FYI, it isn’t always a red flag if a lesson barn sells a horse. Good lesson barns sometimes find that a horse they got for one level of classes or weight of rider doesn’t really work out for that, and they already have plenty of schoolies for the level where it would fit. Or even, that a horse can do the work but would really prefer to be have one or two people rather than a merry go round of riders. Some barns don’t have enough land for all the horses to retire, so they rehome some who can be ridden but would benefit from a lighter workload for long enough to win a retirement spot at that next home.
All that said, if your description of his conformation is accurate than this horse might well benefit from a flat work only home. I passed on adopting a young mare in Haiti with conformation like that, since mountain trail work under saddle would put a lot of torque on joints that aren’t lined up reasonably well. It’s ok to say that he’d be better off in a different job.
