Reflections on Horse Hunting

[MsM]

I have been looking a bit for a lower level horse to cart me around. As in, “if it happens, great, but don’t need one right now!” The last time I bought a horse was over 20 years ago! In looking online (a number of sites), a few things have struck me.

First, I see a lot more western horses advertised, at least at my under $10K price level. I am a bit surprised as I confine my search to near me in the N E.

Connecticut does not appear to have as many lower level horses as there used to be. Again, in my area, NJ seems to have more (too bad cuz the drive for me is brutal)

I see a lot of Walkers advertised as trail horses. Not what I want, but it is nice to see them being used in that way. Didn’t see a single show TWH ad.

An unfortunately large number of ads are difficult to understand or have obvious errors. Wording can be scrambled, picture does not show horse described, etc. I don’t know if it is sellers not writing clearly or proofing or the site messing up. Makes it hard to sort though.

Tough to see the ads for 25+ year old “companion only” horses. Especially when the ad proudly states all that the horse has done with that owner.

Sellers still do not always get back to inquiries. A lot actually. And when you have to go through the site to contact with no other identification I don’t even know if the inquiry was received. Frustrating.

Sellers still exercise hyperbole in describing horses’ training, temperament, or height! I tried an “advanced beginner” horse that, even with the seller’s rider, continually flipped his head, power-trotted and had to be run into an unbalanced canter.

Strange business, this. :ambivalence:

[clanter]

Usually we visited the farms to inspect the horse, even the ones we found by social media (yeah two trips to Billings MT was great fun) but without actually seeing the stock we would never have bought several as each of those purchases were based upon how the horse behaved or “the look in their eye”… yeah completely unconventional methods of selection but it worked for us.

[TWH_Girl]

“I see a lot of Walkers advertised as trail horses. Not what I want, but it is nice to see them being used in that way. Didn’t see a single show TWH ad.”

Most TWH are used for trail riding. that’s why people like them. I am sort of on/off looking for a second horse too, but if i get too close to actually getting serious, I get cold feet. I am not ready and I know it. It is a strange business and I definitely hate the process more than car shopping. It’s a huge investment and after being burned, I am so reluctant to make another mistake.

[Guilherme]

The horse seller, professional or amateur, is the lineal antecedent of the used car seller (professional or amateur) with all that such suggests. At Common Law a horse didn’t even have to be alive in a sale unless the contract specifically said so. Yes, the business is odd, but only in that it’s still run by 19th Century ways. Sort of a giant, living history lesson.

G.

[preppyeq]

People are way to generous when describing their horses that they have for sale. I went to go visit a 15.2h beginner safe gelding which turned out to be a 14h project pony that was a little too thin. The last ad I saw for that horse was basically giving the pony away for free as a project.

I also know someone who was selling a horse that was advanced beginner safe with no buck, bolt, rear, or buck and all I could think of was I had seen the horse do all of the above. I am not sure if she sold the horse but I hope it ended up with an experienced rider. She was scared of her horse when she rode it and she had been riding for something like 20 years.

I went through my BO who had the trainer I was working with try horses for me. I ended up buying the first one that she tried and I will ask her to do the same thing the next time I am in the market for a horse. I don’t really trust horse ads but I trust my BO to not put me on a horse that isn’t safe.

[Zu_Zu]

[HR][/HR]I always start horse hunting with enthusiasm

my enthusiasm quickly turns to complete WTF

[B]because I have been unable to locate preferred beast …currently I have three trainers - all different ‘seats’ looking for my next ??? just a ‘good joe’ trail buddy :yes:

any color
any sex
any breed
any discipline
any age
^ can be ugly as a mud fence :lol:
ears can be at 9:00 & 3:00 …ugly
can be dumb as a rock

just a semi- cooperative soul that would like to wander aimlessly around occasionally and the rest of the time have day turnout and nighttime stall
with

carrots apples and peppermints therapy [/B]

Not boarding barn No drama

Home Retirement with friends …

[B]Apparently this order is too tough …

im quite disgusted actually :mad:

• again I was delusional thinking this shopping would be FUN !!?!~?!?~ :eek::lol:[/B]

I’ve basically given up ~ :winkgrin:

[Scribbler]

I bought my first horse as a teen in the 1970s. At that point our daily city newspaper ran a substantial livestock classified section, where you paid by word. The ads were about three lines maximum, age height colour breed if any, price and phone number. No photos. No need for grammar either in those old telegraphic classified ads, and since you phoned them into the newspaper, the girls working on the Classified Desk took care of the spelling. So you didn’t need to be literate to run a classified ad.

This would be typical:

Chestnut mare, ten years old, 15.2 hands, goes Western and English, good on trails. Call after 5 pm. Town, phone number.

You phoned, you chatted, you went and looked, you left. I ended up choosing my own horse from a local dude string riding stable near my house after my parents started to balk at driving me out across town to shop in horse country after work, and we bought my sister’s horse a year later from a low-end dealer who kept a small herd in a covered holding pen.

Ten plus years later when we were selling my sister’s horse, I believe there was a horse and farm listings “Buy and Sell” newspaper that had the technology to print black and white photos, but you had to buy the magazine to read it, and pay to run an ad.

I returned to riding about ten years ago, well after the computer revolution. In terms of being able to research a local or regional market, find out details of sellers, verify show scores, track pedigrees, etc., it’s a completely different world.

As far as honesty or reliability in how people value and present their horses, the pros put the best possible face on things to make a sale, and the ammie owners are barnblind and usually cannot make a rationale assessment of the horse. Or they are also trying to hide and pass on a problem. Or they actually don’t ride well enough to know that their horse isn’t really broke.

As far as ease of contact, I certainly know people who are honestly trying to sell horses that are honestly within the general parameters described or close enough, but end up being too overwhelmed at the end of days of barn work to chat with buyers or schedule visits.

I think I would find it easier to shop now, but also more challenging because you can see a much wider range of possibilities, and also because the quality of horse has increased a lot locally.

[Kwill]

I think word of mouth is really your best bet…ask farriers and trainers what they know is for sale. Network.

I think the problem with the internet is that it gives you too many choices, and gives the sellers too many tire kickers and yahoos that get frustrating for them.

[Halt_Near_X]

@MsM

Sellers still exercise hyperbole in describing horses’ training, temperament, or height! I tried an “advanced beginner” horse that, even with the seller’s rider, continually flipped his head, power-trotted and had to be run into an unbalanced canter.

Here’s an interesting experiment for you: pick a horse that you and several friends know well and have everyone write up a mock ad, including experience level and temperament evaluations. I bet you would be surprised in how much variation you’d get, and that’s with people on the same general wavelength who know the horse.

Now try to figure out how to write an ad for the general population, where one person’s idea of “advanced beginner” rider is “jumping 3’ courses” and another person thinks it means “trotted off the leadline for the first time yesterday.” The horse suitable for the former isn’t necessarily going to be suitable for the latter, but both horses are going to be called “advanced beginner horses.”

There is absolutely plenty of real exaggeration, hyperbole, and outright lies out there, but sometimes there is also a non-malicious lack of common context in the conversation. People think that because they are using the same words they mean the same things, and they often don’t.

[clanter]

@Scribbler

I returned to riding about ten years ago, well after the computer revolution. In terms of being able to research a local or regional market, find out details of sellers, verify show scores, track pedigrees, etc., it’s a completely different world.

two of the better buys we made were for horses that were not being shown to be sold, and neither were what we were looking for, we just happened to see them while looking at other stock that fit our list of desirability. I kept telling my wife if we do not buy That Horse now we would never be able to afford it later

[Magicboy]

Reslly, the word of mouth network works best for those of us who can’t go to Wellington with our trainer for a week.