My horse is terrified of minis, is unsure about horses with “strange” coloring (i.e., anything that isn’t chestnut, bay, or grey), and stares in concern at the next door neighbor’s cows every time we’ve hacked past them in the last 4 years. I always thought she was a bit kooky, but apparently she’s completely normal.
3 Likes
This would make a great name for a course on desensitization, btw.
14 Likes
My favorite -
10yr old QH mare, had 30d training as a 3 year old, through no fault of her own has been in the pasture ever since. Will need a short refresher, but can finish any direction you want. Rope, barrel race or reining prospect. $15,000."
8 Likes
It baffles me that so called professionals outright ridicule clients on social media. I get that selling horses can be a thankless job, but buying one isn’t a walk in the park either. Cut the non-horsey parents shopping for their kids, or adult ammys who haven’t shopped in 10 years some slack! They don’t do this for a living and it’s a hell of a learning curve.
9 Likes
I think there may also be signs of the market starting to soften in my area. I’m seeing more inventory, and have seen some price drops. I wonder if hay prices this winter is a factor.
7 Likes
I’m actually scared about FINDING hay.
4 Likes
Hey! I found this ad out in the FB wild. Can some poor soul please point out to her that the horse is NOT a roan (how is that even a selling point)? 
That is rabicano, and it is plenty common in TBs now.
I would but I don’t think I have the mental fortitude to withstand a “FB Flogging”.
2 Likes
Engaging with her can only end badly. Trust me as someone who has run in the same circles with her IRL.
3 Likes
I don’t think you can link to FB posts? Especially ones in closed groups. The link won’t work.
According to my math calculations, that’d be some kind of refresher course! A few days in the round pen, a ride or two in the arena and this mare will be right back where she left off— 7 years ago when she got maybe a dozen rides under saddle. Do people not read the ads they write and comprehend how they come across? 
3 Likes
Stumbled across a new one the other night:
“Read carefully, yes, you with the 11YO talented junior rider learning to jump 2’6, this horse is not for you. Same if the kid is 12… And you mom, who rode before going to college and getting back to ride and looking to enjoy getting back in the saddle on a schoolmaster, pass as well I have better suited horses for those jobs than X…gelding has a hell of a show record. We are talking about top placings all the way to GP prix… for the past couple of months he has been doing the 1m/1m10 job with a petite adult rider, and apparently he is not a big fan of that gig. He thinks the smaller jumps are speed bumps, and this makes him quite strong and he is not really 'backing off”. So we don’t think X should really do that anymore. We think his person is a young pro, or gritty amateur or junior who wants to jump some big jumps but has limited funds and is willing to get him back up to his old glory. Right now he will be happy to cruise around 1m15/1m20 and then in a few weeks/months ease back up to 1m25/1m30 and off to the regional Grand Prix."
I get where the person is coming from. I do. And the horse supposedly has a show record in two different countries and that can account for some gaps. The wording just grated on me for some reason. Horse’s USEF record is pretty good. Just not as good as they’re implying. Nor has the horse jumped the big sticks as recently as I would want to see if I were a young pro on a limited budget looking to ramp up to 1.35m in a hurry. (Been almost half the horse’s life since it jumped that high in a USEF-recognized competition.) I’m also not sure who the “we” skipping around 1.20+ is supposed to be in this ad. Because the sale agent is USEF inactive and has nothing to their record for the past several years but low level dressage tests with sub-65 scores and two small comps at 1.10m. Maybe they’re the petite adult getting shaded in the ad?
3 Likes
I forgot the part of the ad that usually says “AQHA, QH grade, well bred”
I’m guessing this was an ad posted by Marjorie from Equisale Sport Horses - if not, it’s very much the type of ad/description she would write. She sells nice (and some less nice) horses and seems to try and be very honest about the horses and who they’ll suit (or won’t). She has some good riding young pros who train and show the horses - she owns and runs the farm and the sales biz, she is not the rider.
Personally I find her ads amusing while still being fairly descriptive and honest (at least as as far as horse dealers go). A friend of mine used her to sell a very quirky but talented horse, and the description Marjorie wrote for her was LOL funny and attracted a lot of inquiries.
4 Likes
I like this ad. It tells me the horse knows how he wants to be ridden, isn’t going to be taught a new way of going, and is who he is and that’s probably a bit feral at the moment; and it gives me ideas of what I’m in for for the next 6 months as I learn to ride him.
6 Likes
Personally, I’m simply not a fan of this kind of style in any kind of marketing. Too much like the so-called negging technique that’s so big with Red Pill men.
Liking/disliking the ad style will vary from person to person, naturally. The bigger problem in this case is that ad + video + available show record taken together suggest a horse that was already backed off the big sticks in its prime for some reason & seems anxious & soured about its current job over middling sticks. This horse is of little to no interest to the ideal rider avatars the seller has chosen to market it to. ( Not at the price they’re asking, anyway.) The ad tells me nothing other than the horse probably doesn’t like show jumping & sounds like it’s kind of prickly on the ground, too. (I don’t blame him, either.) Why exactly am I supposed to like this horse, seller?
Meanwhile, horse is actually a pretty nice mover on the flat (and seems to enjoy it) and would probably appeal to a wider audience marketed as a dressage prospect.
6 Likes
What helps with her ads is tons of high quality video of everything the horse does. Very clear, close up WTC and unedited jumping. She shows you everything you need to see. Her ads always have the basic info (age, height, location, breed, price, etc.) so even if you’re not a fan of her humor you can skip it and still get everything you need to know. I happen to appreciate her writing style but the different between her and someone who is just ranting or just being funny is that underneath the tone is a comprehensive and helpful ad. You can’t say that for more raving lunatic stream of conscience ads!
9 Likes
I was curious and found this person’s page. OMFG are her horses nice. I actually love the horse in question, and the pinto Zangersheide who I would buy in an absolute heartbeat if I had money.
I appreciate the honesty over the glim-glam prose a lot of sellers are apt to do. I liked that I read what she said and it was exactly corroborated in video. Half the time I don’t even finish reading a seller’s ad because what they say doesn’t match what I see on video – AKA they claim it’s a good mover and it’s got the rhythm of a dysfunctional sewing machine, or it’s an “UL prospect” and it looks tapped out over 2’6 fences.
7 Likes
Her ads don’t bother me because I think she’s trying to be honest but put a positive spin on that honesty. That’s what I’d want from a seller. You don’t have to be honest AND dog the horse, you can be honest and try to be positive about what the horse brings to the table despite its flaws/limitations. What matters is honest and she appears to be honest.
5 Likes
The videos are nice & clear. Most are several years old. (Though it’s possible there are more i’m not aware of on their actual site – I didn’t click thru.) I understand the importance of trying to keep time wasters to a minimum when you’re a seller. I also think there’s a certain danger in pigeonholing a horse; in your mind or your ads. And while I’m apparently in the minority on this, the language used to describe the horse’s previous riders in the ad would cause me to think twice about working with this person. Lest I be the unnamed bumbling fool in the next ad. I guess we can all agree to disagree on this one.
2 Likes
