Horses

Tour horses, finca horses and Paso horses:

what a horse has done for a living tells you more than its breed. Horses from the tour strings at Tamarindo, Jacó and La Fortuna are rested and rotated, and the older ones eventually come off the rides. Most are steady and forgiving with nervous riders, but many have spent years walking nose to tail and balk at heading out alone. A finca horse from the Guanacaste lowlands knows cattle, gates and long days, and may never have been ridden in an arena. The Costarricense de Paso is bred and schooled for a brisk, high-stepping gait, a horse for someone who already rides well rather than a first horse. Ponies and small quiet mares get passed on when the children who rode them grow out of them.

Mare, gelding or entire horse, and where it will live:

for a first horse, a gelding or a settled mare is the sensible choice. A stallion is for an experienced handler, needs his own paddock away from mares and can turn a quiet pasture into a fight. Then think about the move itself. A horse raised out on pasture with a herd may fret in a box at a boarding stable in the Central Valley, and one used to a stall and concentrate can drop condition when turned out on a grass-only finca. Ask what it eats now and change the diet slowly, starting from the feed and hay it already knows.

Western saddles, headstalls and the saddle tree:

ranch and trail riding here is mostly done in a western saddle with a horn, ridden with a girth or a headstall and bit; English saddles turn up mainly around riding schools and jumping yards. On a used saddle the tree is what matters. Hold it by the horn and the back of the seat and try to flex it: any give, creak or click means it is broken, and it will pinch the horse however good the leather looks. Look underneath for flattened or bare patches in the fleece, check the stitching on the cinch straps and stirrup leathers, and smell for mould on leather that has sat in a shed. Try the saddle on the horse it is meant for before you agree on it.

A horse caught, ridden and trotted on hard ground:

go and see it at home, and ask the owner to catch it from the field, tack it up and ride it before you get on. How it stands to be caught, tied and have each foot lifted tells you how it has been handled. Have it trotted in hand in a straight line on hard ground: a horse that bobs its head as one foot lands is sore on that leg. Look for deep cracks in the hooves and ask when it was last trimmed or shod. White hairs on the withers or under the saddle mark old sores from a poorly fitting saddle. Ask to see it walk onto a horse trailer, too, because a horse that will not load becomes your problem on collection day. A vet check before the handover is worth arranging.

A horse changing homes, and what the next owner needs to hear:

say what it has done and who has ridden it: children, beginners or only experienced riders. Give its age, height, sex and whether it is shod or barefoot, and be straight about quirks such as being hard to catch, spooking at motorbikes or refusing to cross a river. A short video of the horse being saddled and ridden at walk and trot does more than any photo. List the tack that goes with it, since a saddle that already fits saves the new owner a long search. A good handover is a trial ride at your place, an honest answer about any lameness, and the halter, the feed it knows and the name of its farrier going along with the horse.