Buying from a dealer?

C

Ceifer

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So I lost my boy late last year :(

I'm thinking of buying another later in the year but wondering about going to a dealer. Ive always shied away from dealers having worked for a couple of dodgy dealers when I was 17

The main pro people seem to say is that you can return the horse if things don't work out. This didn't seem to be the case when I worked for them. They weren't the nicest of people and would take the horse back and either force them to have another (usually unsuitable) horse or grind the buyer down so they only refunded 50% of what they originally paid. Needless to say I didn't work there long.

In reality, who has purchased from a dealer and had a good experience? Have people been refunded if things haven't worked? Or been able to swap?
 
I have a few friends who have purchased through a dealer an had no issues, the yard I'm at is technically a dealer and they just refunded someone 5 months down the line to save a horse and their reputation, it is like anything do your research. Check individual dealers, though read between the lines on some sob stories from bad buyers.
 
Thanks.

I guess that's the other thing. There's two sides to every story. I sold a brilliant mare years ago. She bucked the new owner off but it transpires she had stuck her whip down the gullet of the saddle and it had prodded her as the woman mounted. I had her back and refunded as I couldn't stand the thought of her staying with a numpty but the buyer spread round the village that the mare was dangerous. Thankfully this was before Facebook and it all died down. Sold the mare to a teenager after a couple of months reassuring her about mounting and told the new owners. She never put a foot wrong.
 
Depends on the dealer. I bought one horse from a dodgy dealer. I knew the horse and I wasn't leaving it there. Recently when I was looking for a specific type of horse I phoned a dealer I had never used but had heard of all my life and never heard a bad thing about him. When I was deciding about the horse I showed videos of him to several people I know and they know the dealer and also felt he was straight up. I've had the horse nearly 6 months and he far exceeds my expectations.

Oh and the dodgy dealer one? She's great too but only because I knew exactly what I was getting myself into with her!
 
I bought two from a dealer and they were both as described, said dealer is now so disillusioned by awkward clients he deals no more, so can work both ways.
 
Do your home work join the dodgy dealer groups and ask people what they think as you will find people have sold horses to the dealers and that have medical problems. If you have worked for one you will know every trick in the book.
 
There are two "dodgy dealers" that I know of around here: both of them use practically the same wording on their adverts, for everything. Stock phrases seem to be "has hunted in Ireland" (which in the main is unproven, plus no record of how they behaved!); "suit novice or experienced alike" (total tosh, it will either suit one or the other, not both); "confidence-giver" (won't leave the yard solo??); "good all rounder" (god-only-knows exactly what its done but it certainly hasn't excelled in any sphere), etc etc. I personally would be very suspicious of dealers who use the same stock phrases time and again. The ones I know of, I could very easily write their adverts for them!

Another dodgy dealer I visited a good few years ago now, said that their horses were "open to any vetting", BUT it turned out that because of "Health and Safety" i.e. they didn't want a lot of vets who weren't known personally to them in the yard, that you could have "any vet" as long as it was one of the vets on THEIR list. Seriously!!! You just couldn't make that one up....... this lot were later well and truly done by Trading Standards, which served them right.

Having said the above, at the moment I'm in the situation of having looked for a suitable horse for eighteen months nearly now, and found nothing. So if there was a half-decent dealers that could be trusted then I would seriously consider asking them to assist in my search.
 
Kaylum said:
Do your home work join the dodgy dealer groups and ask people what they think as you will find people have sold horses to the dealers and that have medical problems. If you have worked for one you will know every trick in the book.
Click to expand...

Would be interested to know these. Have been stung before and maybe there are tell tale warning signs to look out for?
 
I have had good and bad from dealers and private sellers. Dealers are there to sell horses, so they are ridden regularly by good riders and probably not given over much feed. If it hacks out alone if it will go 250 yards down the lane and back! There are good dealers, we always used to buy from one who had loads of Irish horses and ponies over, got them going, more or less and then sold them. Quite often dealers get a dodgy horse dumped on them too and tbh, some horses get settled in, have less exercise and more feed and start playing up and often the new owners are not as experienced as they like to make out.
We have friends who were old fashioned dealers and they said it was much easier to sell a plod than a nice competition horse, and they did everything with theirs - hunting, show jumping, eventing and even point to points.

If looking from a private home there are lots of reasons why it might be for sale, but you have to know exactly what the reason is.
 
I bought from a dealer. He was recommended to me by word of mouth and I got what I paid for. I think the key is finding the right dealer and I think if they have to advertise all the time, they have to be rubbish, you rarely see an advert from the dealer I went to, because people go to him. Now I do have problems with the horse I bought but nothing that could be linked to the dealer and it all came on well after I bought. Would I buy from him again, yes I would.
 
With the internet it is possible to do plenty of research. The sellers that say they are 'private' and then when you google their number they have 5 for sale ..
 
Whoever you buy from in the horse world it tends to be very much 'buyer beware'. I bought from UK dealers that were always straight and I bought from some that weren't and yet they're still in business so someone must be happy with their horses.
 
The benefit of buying from a dealer is not that they will necessarily take them back but that the law is on your side - you have rights and the dealers have responsibilities meaning that the wording used in their adverts have legal implications and you have legal recourse should misrepresentation occur. This doesn't mean it will be easy or that you can be complacent - google is your friend when it comes to buying horses - search their name/phone numbers/horses registered name - stalk the FB pages of previous owners etc and do your homework.
When you buy from a private person it is legally different and is classed as 'buyer beware' (and same applies if dealer uses the phrase 'for sale on behalf of a client' as this also counts as a private sale if the owner is a private individual) the onus is on you to verify the claims they make - so if a horse is described as a 'bombproof hack' then it is down to you to test this out rather than take their word for it. This applies to every claim they make about the horse.
Both private sales and dealers can be good or bad - do your homework, ask the right questions and assume nothing. Most importantly - be realistic about your ability and be sure to try the horse out in the ways most relevant to what you want it for - i.e if you want a hack then take it hacking - alone/in company/in traffic etc. etc. Don't just take the sellers word that it's perfect in every way! Good Luck x
 
Depends who, what they're saying and whether you have enough knowledge to know when to spot the dodgy ones. My friend once went to view a horse. On arrival she told the man that she wanted to jump with the potential to compete. The man assured her the horse could jump but she got on and realised he had no oomph. On later expection she found his back legs were so far out behind him I'm surprised he even got over!

Take recommendations and do your research :)
Good luck buying!
 
Agree with Lulup. If you want a show jumper then see it jumping at a show, if want a hack then take it for a hack, whatever.
Think of everything because the one thing you forget to ask may be a problem. Catch, shoe, teeth, farrier, in the stable to handle, clipping, loading, and you can always ask if there is something that the horse doesn't like. See it being tacked up because you can tell quite a lot from that.

One thing I found with the dealer v private - I saw horses with much better conformation at dealers' yards than at private sellers, in fact going round some breeders was an absolute education in poor conformation (I was looking for a particular breed).
 
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