Young and freshly 'broken' horses have only done what they have done. They've only done what they've done where they have done it and when they have done it. They've never done it anywhere else, any other way and at any other time.
A freshly broken horse may have done far less than 100 hours work, less than fifty even and some of that may have been done badly, inconsistently or frighteningly, harshly, unthinkingly. The horse may have only done enough to look as if he does it well in one place, in one way and at one time.
I've had several examples of this recently. One horse has only been broken for six week before purchase. That's probably a maximum of 30 hours on her clock all of which took place on a farm in the company of another horse. Nothing was really established - she wouldn't stand still to be mounted and she was frightened of traffic. Another has been ridden by a sixteen stone woman on a badly fitting saddle. On the ground he was out of control and lost. In the saddle he was worried about the rider and the saddle.
If the previous owner hasn't put good quality hours and miles in to the horse's training then you'll need to do that yourself and ask yourself whether you have got the skills, time and patience to do it. The fact that you have owned an older, calmer, and well trained horse does not mean that you know how to train a young, untrained horse. Young horses need you to 'be there' for them all of the time. Quite often my role is to take the horse right back to basics, to assess what they've done, and to help a new owner to consolidate everything the horse knows on the ground before putting a rider in the saddle again. Even so, when that stage is reached the horse may reveal a whole new set of worries about being ridden or great holes in their education. It can feel like going back to square one but in fact it is more like going to triangle one; a much stronger structure and foundation for any work that you want to do in the future.
It is so important not to be naive or delusional about what a horse has done before or what needs to be done in the future to turn him into a lovely safe horse. It's easy to make assumptions based on the information contained in an advert or given by a seller, or to assume that just because a horse is eight he has eight year's of experience. It is all to easy to buy a four year old horse in an eight year old suit.
The phrase caveat emptor means 'let the buyer beware' and means that the seller doesn't have to tell you everything that has happened to the horse even if they realise there has been a signifcant problem. They are only bound to the words that they have used in an advert or to describe the horse in conversation - although even then it pays to have a witness! It pays to be really cynical about adverts and to realise that most people sell their horses for a reason, not necessarily the one that they give you.
