Horse Buying/Selling Gripe Thread

[TheJenners]

@MapleBreeze

ts really hard to find a ground person and sometimes something is better than nothing.

Sometimes the most random things sells.
Sometimes people want to see progress
Sometimes random.bombproofing
But really its not easy to coordinate perfect help perfect timing perfect weather and perfect horse.

Of course sellers want it perfect, but that why its sometimes not.

A seller has no control over what “random thing” sells and can only set themselves up for success by asking for a ground person, we all know someone who can come hold or shoot while we hold, there isn’t such a rush to sell that you can’t wait a couple hours or days to get a picture 10x better. Yes you can’t coordinate perfect everything but who cares if it’s overcast, if you have someone wiling to hold, do your best. I am by no means fancy but with a camera phone I have several options and backdrops for picture taking (driveway with woods behind, concrete with barn behind, arena with regular horse property looking stuff behind. No one has to take a picture of a horse with messily tarped hay behind them, tractors, a dog taking a crap, the horse’s dick hanging out, haphazard whatevers…

@fledermaus

If I was selling something I was hoping to get thousands of dollars for, I think I’d invest a bit of effort into it.

This. It isn’t hard.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

All this! Plus, there is a huge difference between “overcast but good view of a horse” and a video that is of a horse trotting at the other end of a dark arena.

Lots of ads give a “I don’t totally want to sell this horse but I need to” vibe.

[Cinderella]

Are they still in business? Hopefully not. I vaguely remember reading about them.

[TheHunterKid90]

I also had that happen once!
People I knew that had bought a few from me before came to look at a young but pretty broke mare I was selling.
All my normal work saddles were on other horses so I put one of my show saddles on her and climbed right on while telling them I never lunge her and she’s super quiet.
The second my ass hit the seat she exploded! Bucked like she belonged at the NFR and I ate dirt.
I decided to lunge her and when I went to get back on I felt her back hump like she was going to do it again.
Something told me the saddle was probably pinching her so I told the trainer I was going to take her back in the barn quick and swap saddles.
The poor guy followed me back in the barn and watched my every move because he thought I was going to drug her. switched the saddle, got back on and she rode great. They bought her that day.

[findeight]

Not since the daughter turned on Mom and testified against her maybe 5-6 years ago. Or so I heard.

[blue_heron]

I will admit… I fell off a horse my second time going to see him. There was a number of wasps in one corner of their outdoor. He did a spin and bolt in that corner and I assumed it was because of the wasps (I also hate them, have a mild allergy). I still bought him. He spun and bolted with me many times after that. I think hope I am smarter than that now.

[rockymouse]

@fledermaus

But then my friend in her sixties, who is a fairly good rider, but neither confident nor assertive, lost her little Arab mare to colic a few months ago and went horse shopping. Against the advice of every single friend she had, she bought a frickin unhandled five year old mustang off the range. “It’s always been a dream of mine” she explains.

I can only roll my eyes.

I hear you. Unhandled mustangs can really be a handful and a half for folks. I don’t know your friend, but I will say that she may be in a place right now where simply building and exploring a relationship and doing stuff on the ground is what she’d like, in which case a mustang could be immensely rewarding. I don’t mean magikal Black Stallion stuff. I mean taking slow steps to gain trust both ways…there could be immense satisfaction in that process. It might not matter to her when, or if, she climbs on his back.

I’m friends with three super solid trainers with quite extensive mustang experience. In a couple cases over the last decade, the horses they got were not suited for domestication, and were returned to longterm holding. In all the other cases, however, they turned out pretty well. Hopefully your friend has gotten one of these who are friendly and willing after their initial shock.

I will admit that, like your friend, I’ve always dreamed about adopting a BLM mustang as well. Will I do it? I’m 55, so a few years behind your friend, and I’d send it out to one of these trainer friends for saddling…we’ll see!

[Spudsmyguy]

@blue_heron

I internally cringe when I see ads that are like “He’s only four but calm enough for an AA or junior!”

I saw almost this exact wording yesterday in an ad.

One of the funniest sales video I saw was a horse advertised as going both english and western. For the western portion, the rider was dressed in traditional backyard western garb - jeans, bare head, boots with gigantic spurs. Trotted and loped around (forever it seemed). Then swapped out to English tack and clothes, boots, breeches, and a helmet! Ha ha. I guess only if you ride english do you have the potential of falling and hitting your head. The horse on the other hand got his head cranked down to try and force him into a “frame” as he attempted to trot and canter, on the forehand I might add.

[TheHunterKid90]

Oh gosh! Well if she would have done anything like that when they took her home I would have definitely offered to take her back.
She actually sold to a mounted shooting home.
2 weeks after they brought her home, she hadn’t been ridden in a week, trainer pulled her out, loped a few circles on her and then shot 6 .45 colts off of her and she never flinched. He knew then it really was the saddle!

[anon68314200]

Yes facility layout may necessitate having either/or in order to maximize usage safely

[blue_heron]

Well, I am going to look at a horse on Sunday. Almost 4. Pretty much a blank slate, not started, just hanging out outside at a reputable farm.

What’s the current standard for young horse PPEs who haven’t been in work? Need to walk the line on covering my bases and not emptying my savings-- the horse will take care of that.

[OreoCookie]

Funny the first reply to your comment says Canada because that’s where I was going to suggest looking. I purchased a LusitanoX there last year with very similar criteria - I just wanted a gelding instead.

[TheJenners]

@blue_heron

What’s the current standard for young horse PPEs who haven’t been in work?

When I bought my weanling, it was a standard exam to make sure eyes and lungs work, heart sounds healthy, and then I requested some xrays (turned up physitis in both stifles, bought anyway, discovered physitis in both rear ankles when she arrived a few months later, so far so good ) . For an older horse who presumably has at least some ground manners and handling experience, I’d add flexions and some xrays, have it lunged for the vet on a hard surface, and call it good. Probably pull blood just in case.

[Scaramouch]

I’m buying a young mare as a jumper/event prospect who fits the same description. Vetted her earlier this week and opted for limited X rays (front feet, hocks and stifles) on top of the standard PPE (cardio, respiratory, ophtho, flexions, hoof testers). Vet and I agreed that was a reasonable level of due diligence without being overkill for a baby who hasn’t been in work.

[blue_heron]

Hopefully it’s not mine… I will definitely consult with whatever vet I end up working with but that seems like plenty to me, too. Basic wellness exam, lameness exam, and the critical rads.

[outerbanks77]

@blue_heron

What’s the current standard for young horse PPEs who haven’t been in work? Need to walk the line on covering my bases and not emptying my savings-- the horse will take care of that.

What breed?

When I got my 2 year old WB, I radiographed hocks, stifles and front fetlocks/pasterns. The front images happened to catch a coffin joint OCD. I still took her because she had perfectly clean hocks and stifles. Next time I will definitely get C6/C7 neck radiographs too. A different two year old presented as slightly back at the knee, so I had the knees radiographed to get a better idea of whether it was a concern or not.

Of course make sure things are done step-wise. Once I had a horse vetted out of state and told the vet at least twice that if he found any hint of lameness in the physical exam, not to proceed to radiographs. He calls me after the PPE and says, “well, the horse exhibited lameness to one direction on hard ground, but the radiographs showed…” Yeah, I had to fight the university vet hospital a bit to get that $1K in radiographs removed from my bill.

[Libby2563]

Personally I wouldn’t skimp on X-rays just because the horse is unstarted. You can’t try the horse and it might end up not being your type of ride. Regardless of your own tolerance of X-ray findings, it would be useful to know ahead of time whether there are things that might deter potential buyers. You would also have a good baseline set for yourself or future buyers. I would definitely not skip neck or back either. And get a solid neuro exam.

[TheJenners]

@Amberley

With a young horse I want to know what the dam did, how they were raised and what they ate, then basic vet and x-ray stifles and maybe more on a WB or more OCD prone breed or wherever the vet says to x-ray.

Oh yeah this, I forgot. The dam for my filly was obviously lame and was a QH, so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything hereditary. She had suffered an injury that ended her eventing career. I also asked that he make sure the baby’s feet matched as I currently have one with very mismatched front feet (sans any clubbing, just different shapes entirely) and it is a PITA to deal with.

[ASBJumper]

“With a young horse I want to know what the dam did, how they were raised and what they ate (…)”

OMG, this is so refreshing!! It boggles my mind how many people buy youngsters without asking these types of questions, when they have SOOOO much bearing on how the future will pan out with the horse!
The number of people who breed mares because they either a) couldn’t stay sound in work or b) were insane/rank is ASTOUNDING. And yet, people see a fancy sire and get all starry-eyed and ask nothing about the dam. It blows me away. And yes, so many people never ask how the mare was fed while pregnant/lactating, which is just as important as what the foal was fed (if anything) from 3 mos-weaning.

Sidenote… I for one am very happy the market is stupid hot right now and that people are asking for way too much money for their youngsters. Because I price mine reasonably, they’re not only selling fast, they’re selling in-utero. So everyone else can just keep doin’ what they’re doin’ AFAIC, cuz it’s benefitting little hobby breeders like me immensely.

[ASBJumper]

So, how did it go on Sunday??