To me it sounded more like the HJ AA sent the mare to a BNT, who told them that it would take more time/money to deal with horse’s issues than HJ AA wanted to spend. Nothing nefarious about that.
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I would want to know why the breeder who purchased the mare from the AA HJ did not breed the horse and instead put a few rides on and sold. It would make me question whether or not this mare can get into foal.
If you have any intentions on buying as a broodmare or to resell as a broodmare, I’d for sure get a repro exam. Even basic exams do not guarantee a mare is easy to get into foal, however.
Also, you can’t ride papers. Do you have the experience and/or resources to fix behavioral issues? My guess is that she will come with some.
Not sure if you’re willing to share her bloodlines, but knowing them would give myself and others a better idea of how marketable she would be as a broodmare. A well conformed mare with a excellent lineage, good temperament and is sound is valued by breeders and there is a market for these types of mares. It would also be nice to know if she was ever inspected and what registry she is with when evaluating a broodmare.
IME, a buyer should not be making excuses to defend why a sale horse is where they are. Thats kind of a yellow flag and buyer may be trying as hard to convince themselves as much as others this is a wise purchase.
That said, don’t get anything particularly shady here. Am always suspicious of older horses with stop start training histories, sometimes its legit, often details are omitted because seller really does not have all the details. Sometimes the seller just skims over them. Don’t like sellers blaming previous owners for bad behavior but thats just based on my personal experiences.
Couple of thoughts…
Unless you do want to breed her in the near future, don’t get too wrapped up in bloodline. At best it gives them a better chance of being successful in the desired discipline but guarantees nothing.
Have concern mare has been around legit trainers and barns and seller is associated with a “BNT” yet nobody has stepped in to advance her/get her sold at a market price. Lot of trainers take horses like these to put 6-8 months into them ( often using Juniors or WS) then lease or sell. Most teaching barns have several of these fire sale or below market aquisitions.
The price is below market because that’s where it belongs based on lack of proven performance ability and dwindling number of breeders wanting to take (at least) 3 years and tens of thousands to market a youngster.
Should you try to contact previous owner(s)? Maybe, but if seller blames them for mares lack of progress and bad behavior/ habits? Maybe hated the horse and wants nothing to do with mares current connections, how would that conversation go? What do you hope to learn? Get them to admit How they screwed the horse up? Or maybe listen to them trash whoever sold it to them?
Go see the horse, worth a look. But would be better if you already knew the horse. Have bought a few like this but I knew the horse so mitigated the risk of buying somebody else’s problem or failure.
Oh…OP said “Hunter prospect”? What is that based on? Has she shown over fences? Need to see them over jumps, preferably with a rider at this age before deciding it moves and jumps well enough to justify the time and expense to train it up not to mention attitude and trainability.
No big red flags but some yellow ones here. Maybe OP can advance this mare, maybe there a reason shes not further along. Be careful.
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I don’t think I can add anything to the great advice other than to encourage you to actually go see her.
If possible stay overnight close by so you can see her on two different days. I need a second look. lol. I can fall in love or simply be too practical, both extremes.
If seller doesn’t want to ride have her arrange to have someone else to ride the mare first.
It could be the first army simply knew her limits and didn’t want to deal with a buck.
I have had horses buck just cause its Tuesday and some wouldn’t buck with a flank strap.
good luck. 
It sounds like OP is sharing the same skepticism as you.
I also know a number of horses that were sold by “reputable” trainers or BNTs that came with the caveat that they needed an experienced, confident rider only. Whether they really did or not is up for debate. Personally I think they just didn’t want the “liability” of selling someone an unsuitable horse and having buyer claim horse was not fairly represented. The biggest offenders of overconfidence are always the 40 year old ammy…
@ZuzusPetals Great, now I want a horse named Baby Gap.
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As of now, all previous owners have been contacted. HJ AA did admit horse was too green for her, without prompting. Whether behavioral problems originated from scared riding or if it was the opposite is unknown. HJ AA expressed disappointment that horse was being sold again. So in this case, contacting previous owners went over fine. If I ever sensed any animosity between owners I would probably not reach out.
The breed of horse second breeder is breeding makes it seem like purchase of this mare was a drunk decision-- it’s anybody’s guess why she bought the mare from HJ AA through BNT.
What did the second breeder breed? I know this is a WB but has it been said what type?
@findeight I don’t think I am making excuses, if anything previous owners are making excuses… humans by nature try to interpret and read between the lines in stories. Stories are what makes us human but I digress
Market is cooling down a bit and I think it seems below market price because horse maybe could have been sold for much more a year ago. I don’t know what she sold for. I said hunter prospect because she has multiple siblings that are doing well in our regional shows in the hunters. She seemed to have natural rhythm to the fences and careful in videos of her early in her training. Her movement is not very dressage-y
Breeder was breeding appaloosas and paint horses for certain colors. She seemed involved in the western show world. Maybe she thought plain color warmblood could improve her program?
All this to say I decided not to go see the merrie this weekend The seller was a bit short with me which I understand though I gave her a few days warning. She definitely wants horse to go but she is not good at advertising. I know I would be able to work with kicking out or buck under saddle and my trainer will be happy to help me but I don’t know if I care to… Also I am tired this week lol. After seller was short with me i told her that if she has other people interested she should not wait on me. She said she wanted to have horse claimed by the end of the week next but I will never buy sight unseen. She was not mean but tough luck
Always go with your gut. It won’t steer you wrong. I don’t blame you for not necessarily wanting to take on a potential project or problem case. You only have so many rides in you - might as well make them the best you can.
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I wouldn’t find it odd, weird or creepy no matter how far you can go back?
I have owned and sold quite a few horses in my life and I would be happy to give info on any of them to a prospective new owner no matter how long it had been. I realize others may feel differently but the more info/ history a person has on the horse ( good or bad) hopefully the better things would go if they bought it.
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Agree, but think the prospective buyer should go see the horse and vet the horse if necessary.
What I object to is an automatic assumption that the seller is sleazy or pulling something. As a seller, I have no problem with anyone checking me out or checking my horses out. I mostly sell foals I breed, so it’s limited on what information is out there. I do have a problem with any buyer who wants to play “gotcha” with what I say or is overly suspicious. I’m all for seeing a horse and vetting a horse, but I am fine with a buyer not buying. In fact, I will not sell any horse to a buyer who thinks I am crooked or a liar. I did that this year with a foal buyer who had way too many questions about a filly I had on the market. I said thanks, I am not selling to you. I sold the filly to someone else and everything went great. The filly has an awesome new home with an owner who doesn’t assume she has some hiddlen flaw that I declined to reveal.
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