Confused, questions on 'timewasters'

E

ellieplatt

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 June 2009
Messages
333
Visit site
Hiya :)

i've never sold a horse so I spose i don't really know what its like, but when someone telephones you asks questions ect and genuinely seems interested and would like to come and ride to see if they like him/her thats a good sign right? But this does not mean that they have there mind set on buying the horse?
So when it comes to veiwing the horse and they take a look have a ride ect. Then at the end of the day think that the horses isn't right for them, or not forward going enough, to big, to small, over horsed or not very happy or didn't expect what they saw, they've just wasted your time?
Doesn't really make sense to me, you put your horse up for sale for whatever reason and when you get responses from genuine buyers and for whatever reason they no longer like the horse after riding it. Does this make them timewasters? Or do you just get the impression they want to buy your horse straight away without seeing it.

Not complaining or ranting just wanted to understand it as i might be selling in the future.
But surely you'd want the new owners to love and get on with the horse, as well as the horse get on with them? :S
 
This is a murky area!

Some people do indeed just phone up ads and go and try horses with absolutely no intention of buying. I don't think it's many, but some just like trying horses. I know someone who did it years ago because she needed to get more experience riding different horses before an exam, but she felt bad after a couple so stopped.

Sometimes people think they want a horse, and because it's local or pretty or whatever, they go try it, then realise it's not suitable and never was. They are timewasters, but probably don't realise they are.

And sometimes people write really great adverts, without mentioning the major or minor faults, so then it's the seller who is a timewaster IMO.

So write an honest but positive advert, and weed out the joyriders with a few questions. Ask what they are looking for and if your horse isn't for them, tell them so.

Does that help?
 
If I was buying a horse I would expect to see at least half a dozen if not twice that before I necessarily found the 'right' one. I wouldn't consider this time-wasting as long as I genuinely intended to buy a horse in the general category of those I was seeing (height/breed/age/experience) and my budget was somewhere very close to the asking price.
Timewasting is going to see something you know full well you can't afford, or that from the advert is clearly inappropriate for your requirements (i.e. an unbacked 3yo if you're a novice).
The problem is, not everyone *really* knows what they are looking for when they start the search - for example the person who really wants a steady cob, but *thinks* they want a racey-looking TB! :)
 
A lady on our yard has done just what was described above - went to look at the wrong horse, was advised by her instructor it was the wrong one for her but persisted. She went to ride it one more time before the vetting, came off and broke her arm! I do not know whether you would call her a timewaster or just stubborn!!

I once had a horse vetted for my daughter - it had an injury on it's chest which the owner had not noticed but vet picked up. We went back with the vet a week later and it was lame. The vendor was advised it needed time off and to retry to see if the mare was still lame. We paid twice for the vet, the woman did not even tack the horse up or move out of her chair to watch the vetting, I had to ride it. The horse was back in the paper a few days later with us labelled serious timewasters!!

Clearly what constitutes a time waster is in the eye of the beholder!!
 
QR - To me a time waster is someone who views more than a few times, agrees a price and then fails to come up with a deposit or pulls out at the last minute.
I don't think someone who views a horse and rides it, and then decides they don't want it, is a time waster. They have to view and try before they buy, like you would if you looked at a car. You view it, test drive it, and until you do, you don't know if its the car for you.

Good luck with your sale!!
 
I agree very grey area. I seen about 10 horses before I found the right one but agree that sellers often waste your time by not describing the horse correctly. I didn't enjoy finding a horse to buy and would imagine selling isn't much fun either!
 
IMO I am not going to spend a lot of money on something (be it a horse, car etc) if I am not 100% sure it's right for me. So if by going to view a horse and deciding the horse is not right for me, that makes me a timewaster then so be it.

IMO a timewaster is someone who doesn't turn up, doesn't call if arranged to etc. Trying before you buy and then not wanting to buy IMO is not timewasting. If that something is missing then people won't buy. It's not personal.

Some people may also not want to be 100% honest as to why they don;t want to buy and give another reason instead so not to offend. But I can't see how people expect the first person to view their horse to buy it? It's called 'looking around' like you would with any big purchase. :)
 
I don't think it's fair to accuse genuine, serious buyers, who are attempting to find their ideal horse of being time wasters. However there seems to be some people who don't know what they want, or have enough funds, and are not seriously in a position to buy a horse etc, and they are timewasters.

I've never sold any of mine, although have offered a few out for loan, and I have bought a fair few over the years. I was looking to buy recently, and I found many sellers were wasting my time, as more often than not the sellers failed to mention anything which might have put me off, even though I quizzed everyone on the phone before I went to view.
 
Many people will label someone who turns up, rides their horse but decides it's not for them as timewasters, which, IMO, is completely wrong. I have tried a couple of horses more than once and decided they weren't for me but I made sure that both trials were in the same weekend so as to limit the time wasted. I could have been labelled a timewaster but it would have been unfair. Buyers have to make an educated decision.

There was a thread on here earlier that complained about someone who turned up and decided straight away that the horse was too big. I also don't think this is timewasting as the person could have ridden the horse for an hour and then decided. Most buyers will try to limit the time wasted but they do need to have a decent ride for them to be able to make a decision.

Sorry, rambled a bit. Basically, sellers are too quick to label people timewasters IMO. When selling a horse I encountered some genuine timewasters, and believe me they were extremely annoying! Just because someone doesn't want your horse doesn't mean they have wasted your time.
 
In my recent search for a horse, the majority of sellers seemed very much to be wanting to find the right home for their horse, just as much as I wanted to find the right horse for me. Sometimes, although the horse didn't do anything wrong, it just didn't feel right, and I was honest and up-front in those circumstances. Generally people have been very understanding.

And in once case I found a really lovely instructor who I will use in the future!
 
When I was selling my last horse I had a girl come to try him. I was selling him straight off the field and told her this well in advance. So she arrives, I hop on and ride him round the field, he went perfectly, but cos he was a TB his veins were up a bit and he was sweating as he was totally unfit. She wouldn't sit on him because his "blood was up" and clearly he would be too sharp. She wanted a happy hacker, and he was 100% in traffic. I even showed her him on a busy road, with trailers and stuff whizzing past and he just stood having a doze!

Fair enough that she was worried he would be hot , but she then asked me to give him a bit of schooling and would try him the following week and arranged a time. I put in the schooling, and never heard from her again. She ignored my texts and calls as well. I've also had people arrange times and not show or show up about 3 hours late. To me, that also constitutes a timewaster.
 
Last edited:
I have learned over the years to be absolutely certain which qualities of a horse are non-negotiable and which are not so absolutely necessary. If a horse is advertised as having my non-negotiable qualities, I will ring up and ask questions of the owner. If the questions are answered honestly and the horse still seems to be suitable, I will go and look at it.
This is where I may well find out that the seller is a time-waster, such as the one who said 'Well, the blacksmith sat on it' when the advertised 16 hander turned out to be about 14.3hh and the one, who insisted over the phone that her very well mannered Appaloosa would, of course, stand at a mounting block for me to mount and dismount as I recovered from a broken leg. Unfortunately, it wouldn't stand still for her to get on, as she hopped around the field for a good 5 minutes.
I do think that those who go to look at horses which are well over their budget or well outside their capabilites are indeed timewasters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top