whipping up out there with the horses. We stood around watching them and talking for about 30 minutes. By the time we left my teeth were chattering.

Thanks for all the advice. I hadn't thought about having the vet out to check him over. I DO have a friend though who owns three horses; I talked to her tonight and she said she'd love to go out with me and look him over this Saturday.

bonnierin, yes I have 3-foot fence. The sacrifice area is fenced in with 4-foot goat fencing but the rest of the field is 3-foot. There are so many different types of electric out there though that it's hard to know which is the best and which is the cheapest. Has anyone used the horse tape? I know Premier sells it.

For those of you who work your horses what exactly do you use them for? I'm asking because my mom is very leery about it. She's concerned that the horse won't have enough to do simply plowing our garden plots, potato patch, hauling manure and hay, and possibly cutting the field. Are Haflingers very work motivated? The other reason why I'm interested in this breed is because you can also ride them. Do you think, as haflingers in general, that they'd be happy with a small amount of work or should I look elsewhere?

[cowgirlstyle]

He looks wonderful to me. GREAT price! If you like him and he will suit your tastes go ahead and buy him. Keep in mind however horses are expensive! They eat a fair amount and horse vets tend to be pricey! I have five horses and have had them for twenty years. I love owning horses. Good luck, I hope you enjoy him!

[eljay]

That makes sense for the look on your face. Does he have papers? When your friends come out you want them to get a look at his teeth to verify his age if there aren't papers. My app gelding turned out to be 5 years older and the shetland pony was 10 years older than I was told.

I bought a draft pony last year. She looks like a haflinger only black. I had looked at an 18 hand belgian the year before that. She was just too big for me. I'd much rather fall off a 13 hand horse. She's broke to ride and drive. Mostly she's been ridden by my DD so far.

I wish you the best on your search. Let us know how it turns out.

Laura

[jerseycowgirl]

My parents own two haflingers. They are half brother/sister. My dad bought them as 2yr olds, and broke them to pull and we also broke them to ride. We tried to put our quarter horse saddles on them but they were two broad back, so we just rode them bare back. We would even work cattle with them, bareback. They are easy keepers, They get no grain, only pasture and hay in the winter. We have put little kids up on them and lead them around. Willie and Gracie are gentle fun horses. My mare died when her colt was 2 1/2 weeks old and Gracie and Willie took him as their own and raised him. Gracie even let him nurse her, even though she didn't have any milk. I love my quarter horses, but these two are great.

I'd attach some pics but I don't know how

[revelserin]

That seems like a great deal to me, but I would ride him and work with him quite a bit before I put down the cash if I were you. If you two just kinda "mesh up " (work together well) I'd definetly buy him.

[dmbenson]

He looks adorable.

Definitely get him vet checked - just so you have a baseline on his basic health and potential problems.

Also, and this is very important - try him out yourself, as well as having your friend try him out if they will. ESPECIALLY since by your own admission, you don't know alot about horses. It is very very easy to have a perfectly friendly horse when he's not being asked to do anything without so much as a halter on. That's a far cry from a well mannered, well, or even semi, trained horse that can and will do what you want. I have seen a lot of horses that will come up to you and be as friendly as can be as long as they're loose in a field, only to be fairly unmanageable when under tack or away from the familiar.

It would slightly concern me that someone selling a horse apparently never offered to halter the animal and bring it down to the barn, or lead it around or do much of anything with it other than offer it some hay and say here he is. (there's no sign of a halter anywhere in your photos)

Just trying to be realistic here, not discourage you. Haflingers, especially those in good health, broke to ride and drive tend to be a bit pricy - and there may be a perfectly good reason for him to be so inexpensive, but I'm fairly forceably reminded of that old addage about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

[jennstewart]

Very good points Dmbenson!! We had ours looked at buy a horse trainer for another opinion. He rode her and gave us his opinion. We also met the mom and dad to our horse. We saddled her up and checked her feet. Our horse was shown at our local fair in 4-h by a teen in riding and driving. In michigan it is a law that you must sell a horse with a halter. We did not own a saddle and the seller was kind enough to offer one to us to borrow. I would make sure you see them put a halter on the horse. So you know what to expect.

[bonnierin]

hi again,

no way would a 3-foot fence keep my horses in, they'd just hop over and wander around. mine can handle not working for awhile, but they do get bored, they would rather be doing something every day. they also know me and know that i'm the boss and what i say goes.

haflingers are famous for their personability, but with that comes a horse that likes to interact, not be left alone. of course, i have met a couple of haflingers that are more lazy and less "creative" than mine, it will depend on the horse.

on a more general note, horses test everyone they come in contact with to see if the person is the boss or if the horse is going to be more dominant. what the horses do if they discover that they are in charge of the person depends on the horse, some are babysitters and will take care of anyone, some are pranksters and will like the person but will do whatever they jolly well please, and some are unpredictable and will endanger a person that isn't in charge.

just be sure that this horse is what you want, health-wise (have a vet check) temperament and training-wise (have someone work on the horse and work with him yourself). good luck.

[missevelyn]

I'm gonna be the downer here. Don't buy him unless you see him worked. Don't buy him unless you pay for him with a check, so you can take him for a blood draw for blood testing. ASAP after you leave the place. Which if he is doped you can put a stop on the check, better out $$ than $$$.

Just because he's friendly doesn't mean he's sound of mind or body when put to work. If he turns out crippled or dangerous, we don't eat horses in this country and getting rid of a 1,000 pet is NOT fun to do.

I love my horses, but I married an old horse trader and it's a buyer beware/as is kind of game.

Regina

PS, have you been back without warning? That's another strategy to check for behavior/health issues.

[doubled]

You should definitely have your friend go out and check on him. Have the owner halter him, walk him around and also show you everything that he has been trained, i.e. cleaning his feet, saddling, bridling, riding, putting on and using a harness and pulling. We had a halflinger that we bought that was really sweet, would saddle, would let an experienced person ride her but if a novice got on her it was like she just knew and would start bucking and acting up. I don't say this to discourage you from getting this little man I just want to make sure you don't get discourage from getting more horses if this one turns out to be not the right one for you!
Also you need to have him vetted, not just to make sure of his age and health but also to verify that the owner, unless you know them really well, didn't dope up the animal before you got there. I have seen a lot of new horse buyers get "screwed" over by a not so honest person trying to get rid of a horse.
Good luck!!

[Audrey]

O.K. So I called the gelding's owner again yesterday to ask a few more questions. The man said he does have a halter for the horse someplace but no bridle, saddle, or tack. My friend told me I should ask who the previos owners were so that maybe I could contact them to see why they sold the horse. Turns out the man bought him at an auction! Now I'm getting totally confused.....If he did buy this 9 year old haflinger gelding at an auction how does he know that he truly has been trained to drive and pull? He said that he and his wife "fool around" with the horses (it's this gelding and a 7 year old mare) but they have never ridden them. So now I'm beginning to wonder if it really IS worth it. My friend said she'd bring a bridle and saddle when we go out on Saturday but if they don't fit we're out of luck. I wish people would be honest right from the get-go - it makes life so much simpler and less frustrating. I guess the clincher will come Saturday.

[eljay]

I think one of the most important things you need to bring when looking at an animal like this is a willingness to walk away. EVERY horse I have talked myself into has led to regrets (or cost me considerably more money than I had planned on) in the long run. I think you're doing a good job and are taking the right steps and asking good questions.
Laura

[bonnierin]

i bought my two haflingers from an auction, knowing that they were from a couple the "fooled" around with horses. i bought them knowing this, which means that i also knew they were unbroke, at 11 and 12 years old. i've had horses all my life, worked horses as a job for awhile, so i did train them, but it is a LOT of work, and if you aren't up to it, you would need to pay good money for several months minimum of training, especially at his age, and then you'd need to know what you were doing yourself. haflingers as a breed are very smart and sweet and cute, so often people buy them thinking that their personality will be a substitute for training, which it is not!

be proud of yourself for researching this more, instead of just saying "aww, he's cute and friendly" and taking him home. i would say this is NOT the horse for you, if you've never had a horse before, get a GOOD calm thoroughly trained one, which will cost less in the long run and actually be a positive experience for you.