trying to decide what kind of horse i would like

What kind of experience do you have with horses?  Have you ever leased one?  Or have you ever worked at a barn before?  When you say you've been around them your whole life... can you expound on that? 
When deciding what breed you want it's helpful to keep in mind what you ultimately want to do with them.  Do you want to show?  If so, what kind of shows interest you?  Are you looking to barrel race or any of the speed events?  Do you want to trail ride?  Jump? Endurance events?
Some breeds are more suited for different types of work.  For example, I have a fjord.  He's very calm, easy to train, doesn't need much upkeep and all around a great horse for me.  However, he wouldn't have much of a chance doing a long endurance race and we wouldn't get terribly far in the jumping arena (they can jump, but the olympics are out).  Since I'm mostly interested in going for trail rides and possibly doing low level dressage (in the very distant future) he's perfect... for me.
How about you?  What's your poison?
Also, you might want to consider your height and how tall of a horse you'd be comfortable on.  16HH is a long way to fall.  If you're short you may not physically be able to get your legs around the barrel of a draft horse, if you're tall you may not like feeling like your toes are dragging on the ground when riding a halflinger...
Do you like horses with lots of color and "flash"?
And, how much are you willing to spend?  Gypsy Vanners are going to cost quite a bit more than a grade horse...

Welcome to the forum!

I like quarter horses as there are lots of conformation types within the breed for all types of riding disciplines and different temperments can follow certain bloodlines.  Most will do well within lots of events.
 
That said, I would start searching locally for people willing to gift for free or low cost lease until you become familiar with different breeds and decide what type of riding you like best.  Just keep in mind that free could come with soundness, health, and behavior issues or be that someone is no longer able to afford the cost of care for their horse.
 
Just looking around will be exciting.  Have fun!

It's absolutely a matter of opinion and here's mine. 
(everybody say it at one time)
Standardbred.  These are former harness racers.  Personality has been discovered by people who wish to place them in forever homes.  They're versitile.  They've been hauled, clipped, innoculated, led, groomed, feet trimmed, teeth done.....  They've been there, done that and are truly people horses.  VERY smart.  You can teach them something, put them in a field for a year and come back and they're the same horse you left a year ago.  There are plenty of people who say "if I don't ride my horse at least 2 or 3 times a week, I have to go back to square one....."  Not these guys.  BIG hearted and will bond strongly.  Here are mine standing in line for the ferrier.
Also, they are very sane, stable minded and are frequently used in movies because they're pretty much bomb proof. 
Having said all that, my 3 took different lengths of time bonding and being "deprogrammed" depending on their experiences.  Miles raced till he was 12 and did NOT like being here - spent his days awaiting a ride back to the track.  Now he's a kitten.  It just took some time but he loves it here.

i was raised around house and riding them way before i can remeber, i've never worked at a barn our anything just grew up with them. i don't really have a price range as it stands right now, i'm working on making sure i have everything ready for a horse. i love trail riding and thats what i'm really looking for and maybe one to run everynow and then, i'm not big in shows or anything i just want one to ride and love and call my own, you know? i'm about 5ft 5in. so not very tall. wheni was younger i loved paints cause of there coloring but a plain jane brown, black, or white horses, the color doesn't really matter to me.

www.4thehorses.com
 
  You can window shop there.  I would make a list of possibles and Susan would email me their details and tell me yay or neigh for my purposes.

Welcome Jen!  No matter what breed or type of horse you decide to go with, the first thing I would look for is DISPOSITION, then conformation/health issues.  Color is just frosting on the cake.  Spend some time with your prospective horse and see how well you get along together if possible. 
It is a buyer's  market right now.  Lots of great horses out there for a lot lower price than they would have been sold for a couple of years ago.  Take your time.  The more you look at, the better idea you will have at what will be the perfect horse for you. 
 

thanks everyone, this is really helping out alot. i'm just so excited to get a horse... but i just don't want to mess up, so i'm gonna take everyones advice and try to find the right horse for me... oh and hunterseat your horses are beautiful...

[quote=Jen]
 and hunterseat your horses are beautiful...

Aww... thanks.  I was mostly trying to show you how wonderful their DISPOSITIONS are! []  After all, that's the most important thing!!!  Sometimes I'm up beside one of them and it's as if it just dawns on my how doggone BIG they are!  They're so wonderful, there's never any problem but they're certainly big!  Don't get hung up on size, though.  (I think mine are bigger than average for Stb's)  I'm pretty sure it would hurt me to fall from ANY height!  I fell off Zaggy recently but he sort of sling-shot me when he jumped.  It wasn't on purpose.  He's learning over fences. 

How exciting for you to be getting the opportunity to live your dream!  I remember when I finally got to get back into horses and I spent hours pouring over online horse ads, dreaming.  I ended up deciding to rescue a colt from a PMU ranch, putting my dream of riding on hold for a couple years but I ended up with an amazing horse, well worth it
 
Lots of great trail horses out there right now at great prices.
 
Thanks for sharing the pictures, HS!  Look at those big, sweet noggins on your boys!!

[quote=Jen]

i was raised around house and riding them way before i can remeber, i've never worked at a barn our anything just grew up with them. i don't really have a price range as it stands right now, i'm working on making sure i have everything ready for a horse. i love trail riding and thats what i'm really looking for and maybe one to run everynow and then, i'm not big in shows or anything i just want one to ride and love and call my own, you know? i'm about 5ft 5in. so not very tall. wheni was younger i loved paints cause of there coloring but a plain jane brown, black, or white horses, the color doesn't really matter to me.


Sounds like you'd do well with almost anything then!  My best advice to you is to look around.  Cruise craigslist and equine.com and dreamhorse and horsetopia and all the zillions of other websites out there.  I found searching by location was the best.  I didn't necessarily know what kind of horse I wanted but I DID know how far I could/would travel to find one.  Rescues are also a good option too.  There are tons of horses needing homes.  I got my horse from a local classifieds paper that every resident gets weekly.  He was listed right along side used lawn mowers and rental properties.  Good luck and happy horse hunting!

well hunterseat their dispositions are great! i hope the horse i get is that comfortable with me! where i live now the neighbors are great i have horses on one side cows on the other and horses across the road.... oh and theres this mare in one of the flieds that adam (boyfriend) thanks has a wildeye... i just don't see i go and pet her all the time... but thinks eveyone yall really have made me feel welcome and i'm enjoying talking about horses[]