Returning a horse

[Malda]

[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8721763]
I have a hard time believing that there are absolutely no reputable breeders or trainers of gaited horses anywhere.

You might have to pay more to get away from the bottom of the barrel who are selling to beginners and don’t care. But I have to think they are out there…[/QUOTE]

West Coast breeders. Someone once mentioned we have the equivalent of puppy farms on the West coast and they might be right. I’m following a group on Facebook which is 99% gaited for sale in the South to see if it’s any better.

I’m willing to spend up to 5500. Saving to get up to 6500. I’m not willing to spend 10k on any trail horse, gaited or not, and there are several in that range.

[Daventry]

[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;8721772]
I’m concerned about the horse’s welfare, not about the buyer’s money.[/QUOTE]

I understand that. But you cannot expect that everyone is in the financial position to buy back their horse. While it would be nice to think everyone is capable of doing that, you cannot expect a Seller to risk financial debt because someone else made a mistake that was beyond the Sellers control.

[Manni01]

[QUOTE=Malda;8721725]
I’m not buying a horse with the intention of returning it. I never thought it was possible until reading the other thread, that’s why I was asking.

I called the sellers to get help with the horse. Their response was basically, “Yes, I willing misrepresented the horse to you. Too bad, he’s your problem now.”

As I said before, looking back I don’t think there’s anything I could have done differently.[/QUOTE]

That is interesting, because that seems like fraud to me… I made the experience that when I was looking at horses I never ever had a seller who lied to me. It was all about the right questions. If I did ask something they answered truthfully but they would not tell me things willingly which I did not ask. So it is mostly about asking the right questions IMO

[SuzieQNutter]

You are buying a horse not a motorbike.

Every single, solitary time you interact with a horse you are training it.

There is no - I just fed him or I just rugged him. Every single time you interact with him, you are training him.

Now if you are feeding and rugging him twice a day for 2 months. Add that up and add on how many times you rode. Every single time you train him, he is either a little bit better or a little bit worse. He is never the same after your training.

If every time you train him he is a little bit worse, this happens with people who don’t realise they are training the horse when feeding and rugging, etc, you end up with a horse which is much, much worse than the day you brought him home.

If every time you train him he is a little bit better. After 2 months you end up with a much better horse than the one you brought home.

If you want something that won’t change buy a bike or change your training so that the horse is better each time you train it.

No horse is perfect. There is something wrong with every single one of them.

Sim it his brain, but he is also quiet and has no buck, so he is the one in a million horse for my husband.

Stars, it is his hooves. He has gone through a lot of corrective shoeing and is now barefoot.

Twiggy it is her conformation which means that it is easy to pull a muscle in her shoulders. We are working on putting in more water tanks so as she won’t have to go into mud to drink out of a dam.

Twiggy also bucked when she came. Bucked in the paddock. Bucked on the lunge. Bucked under saddle. She has not bucked under saddle for a loooong time now.

Dodge he is head shy. We took him to out chiropractor on the way home. His poll was out and he was in a lot if pain. We will give him time to settle and work on the head shyness.

Sim did attack my little boy in the arena. I came down on hubby like a tonne of bricks. I saw this happening ages before. I warned hubby. I stopped and told him not to let it happen.

It happened. I banned him from riding next to me and sent him to the other side of the arena. He FINALLY took hold of him and rode him better. If he had ridden him like that beforehand I would not have been attacked. I am afraid I see that as a Rider problem.

If asking no I have never asked to take a horse back. No I have never taken a horse back. I have never been asked to take a horse back though.

[Malda]

I never really thought of it as fraud, I guess I have the buyer beware mentality a little too strong for horse shopping. If it had been a car or other object I’d be demanding my money back.

I’ve always had a list of questions: has the horse ever reared, bucked, run off, kicked at person or horse, bit, any other behavior problems, health history, reason for selling, etc. and any other questions relating to what I would use the horse for, trail riding, i.e. does it go out by itself, how does it do in a group, cross water, etc.

I’ve bought 3 excellent trail horses, they just had physical/behavior problems that the owner didn’t admit to or lied about.

The gaited community is a culture shock coming from the hunter and polo background. When I looked for a hunter or helped a player look for another horse you pretty much knew what you were buying and the sellers knew what they were selling. It only took a few horses to find what you needed. Gaited, you never know what you’ll find when you show up.

Read the bombproof horse thread, people aren’t always honest about what they’re selling.

I don’t know. Going to see another horse tomorrow, #57.

[Sporthorse_Shop]

I am an ammy, but have retrained quite a few OTTBs and other bargains I was able to pick up. I was always on the hunt for the next superstar and had to go through quite a few to find them. I ended up with these horses because they were untrained or their owner was scared of them. All needed training, most needed feed changes and some chiro/massage work, and some needed vet work.

After doing the work and determining what the horse was good at and that the horse was not going to fit my needs, I would sell them. All my sales went out on a short term lease, usually 3-4 weeks, after test rides and a sales contract signed. I fully vetted each situation out, ensuring trainers were involved where necessary. I learned my lesson after the first one went out and colicked and was euthanized, to insure the horse. The colic was due to old scar tissue in the gut, so not the buyer’s fault. The horses went on to be successful and the buyers knew exactly what they were getting. I only had one that almost came back from the trial period, but they decided to keep her. There was a trainer involved, otherwise I probably would have insisted she come back.

[OveroHunter]

Never expect anyone to take a horse back unless you have that horse on trial. Once you pay the money and that horse steps on the trailer, it’s your problem. If you’re worried, only buy a horse after a trial and always buy from a reputable seller… Otherwise, it’s your problem.