Who is this person? Would like to add them to my list of people not to do business with…
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Will PM you
It’s not a pita…no more difficult than getting the papers from any WB registry.
Hmmm. So now she claims that advertising this horse is part of a bait and switch tactic to make her other horses more attractive? How can she think that’s the right answer?
Where I live no one will buy a warmblood without seeing the papers even if it’s just the lowly Canadian Sport Horse or Canadian Warmblood registries. Our horse world is full of gorgeous big bodied OTTB and also gorgeous registered WB that are in fact half OTTB, and it can be hard to tell the difference between a really nice TB and a WB with alot of TB blood. So buyers want some kind of papers if they are paying the WB premium.
I would wait until you see what happens with the horse, then you can post a full account to your British Bad Horse Dealers FB group if that seems like a useful or appropriate place.
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A professional trainer claims she can’t tell a TB from a WB ??? Can’t tell the new horse from two she already owns ??? :lol::lol::lol:
This is what the expression “you can’t make this stuff up” was invented for. I always wonder, do people who say things like this really think anyone will believe them? 
This thread may be destined for the COTH treasure chest of priceless threads …
And as you pointed out, that doesn’t match Explanation #1.
Realtors sometimes do this. A really cute house gets a contract to buy fairly soon after listing, and because the realtor sign in the yard hasn’t been up for long, people are still calling to ask about it. Rather than adding an “under contract” notice on the sign, the realtor just lets the phone calls keep coming. The realtor can legit say “I can show you that one but it is under contract, but I also have a couple of others that are a lot like it that you could look at as well”.
But I’m sure your trainer non-friend is just showing lookers your former horse as a WB, rather than diverting them to another horse. And likely is saying “I also have two more that are a lot like him that you might like”, so that she can show them all three.
So apparently she thinks your old ornamental TB looks great as a WB, in fact, better than the two she already has. He must be really lovely in his photos! She must figure that people will never know the difference against whatever horse she shows them. The horses must all be plain bay with almost no markings, or something like that. And likely she will keep using his photo for as long as she has a similar-looking horse to sell, even after he is long gone.
In any case, sounds like she’s a horse flipper, plain & simple. Looks for cheap but presentable horses to resell at a big markup. So that would bring her to well-cared-for older horses.
Likely she’ll say anything the selling owner wants to hear, and then once they are back at her barn the horse becomes a younger, well-bred WB who is able for whatever a buyer is likely to want to do with him. And for sale, immediately.
It helps her that people enjoy thinking whatever they want to think about their horse’s breeding, with no hard evidence whatsoever.
Other than the outright chicanery, it seems to me that the biggest problem is that the new buyer will have expectations of this horse that are not a fair ask at his true condition and age. He may not get the soft landing he needs. He’s really in the wind. Fingers crossed for him.
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Can you message me the name of this person as well. Not trying to be nosy it can stay between us. I buy and sell a lot of horses and wouldn’t want to deal with someone like this
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Who said the horse was old and not in good condition?
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Yes. Not sure I’m committed to starting a public flame war but I’m happy to fill anyone in via PM, if it saves just one person from having the same experience as me it will be worth it…
Not sure where the poster got that impression either, he is not an old or unsound horse, just one that wouldn’t do well being passed around. It’s not easy for him to adjust to new places and he’s a hard keeper so I really hope he doesn’t get passed around and sent to a thousand different barns on trial.
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Send a friend horse shopping, with a witness sidekick. Let them put her through the ringer with questions. Keep asking. Make her lie out her ass. She’ll not be able to remember her lies. Ask the same questions again. You deserve your money’s worth out of that measly payment.
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What a steaming pile of crap!
Ugh. The unscrupulous, lying, opportunistic sellers and “trainers” in the horse business never cease to appall and disgust me; I’m sure the stories shared on COTH are all too typical (and the tip of the iceberg), and OP - I REALLY feel for you!
:mad:
I like @babecakes idea - beat her at her own game.
(FTR, yes - TBs can get papers if not raced; I did this for both of my unraced TBs - one a homebred and one I bought as a weanling. You just have to pay the fee and submit the photos and name and form and voila - a registered TB.)
Boy, OP - I REALLY hope you get some satisfaction, here. Your poor horse.
I have some choice words (that I can’t use on this forum) for this scumbag, but maybe I’m just a little cranky in general right now. I just hate A-hole horse “professionals” who take advantage of people, and I hate liars. I wish public shaming was still a thing.
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FTR, this has not at all been my experience. Buyers want papers. There is a warmblood premium, and people generally aren’t willing to pay it unless there is proof of breed. I’m sure there are exceptions, but papers are very important IMO when you’re talking about a $30K price tag.
OP, what does this horse do? I’m ultra curious about a horse that is sold for $7k, but can command $30k. Is she marketing his abilities and experience correctly?
He jumps around 1.25 easily but has very limited show miles and is a thoroughbred. And has never been easy, always been more of a pro type ride. Not mean or dangerous, just tricky.
ETA: She is now marketing him as a straightforward packer type. This horse is a good boy but is NOT easy and is NOT a packer. I do worry that she will have people coming to try him that have no business sitting on that type of horse and someone might get hurt.
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$30K especially now, the horse will need to be more proven.
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Is this person in Texas? Asking because I saw a horse like yours advertised and a certain trainer was very very interested and they are kind of known for doing what this person did. I remember thinking to myself that I hoped that they didn’t get their hands on him.
No, completely different part of the country.
I think you should out the trainer, post the horse’s name/photo and abilities and the misrepresentation, and help potential buyers who do their homework avoid this train wreck.
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In some states, there is a law…I believe it may be called “usery”. It was intended to limit the amount of interest a lender can charge. However I remember it (or something similar) being used to limit the amount of MARK UP one can sell an item for, within a time frame. Perhaps some one with a fancy degree can chime in? It would be possible to send a letter, citing the law…but to what end?
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My immediate reaction is that this pricing is highly aspirational. First of all, not a lot of people buying new show horses right now, and a lot of people are fire saling nice horses because of the lack of shows/lessons/clinics.
No professional actually needs a 4’ - 4’ 6" jumper. So if he doesn’t have the potential to do more, the horse needs to be ammy friendly or at least ammy ridable. Tricky ride and limited resume? Eh, no, someone who wants to show in the Ammy Jumpers is going to be looking for easy and more of a resume. There is that mythical amateur that’s a terrific rider with a limited budget who’d consider something like this; but IME, there are many more horses that need that mythical amateur than there are those amateurs.
So besides being crooked, your buyer ain’t all that smart. Unless her plan is to sell this horse to clueless parents whose kid is currently showing locally at 2’6" and then milk them for training board and lessons until the kid gets hurt.
.
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One potential caveat about outing the particular ad for your ex horse: it’s likely to make him unsellable at any price. That could end up hurting the horse as much as or more than the trainer.
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