Are there any genuine horses out there for sale?

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TakeAChance

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I'm becoming disillusioned with the amount of horses advertised that aren't what they're cracked up to be :(

Tell me some happy horse hunting stories to help me keep the faith!
 
I know of 2 recent success stories from both sides .
4 brilliant horses from this area went to 2 fantastic competition homes.
 
I think it depends on how much the owners care about their horses. I am selling my girl & everyone says I have been too honest but I would prefer any potential buyers to know every single details then end up with the new owners and her not really bonding very well.

What are you after ?
 
Yes there are genuine ones, my friend has just bought a lovely gelding from a really lovely woman who couldn't be more helpful. Keep searching, you'll find one :).
 
I found my horse after a four month search last August. So far he has turned out to be everything I wanted. I am still finding out things about him. This week I found out he doesn't like the dentist or having his mane pulled!

His previous owner was lovely and let me have him on trial as she was so confident that I would get on with him. She had bred him and was very fond of him.

Good horses are out there you just have to keep looking. The good ones do go quickly. You need to be able to drop everything to go and view a horse as soon as you see the ad. I was the first person to see the horse I bought.
 
my previous horse I bought off a hho member, one viewing, only ridden inthe school and no vetting. she was a superstar.

my cob now hes ad would of put most people off, and when i went to view him he was a typical rude brat. again would put a lot off. hes now a star, can leave him for weeks with out riding and then hop on and take him out. the rudness has gone.. and i can tie him up at the pub and feel soppy when he has a tantrum that ive left him :D

one other.. i also bought off this forum unseen, she was as bad as psyco as described..:D LOL i knew this and when her character came out it was a total bonus!

so there you go, all private sellers, and all genuine and horse as described. to be honest i tend to look at pictures, make sure horse fits bill.. ie is right age/height and ignore the rest! if it looks good then i call, but rather than listening to some one waffle for an hour about there amazing horse, I tell the seller what i want and then ask does your horse fit the bill!
 
There are lovely horses out there, honest!! Truth is, its usually the people behind them lying that have the problems! I have viewed horses in the past that people have positively lied about to get me there to look! I have seen all sorts really, but I think its easily summed up....buyer beware ;)

As long as you know what you want then just keep going, the best ones are usually found in the small plain advert with no frills. :)
 
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I am sympathising with this old post!

urgh arranged to view a horse have sent a whole list of questions, so far so good. Am going tom and then have been asked to come back another day as well as they cant show me all it does as the person who is supposed to be showing me how well the horse hacks is busy wanting to go hacking themselves!

So I am now going along to SEE the horse ridden in a field to catch etc ..but have been asked to go back the following day as the owner isnt around(but was originally, now isnt available). Am a bit peeved to be honest as its not too local. It does look my kind of a horse BUT am getting a bit run round in circles here. Hacking is a requirement as this is what I will be doing all of the time. So suddenly we cant hack??

If its what I want I do have someone with more experience who will come back for a once over expert eye etc

Sorry for the rant but can understand why this post was put on here originally...

I saw this lovely horse just sounded what I wanted but am now feeling that it isnt worth the effort to go. Oh the saddle got stolen recently too........shall I not bother go??? I dont know if it loads very well either! Downhill purchase!
 
If I were you, I would say 'As hacking is what I really want to know about, I will come when I can see it hacked'. Unless the rider is going out for the whole day, surely she can manage to fit in a short hack with you as well as riding her own horse?
If the horse were very close to you then going twice might be ok but as it's not.....
I would always advise seeing the horse twice anyway.
I would also advise taking your experienced friend on the first visit. She might well spot a problem which makes it not worth the second visit, whereas, if you like it enough to go for a 2nd visit, she will have to talk you out of it, if there is a problem.
I bought a horse recently which I had seen advertised about a year ago but she was sold by the time I rang. I hadn't realised that it was the same horse this year but because I have my criteria very well defined, she obviously fit the bill both times.
I don't ask loads of questions on the phone, just enough to get a feel for the owner's honesty/experience. I only look at horses within a 50 mile radius and judge the horse when I see it, try it in all the situations I want it for and don't have a vetting, as I really can't see the point. IME vets have enough trouble diagnosing problems when the owner is revealing all the symptoms, never mind if they are trying to hide them. And some vets 'cover themselves' by finding non-existant faults.
All the best with your search!
 
Pearlsasinger said:
If I were you, I would say 'As hacking is what I really want to know about, I will come when I can see it hacked'. Unless the rider is going out for the whole day, surely she can manage to fit in a short hack with you as well as riding her own horse?
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Is it normal to expect to see a horse hacked on a viewing? Over here we don;t have offroad hacking, and our farm is on a reasonably busy road which requires a bit of riding to get to quieter roads. It would never occur to me to show the horse being hacked, just in case anything happened to the viewer/horse because of traffic?
 
Wolfie said:
Is it normal to expect to see a horse hacked on a viewing? Over here we don;t have offroad hacking, and our farm is on a reasonably busy road which requires a bit of riding to get to quieter roads. It would never occur to me to show the horse being hacked, just in case anything happened to the viewer/horse because of traffic?
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It is personal choice, I never saw Micah hacked out, just took him down the drive and back to make sure he wasn't nappy. Another horse I did hack out (failed vet)

Like I have said on other posts like this after twice spending months looking and doing 1000's of miles both times I decided if advert was over a week old then the horse wasn't as described. Both times I then bought the first horse I saw and both times I was the first viewer!

So if ever I was in the position again, I would only ever view horses that had literally just been advertised
 
none of the horses we have were bought as hacks, but we said that ok to hack was a criterion and on second viewing took them up the road for 5-10 mins, all bought from pros/dealers who didnt think it an odd request.

im also looking and the thing i hate is the "no timewasters" - i can only assume there are lunatics out there who window shop for horses and waste people's time but surely most people are genuine. I feel for the sellers who explain what the horse is suitable for and completely unsuitable buyers turn up, but that happens plenty of times if you are a buyer - the horse is not as described. Also hate that some people think if the horse behaved and went ok for you you should buy it and if you dont you are a timewaster - I would expect anything I went to see to behave and go ok for me, but that doesnt mean its exactly what I want and I dont have to buy it if it isnt.
 
Thanks

I dont think it is me as you need to do with it what you will want to do with it. Which is hacking. So I need to know its 100% traffic and need to know if it will nap or gallop off back home etc if it goes out the gate on its own/we will ride past to see if its going to refuse to go on, turn in. I did do all this with my first boy, went along a main road, and went to a field and cantered downhill towards home(in fact a big hill)!.The seller was very genuine, she even caught him from a field in her stilettos, as we got their early she was only back from work!!.

But I am starting to think the seller is being a bit evasive all of a sudden.

Yesterday they wanted to take me on a hack today they dont have time! Bizarre

My experienced friend wants me to look first as she just doesnt have the time to visit every single horse I may want to look at. If its exactly what I want she will come out. Saying that I bought my first horse on the first viewing as I just knew as soon as I spotted him he was ok, a few tests and that was it! But we knew as soon as we got there that he was our type!

But thank you again H&H! Good advice to keep my brain level!
 
imr said:
Also hate that some people think if the horse behaved and went ok for you you should buy it and if you dont you are a timewaster - I would expect anything I went to see to behave and go ok for me, but that doesnt mean its exactly what I want and I dont have to buy it if it isnt.
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Yeah I know the feeling there, if it happens and you just dont buy your labelled as a timewaster, a tad bit unfair.
 
I had a perfectly mannered Section D, absolutely anyone could ride it, and I mean that, only one person came to see her, this person was the "experienced" mother, but was "unable" to take her round from the arena to stable on a lead rope, she bought her without trying (it was ice and snow), but she was the only person who came near her and only one other person rang up. I spoke to a dealer as to why she could not attract interest and he said "Section D's, you can't give them away".. I should have just sold her as a childs pony, 14.2hh and 8 year old.
 
I've spent of money loads looking, had a couple of Vettings which the prospective horses failed, travelled miles to see misdescribed horses, had a very near thing on one mare that was supposed to be good in traffic.. Very disheartening. Finally a friend said she had a youngster which I could have on any trial I liked, ho's that for confiddence. Well, 4 years old was younger than I wanted but he had better manners than many a good bit older & loads of potential. Love him. After all that running around he was on my doorstep but I was lucky to get in before he was advertised I think.
 
There are good ones out there I've been looking for 2 wks
For a nice allrounder for myself , kids and oh
I see one that was advertised was a cob and described as novice ride but defently was novice
Second one was a andalusian that was suppose to be a novice ride
And defently wasn't
And went to see one today
A Irish cob that was described as a heavy traffic proof and ideal for novice
I must say she is what was described of her and more
So as you can imagine we brought her
And will be coming home tomorrow
 
yes - and i was once a genuine seller who classically overhorsed herself with a young IDxTb. Sold him on to a lovely girl for low level eventing - oh the horse could jump big time - . And yes I`ve still got horses - and bought from honest sellers. I guess I`ve been lucky. The horses are always genuine - its people that arnt.
 
The only horses that have ever worked out for me have been through word of mouth.

The only horse that has ever been genuine and worked out that wasn't through word of mouth was Koko.

I never buy not by word of mouth from now on.
 
I have never replied to a post before but am feeling very frustrated! Am trying to sell my son's outgrown pony who is lovely and exactly as described in his ad - people ring and seem to be surprised that he is a cob - even though it says so in the ad! We have had him for four years and he has done everything it says in the ad - perhaps people want you to embellish what he has really done - driving me mad!
 
Well, this thread has resurfaced a month and a half after I started it and I still haven't found what I'm looking for! In fact, I found a lovely horse whose owner seemed genuine. I watched him hacked through busy traffic, watched him schooled on the flat and over jumps, schooled him and jumped him myself, had a very expererienced friend school and jump him, watched him trotted up in hand in a straight line and on the lunge. He was just what I was looking for, right breeding, right height, right age, right movement, right potential, right everything.

I went back 3 days later to have him vetted - heart, lungs, eyes checked, all ok, but the vetting ended there. Once out of the stable he was crazy. Absolutely crazy. cantering and fly bucking when being trotted up, shoving his owner into the ditch at the side of the road, too crazy to canter on the lunge, verging on unhandlable really.

I asked the owner why he was behaving so differently to my previous visit and she wouldn't answer. I asked her if he'd been doped the last time and she wouldn't answer. In that case, her silence spoke a thousand words. I was furious. I can understand people being desperate to sell, but how dare they be dishonest about it. I've been landed with a bill for the 3 hours it took me and my vet to get there and faff around wasting time on a vetting that couldn't even be completed.

I'm only glad I didn't buy him without a vetting because at 17.2, he was a big lad to be so unpredictable.

I know there are genuine people selling out there, but I'm so suspicious of everyone now. It's such a shame when it comes to that.
 
TAKE A CHANCE it was me who resurrected this post as I had a rubbish experience today. In fact I was so fed up that I hadnt bothered getting back to another advert but will I suppose. I feel very reluctant due to work and time etc!

They have promised me they will be honest!! I just hope so. I think some people make a living tugging heart strings & are quite devious. My experienced friend who has sold lots of horses and bought bad ones as well said to me she always tells the truth as she wants the horse to go to the right person and tells them any quirks etc. She herself had a nut case PTS once before as she knew she couldnt sell it on, it was too dangerous.But folks like her dont seem common place.

Its a question if the owner is genuine?

Poor you literally, that is dangerous owners who allegedly dope horses at a vetting should be prosecuted if it can be proven. That is appalling and dangerous.
 
TakeAChance said:
I'm becoming disillusioned with the amount of horses advertised that aren't what they're cracked up to be :(

Tell me some happy horse hunting stories to help me keep the faith!
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All ads should be legally binding, that would stop any messers. I know that ads on donedeal, here in ireland, are legally binding, therfore, you have to be very careful advertising, as if you state "bombproof", it really has to be that, or horse goes back, and you get money back.
Prob why lots of ads on donedeal are very non-specific. state the obvious and thats it!!
It's a nightmare when you are looking to buy, if all ads were honest, it would save both buyer and seller in the long run!!!!
 
I also dislike ads that say "no timewasters" and while I appreciate it is obviously due to a previous bad experience that has made the vendor take this stance, I won't (personally) go to see any horse that has that in its ad-you do form a sort of relationship when buying/selling and to me - this comment puts you on the back foot to start with!

I sold my horse some 4 weeks ago and to the first people who came to see him. Could not have hoped for nicer people and he has already been out to a show and gave them 2 double clears. I am delighted. I also had no problem in finding my would be event pony albeit I of course ended up buying something different from what I had originally wanted but hopefully he will still get me back to eventing. So chin up - they are out there! and a would be project my YO bought into bring on and sell has turned out to be such a fantastic boy that looks like his hooves are going to be firmly staying put!
 
My definition of a timewaster is someone who makes an appointment to view the horse and then doesn't turn up. They never ring to let you know and often don't answer their phones if you ring them. I don't mind if someone changes their mind about viewing, as long as they let me know. I've got lots of better things to do than hang around for ages waiting for them!
I wouldn't call someone a timewaster if they didn't want the horse and said so. Afterall, you don't usually marry the first man that you meet!
 
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