What is an Equestrian Advisory Service?

Finding a horse does not begin with an advert. It begins with you.

You may have been imagining your next horse for some time. Perhaps you are looking for a partner with whom you can enjoy riding freely again, progress in dressage, take the step into competition or pursue a more ambitious sporting project. You may already know the breed, age and level you want. Or perhaps you know something far more important: how you want to feel when you are in the saddle.

Then the search begins. Videos, photographs, results and descriptions appear. One horse leads to another and, before long, you have many options in front of you, but not necessarily any more clarity. Each one seems interesting for a different reason. Distance makes visits difficult. Information arrives in fragments. And something that should be exciting can begin to fill with questions.

An equestrian advisory service exists to answer those questions.

It is not a catalogue or a succession of horses sent by message. It is a personal service that places experience, judgement and a network of professionals at your side, accompanying you from the first conversation until your new horse arrives. It means having someone who gets to know you, searches with you in mind, arranges visits to selected candidates with you, accompanies you at trials or assesses horses on your behalf, and coordinates every phase so that you never have to navigate the process alone.

That is Golden Horses: an international equestrian advisory created to help you find not simply a good horse, but the right horse for you.

Before we search, we want to get to know you

The first conversation is not about a list of horses. It is about you.

We want to understand your experience, how you ride, what gives you confidence, which difficulties you wish to overcome and where you want to go next. We are interested in your project, but also in how you want to feel: the kind of temperament you enjoy, the response you expect to your aids and how you imagine the relationship with your next horse.

Someone looking to hack and train calmly does not need the same horse as someone preparing for a first competition. An amateur rider who wants to progress needs a different balance from a professional seeking performance, experience or potential for elite sport. Even two people with similar sporting ambitions can feel entirely different on the same horse.

We also discuss the environment the horse will enter: where it will live, the professional support available to you, how often you train and the role the horse will play in your life. Budget is part of the conversation, but it does not define the search on its own. The search is defined by everything you need for the new partnership to make sense.

Listening carefully allows us to turn your wishes into specific criteria. It also helps us understand qualities that can be hard to express on a form: perhaps you want kindness, presence, ease, energy, security, sensitivity or that special quality you recognise when you ride a horse and the communication simply flows.

From that moment, we stop looking for “a horse”. We begin looking for yours.

A search supported by years of experience and trusted relationships

Knowing the equestrian market is not the same as knowing how to use a search engine. It means understanding how horses are bred, trained and developed; knowing the differences between bloodlines, training systems and markets; interpreting competition records; and, above all, knowing whom to approach.

Golden Horses brings more than two decades of equestrian experience and relationships built over many years with breeders, professional riders, trainers and trusted specialists. That experience allows us to work across the Iberian Peninsula and Europe with an informed perspective, ask the right questions and recognise when a horse deserves closer consideration for a particular person.

We specialise in PRE, PSL and warmblood horses, from leisure partners and horses for amateur riders to horses for professionals and elite competition projects. We understand the richness of Iberian horses and the different breeding and sport systems that shape the European warmblood world. But we never choose on breed, pedigree or results alone: we seek the complete horse that can work with you.

Every potential candidate is studied before taking up your time. We request the relevant information and analyse the horse's history, videos, level of training, known temperament and working context. When pedigree or competition results help us understand the horse better, we include them in our assessment. When information is missing, we ask.

The objective is not to show you many options simply to create the impression that the search is moving forward. The objective is to select with judgement. Every horse we share with you must have a reason behind it: we see qualities that may correspond to what you have told us.

This way of working changes the experience completely. Instead of spending hours moving from one advert to another and trying to interpret scattered messages, you receive candidates in context and a clear explanation of why they may suit you. The search stops being a collection of images and gains direction.

Once the selection is clear, we arrange the meeting

Some things can never be conveyed fully in a video.

A horse may show quality in a test yet require a very specific style of riding. It may look straightforward with its regular rider and feel quite different to somebody else. Its behaviour when leaving the stable, being prepared, warming up or facing a new situation reveals information that rarely appears in a sales presentation.

That is why the selection is refined before any journey is arranged. We first verify the information and present the candidates that meet the criteria we defined together. We review them with you and agree which horses justify a visit.

From there, we arrange the trip in the way that best fits your circumstances: we can travel on your behalf to ride and assess the agreed horses, or accompany you so that you can ride them yourself with our advice in person. When several suitable candidates can be combined by location and date, we coordinate the visits into one considered route.

During the visit we observe the full context. We speak with the people who know the horse, resolve outstanding questions and assess its behaviour, training, sensitivity, responses, ease and true level of demand. By riding the horse, we can understand the aids it accepts, the experience it requires and the feeling it offers beyond what a screen can show.

If we visit on your behalf, we become your eyes on the ground. We tell you what we find with clarity and equestrian judgement. If a horse does not meet your needs, we tell you that too. Looking after your interests means knowing when to move forward, but also when to stop considering an option because the personal assessment confirms that it is not right for you.

With our complete assessment, you can decide the next step with reliable information and professional support.

The trial: the moment when a partnership begins — or does not

Equestrian sport is practised by a partnership of two living beings. Each has a personality, experience, emotions and a way of communicating. A technical assessment is therefore essential, but it can never replace what happens when you get on the horse.

How you feel in the saddle is fundamental.

How the horse receives you, the confidence it gives you, its response to your aids and how you feel when asking for something new matter just as much as movement or competition history. There are horses of exceptional quality with whom no connection develops, and others that allow you to imagine a future together within the first few minutes.

Golden Horses accompanies you personally during the trial. We do not simply arrange an hour and wait for the outcome. We observe how the partnership forms, how you communicate and what changes as the minutes pass. We listen to what you feel and give you our professional assessment there and then.

Sometimes, from the ground, we can see that the horse gives you more confidence than you initially realise. Or we may notice that an apparent ease depends too heavily on the regular rider. We can help you distinguish a normal first impression on an unfamiliar horse from an incompatibility that is likely to remain.

The decision remains deeply yours because you will share daily life with the horse. Our role is to help you interpret the meeting with more information, calm and perspective. We are there to advise you, answer your questions and ensure that excitement progresses hand in hand with sound judgement.

During the trial, we listen to what you feel and observe from the ground what the partnership is beginning to tell us.

The reassurance of having a team beside you

When a horse excites you, an important and particularly delicate phase begins. Information must be gathered, the pre-purchase veterinary examination arranged, its findings considered, terms reviewed, documents checked, insurance considered, the purchase prepared and the journey to the new stable planned.

Each matter requires different expertise. Finding and coordinating every professional separately can turn the process into a chain of calls, versions and disconnected decisions.

With Golden Horses, you have the reassurance of a team that has understood your search from the outset and keeps the whole process connected. Where necessary, we coordinate veterinarians, clinical specialists, trainers, legal professionals, insurance brokers, horse transporters and international movement experts.

We do not assemble professionals simply to complete a list. We know when each person should become involved, which information they require and how their work affects the next decision. You do not need to explain the case again from the beginning or wonder what should happen next. We remain beside you to organise the information, answer questions and help you understand the complete picture.

A pre-purchase examination, for example, is arranged around the individual horse and the use you intend for it. If a finding requires a more specific opinion, we coordinate the appropriate specialist. If an insurer needs additional reports or a particular form of documentation, we help ensure that the information is supplied in an orderly way. And when it is time to formalise the purchase, we accompany you through the negotiation and coordinate the necessary documentary and contractual aspects.

Our knowledge of the market also matters at this stage. It helps you interpret the horse's value in context, understand the terms of the purchase and protect your interests with a professional perspective. We do not reach the negotiation with an isolated snapshot: we bring the knowledge gathered throughout the search.

Convenience does not mean removing you from the decisions. It means being able to make them knowing that a team beside you understands the case, anticipates what comes next and remains available to you.

Searching in Europe when you live in another country

Distance should not prevent you from accessing the right horse, but it changes the way the search must be conducted.

When you are hundreds or thousands of kilometres away, every visit requires time, flights, accommodation and coordination. You cannot travel to inspect every possibility personally or rely solely on what somebody chooses to show in a video. Nor is it easy to know the reputation of every contact or understand how a different equestrian market operates.

This is where our presence becomes decisive.

While you continue with your professional, family and sporting life, we activate our network, verify the information and present a reasoned selection. Only after agreeing with you which candidates warrant an in-person assessment do we organise the trip: we travel on your behalf or accompany you on a pre-arranged route of visits.

If you choose to travel with us, you do not arrive to begin the search. You arrive to meet horses that have already been studied and selected with you in mind. Schedules are coordinated, information is assembled and we remain by your side at every trial. Instead of facing an unfamiliar market alone, you have a trusted point of reference who knows the people, understands the context and looks after your interests.

If you decide to proceed remotely, we maintain the same close support. We explain every step, coordinate the professionals and keep you informed until the horse arrives home.

International transport is also part of the purchase

Once you have made your decision, one essential question remains: how will the horse reach its new stable?

International transport is not simply a matter of booking a vehicle or a flight. Each route can involve different health requirements, documents and timeframes. Within the European Union, the horse's identification and passport, the appropriate health certification and, depending on the movement, processing through TRACES may be required. When the destination is outside the Union, official export certificates, health tests, residency or isolation periods, import permits, border controls and procedures specific to the destination country may also apply.

The right professionals must also be chosen, the route studied, dates coordinated with the authorities and the horse prepared to travel in conditions that protect its health and welfare. Air transport also involves cargo agents, transit stables, schedules, connections and reception at destination.

For someone who has never imported a horse, these requirements can be difficult to interpret. Golden Horses understands how the process must be organised and coordinates specialist transporters, veterinarians and export and import professionals for each route. We explain what will be required, answer your questions and follow the journey from the stable of origin through to arrival.

Not every destination requires the same process, and requirements can change. That is why each movement is prepared individually, checking the current rules and conditions for that horse, that origin and that destination country.

You know where you want your horse to arrive. We help build the route that gets it there.

Our relationship does not end when the horse arrives

The day of arrival matters, but it is not the end of our relationship.

A horse needs time to learn about its new stable, routines, the people around it and the way its new rider works. You also need to discover the horse beyond the context of a trial: understand its habits, refine your communication and begin to build trust.

Golden Horses remains in contact to understand how the horse is settling in and how the new partnership is developing. We want to know how you both feel, answer questions that may arise and remain available whenever you need our assessment or advice.

The horse you find matters to us, but what happens afterwards matters even more: that the choice makes sense in your life, that you feel supported and that the relationship which began during the search can grow in its new home.

Our satisfaction does not come from closing a transaction. It comes from knowing that we have helped bring together two living beings who can build something valuable together.

So, what is an equestrian advisory service really?

It is getting to know the person before looking for the horse.

It is turning years of experience and professional relationships into a selection made for you.

It is arranging a considered in-person assessment of selected horses, on your behalf or while accompanying you at the trials.

It is being beside you when you ride the horse and helping you understand what both of you are feeling.

It is coordinating specialists so that each decision arrives at the right moment.

It is knowing the market, protecting your interests and giving you the reassurance of not walking the path alone.

It is taking care of international transport, its requirements and all the questions that arise when a horse must cross borders.

And it is remaining present after arrival to support the new partnership as it settles in.

That is what we do at Golden Horses.

Your next horse may be closer than you think

Perhaps you have already seen several candidates and do not know how to continue. Maybe you are only just beginning and want to do things properly from the outset. Or the horse you are looking for may be in another country and you need someone you trust on the ground.

Wherever you are in the process, the search can begin with something simple: a conversation.

Tell us who you are, how you want to feel when you ride and the path you want to follow. We will place the knowledge, relationships and team you need beside you to help you find that horse.

Your first consultation with Golden Horses is complimentary. It is a personal conversation in which we get to know you, listen to what you hope to find and explain how we can accompany you.

Write to us directly on WhatsApp. You do not need to have every answer; simply tell us about the horse you imagine and what you hope to build together.