Buying Your First Horse: A Step-By-Step Checklist From First Look to Bill of Sale

By Gayle Woods Editors Updated 7 min read

Buying a first horse is exciting, and that excitement is the problem. Most first-time buyers fall for a horse in the first five minutes and spend the rest of the visit looking for reasons to say yes. The checklist below is meant to slow you down just enough to make a choice you'll still be glad of in five years.

Decide what you need before you look

Write down the answers to these questions before you open a single sale ad:

  • What will you do with the horse? Trail riding, lessons, local shows, ranch work and jumping each call for different training.
  • How much experience do you really have? Be honest about how you ride when things go wrong, not when they go right.
  • Who will help you? A trainer or experienced friend who will come to visits, and later help with problems, is the best investment a new owner can make.
  • What is your total budget? Set aside money for the pre-purchase exam, tack that fits, the first year of care and an emergency fund. See what a horse costs per year.

For most first-time owners, the right horse looks like this:

  • Age 10 to 18. Old enough to have seen most things and settled, young enough for many years of riding.
  • Well trained and quiet. It stands for the farrier, loads in a trailer, ties, and goes on trails or in the arena calmly.
  • Sound for the work you plan. A horse with an old injury can be a great buy if it fits your plans and the vet agrees.
  • Easy to handle on the ground. You will spend far more time leading, grooming and feeding than riding.

There is an old saying among horse people: green plus green makes black and blue. A young or lightly trained horse with an inexperienced owner tends to go wrong for both of them. Leave the project horses for your second or third.

Where to find a horse

  • Through trainers and instructors. They often know of horses whose owners are moving up, going to college or retiring. These horses come with a known history.
  • Lesson programs and leases. Leasing a horse for six months to a year is the best way to learn what you want before you buy. See boarding, leasing or keeping a horse at home.
  • Reputable sellers and rescues. A good rescue will match you to a horse and often lets you return it if it doesn't work out.
  • Online listings. There are good horses online, but also scams. Never send a deposit for a horse you haven't seen in person or through someone you trust, and be wary of prices far below the local market.

Auctions are a poor place for a first-time buyer. You can't try the horse properly, and you have no recourse if it isn't what you expected.

The first visit: what to watch and do

Arrive a little early, without warning if you can. A horse that has already been lunged for an hour before you show up will seem calmer than it really is.

Go through the visit in this order:

  1. Watch the horse in its stall or pasture. Is it relaxed, interested, pinning its ears, weaving or cribbing? See reading a horse's body language.
  2. Watch the seller catch and halter it. A horse that is hard to catch will be hard to catch at your place too.
  3. Groom and pick up its feet yourself. Notice whether it stands quietly and lifts each foot easily.
  4. Watch it being tacked up. Look for ear pinning, biting or swinging away when the girth is tightened.
  5. Ask the seller to ride first. Watch the horse walk, trot and canter in both directions. You want to see it before you get on, not find out for yourself.
  6. Ride it yourself in the arena, then outside the arena if that's how you'll ride at home. Ask to take it a little way down a trail or a road.
  7. Watch it being untacked and turned back out.

Then go home and think about it. If you're still interested, come back for a second visit on another day, ideally with your trainer.

Questions to ask the seller

Good sellers expect questions and answer them easily. Ask:

  • How long have you owned the horse, and why are you selling?
  • What has it been used for, and how often is it ridden now?
  • Has it had any lameness, colic, surgery, or injuries? Can I see the vet records?
  • Is it on any medication or supplements, and why?
  • Is it good for the farrier and the vet? Does it load, tie, clip and bathe?
  • Does it have any vices: cribbing, weaving, kicking, biting, bucking, rearing?
  • How does it behave alone, in a group, and when its buddy leaves?
  • Is it shod? What happens when it goes barefoot?
  • Has it ever been sedated for anything?
  • Would you be willing to do a trial period?

Write down the answers and compare them to what you see. Vague answers about why a horse is for sale or about its history are worth taking seriously.

Trials and lease-to-own

Some sellers will let you take a horse home for a week or two, or lease it with an option to buy. A trial is the best way to find out how a horse behaves away from its familiar home. Get any trial agreement in writing: who pays for injuries, who insures the horse, and what happens if you decide not to buy.

The pre-purchase exam

A pre-purchase exam (PPE) is a vet's assessment of the horse's health and soundness at the time of the exam. It does not pass or fail the horse. Instead, the vet tells you what they found so you can decide whether those findings matter for what you want to do.

Use your own vet, or one with no connection to the seller. A typical exam includes:

  • History and general exam: heart, lungs, eyes, teeth, skin, body condition and temperament.
  • Lameness exam: watching the horse move in a straight line and on a circle, on hard and soft ground.
  • Flexion tests: holding a joint flexed for a short time, then trotting off, to look for hidden soreness.
  • Optional extras: X-rays of feet and joints, ultrasound, endoscopy of the airway, and a blood test that screens for sedatives or painkillers.

A basic exam costs a few hundred dollars. X-rays and bloodwork can bring it to $1,000 or more. That money is cheap insurance on a horse you may keep for 15 years. Tell the vet exactly how you plan to use the horse so they can judge what matters.

Paperwork and closing the deal

Before money changes hands and the horse leaves, collect:

  • A written bill of sale naming the horse, its description, the price, the buyer, the seller and the date, and any conditions of the sale.
  • A current negative Coggins test, the test for equine infectious anemia. Most states require one for a horse to travel, and many require it for a sale.
  • A health certificate if the horse will cross state lines.
  • Vaccination, deworming, dental and farrier records.
  • Registration papers and a signed transfer if the horse is registered with a breed association.

Arrange insurance, if you want it, to start the day you take ownership. Ask what the horse eats and keep it on the same feed for the first few weeks. A new home is stressful enough without a diet change.

Your first month at home

  • Give the horse time to settle before asking much of it. Many horses behave differently for their first few weeks in a new place.
  • Introduce it to new herd mates gradually, across a fence first.
  • Set up your vet and farrier before you need them, and schedule a checkup.
  • Keep riding with your trainer for the first months.

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Frequently Asked Questions