I have come across a beautiful OTTB with bloodlines that I am in love with, and she is basically my dream horse. However she is located about 2,000 miles away, in California, and I am in Missouri. Have any of you had experience with buying horses from a distance? How would you go about having a PPE done? How did you ship the horse/how much did it cost? I’m hoping not to have to spend more than $1,000 to ship her.
I’d love to hear about your experiences!
People buy horses all the time without trying them, but frequently a trainer or local contact is involved. Do you have a trainer who might have contacts in California, who could help you out? If so, they could also recommend a vet for PPE, otherwise you can ask right here and you will get lots of referrals. I would be more concerned about who you are buying the horse from, and their reputation, and a local contact via your trainer, would be very helpful.
You could call & get some quotes on shipping if you are worried about that part. Just for an idea…in April '04 I paid $1400 to ship from AZ to IL. That was for a box stall & I also was in no rush so he took 4 days to get here as they went along their route. I have no idea what shipping is now. I did fly out to see him, but as he was only a yearling that’s all you could do was look. I did a PPE with a vet in AZ, but again it was pretty basic given his age. I spoke directly with the vet & it was pretty straight forward.
Can’t help you with the shipping costs as i’m in Aus. I bought my current mare sight unseen by me from the other side of Australia. A friend of a friend lived about 100kms away so visited and took some vids for me or the mare being caught, handled and lightly lunged. I then rang around the vets and organised a vet check. It took awhile for the whole process (3mths) but that was just logistics and i was lucky no one else enquired about her and the owner only advertised her the once. I’m also pretty sure once i enquired he didn’t advertise her again (he didn’t really want to sell her).
I think its best to either be able to fly out to see the horse yourself or have a trusted contact look at the horse in person. This is a big investment that you are going to make, with purchasing, PPE and shipping. It would stink to get her home and realize that you and the horse just really don’t mesh.
I bought my mare from two states away. All I had was video and photos. She too came from ca and was an ottb. The person that listed her does it pretty much for a living and works with canter to list as well. She gets as much info as possible and is very honest about the horses even though they aren’t hers. I did send the videos and photos back home to a trainer friend in ca for her opinion and she gave the green light. I haven’t regretted the decision. And I was very leery of buying a red headed mare! She has been fantastic! I’m curious who you are looking at. I’m always window shopping and since the horse market for the kind of horse I look for seems to such in WA I follow the horses back home in ca. ??
I did that. I hired somebody to go try the horse and report back to me. Everything worked out fine.
This works fine for very skilled riders, who pay someone to try the horse, have it vetted, and have the contacts and desire to sell it on if it doesn’t fit the bill.
It is a bad plan for your average amateur/junior who has one or two horses, and needs them to fulfill certain roles. Chances are extremely high that the image you have of this horse as your “dream horse” is far from the truth. If you can’t afford to go try the horse, I’d recommend shopping more locally.
A long distance PPE is very manageable with a good independent vet. You talk to the vet ahead of time about the plan, and they call you when they reach the point that they have completed the physical exam to determine what radiographs you want done. They can also send the report and images to your local vet for review. The bigger concern to me in your situation would be buying sight unseen and just hoping the horse works for for you, given how much you will invest in the cost of the PPE and shipping.
I purchased my filly while I was on my honeymoon essentially. Totally doable. I did have a fairly extensive PPE done but that is totally up to the individual. My mares PPE was almost more than her purchase price (in fairness she wasn’t super pricey). I was able to pick her up myself due to proximity but I know plenty of people that have purchased off of pictures and videos.
Best of luck!
Can you ride the horse if it turns out to be hot as a firecracker? I buy horses from afar but I like hot horses. And I can deal with naughty horses. If I needed a certain temperament I wouldn’t do it. A TB trainer’s version of “quiet” and a hunter/jumper person’s version are sometimes pretty different. Not always, but the horse that gets off the trailer might not be your idea of quiet, even if the trainer honestly described it to you like that. If you have TB experience and can handle whatever steps off the box, then this is not an issue. Otherwise, but something you can see. Then you can get more of a sense of the brain on the horse.
PPE not a big deal, easy to do from afar.
I think that shipping price is low for a reliable shipper. I would budget $1500 at least.
I purchased my mare off pics and videos but also knew if her personality and mine weren’t a fit that I had the resources and help to then move her on to someone else. If that isn’t the case then no, I’d make sure I got to meet her/him in person to be sure our personalities were a match.
[QUOTE=Madison;8451970]
A long distance PPE is very manageable with a good independent vet. You talk to the vet ahead of time about the plan, and they call you when they reach the point that they have completed the physical exam to determine what radiographs you want done. They can also send the report and images to your local vet for review. The bigger concern to me in your situation would be buying sight unseen and just hoping the horse works for for you, given how much you will invest in the cost of the PPE and shipping.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. With the internet, finding a reputable local vet should not be an issue.
However, I would not buy sight unseen, because I would need to know if the “chemistry” is there in person and the horse fits me. It would be one thing if the horse was easily “fungible” (i.e. a fancy packer priced well, which could be resold quickly). I would worry about investing so much in a PPE, shipping, etc. without trying the horse myself.
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