Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with Jonathan D. Martin of Hunt Hill Farm in Coatesville, PA? Specifically with boarding and care of horses as well as purchasing a horse from him.
I do not want to start a flame war, so please PM me any negative comments.
Thank you very much.
Sent you a PM
I’ve purchased a horse from him.
HE STOPPED PAYMENT ON A CHECK TO ME ON SERVICES ALREADY-RENDERED.
It was a simple, black and white situation, not gray.
I absolutely will NOT hide behind a PM on this one.
Wow, Hunter’s Rest! I sent a PM to the OP already, but I will also say I found him to not be a reputable seller.
Thank you everyone. I really appreciate the input and glad I heard from you before I proceeded any further. 
I’ve tried to reach him about a horse a couple of times, but he hasn’t responded and now I’m definitely not inclined to pursue it.
It’s a shame really
Because it was the best sales video I’d ever seen, and the horse was exactly as represented under saddle. When he blew me off, I told him that it wasn’t going to take him long to get a bad reputation, I might have bought the horse anyway if he’d been up front about it. But at least it would have been my choice to make.
HR has a wonderful reputation. Believe what she says.
[QUOTE=2ndyrgal;7567503]
Because it was the best sales video I’d ever seen, and the horse was exactly as represented under saddle. When he blew me off, I told him that it wasn’t going to take him long to get a bad reputation, I might have bought the horse anyway if he’d been up front about it. But at least it would have been my choice to make.
HR has a wonderful reputation. Believe what she says.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the heads-up!
Another one here who doesn’t need a PM. I did buy from him. Flew from SC to PA to see the horse, loved him, vetted him, bought him and had him shipped. My problem wasn’t with the horse. Jonathan lied to me about a small and trivial issue and refused to ever admit it. During his sales pitch, he mentioned that he had had 2 full brothers to the horse I bought. Horse had been advertised as TB x Perch. He looked it and I don’t doubt that’s what he was. He wasn’t registered. I didn’t need or expect “papers”. After Jonathan volunteered the info about full brothers, I asked if he had info on his sire and dam. He stated without hesitation that yes, he had copies of the papers for both parents. I asked if I could get a copy and he said sure. It never happened before or after the sale, despite repeated requests and promises from him.
Bottom line: he had no info about parents and lied to me that he did. It was a small and insignificant thing. It would not have mattered to me at all if he had just been honest and told me that no, he had no info. BUT IF A PERSON WILL LIE ABOUT SUCH A SMALL THING, YOU HAVE TO WONDER WHAT ELSE WILL BE MISREPRESENTED… Once a liar, always a liar.
I have seen him out hunting. IMO he is really rough on the horses mouths. I know other long time foxhunters that feel the same way.
A friend went and looked at a horse and it was much greener than advertised.
I think he is near Unionville?
Yep. Unionville and Coatesville are adjoining areas.
His barn is closer to Coatesville but would qualify as being in the Unionville area.
~Emily
My experience with Jonathan Martin has been nothing short of a nightmare . Awhile ago , I had a friend call for a reference on a hunting horse Jonathan was selling to have been hunted with the same hunt my family subscribes to . My friend asked " What do you know about this horse’? I told her , no one knows it ,because it just came from a local horse dealer, a month ago , and that Jonathan did not , does not hunt here. " A fact that was also confirmed by a field master. A short time later , I received a written message from Jonathan, telling me I better keep my "fat mouth shut or he will shut it for me " The most disturbing part was that when he saw my 15 year old daughter in public , he verbally assaulted her . So, proceed with caution when dealing with this person .
Yup wouldn’t go near that place if you paid me. Its amazing someone so young has already screwed over so many people. [edit] the last post still amazes me. And you asked about boarding too. From what I hear, he’s just as honest with his boarders as he is with his sales customers…
I received a written message from Jonathan, telling me I better keep my "fat mouth shut or he will shut it for me "
Sounds like a police matter to me: a threat of violence.
Hoping this thread isn’t dead yet. I created an account just for this!
A client of mine just committed to purchasing a horse from Jonathan at Hunt Hill and a preliminary search of his name brought me here pretty quickly. I’ve already concluded he’s a [edit] just from what has transpired so far, but the client is dead set on purchasing the horse against my advice. Now I’ve heard through the grapevine that he’s arranging for a prepurchase using his personal vet and I’m very on edge. To me, that’s rule #1 of being an honest horse salesman and my vet would never agree to it even if I wanted to play dirty.
He’s playing to my client’s trusting nature and she refuses to see sense. Those of you who have purchased horses from him, were they at least sound and useable for your original intents? My fear is that he has this vet on his payroll and she’s buying a lame horse. Feel free to PM! Any information is welcome.
Jumpb1gger - the horse I bought from him was not lame. However, he was also not remotely happy as a foxhunter. I eventually sold him and he is happy as a vaulting horse. I set up my own PPE with Berkowitz from Unionville Equine.
I don’t know where he gets his horses, but if you’re looking at any draft cross, and don’t want to deal with possibly managing an EPSM horse, send some hair off to Minn for DNA testing. The horse I bought from Jonathan was p/n. But I knew that before I decided to buy. (Another story altogether!)
This was 6 years ago and Jonathan was still in high school. I cut him a lot of slack originally, on the not-very-professional issues, because he was just a kid. Looks like he hasn’t learned anything. And there’s the whole LIAR thing.
Per my earlier post, I would not accept anything he says as truthful. And I would not let him set up the PPE. There are plenty of vets in that area to choose from.
Good luck!
Can’t thank you guys enough for this thread. A friend just sent me a horse she was interested in seeing. I saw the seller name and went, “wait…is this that guy?” Sure enough, it is. I said, no we don’t do business with this kind of person.
Horse I bought from him came with recent PPE and Xrays
And was sound and serviceable. Was also a big bastard on the ground after the 1st 30 days. I should have drawn blood when he got off the truck and was so calm he didn’t have a pulse. Flat affect. Should have known better.
Sold horse to someone who didn’t care if he was a menace or not.
Run away, don’t walk.
Don’t go there not a very good person also lies about horses he sells stay away.
I second using Steve from Unionville Equine. My family has been a client for 28 yrs
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