Buying a horse from the field..yay or nay?

Too be honest wouldn't go near it

it is either dangerous or

been out of work due to lameness, come sound enough to sell from the field but not ridden

Yes you may find someone buys and its a gem BUT its not worth the risk UNLESS you have £2500 spare plus min of £500 to diagnose possible lameness. Then able to either retire it or pts

best case scenario is that is has scared them silly, so are you happy/experienced enough to deal with it??

For that money I got a gorgeous 5 yr old WB who is an angel and would do anything (if only mom could)
 
There's nothing to lose by going to see it as said above with eyes wide open and every question possible asked. Reading your latest reply, I would want to ride it/see it ridden though and as someone said, could they not let you lunge for 10 minutes first? Very strange!!
Someone off our yard has just bought the most beautiful horse straight from a field (and by saying that I mean never seen a stable, never seen anything but the previous owner and 2 other horses) BUT he was only 2 and being sold through lack of time and no rider - turns out to be the most well behaved, good mannered horse!
Just be cautious, suspicious even, but you'd kick yourself if it turned out to be genuine and you let it pass.
K x
 
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I've bought several from the field BUT they have all been ex broodmares or youngsters that were too young to back or backed & turned away.
If you are not allowed to tack up & lunge and/or contact the previous owner walk away ( or offer meat price if section 9 is clear)
 
CarolineJ said:
If you're in Scotland and the horse in question is a 16.2-ish dapple grey mare, name starting with a V, which they bought from a dealer, steer clear at all costs - this sounds very like the horse my neighbours had and sent back because 'slightly cold backed and jumpy' translated to unless she was ridden for at least an hour 6 days out of 7 she was a nightmare.
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To be fair - thats most horses isn't it? I have never had a horse who was happy to be picked up as and when, they have all needed consistent work even my pretty laid previous boy.

I would not accept the "no riding". I tried out my mare - first one after she had her foal weaned, and she had not been in work for nearly 2 years. Granted I couldn't do a lot but I could at least get a feel for her. Plus in my mares case, she had an excellent BE record.

Another thing would be to say that it would have to be vetted - which would include bloods taken - see what the reaction is? But handing over £2.5K for a horse you couldn't try out or has no record is perhaps a little risky!
 
Nothing wrong with buying from the field - I've done it with ex-racers which have been turned away. But in this case, after reading the "cold backed and jumpy" bit I would steer well clear - it's only been out of work for three months, so why shouldn't you be able to try it? Personally I wouldn't - for £2500 you could get a really nice horse in the current market.
 
Ellky - Is this the 7yo KWPN on horsemart? If so he looks lovely and seeing as he is being jumped and ridden without a hat, I shouldn't imagine he would be dangerous per se. He could easily be ridden after having three months off, so definitely try to go and have a sit on him, even if they won't get on first?
But £2,500 is definitely too much for sold from the field in my opinion, however nice he may look!
 
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flashmans said:
Ellky - Is this the 7yo KWPN on horsemart? If so he looks lovely and seeing as he is being jumped and ridden without a hat, I shouldn't imagine he would be dangerous per se. He could easily be ridden after having three months off, so definitely try to go and have a sit on him, even if they won't get on first?
But £2,500 is definitely too much for sold from the field in my opinion, however nice he may look!
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If it is this is its previous Ad - http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&source=www.google.co.uk
 
Ellky said:
Just seen a gorgeous horse advertised for sale..buy its being sold from the field.. Apparently hes been out of work for 3months or so due to lack of rider, and was bought for £5000 in January and is now being sold for £2500.
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So assuming I have the right one........brought in January, but trying to sell by 16th March 2011..........and now advertised again for half the price, with no rider (but the coloured by the same seller isn't being sold from the field), something just isn't adding up................

Good luck let us know what you decide.
 
flashmans said:
Ellky - Is this the 7yo KWPN on horsemart? If so he looks lovely and seeing as he is being jumped and ridden without a hat, I shouldn't imagine he would be dangerous per se. He could easily be ridden after having three months off, so definitely try to go and have a sit on him, even if they won't get on first?
But £2,500 is definitely too much for sold from the field in my opinion, however nice he may look!
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Yes, that was the one I was looking at.. and I have asked about being able to have a sit and ride around the field but they are literally wanting to sell from the field..should I push and see if I could get them to let me or? :confused:
 
Ellky look at the link I posted it is the Ad for that horse from 16th March 2011 http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&source=www.google.co.uk, am now running possible reasons through my head...............

a) Sale completely as stated by seller for reason given......?

b) Sold from March Ad. but returned to seller messed up.....?

c) Failed vetting for buyer in March Ad. so turned away......?

Perhaps if that Ad is the same horse ask the seller what happened between March and now and see what reaction you get?
 
piebaldsparkle said:
Ellky look at the link I posted it is the Ad for that horse from 16th March 2011 http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&source=www.google.co.uk, am now running possible reasons through my head...............

a) Sale completely as stated by seller for reason given......?

b) Sold from March Ad. but returned to seller messed up.....?

c) Failed vetting for buyer in March Ad. so turned away......?

Perhaps if that Ad is the same horse ask the seller what happened between March and now and see what reaction you get?
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It is the same ad, same number... but good points..I've emailed a few times but I might ring tomorrow and nail all the questions i've listed :p got my eyes wide open though.. The only mention we came across in emails about selling it last time was that a lot of 'idiots' came to try it... wondering whether this is either true, or the horse just managed to make an idiot out of them...
 
Honestly, it sounds like they are scared to death of it. They are probably refusing you a ride because they think if you witness it's bad behavior then you'll walk away and they will lose out on a sale. I would tell them in no uncertain terms that you like the horse but you HAVE to at least sit on it, they are giving you very feeble excuses IMO and it's worth no more than meat money from the field if they won't let anyone ride it - tell them that too!
 
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I would ask straight out what happened from the the Ad in March to now on the phone/in person that way you can gauge their reaction. Email gives them a chance the think of a response.

He may be just what you want but as it stand the are a few to many anomalies for my liking (but I'm a suspicious cantankerous old cow. so might just be me) :)
 
Hmmm, I would not want to sit on it. Has anyone ever thought, this horse could have caused serious injury, if so, of course they would not want anyone to sit on it, as they would be liable.

No one pays £5,000 then tries to sell, cannot and then halves the price and sells from the field. This horse has done something, or is capable of doing something and they are saying nothing!

I do not want to scare you, but there is also ways of making horses appear quieter than they actually are for viewings, not that I am suggesting the sellers would do this of course.
Just be careful.
 
TBH it sounds a bit fishy. If you really like him then I agree that phoning them and asking outright what has happened between old ad and the new one. If you go and see him I would then ask the same question and see if the answer is the same. I've been told one thing on the phone and a different answer on viewing a couple of times.

I personally would be more willing to take a risk on a horse like this if it was a well bred mare with fab bloodlines.

Ooh, just thought, also ask them if it has or has been suspected to have kissing spine.
 
If you're still at all interested I'd call. TBH having sold a few things on-line (not horses!) I do get a much better feeling for those who call... and am much happier to agree to requests. Plus of course you'll get a better feel for them...

Also: proof of your own rider insurance for any viewing...
 
Ellky said:
Yes, that was the one I was looking at.. and I have asked about being able to have a sit and ride around the field but they are literally wanting to sell from the field..should I push and see if I could get them to let me or? :confused:
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I think it's a difficult one (especially since he is so good looking!), I presume the 'needs experienced rider' bit is because of him being a bit cold backed? Could mean he is an absolute loon! Maybe you could see if they have any video of him being ridden?

I think you should mention you are very, very interested but you need to have a sit on him or at least see someone on him...
 
Googling the phone number shows the seller to have several for sale but not all straight from the field! So there is a rider that said looks a lovely horse would certainly want to sit on it though. I sat on mine when I bought straight from the field even though he had not been sat on for 6 months I did so at my own risk body protector etc. I would definatly ring and enquire and ask as above why?
 
It is really really difficult to sell a cold backed horse. My friends horse mentioned earlier was sold to her when she was quite ill (needed horse as therapy). It had won loads of money SJ and was I think £6K. She wasn't told it was cold backed and couldn't ride one side of it. Ended up sending it to professionals who competed it successfully but still unable to sell it. Went for £500 to a dealer eventually (after she had spent thousands trying to school and sell it). As in another post, winter is coming with higher keep costs. I think you have a really good chance of getting this for a bargain price
 
Curious as to why the seller has a coloured warmblood for sale on Horsemart, pictured with the same rider and no mention of being sold from the field.
 
Hi there … I bought my ex racer ‘from the field’ as he’d been out of racing for just under two years – he’d never been ‘reschooled’ and the people who owned him were petrified of him … I too fell in love with a pic of him and he’s now going into his third month of training and going very well … we’re SLOWLY learning the work ‘stand’ – I personally wouldn’t pay anywhere near that price for him – with the current market you could pick up a good horse with that kind of money :o
 
New horse we have hadn't been out of his field for 6 months, we went to try him, I got on. Yes he was on his toes but still very well behaved, I would go and have a look :)
 
As with above post - don't discount it as we bought my current horse who was sold from the field after his owner had a quad bike accident, so had not been ridden for 6mnths.

A year on he has won nearly every WH class entered, qualified for the BHS xc champs and won his first ode.

Having said that I was still allowed to sit on him in the school and go up the lane to meet traffic......

Good luck with whatever decsion you make!
 
Honestly said:
Hmmm, I would not want to sit on it. Has anyone ever thought, this horse could have caused serious injury, if so, of course they would not want anyone to sit on it, as they would be liable.

No one pays £5,000 then tries to sell, cannot and then halves the price and sells from the field. This horse has done something, or is capable of doing something and they are saying nothing!

I do not want to scare you, but there is also ways of making horses appear quieter than they actually are for viewings, not that I am suggesting the sellers would do this of course.
Just be careful.
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I'm with Honestly on this. Don't be the test pilot.
 
My mums little cob was 'sold from the field' after being turned away for the winter. We went to see expecting the worst, I tried her by riding up and down their lane bareback. She was a right lazy old plod and we decided to take a chance buying her as a happy hacker. Got her home to find she was actually really well schooled, leg yields shoulder in etc, 7 years later we still have her. Go cautiously, but you might get a bargain.
 
Just a note to say thanks to all who replied! :D after a lot of hard thinking and considering peoples comments I decided probably best to give it a miss...had a bit of bad luck with horses in the past so determined that the next one will be a success -touch wood-:rolleyes: That said my connemaras breeder rang us up today after seeing his advert and hes had 4 owners since.. her exact words after I said hello were 'is that my Chalky' :D anyway, after chatting, boils down to she might consider him for her grandson & she also has a young one she is looking to loan out so we might go and see that, hehee, funny how things work out sometimes..you realise the world isn't as big as you think it may be! :D
 
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