Buying beware and aware!!!! Sellers - Tell the truth

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viewfromahill

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Looking for first pony 13-14 and 14.2 approx for two friends and horse for other half, we 99.9% know what we are doing and what we are looking for BUT why cant sellers be HONEST after viewing so so many animals that are not what we are told I have taken to saying if the animal is "not as described and my child/husband gets injured we will sue", this does seem to evoke more honesty! You do realise though how less knowledgeable people could end up with the wrong pony and/or injured and why so many ponies end up in the wrong hands! Am I the only one that doesnt mind if an animal has an if or but as long as we are told and can make an educated decision whether to buy? Sorry for long post and not sure what area to post in but this is one I find most interesting!!!!!
 
Yes all very well and I have always been 100% honest when selling horses, but you cannot guarantee how a horse will behave when it leaves you. It's an animal, they can be unpredictable. If someone told me they were going to sue if their child/husband got injured by said horse, i'd tell them to b*gger off and go and buy a rocking horse. Less chance of being injured by one of those.
 
I am always honest about any of the horses and ponies I have sold. If a potential buyer made the comment

"not as described and my child/husband gets injured we will sue",

they would be walking out of the yard without my horse.
 
Ooops sorry didnt make myself clear, I am talking about when we first ring from advert and try it at owners NOT after we have bought it, once we have brought it home then we have made an educated decision and thats OUR risk!! Sorry again
 
i am totally honest when selling horses, and tbh people don't seem to be able to handle it! for some reason i seem to get the utter idiots who want a fairytale perfect horse who i will guarantee will never ever put a foot wrong in any possible circumstances.
when i say 'he can be a little spooky' (which, to be fair, applies to the vast majority of horses) they seem to think that, as everyone else lies, i must be lying too, so the horse must be an impossible git!
good luck with your search, but i'm with the others, if i was threatened with being sued before anyone even got on my horse, i'd rather keep him!
 
Sorry, but I've had so many bad experiences with buyers not being honest with me. I tell the truth about a horse - warts and all.

I had someone come to look at a 5 year old, who was advertised as being green and quite flighty, not suitable for novice, etc. Woman came to see him and said she was disappointed as she was looking for a bombproof schoolmaster as she was a nervous rider. Waste of several hours of my precious time, despite me chatting to her prior to her coming to see him (several hours drive) and her telling me she was experienced, etc.
 
I know what you mean...I had always bought competition horses when I started looking for a HW cob for my OH suitable for a novice rider and I was always honest in what I was looking for on the phone. The owners were always enthusiastic "yes it hacks alone and in company", "yes it has a temperament suitable for a novice", "no it does not buck, rear or take off", etc. etc., only for me to turn up and find wildly unsuitable horses. There was the one the owner refused to ride even in the school
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, the one that nearly bucked me off
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, the one that took off with me and nearly went through the school fence
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!!!!!!!!!! I had never come across so many liars when looking for competition horses so I wonder whether it affects the lower end of the market.
 
If you are threatening to sue after a viewing I wouldnt sell to you as I would be worried there was always a chance of being sued for something after the sale that was out of my control.

I think my horse would really like you though.. I think he would think you are fun to play with.

I also have been lied to when buying. I bought mick as 'ready to affiliate' presume they meant jumping - when he was a mardy spoilt brat who liked his own way or else. (all sorted now though)

And I travelled miles to see a horse that 'wasn't thorobred' to find something that was 100% TB... Still rode it though and had a cracking ride.

And a 'family horse' that would have wiped out a whole family in record time...
 
Yep, when I bought my horse, I got lied to in almost every way possible! He was a complete a*sehole and it has taken 2 years of bl*ody hard work to sort him out but he is now super and I wouldn't swap him for anything
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BTW, someone can't sue you after you've sold to them, unless you didn't disclose something which is material and, had the buyer known, they wouldn't have bought it (i.e. if it had a known problem, a one off spook doesn't count!).
 
If someone said that on the phone prior to viewing I would not let you see the horse.

Anyone thinking of sueing people before they have even stepped foot on our farm is very much not welcome.

I can see your point of view, but not a very nice way to go about things and you sound like serious trouble.
 
I don't think OP is really interested in suing anyone, I think it is more a cry of exasperation at the kinds of misdescribed animals she has been going to see (although of course OP can speak for herself and correct me!!!!
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Personally I think she really has a point. A seller who knows they have a difficult, nappy or spooky horse should not describe it as suitable for a novice and allow a novice to try the horse out. People can get really hurt trying out the wrong horse, at least many of the ones I saw back then were very dangerous and I would not describe myself as a novice rider.
 
i seem to get the ones after perfect fairy tale horses too. the woman who ended up buying the grey in my siggy lied loads about her ability (said she was a competant happy hacker and daughter ridden to elementary)- they didn't even come to view him themselves (they were from guernsey) but sent a friend who admitted that they were very nervous novices but the nervous novice who they brought to try him loved him and so he was sold...its a good job he was a good boy though as they were making out that they were the best riders in the world!
i agree with the vast majority tho- if someone even mentioned anything about being sued i'd put the phone down i'm afraid, not worth taking the risk. i mean, what if it was a totally genuine and as described horse that you were viewing and some accident happened?
a friend of mine is being sued (slightly different situation but it is horsey) and it really bugs me when people mention being sued and horses in the same breath- unless its an extreme situation i think its entirely inappropriate!
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horses are unpredictable. end of. even a total saint can get a fright, and if they do, and the flight reflex kicks in, his halo will slip.
tell me about people exaggerating their competence. i had a girl turn up to try a horse years ago, a really straightforward coloured cob i'd had from a foal, who i eventually sold to someone who had totally lost her bottle and who actually sat on him shaking from head to foot - he didn't give a hoot, and gave her her confidence back, he was a little trooper. but this first girl, when i asked if she was any good, replied "yes, i'm good." (i should have showed her the door right then), had fashion heeled boots on, proceeded to get on, ride like ****, and when he gave a tiny sidestep (all of 1' in slow-motion) toppled straight off. i didn't know whether to laugh or cry. fortunately all that was injured was her pride. i didn't let her get back on...
 
I always tell the truth when selling a horse always.

But horses/ponies arnt true saints however good they are with there previous home it may not work out the same for you.

A horse is always looking for leadership and when it feels a chink in the works it will respond accordingly and take charge.

If you feel nervous when trying a horse you shouldnt buy it. However good it is, if you feel nervous the horse will know instantly. TBH i get fed up with people looking for something which simply doesnt exist.
 
I think everything about horses is so subjective and horses are sensitive to their environment.

Someone may genuinely think their horse is very quiet and suitable for a novice as it seems very quiet with them or what they consider to be quiet is different from what someone else thinks is quiet. Horses are not robots and even the quietest horse can have a funny moment.

A different style of riding may upset a horse.

I remember when I was looking for a pony a few years back and I wanted something forward going and seeing ponies that needed alot of leg to get them going or sometimes I could nt even get them to go into canter and the sellers then saying oh yes it is forward going you just need to wack it hard with the whip to get to go!

I then changed my questions I would say " how much leg do I have to use to get the pony into canter, do you have to wack it?!

The only one I felt scared on was the one described as quiet enough for a novice! This however was owned by a SJ producer who was used to maniacs so to them it was quiet compared to the others they had in.

I think it is useful to use "what and how" questions such as what would the horse do if it saw a tractor when hacking out. How spooky is the horse, how many times has it bucked. What is horse like to catch. What is the horse like to hack out alone. (It may well hack out alone and in company but only under duress and be very naughty with it but as long as it does it, if asked does it hack out alone the seller can say yes!)
 
I spoke to someone who was advertising a pony a while back, and she said its not the sellers, it's the buyers. Her pony was advertised as not a novice ride etc, as still green, and a lady rang up and was singing hers and her daughters praises. They came to see the pony, child got on pony, at which point the mother said "Now hold the reins how mummy showed you."

Needless to say the vendor had the duo off her pony and property asap.
 
The reason I am probably not managing to sell my little jumping pony is the advert says........she is a winner because she is VERY fast so no novices please'.
I call that honesty. If you called me and told me 'not as described, I will sue, you wouldn't get the chance to even see her as I would be thoroughly insulted.
 
You are correct!! Final straw was viewing a pony that was described as "absolute superstar" "sort hard to find", after long conversation I explained exactly what was needed I organised money/transport and headed off as felt if we didnt act quickly it would be gone, so with friends 10yo in tow and older child as test pilot we proceeded.....to child very nearly getting bucked off and taken off with within v. short space of time......this follows nappers - many, (serious), stringhalt (they hadnt noticed!), sarcoids, lunatics, underweight (seriously - in July/August?!), passports not available (turns out they dont actually own it!), age changes ie when checking with previous owners -this one is still advertised as 10 when actually 15!, "jumping 1.05 consistently" when checked on results that was 1'9"!!! etc etc etc, husband has been reared with, napped along fence, corners, jumping and more, sat on potential explosions, child has had similar inc one that cantered purposefully round and round menage when every form of persuasion to stop failed until headed at thick hedge! Oh yes and a good one was when husband asked for canter on corner where myself and owners/friends were watching they all ducked!!! Both riders are v. experienced competing week in week out and are not faint hearted, have no problems with problems IF TOLD THE TRUTH, we have in yard a napper, bucker, bolter (with previous owners) who we love to bits but I would never sell them on even though they are 100% now without giving their full history!
 
Good heavens! I think you have been extremely unlucky. I would say *most* people want the right home for their horses (at least the people who read these forums) so will be honest in order that the horse isn't sold on again quickly. I have sold 2 horses in the past year and have been completely honest about both of them and both of them are very happy and settled in their new homes and I am in weekly touch with their owners.
I hope you find what you are looking for soon, maybe someone on here knows of something...word of mouth maybe better than adverts?
 
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Your post really rang true for me because I had to sit on 15 lunatics before we found one HW cob suitable for a novice rider! They were so bad I only let OH sit on one other horse (which napped with him, I got on to see what the problem was and nearly got bucked off!) before the one we bought, the rest were just dangerous even for an experienced rider (and we were not looking to pay peanuts either!) I've never sat on so many dangerous horses in my life!
 
As someone who has never gone horse hunting in my life (I leave that sort of thing to the OH
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). I suspect there have always been 'project' type horses, especially having read Henry Blake's books on the subject. But is it not a reflection of what poor / egotistical riders are doing to their horses that there seem to be so many bad'uns?

About 9 years ago my OH started riding a very badly behaved NF mare, which I subsequently bought, as the OH was confident she could retrain it (which she did). The mare had ALL of the classic evasion techniques, rearing, spinning, kicking to try and avoid being ridden. Napping, spinning to return to the yard yadda yadda yadda. All of this damage was done by ONE PERSON in less than twelve months, and having ruined Fol, she carried on down the food chain until she finally ran out of money. We estimate she had a drastic effect on at least eight horses / ponies.

As Blake puts is, 99% of horses problems are caused by the lump in its back (the rider).
 
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