And one more…just because the horse cleared the fence when you freejumped him, doesn’t mean the picture should be posted on his ad! It is shocking to me how many don’t understand what good jumping technique means.
And yes, I have sold horses and understand how hard it is from that side. But with the current prices people are asking for these guys, I expect a little effort to be put into a sale ad! 
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Agreed. There’s one ad that has been up for some time now of a dressage horse standing in - I kid you not - knee high grass. 13 yrs old. Supposedly shown 4th level and would have been Grand Prix by now if not for owner’s injuries (wonder if they were as a result of said horse). Horse is also recovering from an injury and will likely need annual Osphos. His “reduced” price until he’s recovered - $50,000. No pictures of him under tack competing at any level let alone 4th. Per Dressage Detective, he showed once at Training in 2014 and 3x at 2nd level in 2017.
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Well… was your horse wearing any clothes?!
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I guess some people are not aware that performance records can be researched! 
Dressage is a whole 'nother issue. I’ve seen several ads of TBs with “great lateral work.” It usually turns out to be the horse jigging away from the rider’s leg or simply moving across the diagonal with no crossing of anything.
Recently too I was sent a video with a horse that sounded like he had some throat issues. When I inquired about it, they denied it. Updated video had no sound. I can live with a lot of stuff, but once they start denying or embellishing something, you start questioning the honesty of everything.
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Ive said this before. Hopefully not on this thread.
Raw dressage horse does some training level shows, does OK. Ammie rider never gets it together to show first level. After a few years they start working on collection and simple changes and other components of Second. Now horse is Schooling Second Level. Then he starts to break down as dressage horses ridden wrong eventually do.
Verify verify verify. If a horse hasn’t done a test at a level there could likely be holes even if he is doing most of the movements.
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I’m going through a very similar situation right now. Horse with tricks is breaking down because he was ridden for years by someone with no idea. Not an expensive horse and still in contact with the owner but… seriously making me think of only buying barely backed babies for the rest of my life.
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She had tack on in some photos but there was the conformation photo without tack so according to FB, she was stark naked
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How scandalous!
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I see plenty of embellishments but an outright lie like that still shocks me. Especially as it’s possible to check! I guess a lot of sellers assume that people won’t check competition records.
Some technically true ads I’ve seen:
“Won XYZ dressage” (on a sub-50% score, as the only competitor in the section)
“Done lots of eventing” (eliminated on XC every single time)
And as @Scribbler said, loads of horses who are schooling X Level but never competed.
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Curious - when selling a horse, why would you use photos of you in your wedding dress standing next to the horse as opposed to a regular confirmation shot or (heaven forbid!) a picture of the horse being ridden or driven since you advertise him as being able to do both? Is there a great demand for horses able to pose for pictures next to someone in a poofy white dress?
Also, this: 14 year old horse. Claims it is sound. Due for coggins, dental float and vaccines. Has videos of it from when it was in work but no current ones because he is so herd bound to another horse at the barn that he “spazzes” when separated. Hasn’t been consistently ridden in a few years but was wonderful when he was trail ridden last year. NOT an easy keeper because he needs feed and hay 365 days a year.
My guess? they probably love that photo.
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Were you trying to make a pun? I laughed way too hard.
(Confirmation = that religious thing. Conformation = the way the horse is built.)
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THIS!! Even that first ride is so very important. I want them as raw as possible. I’d rather have untouched than poorly taught ground work. Do not care how long they have lived without humans mucking them up, as long as they are relatively unhandled…ergo: my mustang thing.
Oh…and another thing, FB mustang pages are horrendous for grammar and spelling errors. The mustang pages are like the trailer-park of facebook. How do people limp through life with such a low level of schooling? Is it a thing to come-off as ignorant? Is it a red-badge of freedumb or something?
And as for sales ads, it makes me sick to see overweight men scooting their short little mules or QHs or mustangs around a pen. ugh…poor horses!
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“Married the man and now I want a divorce from this horse.”???
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LOL - it was an embarrassing typo as I am usually a stickler for proper grammar / spelling.
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They can love the photo all they want - but it doesn’t make a good sales ad when said poofy dress is covering up the horse’s legs so I can’t see its conformation.
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My guess is that it is similar to the tarp thing…shows he is not reactive to big poofy things. But being so herdbound he can’t leave his buddy kind of makes this not matter too much!
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The wedding photo was the last time you got close to your horse and he has been running wild on a field in groomed for 3 years and is skinny and can’t be caught.
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Sure, but they are not thinking of that. You are probably not their preferred buyer.
They loved the horse enough to include it in their wedding and now for whatever reason they have to sell it. They love the photo, it reminds them of how much they love the horse, so in their mind this shows how special the horse is.
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Let me clarify - the wedding photo ad and the crazed herd-bound horse were 2 different ads.
Also, the crazed one was an OTTB. I’d hardly say that needing feed and hay 365 makes an OTTB a hardkeeper. The horse was pasture boarded, and I’d guess that there are few OTTB that do well on just pasture.
