Or a Craiglist ad with a picture like this one for a horse that needs training.
Should we assume it spends too much time sitting on that chair?
My pet peeve is when they show a picture of a dirty horse. Mud all over it. At least take the time to scrape it off. Also when someone posts an ad and then someone asks how old it is, or how tall it is, and they say they will look when they get home. Huh?? Put your ad together before you post it.
I want to know at the very least location, age,height, price, skill level, breed, if registered.
A very dark horse against a very dark background.
You can’t tell if that is a horse or hippopotamus.:lol:
Belgium rather than Belgian. :no:
As I’ve been in the horse market recently, I have YET to discover (out of hundreds of ads) that have ideal photos and information.
I want conformation photos, squared on level ground from each side, and also from the front and rear. I want photos, preferably video, of the horses movement. As far as info I find the basics are rarely included such as age, breed, height, and even gender. I DO want to be assured the horse is utd on vet and farrier and that he behaves accordingly, and also his ground manners (leads ties loads clips) along with his level of advancement under saddle. If he has had any history of injury or unsoundness, I wanna know!
I could not tell you how many people I have emailed and how few respond. Or if they do respond, give me very vague info or completely ignore what I think are normal questions. At times the horse is not close to me and I request conformation photos as I don’t want to drive a long ways and not even know what I’m going to look at. Do these people really just not want to sell their horse they can’t snap a couple photos (ones they should’ve had to begin with) or answer a few questions? It boggles my mind.
This isn’t SO bad, it’s the “has competed to 1.20m” and the only jumping picture they show is the horse jumping a 1ft tall cross rail that really annoys me!
“Great horse, anyone can ride.” And then at the bottom of the ad it says “needs experienced rider”. :winkgrin:
I’ve been surprised by the amount of nice horses that are text only ads. I don’t understand why people won’t spend $20 for a photo ad when the horse is being sold for thousands of dollars.
I used to only look at photo ads, thinking I was avoiding lower quality horses. Turns out I was wrong.
I’m also surprised by the number of horses for sale that simply aren’t advertised
I have found the following things to be helpful in my hunt.
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When I find a text-only add to Google or search on Youtube for the Show name. I’ve found lots of videos/photos for horses that didn’t have any visuals in the add. This may seem obvious to do, but I assumed if people have videos or photos they would be in the advert.
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Look on Facebook groups for the breed I’m looking for, many of these horses are not advertised in horse classifieds
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Find a stallion I like and check out the for sale section on that stallion’s website, many of those horses are not advertised elsewhere.
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Call, email or send facebook messages to trainers of the breed I’m looking for to see if they know of anything not advertised.
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How less fun horse-shopping is than I expected it to be. Window shopping was fun when I was less serious but now that I’m ready to buy either I’m being way more picky than before or there’s not as much available now
My #1 pet peeve in horse sale ads is pictures showing dirty horses. I understand that not everyone’s horse lives in a full care show facility (heck, my own two live out 24/7) but at least where I live it is common for ads for horses costing as much as 10k to show only pictures of a dirty, muddy horse in a field. No pictures of the horse performing as the ad claims it can are included.
I don’t expect perfectly pulled manes and of course unclipped horses are shaggy in the winter and may have to go unbathed depending on owners’ facilities, but how hard is it to pick up a curry comb and knock off the inches of caked on mud? If you are asking 5k for your horse, shouldn’t you care enough to TRY to present it well?
I do sell somewhere between 3 - 6 horses a year, some my own breeding and some consignments. I know the market pretty well. What gets me are ads where the seller states “I have bought another horse and I can’t keep two.” Okay, but maybe you should have SOLD your existing horse first. And your finances are not my problem if I am a buyer.
It also helps to price realistically. If the markets $$$$ but you are asking $$$$$ you need a really good reason to justify that price. I am not saying that it can’t be done, but you need to look at what comparable horses are selling for.
If you are going to sell your horse as anyone can ride, it best not to have your video start off jumping in a double bridle. It also not great to have million jumping shots and no W/T/C clip on the flat so that gaits and transitions can be seen.
Selling a horse is work. It is important to know your target market and pitch the horse toward that buyer. Believe me, I don’t want to waste anyone’s time, including my own, with a combination that is a bad fit.
Only video consists largely of the horse being chased around a pasture by a dog.
My biggest pet peeve are the ads that threaten to send the horse to auction/slaughter/known bad place if you do not buy the horse right this very minute and promise to keep it forever and ever.
[QUOTE=GrayTbred;7524795]
People whose only reason for selling is they “don’t have time” for their horse. Sounds as fake as a disgraced politician leaving office to “spend more time with his family.”[/QUOTE]
No time but willing to trade for another horse… Clearly a different horse will make them more available to ride or something.
[QUOTE=Sarabeth;7525934]
I’ve been tossing around the idea of a mini horse as a companion, so I’ve been looking at CL. Miniature horse ads all about KYOOT and most don’t mention the vital details such as age, height, etc.[/QUOTE]
Oh, yes, this one gets me. Or the one’s that say “can be registered” but not WHICH registry (there are three). I’ve been bitten on the “on applications” paperwork and will never buy a horse without CURRENT paperwork anymore.
Plus I’ve seen generic ads: " Nice Mini, good with kids, call XXXXXXXXXX" with no sign of age, height or even GENDER!
My ads have age, gender, height, which registry(s), show career if shown, temperment, and yes, I DO put “current Coggins, vaccinations and trims” in my ad because so many backyard Mini sellers DON’T do basic care. I want my guys to get every advantage. Of course, my Minis aren’t priced like the generic backyard horsie, either…
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The 3 or 4 year old being advertised with 6+ months under saddle. Video? That would be from its foal inspection. Really? You haven’t taken 5 minutes over the past 3 years to take a single video of this now horse?
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This is only slightly better than #1. The above horse is shown “at liberty”. I don’t care about the flagged tail/passagey trot that will never be seen again unless I chase him/her with a whip. Which I won’t. Why not take the 5 minutes and show the horse under saddle. I won’t expect it to be perfect. Really.
The 2 year old video. Nice video, nice horse, but what is the horse doing now? So much can change in a week, let alone two years! Get some updated video people.
[QUOTE=Paks;7528384]
Only video consists largely of the horse being chased around a pasture by a dog.[/QUOTE]
My least favorite one is where they have a 20 min video and the first 17 mins of it consists of them catching the horse, walking if up to the barn, tying it up, currying it, brushing it, picking it’s hooves, brushing it’s tail, putting on it’s saddle pad, bridle, saddle, boots. Then the last 3 mins they show a couple quick stills of it under saddle and that’s all you get to see.
Yes, some people like seeing the horse getting caught and tacked up in it’s sale ad, but a good number of people don’t need to see that in a sales video. So if you are gonna include that, make it a separate video and spend more time and effort on the ridden part.
The four year old for sale, pictured as a yearling. Really?
The only thing worse than that is a long video that is simply a slide show of still photos. You keep watching wondering when the moving video will start and it never does.
I think I saw that same ad!
I hate “auto changes” or “natural lead changes” for the younger ones advertised only for the video to show nothing but cross cantering, late changes, or never show even an attempt at a change. Or the claim such as “80% auto changes”. What does that even mean?
Videos that are too far away/too blurry or don’t show anything useful relative to what it’s being marketed for (i.e., a dressage video for one being advertised as a hunter prospect) are completely useless to me.
The words “great broodmare prospect”.
These are almost always in ads where the mare hasn’t done jack in her life, no show or performance records, but she’s perty (and SO often lame or somehow not usable as a riding horse…ad rarely mentions why) so obviously she’d be great to breed.
headdesk
