Sellers can’t win for losing! I can’t imagine presenting a dirty horse to a prospective buyer. And sometimes you don’t have time to bathe it far in advance. It seems perfectly reasonable to me to give it a bath an hour before an appointment.
Also, a trainer who has ridden a horse earlier or a sweaty saddle pad wouldn’t be a red flag to me, either, because that’s kind of what they do – ride horses. It doesn’t mean they rode the horse you are looking at.
I think the “low end vs. high end” horse comment was probably more about whether it is clipped or not. a clipped horse will easily dry in 20 minutes. OP says she is in a warm area so none of the horses probably have long coats.
This is my thought too.
I can totally see the thread about how upset the buyer was when they showed up to try a horse and Dobbin was coated in manure crust and mud and grooming too forever… how unprofessional of the seller to present such a dirty horse.
My thought would have been it is a busy barn and they bathed the horse quick to get some crud off so they could present the buyer with a cleaner horse.
Out of curiosity, was the horse actually clean, like soap was used? Usually “hosed off” grey horse looks and smells a lot different than “recently scrubbed with purple soap including tail” grey horse.
For what it’s worth, my mom and I visited a pretty big name WP barn in Ocala to try two baby sitter “no jostle jog trot” type horses for my just learning (at the time) kiddo. We also arrived early. Both horses were standing on cross ties drying, manes braided, with fresh hoof polish on. I wondered if they’d just been worked also, but since we ended up purchasing one (she was braided and freshly bathed for pick up day also) and the sellers allowed a two week trial on her, it turned out alright and she’s an awesome trail and WP Grandma / kiddo mount. so maybe not necessarily a cause for concern.
It’s a valid question if someone is not used to shopping alone. I personally wouldn’t be bathing a horse so close to arrival time that it was still soaked 20 minutes prior to the person’s appointment time.
As someone who owns a gray, I see it as likely that the horse was just bathed because it was dirty.
But, try asking the trainer/seller something like, “when was the horse last ridden or worked?” and “do you (or the current rider) routinely lunge the horse before riding or showing?”
Let the seller answer with a yes or no, and then, when you have a chance make a note of your questions and the answers, just in case.
Agree with the others to go have a second look, if you liked the horse.
Personally, I will NOT get on a horse without watching the seller/trainer ride first before I get on. That’s just my own safety rule.
“Interest in a horse” means nothing, because you always get lots of “interest” but only lucky if people are actually SERIOUSLY interested. Don’t feel pressured. Take your time.
Take your time, see the horse again, it is very possible the horse was just dirty. If someone else buys the horse before you do, oh well, there are other horses.
I too would have tried to bathe earlier but sometimes your planned schedule goes out the window.
I would do another test run and I would want to see the trainer put the mare through her paces first. I would want to see the trainer get clean willing transitions between all gaits.
We know this is a horse that can do these things well enough. The question then becomes, is she still willing to do them now? Horses like to canter and if a very well schooled older horse starts getting sticky about cantering I would worry about about pain and progressive deterioration.
Your big question here is: why is this horse stepping down from competition? What is she able to do going forward? Have you diagnosed arthrtitc changes and if so is she being treated for them? If not, why not, and would you getting say her hocks injected be a good idea?
Usually horses step down because age and injury are starting to catch up to them.
It can mean lots of different things. You might step down a Grand Prix horse to 3 foot jumps just to step back on the extreme effort involved in doing 5 feet. In that case he’s still plenty athletic for most of us!
On the other hand you might step down a 2 foot 9 kid’s jumper to flat work. In that case I would assume much more loss of ability. And I’d be careful about buying a horse that couldn’t jump no how, not nothing, never, not even two foot six. Because the physical limitations that prevented very low jumping could well impact cantering and trail riding. Also honestly if I was shopping retired hunters I would want one I could at least dabble in low fences at least in lessons because what a learning opportunity.
Reluctance to canter obviously isn’t the same kind of red flag in green horse that might be unbalanced under a rider. But in a solid older retired hunter jumper that has spent her life doing a reliable canter as her working gait, it’s a red flag.
I don’t think the horse was longed into the ground before you arrived. But I would really vet those hocks.
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I always try to arrive early to see the horse being handled and tacked up. My dad and I looked at a “husband horse” for him to use for trail riding. Poor thing was being lunged when we arrived and was lathered up like crazy. That was definitely a red flag and why I’m suspicious.
This is very insightful. Thanks. The horse is only 10 years old but is said to not enjoy much jumping. It is surprisingly hard to find a kind horse that enjoys trails and could do some pleasure showing (WTC and 2’ jumps usually).
I understand why you would want to do that, but depending on the facility that may or may not be possible/appropriate. (It doesn’t mean they have anything to hide - a private facility will not want you wandering around, and may not be thrilled to have to rush and change their schedule.) Same as an interview, a few minutes early is fine but not more then that unless the barn is actually open to the public. As others have said, next time when you set up your appointment tell them you want the horse to be in his stall/pasture and be there when he gets groomed.
I think with horse shopping you go with your gut, and either be willing to take a risk or pay more to buy from someone known to be reputable.
I bought my horse off the track so I knew the gamble that after a few weeks he could be a very different horse, but I was very lucky the horse worked out =)
Ok so the horse has gone sour on jumping either through pain or incompetent riding. Nothing like a bad beginner or lesson program to make a horse wary of being thumped on over jumps
If you want to do learn jumps on a horse don’t buy one that has gone sour on jumping and developed a dirty stop or a runout on crosspoles
The absolute risk is obviously lower than doing Grand Prix but I have certainly known people to be pretty seriously injured jumping two feet because the horse had a dirty stop or ran out, and they didn’t have the seat to stick it or the strength to school through and make it happen. Coming off over the head of a horse onto a jump pole can cause damage even if it’s just a cross rails.
The horse you are looking for is hard to find because it is an absolute treasure. A good minded trail horse that can also happily do an uncomplicated trip around some two foot six jumps from time to time? Those horses are in huge demand for juniors and for better quality lesson programs.
Indeed, if you have some trainer help you might even be well off buying a nice ranch broke QH and teaching him to jump. Good QH have no problem with lower level jumps, they have good canters, and they often have good brains
Many sellers don’t want somebody who is a total stranger seller has never seen before going out to catch, groom, tack up and ride a strange horse buyer has never seen before. Demanding to be allowed to do do might exclude a great many suitable horses, especially as they go up in price. It is probably unwise for most Ammy buyers to get on strange sale horses without seeing the horse go under somebody else first. That’s a good way to hear the old buyer refrain “ Wow he never did that before”.
Im not kidding either. Don’t ask how I learned never to get on anything not known to me unless I could watch it go under somebody else first, especially dead fresh out of a field.
You like the horse and feel comfortable getting on it after seller presents it under their rider, setup a second appointment. That first appointment, they don’t know you from some tire kicker looking for a horse to fool around with wasting at least an hour of sellers time. It protects both sides.
As the first time seller of a grey, and a horse of more value than I usually own, I was totally conflicted on what to do with him when someone was coming to view.
The horses I sold from the farm were always left turned out, and we went through the whole catch and groom tack up and ride.
I’ve seen the higher value horses at the barn, polished, braided and in a stall when buyers turn up.
Mine is in the middle, and grey, so arrived early, brought him in, got the worst off him, has him stood ready…then half an hour after they were due to arrive they called to say that had bought the last horse they tried…
That’s fine. I never get on the horse first. You’re right about that. But if I can’t at least lead it, groom it, and tack it up…it’s not the horse for me. Obviously the seller (and usually my trainer) are present for all this.
Thinking about it, I would do the most efficient version of seller rides and I ride on the first trial. I find a fair bit of lease shopping at one point and you can eliminate many horses after ten minutes in the saddle.
If I remained interested I would schedule another ride maybe with my trainer present and watch him being tacked up.
I do put a lot of emphasis on groundwork and manners with my own horse but paradoxically it’s hard for me to imagine a broke horse being deal breaker problematic to lead and saddle on a daily basis. On the other hand every single horse has the potential to go ballistic inhand in the right circumstances. But you won’t get to test those limits on a quiet day in his home barn
Am I the only one who’s shocked that horses are braided when you’re showing up to try them? I’ve been to some pretty high end sales barns around here with some pretty pricey horses and I’ve never seen one of them braided. Scrubbed and hoof polish? Yes. Braiding? Not once.
Maybe we’re just not as fancy as some circuits, or is this a breed-specific thing? Not to totally derail the conversation but…
so maybe not necessarily a cause for concern.
but I have certainly known people to be pretty seriously injured jumping two feet 