Low. Project horse for sure, super green for the age. Seller mentioned nice bloodlines when we first exchanged messages but I saw papers and probably would have included it in the ad. She is a dressage person. Seller’s story seems reasonable and like I said there’s a paper trail. Seller seemed relieved to talk to a sane person over the phone. I’m kind of digging for red flags.
I am starting to peruse the ads in search of something to trail ride and foxhunt. I love riding my current horse, but the unsound days vastly outnumber the sound ones.
I recently read an ad describing the horse as “more woe than go”. Umm, guess I will pass on that that one, I already have my vet’s best friend.
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@RHdobes563 The mare is 3/4 Cleveland Bay X 1/4 TB. She is registered with the Cleveland Bay Association. She is only “too small” when put with our other 16.2H+, big movers that we drive. She is fully mature, ready to go into training. Very green ridden because we focused on her driving training, not riding training.
We also start looking at horses from the ground, after a quick overall view of their body. Hooves, legs, over stride in motion. Husband is very good at deciding if a horse will go with our others. We got this mare as a weanling, full sister to a gelding we got from their breeders. He got tall, she did not. We really liked their sire and his other get. So funny how well full siblings can match for a Pair or be totally different!! Half siblings are even more fun.
Old fashioned, but a poor “body foundation” is not usually going to hold up in hard work. I can look at a plain face on a good body, legs, all day, since “pretty head” is not on my must- have list.
Dawdlers do not live here! One of the best/funny things I ever heard was at a western clinic during warm-up, when the Clinician told me my Bay had “an agressive walk!” I took it as a compliment and my husband laughed his socks off when I told him that!! Well maybe passing the cantering horses at a walk was a bit much! He was not even doing his extended walk! Ha ha
Never had a Morgan, but we have known a lot of good ones. They are good workers, how ever you use them. Love having a job.
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I know a nice one in Canada for sale - PM me!
Also, I’ve been meaning to ask … what in the world is a 5* home and how exactly do sellers go about ascertaining that a potential buyer provides one?
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I’ve always interpreted that to mean a buyer that intends for the horse to be a personal horse rather than a lesson horse or to flip after a few months or a year.
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Horse shopping is the worst. I could write a book of all the nonsense I went through. Hang in there, it will all be worth it in the end when you find your unicorn!
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True story: Once I went to visit a potential retirement farm for my aging gelding. It was an absolutely lovely place and all was going swimmingly. Until I was getting ready to leave. Then the owner started saying weird things about the political climate and giving me weird wink-wink-nudge-nudge vibes about things that were “about to happen.” I went straight home and looked up her profile on social media. Turns out she was hard core QAnon.
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This did make me giggle. Just a horse trotting about, sooo sadly.
@goodhors Can you send me a message about your horse?
I purchased a yearling this fall and it was (mostly) very easy, however, I have a girlfriend who sells horses regularly and boy does she have some stories.
I honestly won’t buy without my trainer anymore. I certainly have in the past and I’m not afraid to, but I work long hours, travel a lot for said work, and I do not have the time to deal with idiot sellers.
In my scenario this year I said I wanted a yearling filly who was good legged and had visible color (I show APHA). I also wasn’t going to over pay for a prospect just because the seller thought they could swing it. I wanted another horse, I didn’t need another horse. My trainer vetted probably 15-20 candidates via video and word of mouth; I think she eventually sent me three. Two were “good, not great” and then we found “the one”.
Ended up buying her from a former trainer of mine who had her less than two miles down the road. Got a screaming deal on her because she wasn’t yet registered (paid to nominate her to all of the futurities) and she is white. (https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj6T2ZFJlbr/) However, she checks all of my boxes and we’re really looking forward to 2023. I think the whole process took somewhere around three months from when I said “I want something” to “here’s a wire”. It’s easier on this end because the last few I’ve purchased have all been young stock, but the network and connections that you have in the industry I feel make all the difference. Of the three serious contenders I saw, none of them had been publicly advertised.
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What I’ve witnessed on the sidelines of the Paint/AQHA barn I’m in, when it comes to selling horses and clients buying horses, almost paralyzed me with fear and indecision. For every $xx,xxx-figure show horse that was purchased off video (with PPE, etc.) and arrived via van that turned out to be fantastic, there was an equal number that were remarkably crooked-legged, were smaller/bigger than anticipated, had holes in their training or several nasty habits.
Yet for a well-bred youngster that was properly started, and had the quality to do performance halter and the versatility to be an all-around horse, I had to look beyond my state. I saw what happened when some clients ventured out on their own and bought without much input from our trainer, so I definitely relied on her to help me network. I emphasized that I wanted to buy from someone whom she felt had a good, solid reputation.
I ended up getting my young horse from a well known APHA judge. He was professional in communicating with me. Because he judges a lot, he was upfront with the good and not-so-perfect qualities of the horse I liked. He told me where he thought the horse would excel, and where he’d probably not “shine.” My trainer spoke highly of his ethics, so I took the plunge. OMG, I have never spent so much on a horse-- plus the vetting, etc.-- in my life. But I have the horse of my dreams now.
Finding the right connection with the human is almost as important as finding the right equine.
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I’ve never purchased with my trainer and I am honest with the fact that I am not the “ideal” client, in that it’s very hard to make money off of me. It’s not worth the hours and hours of shopping online and calling people for a <$1000 commission. She just recently expanded her business to take in more clients for training on her property, so she is reluctant to do off-property lessons anymore. Which is okay, we’ve had her out for a clinic a few times! I don’t board at her place, pay for a lesson a week when our schedules line up, and will ride a sales horse/training horse in exchange for a lesson every once in a while when she or her working student can’t.
I’m also not the only person on earth looking for the horse I’m looking for. I’m not that close with her other clients, but I’m sure there’s at least one-- who will keep the horse at her place, in training. I have zero hard feelings toward her for prioritizing clients that will make her consistent money.
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Re. sellers that don’t want a buyer that looks folks up on the internet, I saw that scammers that bilk unsuspecting romantic internet partners out of bunches of money deliberately use poor grammar and make mistakes that clue you into their Nigerian background, because that kind of person will believe anything. Sigh. But it works…
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Beyond the initial text / video when inquiring about a horse, if you have additional questions, pick up the damn phone and call. I can’t stand the back and forth texting one question at a time over days or weeks. Just dial the number and have all your questions answered at once. For some strange reason, people seem to be afraid of actually talking on the phone to another human being.
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A phone call can feel more intrusive on the sellers time, vs a text they can answer at their convenience 
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I’ve been very lucky in my purchases, but like was mentioned above, buying babies is far easier (for the most part).
However, I’ve watched a friend of mine look over the years and it’s horrifying. The one that really stands out is a mare we drove 6 hours, with a trailer, to go see. She wasn’t absolutely sold on the mare (they were asking far too much for how the mare actually rode). My friend told them she’d think about it and discuss. I found out, completely by accident, that the mare was PSSM1. This was not mentioned AT ALL. And this was over a decade ago, so not super common back then.
I don’t understand how a phone call can be intrusive if they’re trying to sell a horse. If I had an interested buyer on the phone, I’d drop whatever I was doing and talk to them.
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In your text you can ask for a good time to phone. A conversation can be very very informative.
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I can’t stand the phone tag-- constant back and forth. Haven’t had this gripe this time around because I haven’t spoken to that many people, but I schedule a phone call, call, and no one picks up. Person messages me an hour later to apologize they missed my call. They don’t call me back. Or, I say I’m free this afternoon and this evening, call me anytime. They don’t call. Half the time I just say forget it. It’s so unprofessional and disrespectful of everyone’s time. Are these people late to work calls?
Messaging is just so inefficient. Let me talk to you on the phone so I know you can hold a conversation and you have your story straight. Most of my questions are answered, and then I can message follow up questions or sleep on it and tell you it’s not the right fit.
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The ad for Dobbin: No known soundness issues!
I go to the seller’s profile and find a post from six months ago: So excited to have Dobbin sound again after two months off!
I have seen this multiple times.
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