I have been a customer of this sales barn. I can tell you that I traded a horse in to Strain Family Farm and essentially no questions were asked, later I saw him advertised as “trail friendly, show prospect…” and all this other nonsense. He was not any of these things but, sure, he had the potential for these things. The horse was a green 5 year old and I was over mounted. He had potential but he had never been on a trail in his life when I brought him there. The horse I purchased was advertised as a similar “do it all horse”. Overall, I tried about 10 different horses and I am happy with the horse I purchased and the price I paid.
I did not have a bad experience at this place but I’m just sharing my experience so perhaps others can understand why I wouldn’t be surprised, at all, that they don’t have or keep extensive records on their horses.
The thing I like about the farm, as a sales barn, is it’s a revolving door of horses, the horses are cheap and You can ride 10 horses in one day and take your pick. Compared to traveling to 10 different barns to try out 10 different horses.
One of the things I did not like was the condition of the place. The stalls were clean, the horses were well cared for but the farm was like 3 acres (estimating) and there were over 30 horses there. I know the horses are only there for a short period of time but it was too many horses for such a small property.
I think it’s important to note that this is not a barn for a beginner to go pick out a horse. Bring your professional trainer or know what you are doing and you could find a horse that will meet your needs. Also their 3 week exchange policy is great and they do stay true to their word.
I dealt with Mr. Strain Directly who has since passed away. I was made fun of for being a “english rider” I was told my helmet was “a stupid waste of time” and I was also asked “why are you putting your stirrups up?” when I was walking one horse from the round pen back to the barn. I replied “for safety so the horse does not catch it self on something on the way back to the barn”. I was told this was also “a was a waste of time”. Personally, I found these little jibs and jabs, by an obviously western dominated barn, kind of funny. I do have a sense of humor, so I did not let them get to me but I could see how someone could have been offended by this behavior. There’s certain things you can get away with once you reach Old Man status and that’s just was Mr. Strain was a funny, sarcastic old man. He was also truthful about some of the horses there. I fell in love with a palomino right off the bat and flat out told me “Than horse will kill you.” I respected that.
