Reputable dealers in Europe to buy young horse from

[Critter]

@SAB @Roni4444

Some smaller/moderate size US breeders (who have websites or are on Facebook) that come to mind for having really nice quality (movement and brains) youngsters are:

Timbach Farm, KC Dunn (Indiana, near KY border)
Rolling Stone Farm, Mo Swanson (PA)
Maplewood Farm, Jen Vanover (NY)
Windy Ridge Farm, Judy Reggio (PA)
Majestic Gaits, Kathy Hickerson (NH)
Windmill Farms, Jennifer Zauel (IL)
Imajica, Liz and Madeleine Austin (VT)
Lio Lomas, Deborah Harrison (CA)
Shooting Star Farm, Scot Tolman (NH)

Now this list is mostly Dutch…since that is the breed I am most familiar with…but I am sure other people can chime in with more breeder names/other breeds. The amazing thing about networking with a breeder, is they will help you connect to other breeders. When I went to look at a weanling last year, the breeder showed me all of her weanlings/yearlings…then took me to another local breeder to see his young stock, AND placed a call to another breeder to see what she had available. Even though that meant risking I wouldn’t buy from her…she was happy to support any of the breeders in her network. (In the end, I bought one of her yearlings! And I absolutely love him!).

Here is the KWPN-NA Breeder’s Directory…https://kwpn-na.org/breeding/kwpn-na-breeders-directory/ I am sure other breed organizations have similar information on their sites.

[sparkygrace]

@SAB, this horse is on the west coast. The breeder has a number of young horses, all very nice. The quality is here in the U.S.; it’s too bad the geography and distance make it difficult to shop! (For the record, this is not my horse.)

https://horses4yc.com/searchResult.p…frGZ-PXJVT-JJ0

[IPEsq]

@Lucassb

I know you said you did not want to work with an agent, but I have gotten my last two youngsters through Amy Doran at Supreme Sport Horses and it was an excellent experience both times. My newest guy is the one in my profile pic here. They were honestly represented and reasonably priced.

I saw an interesting horse they were offering and was going to be nearby. I tried to make an appointment to try the horse, and Amy replied, Oh I thought you would buy off video, then crickets. I was not able to make an appointment to see the horse. I would have happily paid her cut if I bought the horse. Also saw her commandeering some ads from another agent I trusted around the same time and learned there was some drama there. All of it turned me off completely from doing business with them.

I spent a couple of years networking and developing relationships with some European horse sellers (primarily looking at hunter prospects), some through various connections here and some on my own or through referrals over there. First shopping trip was a bust due to failed vettings but was invaluable in what I learned about who to deal with and who was better at scouting for quality and making good assessments and matches. Second shopping trip, I saw many fewer horses but really could have bought a lot of them and been satisfied. It did help to have met some people in person on the first trip for them to get to know better what I was looking for. Sometimes people in the US ask me to scout for them via my contacts. I will just say that remember when you are looking at dealers and resale agents, even the most honest and best ones are still salesmen of course. Same as in the US. And, many of the best deals and best quality horses are sold privately. You need to get on their contacts to get notified of the “unlisted” stock.

[Lucassb]

@IPEsq

I saw an interesting horse they were offering and was going to be nearby. I tried to make an appointment to try the horse, and Amy replied, Oh I thought you would buy off video, then crickets. I was not able to make an appointment to see the horse. I would have happily paid her cut if I bought the horse. Also saw her commandeering some ads from another agent I trusted around the same time and learned there was some drama there. All of it turned me off completely from doing business with them.

I spent a couple of years networking and developing relationships with some European horse sellers (primarily looking at hunter prospects), some through various connections here and some on my own or through referrals over there. First shopping trip was a bust due to failed vettings but was invaluable in what I learned about who to deal with and who was better at scouting for quality and making good assessments and matches. Second shopping trip, I saw many fewer horses but really could have bought a lot of them and been satisfied. It did help to have met some people in person on the first trip for them to get to know better what I was looking for. Sometimes people in the US ask me to scout for them via my contacts. I will just say that remember when you are looking at dealers and resale agents, even the most honest and best ones are still salesmen of course. Same as in the US. And, many of the best deals and best quality horses are sold privately. You need to get on their contacts to get notified of the “unlisted” stock.

Yep, I remember when you reached out to me and were frustrated about not being able to get an appointment to see that horse Amy listed. She’s definitely an agent / marketing person and not set up to handle that kind of in person test drive, for sure. I generally buy my horses as green broke youngsters so sitting on them isn’t a priority; that’s just my approach and I get that it doesn’t suit everyone. If I were looking for made horses it likely wouldn’t work for me either.

[IPEsq]

Well, I dealt with several other marketing agents who were at least willing to direct me to their partner who had the horse. I’m perfectly capable of scheduling myself and do not need the kind of agent who drives you around the countrysides of Europe.

On my last trip I even did a favor for a US based agent to take a detour to go look at a horse they were interested in to market, but they weren’t too familiar with the owners. That horse looked pretty good on the videos. In real life, it was rank, lame, had a major defect (very noticeable dropped fetlock), and all that at only 4 yrs old. Agent decided not to market that one. Turned out to be a late evening but a worthwhile side trip because the person connecting agent to that horse had me come try their personal horse before going to see that one, and first horse I liked a lot and the people were nice. Also found some great food in a town I would not have visited otherwise.

I get not being able to hold a horse for someone to come try it if you have a video buyer ready to wire money, but refusing to let someone see a horse for sale? Shady. And not making me inclined to buy off video from them in the future.

[Lucassb]

@IPEsq

Well, I dealt with several other marketing agents who were at least willing to direct me to their partner who had the horse. I’m perfectly capable of scheduling myself and do not need the kind of agent who drives you around the countrysides of Europe.

On my last trip I even did a favor for a US based agent to take a detour to go look at a horse they were interested in to market, but they weren’t too familiar with the owners. That horse looked pretty good on the videos. In real life, it was rank, lame, had a major defect (very noticeable dropped fetlock), and all that at only 4 yrs old. Agent decided not to market that one. Turned out to be a late evening but a worthwhile side trip because the person connecting agent to that horse had me come try their personal horse before going to see that one, and first horse I liked a lot and the people were nice. Also found some great food in a town I would not have visited otherwise.

I get not being able to hold a horse for someone to come try it if you have a video buyer ready to wire money, but refusing to let someone see a horse for sale? Shady. And not making me inclined to buy off video from them in the future.

Again, different business models work for different people. I get that you were offended that this agent didn’t do what you wanted, but I personally wouldn’t label someone shady as a result. YMMV.

[mooonie]

I’ve had good luck buying directly from a breeder in Canada.
Try warmblood-sales.com and search Canada. The breeders association also has an auction every October, but who knows if it will happen this year.

[Annie_Burton]

Dr. Andrea Sieg of Westphalians for USA. She will doubtlessly point you in the right direction.

She is a vet and the US-Agent for the Westphalian State Stud in Warendorf, Germany.

[IPEsq]

@Lucassb

Again, different business models work for different people. I get that you were offended that this agent didn’t do what you wanted, but I personally wouldn’t label someone shady as a result. YMMV.

I was not offended. I just stopped contacting her about horses. Having had a friend who bought off video and not only did a different horse show up but it was an unbroke 3yo and although she had paid an all inclusive price including shipping, shippers had not been paid and her horse was held basically in escrow at a different barn for a while until she could come up with a few more thousand dollars. So, I do particularly like putting eyes on a horse if someone I don’t personally know is marketing it. In this case, it turned out someone had impersonated a more well known dealer online.

[Lucassb]

@IPEsq

I was not offended. I just stopped contacting her about horses. Having had a friend who bought off video and not only did a different horse show up but it was an unbroke 3yo and although she had paid an all inclusive price including shipping, shippers had not been paid and her horse was held basically in escrow at a different barn for a while until she could come up with a few more thousand dollars. So, I do particularly like putting eyes on a horse if someone I don’t personally know is marketing it. In this case, it turned out someone had impersonated a more well known dealer online.

And yet here you are still talking about it, LOL. To each their own.

[DownYonder]

FWIW, Amy Doran of Supreme Sport Horses sources some of her horses from the barn of a guy in Germany I have known for nearly 20 years. I have pointed a couple of folks to him that saw horses there that we later learned were on the Supreme web site. And he was riding them in the videos, and it was definitely in his indoor riding hall.

Will also add that MANY agents source horses from the same locations throughout Europe–Supreme is certainly not the only outfit doing that. But that does perhaps explain why it is sometimes difficult to arrange try-outs through various agents. If the horse is not in their barn, they have to try to get a commitment from not only the buyer, but also from the seller or seller’s agent that they won’t be cut out of a deal. That can not only take time to set up, but it’s also really hard to enforce verbal and even written agreements/contracts legally especially when buyer, seller, agent(s) are in different countries.

[Sister_Margarita]

I know two horses that came from Supreme. Both had significant problems despite assurances of a good vetting report. Buyer was a bit of a novice and trusted the seller, vet suspected misappropriated xrays on one, but one got off the van with a considerable visual genetic anomaly, never on the vet report.
Stay away, there are too many knowledgeable contacts. PM me for my list.

[Harte]

Hello,
I’m a newbie to ChronofHorse forums so apologies for the nothingness of my profile, but I was wondering if you might be willing to share this list with me of reputable sales contacts for European sales? I feel like the more research I do, the more I get turned around!
Thank you!

[piaffequeen2]

My trainer just went over to the Netherlands and had a great experience with Judy De Winter. She tried numerous horses and her client got a fabulous 5 year old.

[Demerara_Stables]

Saw some really lovely young horses at Waaij Stud, and Jasper was wonderful to work with and very accommodating. I didn’t end up purchasing (prices were a little high for what I was looking for), but worth a look!

The Youngsters - Auction of Young Showjumpers

[Roni4444]

I trust Anneke van der Lof-Walta

[Cowgirl]

Flor de Winn in Belgium, WinnHorses

[Impeggysue1]

My friends and I have bought several horses from Peter at virtual zone horses in Holland. I found him very honest and his horses are lovely. He only breeds a few each year, but he might have something that works for you. Unfortunately, he is retiring and this is his last crop of 3-4 year olds (so this fall will be the last chance to buy one of his horses). You can see some of his horses at virtual zone horses.nl. Good luck.

[AnnaKarena92]

Kathmann Dressurpferde. They are agents, but the horses are usually very affordable and they work direct with the breeders. Julia is amazing to work with and will take good care of you.

[Mardi1]

The U.S. is breeding really nice horses (even the Europeans say so) and I hope you’ll consider looking in the US first and supporting our breeders. .