NEVERMIND.
Not dealing with Nutters.
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No, you do not own this yearling and if you brought a stick with a bag on the end to scare my horses. You would find yourself in hot water before you took a step from the car and you would be asked to leave without seeing the horses as you have no clue.
Horses are prey animals. They can be taught with confidence in a trainer and correct methods to not spook at a bag on a stick, which mine have been. Going randomly up to a horse you do not own is not correct and so far from what is right I cannot tell you how wrong it is.
If you do not like a horse that shies then do not look for a yearling. To ride a young horse you need to not only be able to ride a horse that shies , you also need to ride a horse that bucks. Most young horses will buck one day, even if it is just with the pure joy of being alive. You need to have total confidence so as you can give the youngster confidence. This buck should be shut down before it starts, not have the rider fall off and put the training backwards. This is JMHO and I am sorry for what I have said but you hit a nerve.
As to what you can do, look for a horse that is in training and has had Spooky Object Training. I do not like Desensitising as 3 or so months later the horse will switch back on and that is when you find yourself in trouble. This horse will probably be older than a yearling.
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I am pretty sure they don’t but does the breeder have any videos of the horse as it reached yearling status?
The breeder who we have have purchased excellent young stock from has progressive videos of the horse as it ages under their control.
And it OP brought their test aid with them I would kindly ask them to leave
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I literally don’t know a horse that wouldn’t be at least a tiny bit bothered by this so I wouldn’t say it’s a good idea…
Since it’s a yearling, I think your best bet is going to be looking at the parents, which you’ve already done, and then to make sure this horse is set up for success in terms of learning appropriate ways to cope with and investigate scary new things and training focused on confidence building. I’ve never raised a yearling, but I feel like most baby horses who are having new experiences are going to be spooky now and then, and it’s your job to give them the tools they need to figure out what to do in new situations. Also keeping in mind that spookiness can often be a signifier of pain like ulcers or back pain.
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Just run your hands gently over him to see if he’s jumpy. Pick up his feet, rub his face etc. If he seems ok with that, maybe ask if you can walk him around outside a bit (or watch someone walk him) to see if he overreacts to things.
I own a very spooky horse and although he has been handled a lot and taken to many shows and trailridden and camped out and everything he would absolutely fail a test like this without anyone doing anything deliberately scary.
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Awww… Took your ball home & not playing?
Thanks to the screenshot save, I guess you can put me in the Nutter Pen too 
But, you reminded me of a story we Nutters may enjoy.
Friend used to buy unbroken yearling Spanish Normans, get them greenbroke & resell.
1 went on to be brilliant at CDEs, another rose up the levels in Dressage on the East coast.
One “Pro” brought a client to look at a young mare she had for sale.
Pro tells client “Horses like when you blow on their noses”
Steps up to demonstrate this “skill”, and…
Mare nearly took her face off. 
Moral of the story:
Don’t go waving bags at baby horses that aren’t yours
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Guess the OP got spooked by COTH.
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We waved our E-bags-on-a-stick & POOF!
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As a seller, if someone showed up with a bag on a stick, and thought they were going to “test” my horse (regardless of age), they would be asked to leave. And my young horses can be flagged all over with a bag on a stick.
It’s possible to make a real mess of someone’s young horse if you have poor timing. I’d be happy to demonstrate my horse’s reactions, but no way would I trust a stranger to try to “scare” them.
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I also find this so weird, because I’ve ridden so many horses who seem (to my weenie self) dead calm, and I talk to the owner who has had the horse many, many years, and she’ll say, “oh, you should have seen him when he was young”!
Also, I’ve known many spooky and reactive horses who had no problem with plastic bags, but took very violent exception to the way sun looked on sand, any wind stronger than a breeze, and the entire winter season.
If you want a decent guarantee that a horse is not spooky…don’t buy a young horse so you have a better idea of what you’re getting.
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I think maybe OP is probably quite young and inexperienced in horsemanship basics. We all learn eventually…
So, @PetraRiedel, you are not wrong to ask the question. Maybe don’t be so sensitive, stick around and learn.
When i was Morgan Horse shopping, most of the farms i went to actually had a plastic bag on the end of a long whip and shook it at the horses i was looking at to get animation and high gaits. And…all of those Morgans seemed quite used to such a thing. And, * I * wasn’t the one doing it. But again, the flagging was not done to show anything except exaggerated, high, movement (upheadedness, high hock action, high knees and tail flagged…plus snorts lol)
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Ah that was what I forgot to do in my first post.
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QFP.
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use the word nutter, at least it is in my name!
I know you went away OP but all you need to do is watch the yearling move at liberty, handle him all over and have the sellers show you all that he is familiar with doing when handled.
Watch his reactions , see how he is caught for handling , how he is with his handlers . Does he respect their space or crowd into them?
If you like what you see, then save the bag on the stick and other “spookiness evaluation tools” for when you get him home and it will give you plenty of things to desensitize him with as you work with him.
Its OK, somebody quoted the heart of OP’s question and it will live forever revealing who the “ Nutter” is and its not SuzieQ.
Name calling when answers to the question you asked are not you expect sort of defeats the purpose of asking. If you know better, why ask?
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findeight for the win. it is a shame new folks don’t stick it out and actually learn something when vastly experienced horsepeople provide information.
anyone who is qualified to work with and bring on a very young horse should already know how to evaluate basic temperament with basic handling demonstrated by the owner. A good owner will have all sorts of information about their young horse and very likely the mare, too. If you are fortunate they also have information about the previous foals produced by the dam.
horses are always a crapshoot, waving a bag on a stick is no proof that 3 years on, when a conditioned young horse you wont get antics. Particularly the change of season wahoos
they are not cars, they are living, thinking prey animals
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