I bought my heart horse of a lifetime an Arabian with only a video and some photos! I bought him as a 3 year old and he is now 14 and I have earned my bronze and silver medals on him. It was without a doubt the most uncharacteristic thing of me that I have ever done. I had just lost a horse and was still very sad, and not ready to commit to the effort of buying another horse again. Something about the day in the life video just showed me all I needed to know. I knew he was perfect for me. I had a basic PPE done given that he was young. Paid by check and waited for the check to clear and arranged for shipping. It has been a wonderful almost 11 years together.
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Yes.
Bought a stallion online, sight unseen - just photos and a crappy video. Had a vet check, everything was great, went from Texas to Wisconsin to get him. Arrived - he was much smaller than advertised.
Donāt get me wrong, I still took him home and adored him. Best minded horse Iāve ever been around. Great legged, great mannered - had a feeling about him and was right on the money. Rode him some even though he wasnāt advertised as a riding horse. He is wonderful and produces wonderful, wonderful, wonderful foals.
Unfortunately for me, I breed English APHA horses. While he did tend to throw height he was AQHA, and I couldnāt take the risk on my small herd to end up with a solid colored horse that was too big for western and too small for English. I could have risked one or the other, but not both. Sold him to a lovely family who has promoted him very, very well and heās had a great breeding season with their specific audience.
Lesson learned - if height is a requirement, ask the vet to put a stick to the horse in a vetting, since they probably havenāt seen the advertisements.
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One of my current three horses was bought from a private party, not a trainer.
Bought from a state far away, sight unseen, on some pictures and grainy videos.
Horse seemed to fit all around but for a couple points.
He was very much as described, we were on the same page on that, thankfully.
Lovely horse, but would not want to keep trying my luck at that.
It was nerve wracking hoping all was ok.
I know several of those sellers on the internet that I would not buy a round pet rock from, it probably is badly chipped.
Wonderful pictures, videos and write-ups on their horses.
The reality, you canāt trust any of that to be what you get when you buy a horse from them, buyer beware applies there.
Yes. And loved her. And will do it again when Iām able. My passion is for the downtrodden. Some horse rescues are way more honest than some horse sellers within my budget and experience. Ppe of course.
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Both my OTTBs were purchased on pics and short jog videos, from ReRun in NY. No PP examā¦just shipped them to Wisconsin. Iāve been very happy with both, no problems whatsoever. (caveat: Iām also a retired pro, with a fairly good eye for horseflesh).
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Bought a horse from GA. Flew to see him based on videos (doing Parelli Ć°ÅøĖā¢) being lunged briefly and running loose. Got a local vet opinion on said vids and animal communicator opinion on temperament. Rode briefly in not great conditions. Had PPE with xrays. All good. Very happy one year later.
I have used animal communicators for over 30 years to get a feel for adopted full grown dogs temperaments. This was the first time I used one for purchasing a horse. I would do it again in a hot minute. Itās not that costly and I donāt buy horses very often, (and have no intention of selling) so I needed as much insight as possible. It was right on the money (as usual). Of course, her opinion was only a slice of the equation, but if she said he had a crazy mind, I would not have gone to GA to look at him.
I bought a (Anglo-Irish x French) weanling from a fellow COTH poster in Alabama sight unseen. We exchanged lots of emails, photos, and phone calls. We met in an interstate rest area in Camdne, SC (I am in Virginia), I handed over the money and we moved the colt from her trailer to ours.
Buying a weanling is always a gamble, and he turned out to be great, just not at my preferred discipline (eventing). But I sold him to an active fox hunter who loves him. (I bought him as a sales project.).
This was approx 2005.
I have bought three off of Dreamhorse.com. One gelding was exactly as advertised, I loved him at first sight (as he stepped off their trailer in -12 degree temperatureā¦we didnāt linger, but exchanged the check and his registration papers and loaded him on my trailer as fast as possible). I still have him as a retired pasture ornament.
The second was not a good match for me, personality-wise. I sold him to my neighbor who says heās the best horse heās ever owned, so it was a happy ending for the horse. Both were purchased sight unseen.
The third was advertised as 15.3 hh. He got off the trailer and was barely 15 hh. I didnāt think to have the vet verify his height. He was an amazing trail horse, which is what I bought him to do.
I flew to Colorado to buy the last horse I purchased. He was on Dreamhorse as well, but I wanted to see him in person. Iām not sure Iād buy another without trying him first. I feel like I used up all my luck in previous sight unseen purchases.
I think itās worth a shot if circumstances donāt allow you to travel to try horses. But that gets really pricey up front, so a lot depends on your budget and how much risk you are comfortable with.
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Funny what you said about using up your luck. True dat! I forgot about the gorgeous TB mare I bought off of Dreamhorse who turned out to be crippled as she had either pulled back while being tied and injured her neck and broken her pelvis, or something. Beautiful, sweet as pie but so very broken. As tall as represented but otherwise a horrible dishonest seller. Had a beautiful ISH foal for me but then lost her to an intestinal volvulus. Iāve been much more cautious about buying online ever since.
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Yes. And though we had a bit of a rough go at first, he is the best purchase Iāve ever made!
I am now in a peculiar situation of considering this myself.
My current Morgan, in his late teens, has cancer and may not last longer than this summer. I have been looking for another horse, although at my age (64 years OLD), I wonder if I SHOULD buy another horse. My BO is being difficult by saying that IF I buy a second horse, he will charge me regular board for the New Horse and ONLY the cost of feed for my Current Horse.
I want(ed) something No Older than 14, preferably a gelding, and a registered (Morgan). I want a Very Classic Look (NOT a āshowā Morgan look), and very particular bloodlines (Lippitt and/or Foundation). In fact, if any of three āfamousā show horse Morgan names appear in the pedigree, I will immediately eliminate the horse, no matter how good the horse looks or how well he might suit me.
Wellā¦
There is a Morgan gelding advertised for sale, he is all bay (LOVE my bay horses), and the ad says, āTrained to ride and drive.ā Thatās it. But I LOVE his look AND the fact that his rider is using a direct rein (in a western saddle), rather than neck reining. Iāve said that I will not buy a horse again who hasnāt been ridden English at some point. (My current gelding is well-trained, but Iāve never discovered his āwesternā buttons.) This gelding is beautiful, REALLY beautiful, and his price is unbelievably low.
So very late last night, I e-mailed the seller, asked the horseās age, his height, if he were registered, and if he loaded well. This morning, the seller sent a picture of his registration papers, his height (15.2āthe āmagicā size this year), and stated that he was a very good loader.
His bloodlines are mostly Lippitt, and the rest are Foundationāno ābadā names in this guy. If he were only 14.2, I would still be interested. BUT he turned 17 years old this spring. I am afraid of losing another horse sooner than really expected, and I want to do some VERY low showing. On the other hand, I am not ambitious, and if I end up with Just A Trail Horse, THIS horseās picture makes me smile. And at his price, buying him without a PPE is not something I would be uncomfortable with.
IF he were ālocalā (i.e., within 250 miles of me), I would snap him up, and if I did NOTHING (show-wise) with him, so what? But he is over 700 miles from me, and I donāt own a truck/trailer, nor am friendly enough with someone willing to get him for me. Because of where I live (on the very west side of Michigan/east coast of Lake Michigan), a lot of āproā companies wouldnāt be interested in hauling here. (Most like east-west or north-south.)
Well, Iām crazy because so far, Iāve looked at cheap airline flights, car rentals, trucks for sale with hitches, and horse trailers for sale. If not now, later I will be looking at the pro-haulers to see if I MIGHT find someone who would get this horse for me.
Iām truly nuts. Really.
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Yes. Bought my newest gelding from a few pictures and one short video. Of course, I just wanted a new trail riding partner and not a show horse, as my SSH mare is 26 now and I know itās time to start thinking about retirement for her.
My gelding is 9 y/o and has turned out to be exactly as described by the sellers, who just happen to be a horse trader/kill buyer outfit out of Tennessee. Theyāre known for being completely up front and honest about the horses they sell, and my husbandās mare was also exactly as described. When itās time to buy again, Iāll be going back to them.
If youāre looking for registered horses with papers these folks arenāt going to be where you want to go, but if youāre looking for decent, good natured horses you can ride and have fun with, theyāre a good resource. Theyād rather sell than send to slaughter, and I have no problem with their line of work.
I recently bought one a couple states away from an online ad. And video. And pictures. And the fact that I know someone who knows the trainer. And I had him vetted. Not disappointed in my choice at all. But I was careful.
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I put over 100+ tbās a year sight unseen based off pictures, jog video, researching records, etc but most come from very trusted contacts in the racing business. I very rarely have any issues considering the high number of horses that I buy.
I have had two horses dropped off for me that were picked by a friend. She has a great eye and I kept both of them. One took me some time to bond with, but it was worth the work.
I started searching for a driving Morgan gelding looking for certain bloodlines. When one showed up on a Facebook Morgan page with the bloodlines I wanted, I got very interested. Looked at photos. Got a long video. Made sure the seller knew I was serious.
Paid for a PPE but gave the seller no money until I showed up and actually tried out the horse (drove my trailer there). It was a 600 mile journey. Everything was as presented so i paid for him. I still wonder about the original owner saying that she was selling him because she didnāt bond with him.
This gelding is just perfect for me. I drive and he is very talented at it. I couldnāt be happier.
Even so, every purchase is a crapshoot.
I wouldnāt do this in a million years. Every time Iāve been to see a horse (which I have done a lot), there have been surprises. Some werenāt the height advertised, some were greener than advertised, some had quirks that were never mentioned, some didnāt look the same body condition as the video, and some I just plain didnāt āclickā with. Buying a horse is a really serious investment. Buying the wrong one is a giant heap of stress and expense. I recommend you take the time to go see it.
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Iāve done it three times (all WBs). I met them when I showed up with a trailer to pick them up.
The first I bought at 1-week old. I bought him based on the breeding and what he looked like on the ground. I ended up losing him at 3yo to severe wobblers. A vet check on a weanling wouldnāt have shown anything at that point. I found out years later that the breeder was a hoarder/crook/etc. But I bought from her in the early years, before this was a well-known fact.
One was soooo inexpensive for her breeding that I figured it was worth the risk. The seller very honestly represented her. Sure, there were some significant training holes, but I got a very, very nice horse for practically nothing. And now that that the training holes are mostly fixed, I could easily flip her if I wanted.
The other was a little more expensive but still very reasonably priced for the age/breeding/look. I took a little more risk on that one as the only videos the seller had were older. But while the mare was a little greener than they said, sheās just lovely. And I got her for well under value.
I would never, ever buy sight unseen from Europe, as when I went horse shopping (multiple times) in Germany, the vast majority of the horses were much less broke than they appeared in video. When shopping in the US, I generally only look within a fairly close radius to home, and have had some that were very well represented in their ads/conversations, and others not so much.
Most of my horses were in the under $15K price point, and honestly, all the issues Iāve had with any of them (both PPEād/not, met/purchased sight-unseen) have been typical illness/injuries/accidents, none of which would have showed up if Iād gone out to see them 15 times and vetted every square inch.
Iāve been around the block a time or two, and Iāve owned a lot of horses. I know what I like, and have a decent instinct for what Iām getting. That being said, itās risk. But owning ANY horse is a risk.
If I were shopping for THE horse, something that is supposed to get me my gold medal, or pack me around the 3ā6 AOs and Hunter Derbies tomorrow, I would try it several times and vet within an inch of its life. Especially if I can only afford to board one horse. But I have my own farm, a very limited budget, and a willingness to take a loss if it turns out to be quirkier than advertised, or has no aptitude for jumping, or whatever. I donāt mind making my own, and taking a few years to get there. Now I breed, so donāt envision buying anything in the future unless I switch disciplines or something. But sure, for the right price/breeding/video, Iād buy from on-line/out of state without seeing it first.
I bought two from CANTER years ago, different locations. Had them shipped from Illinois and NY to Arizona where I was. Probably not my most brilliant move but both basically turned out okay. From nothing but two photos.
