Buying- does this sound not quite right

McNally

McNally

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I found the advert for the perfect horse browsing on the internet late one night last week. I emailed to enquired if still available and said what i was looking for. The owner (A) emailed back to say yes still here and would be good for what i wanted to call her for a chat. I rang the number and spoke to the yard owner where its at livery (B)
B was very nice and very chatty said the horse had been on her yard 7-8yrs and the owner who works very long hours had recently got a younger horse to compete. It had become obvious she didnt have time for both so had turned the older one away for winter and was now paying the y/o to bring it back into work and keep it ticking over til a new home is found.

B answered most questions but has only recently started riding the horse etc so wont know him all that well?? she did at one point say "he's perfect to hack alone so i imagine he'd be fab in company!!!- of course she has only recently ridden him and apparently rides during the day when no other liveries are around- tbh 'm not too worried by this is particular just that it shows she may be guessing the replies i'm after?!
I emailed A again but she wont reply- maybe she's not seen it I dont know, but B is dealing with the horse and the sale.
I just am slightly concerned by this, The advert was worded "much loved best friend" and i am wondering why the owner of a much loved horse wont have anything to do with the sale and wont answer a few simple questions to help him find the right person?

Sorry its a bit long winded but i'm due to go and view him on Monday and its an hours drive that tbh i dont really have time for right now and dont want to waste any spare time or be dissapointed (or worse end up with a dodgy horse)

Would this concern you or am i looking too much into it- after all its only like a sales livery arrangement which happens all the time.

Opinions purleease and thanks for reading!....
 
Might be completely different but I had my friend sell my horse for me. She had known him for many years, longer than I'd owned him. My reasons were, a: I was really attached to him and thought I would get upset about the whole process, me sobbing was probably not going to make prospective buyers feel very comfortable and b: I really didn't want to ride in front of people to show him off, not because he wasn't everything I'd described but because I hate people watching me ride. It worked well for me. I'd say give him a chance, you will get a feeling I would think if people are trying to pull the wool.
 
You are right to be concerned, although it doen't mean its not a good horse. The YO not knowing how the horse is in company, may simply mean its a big yard and she didn't have an awful lot to do with the sellers horse. However, find out exactly who the present owner is and look at the passport to see if its up to date or if there are 'gaps'.
I viewed a horse that was being sold on behalf of a woman. Horse had been on full livery there for 2 1/2 years. Last entry on passport for jabs showed it was done 100 miles away 2 years previous and not by the current, invisible owner. Strange how someone would pay full livery on a competition yard and not update passport or have jabs done. Time line didn't match either.

Horse may be excellent, but knowing the full story behind its sale could prevent you from buying a problem.
 
Well surely it depends when you emailed her. She might not have seen it yet - some people don't check their emails every day. Can't you speak to A on the phone? I hated dealing with emails when I was putting one out on loan. I would always give people my number in the first email and suggest they phone me, but the ones who used to insist on emailing with every question they had used to really try my patience!
 
I woulnt worry about it, if the owner is paying the yard to sell him then it because she doesnt want to deal with calls/emails view etc.

what i would ask would be will the owner be happy to talk to me / stay in contact etc if You bought the horse.
 
jhoward said:
I woulnt worry about it, if the owner is paying the yard to sell him then it because she doesnt want to deal with calls/emails view etc.

what i would ask would be will the owner be happy to talk to me / stay in contact etc if You bought the horse.
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as above but maybe you could ask the YO if she would ride the horse out in company before you view it if it is a concern of yours.

i know a few people who have nothing to do with the sale of their horse because it is too upsetting for them, they leave it to friends or YO's.
 
Hash Rouge- I emailed A the first time (is he available) last Saturday and she replied the next day. Then the second email i sent was on the Monday so i think she has had time to reply if she wanted to.
I too would prefer to speak to her on the phone but email is the only contact details i have for her. I haven't hassled her at all with every little question- just asked a few i think fairly important ones that the y/o didn't seem to know.

Yes i can see that it really could be a genuine sale when you all put it like that! I'm not overly worried about the riding in company bit- I figure if a horse hacks nicely alone he should be ok with one other which is mostly all it will be. It was more an example of the questions i asked that she assumed would be fine!

mm, if i go i will be ultra careful and ask lots of questions- including will the owner keep in touch as i think this would be nice, although i would stick with a quick update every 6 months or so, i think thats enough?
 
Have to say I like to ask a handful of key questions by e mail. So for example a horse being 100% in traffic is very important to me and if someone skirts round a direct question about it I would walk away as I tend to assume there is a reason they won't put it in writing.....

(I know that no such thing as 100% as they are animals but if someone has for example a baby then they could say generally 100% but obviously still young)
 
Why don't you just go see? personally, the responses you are geting would not worry me.

The YO seems to be answering well, she doesn't know what the horse is like in company, so has not given a false answer. The owner may have various reasons for not responding. It may be too hard for her to deal with selling, she simply may not have the time, maybe she is even away at the moment? Who knows?

Wh not just go and see/try the horse?
 
Well i can tell you one thing theres nowt stranger than the way people buy and sell horses, i buy to bring and sell on sometimes i never pay much heed to what people say about the ones im buying make up my own mind.

However on more than one ocassion i have bought some lovely horses cheaply who have been as described and the owners have never met me, we have aftrerwards said on many ocaasions how could you let such a lovely horse be sold in this way but it happens.

It is also quite common for people to say they are desperate to have updates then you never hear from them again, i keep in touch with all the horses i have sold and love to hear how they are doing so i wouldnt read too much in to the way they are selling.

What you would have to consider is if the person in charge of the sale is assuming the horse will do things you cant take this for granted, some horses fire up in company you will be there to ride horse for sale yo could ride another, i would always say if you want a horse to do something only assume it will if you have seen it with your own eyes.

If i was selling i would expect buyer to try in company and then i would offer to ride the horse alone or to let them and follow form a distance in a car this way there is no doubt that the horse will do this.

If you ask all relevant questions and most importantly try the horse in all ways it doesnt matter who you speak to as you never know if they are telling you the truth anyway.

And just a comment on the passport thing i am useless at changing passports over i just realised a horse we bought two years ago still hasnt been put in my name and the vet has been out to him,i only realised as was checking through them to update two youngsters we bought last september and put my mane on those and came aross it:o, so there isnt always a sinister reason for things.
 
moana said:
Why don't you just go see? personally, the responses you are geting would not worry me.

The YO seems to be answering well, she doesn't know what the horse is like in company, so has not given a false answer. The owner may have various reasons for not responding. It may be too hard for her to deal with selling, she simply may not have the time, maybe she is even away at the moment? Who knows?

Why not just go and see/try the horse?
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Ditto this - IMO there are a few questions you can ask over the phone but honestly you need to go and see and try the animal. If I was selling a horse and someone kept ringing me and emailing me and did not come to see the animal when I believe I had answered all the relevant questions I would consider them wasting my time.

The animal will speak for itself - figureatively....
 
I would go see, a friend of mine puts all her horses to be sold on selling livery, she just dosent want to deal with it, it doesnt mean she dosent care. Re passports, none of my horses have passports with my name in, too expensive to change it.
 
mcnaughty said:
Ditto this - IMO there are a few questions you can ask over the phone but honestly you need to go and see and try the animal. If I was selling a horse and someone kept ringing me and emailing me and did not come to see the animal when I believe I had answered all the relevant questions I would consider them wasting my time.

The animal will speak for itself - figureatively....
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I will, the questions i have asked though are very important to me- there is no point in even going to look at a horse for example who hots up in company as its a nanny horse i'm really after!
 
McNally said:
I will, the questions i have asked though are very important to me- there is no point in even going to look at a horse for example who hots up in company as its a nanny horse i'm really after!
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As people who want you to go and see their horse will tell you anything that they think you want to hear, the only way to find out what a horse will do/not do is to go and see it.
E.g. when we were looking for a horse to carry a very novice 6'2" rugby playing OH, we arrived at the end of a 90 minute journey to find a 14.3hh lightweight cob "Well the blacksmith's been on it". I can only think that their blacksmith must be tiny! (We eventually bought a Clydie and hacked her home)
When I was looking for a new horse after breaking my ankle I was assured that a beautiful Appaloosa mare would stand next to a mounting block for me to mount and dismount - after watching the owner hop round a field with one foot in the stirrup for 5 minutes, I thanked her for her time and came home. Fortunately that was only about a 30 minute journey.
I now limit my search area to a radius of 50 miles, as I have seen so many mis-described horses. I think many owners have rose-tinted glasses.
If you like the sound of the advert, go and look at the horse, try it in all the situations you would want to put it in at home and trust your own judgement.
 
Please don't assume the email has been received.We live a long way from the exchang and internet connection is diabolical. Here one minute, gone for the next six weeks!! I've even had to hire a computer at a shop just sos I can download emails!! People often presume we have received emails and haven't bothered to reply but it just isn't true.
 
if you are not happy with the communication just cancel the visit if you are not happy. your OP says its an hour away and you dont have the time? if you dont have the time to go and view and make your OWN mind up, then do you have the time? if the yard is selling the horse they are acting as an agent for the horse so are jointly liable if they tell you lies. the perfect horse sadly wont be on your door step, and you will have to spend time looking/viewing. it really is the only way. photos can make a good one look bad, and a bad one look good. Good luck in your search.
 
If the owner works long hours then it maybe more difficult for her to reply so quickly during the week or if is she is at work.

It sounds like person B is being honest which is a good thing as she could have just said oh yes he hacks out fine in company even if she had not done it herself. Though I would have thought had the horse been on her yard for 8 years she would have know if the horse hacked out in company or not!

Just because someone is keen to sell or does not appear to care so much about its future does not mean it is not a good horse.

TBH if you need the horse to able to hack out in company then you do want someone to have given it a try before you come out. Even if person B only rides during the day surely at the weekend there might be someone who could ride out with her to try this out. Could the YO not just ring the owner and ask them if hacks out in company?
 
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