The Combination to Greatness – Purchasing a Barrel Horse
By Stephenie Tanguay

            “Every horse has a person,” Tammy Fischer, a seven-time National Finals Rodeo barrel racing qualifier, begins the discussion about the intricacies involved with searching for a suitable mount.  “Every horse has a personality, and every person has a personality.  You have to match that horse and that person together to get the perfect match,” she says.
            “To be great you have to find that perfect combination.  And sometimes you need some help along the way.”

Expectations

            Observing the buying patterns of riders who are aspiring for greatness Tammy repeatedly sees what she calls “jumpers”.  These racers tend to watch one professional, buying everything that barrel racing pro utilizes.   Using one of her best friends as an example, Tammy says, “They will want the boots Sherry runs her horse in.  They will want a Sherry Cervi bit and a Sherry Cervi saddle.  They think since Sherry wins if they buy all the things that Sherry has and put them on their horse then they are going to be Sherry Cervi.  But that doesn’t make them Sherry Cervi because they still have to put in the time, the dedication, the everything.”  When all of the purchases do not turn the rider into a champion then she or he jumps to the next professional and repeats the process.  The same applies to the purchase of the horse, buying a horse with the same bloodlines as Stingray won’t guarantee four world championships.
            Managing the expectations of prospective buyers, Tammy encourages them to analyze their needs prior to beginning the search for a horse.  Is the buyer a high school rodeo contestant?  Are all of the high school rodeos in a small indoor pen?  Or is the buyer an adult wanting an extremely competent partner that is seasoned and ready to travel the highways on the rodeo trail?  The first step in the search for a competitive partner is the creation of a clear list of needs.
            “You can’t give two first graders an algebra book and say teach yourself,” Tammy explains.  “I don’t care if you are 40 or if you are 5, if you are just starting out then I need to sell you a “teacher” because when you get a little off then he knows what he is doing...he can teach you how to win.”
            Purchasing a young animal for a younger rider with the expectation of them growing up together is not advised.  “Get a coach,” she says. 
            Equally frustrating is witnessing the ramifications of an overmounted rider.  “Not only is it dangerous, but handing them everything is not teaching (a rider) to work for it.”

Going Shopping

            Once an explicit definition of the horse needed is established then Tammy recommends watching videos of prospects working, preferably in conditions similar to the buyer’s.  “Be sure you watch videos of when the horse wins – inside and out.  Not just in little pens and not just in big pens.  Not just inside and not just outside,” she instructs. 
            “If you watch a thousand videos of a horse in a little pen but your high school rodeos are in a big pen then you may buy a horse for the wrong thing,” she says. Additionally, Tammy suggests observing the way the rider in the video performs.  “If you don’t kick and they are kicking every step then you don’t need that horse.  If they whip and you don’t like to whip then that’s not a good fit either.”
            In the technology-driven equine market of today, cell phone videos are an essential tool in the evaluation process.  Tammy recommends buyers ask for additional videos in different environments without hesitation.  Performing in-depth research before going for a test ride saves both the buyer and the seller time.

Taking a test ride

            “When people come here to try horses I don’t like to give them a lot of instructions,” Tammy says.  “I tell them to get on.  Ride the horse.  I may give a little bit of general instructions like how much of a pocket, how straight to go, but I am not going to tell them, ‘check here, do this, do that,’ because the habits you have and the way you ride is the way you ride.” 
As a professional barrel racer and barrel racing instructor Tammy is able to help someone trying a prospect ride that horse extremely well.  However, she also realizes when the buyer returns home she will not be there every minute as a coach.  “If you don’t ride the horse good here kind of almost by yourself, you are not going to ride it at home.  And then you are going to be disappointed and it is not going to be a good fit,” she explains the rationale.     
            Tammy advises trying a horse in a quiet environment initially, not a bustling jackpot or arena.  A location where the buyer may lope some circles.  In earlier days, Tammy took her dad with her when she went to test ride horses.  “I would tell him, ‘Get the people and get them to talking so that I can just ride.’” 
            â€œOn the other side,” Tammy says, “I talk to the kid’s parents, or their husband or wife or whoever, so they get some alone time because you are nervous.  It is a new horse.  There are people watching.  I am like, just ride.”
            There are barrel horses that are only able to walk or run the pattern.  Those horses are not of interest to Tammy.  “If a horse can’t trot or lope the barrel pattern then how am I going to get to know him?” she asks focusing on the relationship built between a horse and rider.  “We have got to get to know him just a little bit if we are going to get to be friends, speak the same language, and if we are going to learn how to win.”
            Once the buyer finds the horse satisfactory in a quiet environment then Tammy allows him or her to try the horse at a jackpot.  Returning to the management of expectations, Tammy says, “If you are expecting to win first then you are setting yourself up to fail.  You are not trying the horse to win first, you are trying the horse to see if you get along.”
            What a prospective buyer should do at a jackpot is run under competitive circumstances and evaluate whether or not there is a potential for a positive relationship.  “You have to figure in that there are going to be mistakes…you are just seeing if everything would have gone perfect, could you have made up the time you lost.  And do you get along with him, and do you see where you can grow and make it good?” Tammy explains.

Evaluating the first ride

            The ground manners of the animal are the first point of assessment.  A rider should saddle the prospective horse him or herself.  Will your saddle fit the new horse or will the purchase of a new saddle also be required?
            There have been times when Tammy has only loped a couple of circles on a horse before deciding it was not a good fit for her needs.  “I wouldn’t like their stride.  They felt short and choppy. Or when I picked up they didn’t respond how I wanted them to.  Sometimes I would never do the barrels.  I would just ask, ‘what else do you got?’” Tammy says. 
“My dad was like, ‘we drove six hours and you loped two circles and you don’t like him.’” 
            She describes the perception saying, “It is just a feel. It is already in my head.” 
            Telling the seller that the horse does not fit your needs should be done hastily advises Tammy.  “Don’t waste the seller’s time.  Be honest.”
            When making the first run on a prospective horse Tammy recommends “going fast backward.” Describing her theory she says, “Thinking miles per hour, so instead of going 100 mph to the first barrel and blowing it, let’s go 70mph to the first.  Then when you turn it good let’s go a little faster, let’s go 80mph to the second, then 90mph to the third, and 100mph home.”  Once a cohesive team is formed then the speed may be increased.
            Watching the seller work the horse during the exhibitions is another skillful way of learning the characteristics of a potential mount.  Reminiscent of watching prospects in earlier times Tammy yearns for those days gone by when people watched, discussed, and learned from each other face to face instead of online.  “I learned so much from watching the exhibitions and asking questions,” she recalls.

The Vet Check

            A specific protocol is followed by Tammy during the execution of the vet check.  Many equine transactions live and die by the words of a veterinarian.  She advises that buyers have their personal vet perform the evaluation.  “Always stay with your vet.  Use the vet that you use, the one that is going to take care of the horse.”
            As the steward of her horses, Tammy insists upon transporting a horse to the vet check.  “This is my horse.  I need to know what your vet is going to say about him,” she states.  When a horse Tammy has for sale goes to the vet check and x-rays are taken, she insists upon the files being sent to her vet as well for a second opinion if something is discovered.
            â€œEverybody says either they pass the vet check or they fail the vet check,” Tammy continues.  “Well, that is wrong…a vet check is not a pass or fail.  A vet check is a ‘these are the issues with the horse.  You either decide to maintain them or decide they are too much to maintain.  There is no perfect horse,” she affirms.
            Buyer expectations must once again be managed.  A vet check is an evaluation of the horse’s condition at the current time and in its current environment.  No veterinarian can predict the future.  A veterinarian cannot guarantee that the horse will never come up lame or colic or develop some type of disease. 

What if

            After giving the new relationship a realistic amount of time, there are occasions when things don’t work out between a rider and a recently purchased horse.  “If it doesn’t work out then it is not the seller’s fault.  It is not the buyer’s fault and it is not the horse’s fault,” Tammy states.  “Once they leave there is usually an adjustment period.  There is usually a high.  The buyer is going to do really good because they are going on my tune-up job.  Then there is a lull in there where the horse is adjusting…and then it either comes back together really good and they start winning or it goes south.”
            “If in about six months it is going south, my advice is usually to sell the horse,” Tammy says.  Knowing that is easier said than done, she explains, “Through the years I have found that you will hurt your riding more by riding a bad horse.  You will create bad habits that will go with you on a good horse.”
            The first opportunity to repurchase the horse should be given to the seller.  “Don’t be mad at them.  They didn’t sell you a bad horse.  They sold you a good horse because you loved it enough to buy it.  Send it back to the person you bought it from.  Let them fix it.  Let them tune it. Let them get it back to where the horse was,” she says.

An Investment

            The purchase of a horse is an investment.  “It is not just an investment in a horse.  It is an investment in time.  You are teaching responsibility.  That horse is not a baseball.  It is not a swimming suit.  You can’t decide to put it in a closet and in six months come back to it…you are going to have to learn to love it and get along with it,” Tammy concludes.  The horse is an investment in a friend.

Stephenie Tanguay studied equestrian science at Stephens College and finance at Southern Methodist University. To comment on this article, send your email to [email protected].