Here are some of my observations:
Clients:
Need to accurately describe their level of riding.
Don’t tell me you are an intermediate rider then we find out you have had three months of lessons. It is impossible to find a good match when you don’t know the real level of experience. This is where clients get overmounted then end up dumping the horse six months or a year later when they can’t ride it.
Be realistic about what you are spending on the purchase. If they only have $15k then say so. Make it clear if that INCLUDES the commissions or they are seperate.
If your trainer has to have input the tell the broker. Don’t waste time shopping on your own then say “oh by the way we need to come back with the trainer”. Bring them the first time.
Brokers:
Good quality video. It should show footage at home schooling in a relaxed atmosphere and show footage if it has any sort of record. Even if it is a schooling show. If it is a pony sale get footage of a kid tacking it up. Showing it has good ground manners is important to parents. Be honest about the horse’s ability. Don’t say things like has been successfully shown when what it really means is no one was killed at the one schooling show they took him to. If it is a 2’6 great first teacher then say so. Don’t sell a 20 year old broken down needs to be retired TB saying it is a 3’6" childrens jumper on the A circuit.
Have a vet stick it and give you something in writing certifing the actual height. (learned this one the hard way when it was advertised at 15.2 and growing and sticked when I got her home after purchase and she was 15.0! grown to 15.2 now but jeez)
This leads to vetting: I will never again vet a horse and not get it sticked to back up the claims of the height. I used the local vet where I bought her but made sure that I was there for the vetting and put a condition of her passing a vet inspection with mine at home as the condition of sale. Yes, it was two vettings but at least I knew she was sound and servicable before we moved her quite a distance. So using a vet of the broker isn’t necessarily a bad thing but cover yourself.
If you are brokering a horse and it fails a vet check with good reason then seriously consider dropping it from your list if the sellers won’t abide by honestly saying what was found on a previous vetting. Not all horses are good sales/purchases and to maintain an honest and fair reputation you have to be willing to walk away from the REAL lemons.
Commissions: I too hate this whole “I told so and so I saw your horse and now I get 10% too” game. Have the seller and purchaser sign a contract acknowledging what the selling price is, who pays the broker, and they each pay their own professional. Nothing sends a deal sour faster than 14 commissions doubling the price of a horse.
I am sure there is more but these are just some of the things I have encountered and I am not a broker but did buy my horse through one. By the way, her policy is that the seller pays her commission. Good luck with your venture.