She sources horses off the track. And (hopefully) rehomes them before much time is put into them. I guess I’d consider her to be a “filter” for horses off the track – and there is – I believe – a real need for that. I pretty much paid 2k for someone with an “eye” to haul my horse 40 miles up the road so I could ride him and vet him.
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Again, the buyer lied about having a trainer. She admitted on this thread that she did not have a trainer at the time of the sale.
I don’t think she has claimed a lot of this. She has a 9-5 job and I think she’s made it clear that she is not in the business of babysitting buyers. I get the impression that she sells a lot of horses without ever meeting the buyer in person. She clearly wants her buyers to be happy with their purchases, and it’s also clear that most of her buyers are. She ensured that this particular horse got what she felt he needed by believing the buyer’s story that she had a trainer with a good program. Are sellers now supposed to verify everything potential buyers tell them before they allow a sale to proceed?
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These are literally HER WORDS.
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Yes, and she felt this horse would be best in a good program with a professional. The buyer told her she was working with a professional with a good program, when in fact, she was not at the time that she stated it to the seller.
Yes, she said those things, and I believe they are true. If this buyer had been honest and told her she didn’t have a trainer at the time, the horse would not have been sold to her. I don’t think that just because Jessica will help rehome horses and has bought horses back, that means she provides a 100% money back guarantee to anyone who buys a horse from her.
No amateur who has not been on a horse in ten years should be shopping alone over the internet for an OTTB and lying to the seller to get the horse because she knows the seller won’t sell it to her if she tells the truth.
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I guess you missed this. Jessica knew.
Yes, I agree with you that placing this horse billed as a “pro ride” with someone who’d been off for a decade was egregious. Jessica had that information.
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While Jessica may not refer to herself as a “horse dealer,” probably because that term has a longstanding negative connotation, I doubt that she would deny that she’s someone who resells horses for money.
Regarding finding suitable buyers and not just the first person who shows up with a check, it’s a spectrum. You can make an effort to try to find buyers that are a good fit for your horses, and tell the overly ambitious beginner that the gorgeous 3-year-old who was just gelded a week ago probably isn’t the one for them and tell the person looking for an upper level event horse that the lovely chestnut they’re eyeing hates both water and jumping and would probably make a better dressage prospect, but if you’re someone whose livelihood depends on selling a large number of horses fairly soon after you buy them, it may not be as easy to wait for The Perfect Forever Home™️ to come along as it is when you’re someone selling a single beloved family horse because the kid is going off to college.
According to Jessica’s post above, she admitted to having some reservations about selling the horse to an amateur but was reassured by the buyer that she had an experienced trainer and the horse would be in a program, etc. It doesn’t seem she was aware that the buyer had never actually worked with the trainer before (possibly didn’t even have a trainer picked out yet?), and it’s unclear if she knew the buyer was someone who’d not been riding the past 10 years.
I suppose she could’ve asked for the trainer’s number, called the trainer and asked her to send credentials and video of her riding a quirky green thoroughbred, and used that to try to guess whether the trainer was a suitable rider for the horse. But at the end of the day, unless someone comes and tries the horse out in person, there’s always a decent possibility it won’t turn out to be a good fit (and even if they do try the horse, that doesn’t mean it will work out well every time!)
That doesn’t mean the seller is dishonest or unethical, or needs to be called out on social media.
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I think you missed this:
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Amos has never ridden the horse @TWilson. He went straight into a program with a pro. I’m not sure what else you expect given the buyer said he would go straight into a program with a pro. That happened.
And:
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I don’t know what you are trying to prove here; Amos admitted that she did not have a trainer at the time of the sale. Jessica says she has documented proof that Amos told her that she had a good program for the horse. Clearly everything was NOT disclosed.
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“A good program for the horse” doesn’t mean at all that the rider was currently riding with a trainer. It means there was a “good program for the horse” once he arrived.
Regardless:
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Honestly, you do realize you can BOTH be correct?
The buyer bought the horse as an amateur without the input of a professional. However, that does not mean she had not already made arrangements for it to go to a professional by the time the horse was shipped.
And it’s equally possible that the seller was uncomfortable selling a horse to an amateur without the professional seeing/riding the horse, even if that amateur had a professional lined up.
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We are interpreting this wording in different ways, and that’s ok. The wording provided by both sides here is paraphrased and most likely incomplete as far as additional details that were shared. Based on what I have read here, my take is that the buyer got all starry eyed at the tall black horse with the big trot, and said whatever she felt she needed to say to get the seller to sell her the horse. Your take is obviously very different; there’s nothing wrong with that. I just don’t understand why the seller is basically being reprimanded by some here for not babysitting this buyer through this sale. Seller said horse needed a program, buyer said she had a program. How much hand holding do you think sellers are expected to do to sell a horse?
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Simkie, you seem to have so much hate for me. Would you like to reveal your name? Not only did I have extremely extensive phone calls with this buyer but also documented emails where I was absolutely forthcoming. You know nothing about me or my business. It is so easy to hide behind screen names as most here do. There are two sides to every story. I do not feel I misrepresented the horse.
I absolutely know I encourage and allow any ppes, xrays, etc. None of the vets on my list have any association with me nor would they ever do anything wrong.
Very much a case of someone who is telling such a different version of what happened.
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Do you think an amateur with a decade out of the saddle is a good fit for a horse marketed as a “pro ride.” Seriously.
If Jessica says all this:
Does that align with placing this horse in this home.
Is it all about the sale? If it is, slap a buy it now button on the website. Caveat emptor.
If it’s about placing the horse in the right spot–especially for a horse that the seller is very up front about needing something specific–then YES there is onus on the seller on an attempt to get him that specific thing.
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Again farm visits are rare??? You must be joking. We have so many shoppers that come here but I sell young green horses often with a few post track documented rides. Show me sales barns that take twice weekly videos or document as much as we do. There is nothing hidden.
I simply am careful about who comes to try my horses. Nothing undoes training faster than bad rides. 99% of people overstate their abilities. We are careful to put people on quiet horses first to ensure safety. I do talk to people, email, Facebook messages, etc and tell many it’s not a match.
That being said a lot of people do buy sight unseen. I do the best I can but nobody gets it right all the time.
Buyer very much told me she had a very well thought out plan for him. We discussed it extensively.
You do not know me nor how I conduct business so to imply otherwise is false.
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I have zero hate for you. I don’t know you from Adam. But what you’ve shared here about your business sure doesn’t seem to align with what others have shared about your business.
Oh? So you’ve returned her call?
At no point have I said you’ve misrepresented the horse. I feel I’ve made it pretty clear that my beef is selling a “behavioral issues” “pro ride” horse sight unseen to someone who’s been out of the saddle for ten years, without even discussing what he needed with the trainer. And then refusing to have a conversion with the seller post sale.
Feel free to share yours 
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I’ve already provided my opinion, multiple times, to all of this so I’m not going to repeat myself any more than I already have.
Benchmark seems to be a very successful business; I see tons of positive feedback on Facebook, she has repeat customers, and the majority of horses sell pretty quickly. I just don’t think your over the top criticism is warranted, but you are welcome to your opinion as much as I am mine.
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Yes, ppe is extensive. In the barn exam. Flexions, lunging, neuro exam and vet watches horse be tacked, mounted, wtc both ways and circles. Bloodwork pulled. I can’t imagine a ppe gets any more extensive. Some people xray every single thing on the horse. Some just do a basic. I have zero involvement in what a buyer does or doesn’t do.
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That is exactly how all vets do PPE’s in my experience. Some do a neuro exam and some don’t so that seems to vary. I think every vet has a slightly different way of doing things. I do want to add that these are mostly all horses very fresh off the track. We are riding, lunging, etc for ppes which is more than you get at the track but the horses are still very green. Most maybe have popped a jump or two. Some are still struggling with leads.
We also video our training rides and they are able to be viewed by anyone who wishes to see them. How many videos a horse has is probably based on low long it’s here but we show grooming, tacking, baths, wash stall, mounting, etc.
We are just normal people who happen to enjoy the restarting process. I like to think I rehome more horse than anyone here ever has and I do a lot of good providing an outlet for horses coming off the track. It’s extremely rare that people are unhappy but I’ve likely sold over 1000 horses. I don’t think anyone can be perfect. Not to mention sometimes there are just such different versions told on a horse. Different riding, tack, feed, turnout, etc can change a horses way of going.
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I have shared mine and don’t need to rehash it. You don’t know me, haven’t done business with me and don’t have any of the facts but want to carry on like you have some sort of personal insight. Seems like some sort of vendetta 
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