Last summer I found a horse online that checked all the boxes. I spoke to the owner who sent me nice videos and photos of the horse. He was “put on the backburner due to finances” and “needed a good show home.” Over the two weeks that I spoke with the owner the horse ended up at a sale barn, so I needed to speak to the broker. Broker assured me that her novice rider rides the horse all the time, that he’s a wonderful show horse, etc… I thought about buying him sight unseen, but something told me to spend the money to fly to Grand Rapids to see him for myself, because for me it’s important to have a nice relationship with the horse.
I was so excited going up to MI to try him out. But the horse that got pulled out of the stall looked nothing like the photos, although he was an Appaloosa and it was clear from his markings that he was the same horse. This was more than 2 weeks of neglect and the videos that were sent to me were not recent as claimed (unless the horse lost 200 pounds in 2 days). He was emaciated, had no shoes on and his feet were a mess. The seller offered to let me ride him in the field as the arena was very small, and the horse was extremely herbound, whinnying and crowhopping like a fool. I was able to get him focused and moving along, but I had to ask myself if I would ever truly feel confident in this horse to take it around a course of jumps. The answer was no. I would not take that horse to a show of any kind, heck, I felt bad putting a saddle on its back. I only felt guilty for not rescuing the poor horse. I spoke to my sister who is a vet and she reminded me that we can’t save them all.
In this case, both the owner AND seller weren’t straight with me. I was glad I spent the money on what were somewhat expensive flights to go up there, because the reality is that buying the horse is the inexpensive part. It’s the carry costs that get you over time. I would advise spending money on the flight as it honestly might save you money in the long run. My trip was only $1750 all in and it paid for itself in 1.5 months of not paying board on that poor animal.
From this I learned the importance of seeing for myself. My sister (the vet) had a similar experience and also now shares this sentiment.
I ended up getting a horse that I tried over a weekend. Day 1 I liked him but honestly didn’t fall in love, but on Day 2 I realized that I could canter that horse up to anything and he’d happily find the other side. He was also a big goofball and had the type of personality that I adore. The difference between Day 1 and Day 2 is that they started Day 1 by demonstrating his incredible training, so when I got on him he was a little tired. He had sticky lead changes to begin with, and with him being tired it didn’t help. My trainer didn’t join us as she was too busy, so I was just trying him on my own. On Day 2 I got a fresh horse AND the seller gave me a headset and carried on with the most incredible 1 hour long lesson I’ve ever had in my life. We got most of the lead changes and I could better feel the potential of this horse. I absolutely fell in love with both the horse AND the training style so much that I bought the horse and left him with that trainer for the meantime.
From this I learned that ride 1 may not be most indicative of what you’re really going to get, so if you’re on the fence schedule time into your trip to ensure a ride 2 if you need one.
