So, general concensus: is it weird to contact a prior owner of a horse for sale, or no? I guess even by asking I know that I would be honest with someone who contacted me about a horse I owned previously and would not be creeped out. But I’m not everyone.
There are a lot of scenarios here. I sold a horse like this earlier this year, but I’d bought her as a project and was upfront with prospective buyers about that. I think I was her 6th owner in her 10 year life. Best I could piece together from the seller (a reputable local trainer had her on commission), as well as prior sales videos that were still online, she was an adorable, all black Arabian cross. The perfect My Pretty Pony, but her personality was not for a beginner. She was never going to be a trail horse or content with just puttering around, and it sounds like BOTH people who had her before me wanted her to be something she very clearly wasn’t.
I bought her for a song, put some solid dressage basics on her, and sold her for what she was - a mid-level dressage prospect for someone who liked a forward, alert, but ultimately very kind small horse. I think her new owner is very pleased and unless there’s some calamity, is likely to keep her long term.
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My view is, it’s fine to reach out… but unknown whether you will get a response, let alone quality information.
I think the secondary question is, what pitch do you make to the prior owner? Something like, “The current owner hasn’t had the horse too long and doesn’t know much about its background… so I was hoping you could fill in some gaps and tell me about your experience with the horse…”
Others may have better ideas??
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In the cases I’ve encountered, it’s where the previous owner (that I’m buying from) either has gaps in their knowledge that I’m interested in, or the horse has a known quirk or vice thats being blamed on owner before, or even that I don’t know the seller well and want to make sure the stories line up. I wouldn’t frame it as accusatory, just that you were curious or doing your due diligence.
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I just did this, used a combination of USEF owners of record and Facebook. It was a case of a horse who had ended up passed around quite a bit and was with a credible trainer who didn’t have all the background. There were holes that the “longest term owner” filled in that helped me decide and are helping me figure out how to get the horse to his best without the experimentation it would have otherwise taken. Plus I think they’re thrilled to know where he is. Overall a win all around but a very transparent situation with everyone looking out for the horse. Unfortunately, life isn’t always this way.
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You should go talk to the person in the sketchy seller y/n? thread.
Some people move horses on like they do their vehicles. I have had a few horses I didn’t breed myself or raise from a weanling/ yearling and I never asked how many owners they had?
They were broke well , had good minds and worked well for my kids and that was all that mattered.
