Sport Horse Auction and Amber Hill Farm

[SwitchingDisciplines]

Hi everyone. I have casually noticed a ton of decent looking horses come up for auction on Flashpoint broodstock/sport horse auction. I looked in a bit further and most of the ‘nice’ ones belong to Élizabeth Mandarino. I’m vaguely aware of this persons reputation but only really from online. I realize she’s been selling off imports for the past couple years but a ton have come up for the September/November auctions and sold for quite low considering what they were described as. Anyone have experience buying from the auction or from this seller. I assume with all the legal/divorce issues she’s trying to offload horses but some of the descriptions seem a bit strange. For example, Chaco a 2011 grey import bought from equisale has no usef record (but she says it’s shown in The US) and the only video online is from years ago. The description of the horse is quite extravagant and she denies any injuries. Makes me wonder if she’s lying bc she’s been posting it for sale since 2016 but with no new photos or vids. Same with a few other imports.

I assume you take take a risk buying from someone like this and from an auction but for the prices these are going at I’m curious. Maybe they’ve been neglected a bit and she’s just trying to get rid of them bc I’d be surprised if 20 horses all have issues she’s trying to hide. Anyone know her horses or what’s going on with the auction?

[findeight]

That would be somebody I would not deal with or try to make excuses for conflicting information between sale description and available, independent records. The longer she’s had the horse, the less likely Id be to bite. Even cheap.

There’s always buyers willing to forgive bad behavior on the part of the seller if the horse is cheap enough. Somebody is buying them and that’s what they are worth.

Just can’t get past leaving the dead Pony in the crossties and leaving the grounds at Devon and think that one is past most people’s tolerance. Even those willing to buy on the cheap, low as the bar is set these days, there are limits.

[SwitchingDisciplines]

@findeight

That would be somebody I would not deal with or try to make excuses for conflicting information between sale description and available, independent records. The longer she’s had the horse, the less likely Id be to bite. Even cheap.

There’s always buyers willing to forgive bad behavior on the part of the seller if the horse is cheap enough. Somebody is buying them and that’s what they are worth.

Just can’t get past leaving the dead Pony in the crossties and leaving the grounds at Devon and think that one is past most people’s tolerance. Even those willing to buy on the cheap, low as the bar is set these days, there are limits.

Oh jeez, I had not heard the leaving the dead pony in the crossties story. Just that she’d injected one and it had died. Plus the fact that she’s sued/been sued numerous times and has tried to sell horses with liens based on bad business.

I agree that we shouldn’t support someone like that with our money. However, the horses exist and they have to go somewhere I guess (hopefully to a great home). If they’re selling that cheap and are somewhat decent horses maybe she’s getting what she deserves having to take such a price hit. I’m not totally sure especially because I’m in Canada and don’t know much about her. Definitely agree it’s super questionable that she’s had some of these horses for years. Strangely most of them have no show record past a couple years ago. Not sure if this is due to lack of money/clients or if there are serious medical/behavioural issues with them.

[MHM]

I have no information whatsoever about any of the horses.

I believe her daughter has been in college for the last few years, so that might explain why the horses have not been doing much at horse shows.

[findeight]

The dead pony is the most dramatic but just the tip of the iceberg. She’s got a reputation for misleading others and making promises left unfulfilled plus managed to alienate a large portion of the horse showing population, especially in Ponies, including a bogus contest for a year of Pony catch riding she fooled some good people into helping her with and judge the entry videos and essays , much to their chagrin when they learned the truth. And she posted on here threatening lawsuits and getting COTH shut down. It was pretty sad but entertaining. But few on here then still on here now are going to want to deal with her or believe anything she says.

Anyway, you could search those threads, memorable train wrecks. Maybe somebody can post links to them, that would be the dead Pony at Devon and the AH Pony Contest threads plus the ongoing hearing threads.

Id say something in the Blue Saddle Inn should be named for her but while the threads are boxed wine and popcorn worthy, she doesn’t deserve the recognition. At all.

[kkgeorgio]

Browsing now through the Sep. auction. They do look like nice horses, at even nicer prices. I would say go for it IF you can pay for an extensive, extensive vet check AND you can afford for the horse to end up as a dud or otherwise unusable. If it were someone (like me) who is saving up money, and will only be able to afford ONE horse, I would steer clear as it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you’ve got an extra 10-15k laying around and an extra stall, could end up being a good deal. Like you mention, I can’t imagine that they are all horrible.

As we know with horses, you can do everything right, buy from the best seller, with the best and most extensive vet check, and still end up with a lame horse a month down the road. Depending on a person’s circumstances, a bargain might be worth taking.

[skydy]

[QUOTE=kkgeorgio;n10506019]
Browsing now through the Sep. auction. They do look like nice horses, at even nicer prices. I would say go for it IF you can pay for an extensive, extensive vet check AND you can afford for the horse to end up as a dud or otherwise unusable. If it were someone (like me) who is saving up money, and will only be able to afford ONE horse, I would steer clear as it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you’ve got an extra 10-15k laying around and an extra stall, could end up being a good deal. Like you mention, I can’t imagine that they are all horrible.

As we know with horses, you can do everything right, buy from the best seller, with the best and most extensive vet check, and still end up with a lame horse a month down the road. Depending on a person’s circumstances, a bargain might be worth taking.[/QUOTE

It would take a vet check and pulling blood. Even then, there’s no way would I buy from this person.

[WildLittleWren]

Yikes. This woman sounds like a piece of work! I will have to look up some of those threads when I have a slow day at work…and some popcorn.

[bugsynskeeter]

I wouldn’t give that woman a penny.

[kkgeorgio]

[quote="“skydy,post:7,topic:463009”]

@kkgeorgio

Browsing now through the Sep. auction. They do look like nice horses, at even nicer prices. I would say go for it IF you can pay for an extensive, extensive vet check AND you can afford for the horse to end up as a dud or otherwise unusable. If it were someone (like me) who is saving up money, and will only be able to afford ONE horse, I would steer clear as it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you’ve got an extra 10-15k laying around and an extra stall, could end up being a good deal. Like you mention, I can’t imagine that they are all horrible.

As we know with horses, you can do everything right, buy from the best seller, with the best and most extensive vet check, and still end up with a lame horse a month down the road. Depending on a person’s circumstances, a bargain might be worth taking.[/QUOTE

It would take a vet check and pulling blood. Even then, there’s no way would I buy from this person.

I feel like even the most basic of vet checks pull blood, so yes I would definitely pull blood. I would also do extensive x-rays.

There are so many corrupt horse folks out there. Seems like in this case shes offloading all of her stock (and hopefully she’ll find a new business venture). I wouldn’t support her under regular circumstances, but these horses do need somewhere to go and someone out there may end up getting a pretty good deal.

[skydy]

Blood test results take time. With many auctions, once you remove the horse from the auction grounds you have no recourse. Just be sure you read the sale terms very carefully. :yes:

I wouldn’t do business with this person no matter what kind of “deal” it was.

Different strokes.

[jonem004]

Can somebody please post links to the mentioned threads? What happened with the dead pony at Devon!?! I wanna know!!!

[bugsynskeeter]

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/hunter-jumper/224355-humble-initiative-sham-attempt-by-usef-to-a-meeting

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/hunter-jumper/220002-new-york-times-article-usef-and-humble

[MHM]

@WildLittleWren

Yikes. This woman sounds like a piece of work! I will have to look up some of those threads when I have a slow day at work…and some popcorn.

Unless you are the world’s fastest speed reader, it will take you more than a day! :eek:

[ElementFarm]

I wouldn’t buy anything from her, based on her reputation. But I did see a FB post about her dealing with parental medical bills, so it maybe she’s just firesaleing some nice horses b/c she’s desperate, and no one will buy from her the normal way. But I agree, the horses she posted in the last few sales looked lovely. I wish we could ask the their buyers how the horses were in person!

That being said, I’ve both bought and sold via the auction (both recently, on line; and 100 years ago when it was physically held in Herndon VA). On line, the mare I bought ended up to be just lovely, and after 2 years, she’s developed into a wonderful adult hunter. She was a little greener than represented maybe, but overall was described very accurately. The one I sold went to a good home. I feel I honestly represented her, maybe even a little too brutally, but she was a nice WB hunter, just a little on the hot/sensitive side. The people who bought her took her to several rated shows where she pinned decently, and then they sold her on and I don’t know where she ended up. So I guess what I’m saying is, maybe do some research on the sellers, and avoid anything from AHF (or accept the risk), but don’t discount finding a nice horse via the auction.

[Daventry]

@MHM

Unless you are the world’s fastest speed reader, it will take you more than a day! :eek:

Yep, what she said. If you do a Google search and read through everything in the pages of court docs, it will be weeks and weeks of your life you can never get back again. Here are some of the court docs listed on Horse Authority https://horseauthority.co/?s=Elizabeth+mandarino

[Davignport]

A person that has killed a pony at Devon would not be someone I would ever buy anything from. Despicable human being.

[vxf111]

There are a million horses in the world to buy, so I don’t know why anyone would ever spend a second considering buying one from someone they have ANY qualms about. If you have to ask whether something is too good to be true, there’s your sign.

[SwitchingDisciplines]

@vxf111

There are a million horses in the world to buy, so I don’t know why anyone would ever spend a second considering buying one from someone they have ANY qualms about. If you have to ask whether something is too good to be true, there’s your sign.

I agree for the most part. Just thought it was interesting since they keep popping up on facebook. For a lot of people a 50k+ horse is not a reality so if you can possibly get one for 10k it might be somewhat worth considering. I agree you must do due diligence and you still take a big risk. Just interesting why there are so many horses for sale that seem nice.

[dags]

Come on guys, these horses & ponies did nothing wrong & they are going to need someone’s consideration. I’ve been watching her try to move these horses for at least a year & am very afraid that at some point the money will run out. The auction is perfect because you don’t even have to deal with EM & they should sell (as they should) well below value. If she’s in a situation where food is starting to run low, or she’s just too overwhelmed (or ignorant) to properly care for this herd (and I bet this is already the case), then I don’t think we should stand in the way of these innocent beasts getting new & improved homes.