I had a really bad experience buying from Petr Dolezal & Tyna; they were impossible to communicate with when I found out the horse’s medical history once the horse arrived at my farm in the US. I ended up sucking up the whole $ ordeal, as a court case was going to be as expensive as the horse and I was not going to ship the horse back to them in the state he was in back then.
I still have the horse, he’s working out quite well now, competing, etc and I totally adore him.
I have read many having had great experiences with Petr & Tyna, mine sadly was not so great.
If I import again, I may consider Martin Leh.
I almost bought a horse from Martin, and didn’t… purchased from another country instead.
BUT… the horse I was going to buy went to someone I knew, and it was much smaller, and had a small step. I was happy I spent more money and bought from somewhere else.
I have personally only come across a few imported from Czech that I liked in person. Most were small, with no step… however less expensive than other countries.
I bought one from Martin and it was very spooky at the jumps like it had been rushed. She was very sweet and I kind of felt bad for her. I gave it a year and a half and then sold her as a dressage horse. The mare wanted to do the right thing but you could tell they jammed to much training on her to get her sold. She was alway suspicious of everything. This mare was not cheap. I had bought two others in the past from him like 6 years ago, they were ok, nothing special.
Just as a counterpoint, I bought from a supposedly reputable Belgian dealer as I was wary of the Czech horses… horse was beautiful, but neurologic and not at all as broke as advertised. Also had an undisclosed curb on his hock that was not mentioned in the vetting report. In the end he had to be put down.
When at first I thought I would be able to keep him as a pasture pet, I reached out to ask the dealer for help replacing him. Instead of offering me a discount on another or doing the right thing in any way, they told me they didn’t believe there was anything wrong with him and they’d be happy to provide advice to get him going again. The horse was graded 2/5 neuro by a boarded internal medicine specialist with additional consults from Rood & Riddle and New Bolton. He had fallen in the trailer on his way to the airport, on his bad days he couldn’t coordinate his legs well enough to trot and crab-walked, and we’d been told by no less than 2 top field vets, a surgeon, the university vet AND the boarded radiologist to never sit on him again.
BTW, this broker/agent has 25 5* reviews on FB, so do not believe all that you read.
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I’d like mine to be smaller, I seem to end up with the Czech giants! 
(The one exception to that rule has been the going 1.30m jumper who was smaller than expected—16 hands on tippy-toes—but I was actually happy about that one!)
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Who?
Can you tell me who in Czech you imported from? I have imported once from there but the employees have moved around since then. I’ve read so many different things. I’d like to import from there again but my experience was 2019 and would like to know more!
can you tell us WHO the ones with the horror stories imported from in Czech rep? I imported once and it was good and ready to go again but people have changed around since then.
I have a Wielkopolski and he is AMAZING. He’s smaller (just under 16H) but has a HUGE step and a massive presence in the ring. He’s ridiculously intelligent and an absolute joy to ride. And he’s gorgeous - just a really special horse who will do pretty much whatever you ask of him. I didn’t import him - someone else did - he was too green for their daughter and she couldn’t get the lead change. It has taken a bit of patience and investment in professional training but now the lead change is 95% confirmed with just a few things to tidy up. The best advice I ever got from a trainer was to give the horse a solid year of training once it makes it stateside and do not rush them. I know not everyone can afford that, or even wants to be sidelined while the trainer has the ride, but it was the best gift we could have given this special horse to set him up for future success. I enjoyed “ownering” versus “amateuring” and learned so much from watching my trainer ride my horse (I still rode him during the year - I just didn’t jump him since every ride is a training ride).
I would buy another PZHK in a heartbeat.
I found one of his Polish trainers online and she told me he was just too slow and would have likely been a simple school horse had he stayed in Poland. What a shame that would have been for such a bright and talented horse. There are some serious gems in Eastern Europe for sure.
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We are considering importing from Martin or An sport horses. Does anyone have negative experiences or advice on these brokers?
I purchased a horse from Martin. Could not love the horse more and thought he was up front and direct about everything. But my caveat is that my horse was a just-turned-4yo barely broke baby…there’s not too much you can make up about a youngster, and typically not much you would need to hide. But from my earliest interactions I thought he was very easy to work with and spoke to me horse person to horse person. On a side note, I have zero interest in buying a going/made/older horse from video because there are too many places along the way that bad habits/quirks/defects can be hidden (from re-sellers like Martin as much as things can be hidden from a potential buyer). So if I were buying an older horse there are one set of breeders I work with who are the only ones I would ever consider buying from, and probably not any of the the big sales barns that send so many horses through. To be fair, I feel the same way here in the states 
Anyhow, back to this horse. I had the video that Martin put together, which is what I consider the “fake” video (note here, I don’t mean fake in the sense that anything is misrepresented, just in the sense that it very heavily prepared and staged to put the horse in the best possible light - something I expect from literally every seller anywhere). Here’s the schooling video: https://youtu.be/Gd-taRgfaQc - there was no doubt in my mind that the horse was nowhere near as broke as he looks in the video. And while I think it gave a clear view of what the horse had the capability to become, it was evident to me that he wasn’t truly strong enough to be doing what he was asked. And it’s super interesting to me to watch that old video and then see how he jumps now…it’s the same now, but with actual muscle, lol!
I messaged to ask about what the horse had done (any shows, etc.) and he responded that he had just been to his first show. I asked for that video and he sent it immediately, though warned that the horse showed his youth in the video. Fine by me. Ultimately, the reason I bought the horse was because of that video (sadly I don’t have it uploaded anywhere, so can’t share it). A small woman had started the horse and taken him to his first show. And the video was exactly what you expected out of a baby. He missed leads and didn’t have a change, weaved around in places where it was clear his steering was still a work in progress, and broke to the trot once or twice right in front of a fence. But for a 4yo, it was exactly what I would expect and what I was hoping to see. All I really cared about was that he took it all in stride and looked like he wanted to do the right thing. And that video turned out to be a perfect indicator of the horse he would become…a bit of attitude (in a good way), but so kind and wanting to fight so hard FOR his rider.
My hope was that he would be the horse was for my (then) 14yo daughter, and he has been a perfect match in every way. I rode him in his 4yo year and then handed him over to her at age 14 and she’s done everything every step of the way from late 4 to where he is now at 6. Here they are 2 years into their partnership winning in the 1.20m: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1981697675609917. And at the end of his 6yo year. And the same set of photos I shared in the hot horse/bit thread, but this time focused on the pinto!
So all of that to say that I found Martin to be very direct about what he had, and I would buy another youngster from him if another piqued my interest like the pinto did.
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Not to hijack, but your daughter is a beautiful rider! I wish I was that tight in the tack when I was 14, let alone as an amateur 
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Such a lovely pair!
Is this the daughter that you gave a Christmas pony to many years ago, or am I confusing you with another poster?
Yep, she was the recipient of Max the Christmas pony and I shared a video of it back then. Needless to say, she’s kept up her riding and has moved on to the big horses. But she had Max up until this summer when we sold him to a new little kid. Very bittersweet!
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I’m glad to hear it. Your surprise Christmas pony thread was a treat. It’s sad to see the pony go, but there are kids out there who need a Max!
Please let your daughter know that COTH members on the internet are impressed with how far she’s come with her riding (unless that would embarrass her.) 
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He’s lovely. I have known some 4 star riders that have purchased horses in Europe, jumped them around a 4 foot course in a field to try them out, then when they got home were shocked at how not broke at all they were!
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I imported a coming 4yo from Martin as well. Realized the video was full of cuts, saw him jumping a 1.0m course with some trotting, late changes but at the end of the day, was represented well as a very amateur friendly horse that I am still enjoying 4 years later.
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