Dishonest advert, would you say anything?

RaynerK

RaynerK

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If you saw an advert for a horse you new well and the advert was obviously dishonest, would you/have you said something to the owner? I recently saw an ad for a pony I know and had to double check it several times because it was a complete fabrication! Don't think i would butt in though...
 
it depends on if its going to put someone in danger if if the horse is advertised as dutible for a novice when it blatently isnt then yes i would say something.

i woman i used to know was advertising a horse as having no lumps or bumps yet the horse has loads of sarcoids
 
If it was advertised as a childs bombproof horse or pony then yes i would. But if its just stretching the truth then no. As for the above post with lumps and bumps i know its not right, but at least the viewer would see them and could question the seller.
 
kelsey+tom said:
it depends on if its going to put someone in danger if if the horse is advertised as dutible for a novice when it blatently isnt then yes i would say something.

i woman i used to know was advertising a horse as having no lumps or bumps yet the horse has loads of sarcoids
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He is generally quite chilled but boy can he buck when he's jumping (i have seen children catapulted from him!), i personally thing he has something physiologically wrong with him. He is advertised as genuine kids hacking pony/all rounder for £4,000!
 
I've seen it 3 times, twice from the same person but I didn't say anything because no one was really in danger. It was frustrating though, knowing that people were being lied to and in one case, cheated out of money!
 
I have seen an advert before for a horse that i knew and had ridden, and advertised as a dream pony when it really wasn't anything of the sort! (was a dealer too!)
i didn't know if maybe they had been able to turn the horse around to be like they had described, you never know ! but bit my tongue as i didn't want to get dragged in as i knew it would end in disaster and it wasn't my horse in the first place!

Glad i did too!
 
RaynerK said:
He is generally quite chilled but boy can he buck when he's jumping (i have seen children catapulted from him!), i personally thing he has something physiologically wrong with him. He is advertised as genuine kids hacking pony/all rounder for £4,000!
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OOh this is a hard one. I look at it from a mothers point of view and i'd want blood if something happened to one of my kids. But the question is will she change the ad if you do say anything? Could it be he needs his back seeing to, or if its a tack fitting problem?
 
I used to be friends with an aweful women who was a dodgy dealer picking up anything and everything and trying to sell it on for a profit. When I met her she was going under the disguise of taking in unwanted horses for forever homes (yeah right!) and was given a TB gelding which had arthritis ... She ruined this horse and tried to sell him a few times as a potential SJ/ eventer and each time i messaged her and said shouldnt she be disclosing xyz about the horse? The advert would then disapear.

Last advert was on FB and she wanted £200 for him and mentioned nothing of the arthritis and nothing of the fact he was knackered as she had text me a couple of weeks previously saying how horrible it would be to have him pts and how she couldnt cope .... The angry me wanted to add comments to the FB advert with screen shots of her text. This scum would rather have made £200 from him rather than call the knacker man and do the right thing by him :mad:

I would be inclined to send them a message and ask them why they are talking such ****!!!
 
From another perspective, I know I appreciated it when a friend warned me off a pony I was trying. It was advertised as a school master, calm and easy to play, but my friend warned me it was cold backed and bucked like hell, as well as being very sharp - lucky escape I say!
 
RaynerK said:
He is generally quite chilled but boy can he buck when he's jumping (i have seen children catapulted from him!), i personally thing he has something physiologically wrong with him. He is advertised as genuine kids hacking pony/all rounder for £4,000!
Click to expand...

Its a tricky one, but then if parent was to buy child pony, taking the seller as being honest. Then child , possibly novice was flung and ended up seriously injured then i'd spend the rest of my life wishing i'd said something. If seller is honest she could find a buyer who is experienced or at least aware of the issues and prepared to address them.
 
I currently know 3 horses advertised that are very different to the ads. I'm keeping quiet and just hoping that whoever comes to try them really does put them through their paces and gets the seller to hack them out!!!
 
If the advert was just embellishing the truth a little, I wouldn't.

If it would put someone at risk or if a horse was being sold as fit and healthy and denied the care it needed until the new owner figured out that there was a problem, then, yes, I would.

I've been tipped off in the past for which I'm very grateful. I've also known vets advise potential buyers at vettings that the horse wasn't suitable for their chosen discipline or level of ability.
 
I did it once the horse was dangerous cut advertised as an angel. I emailed seller who actually I did know and she took advert down. Turned out the horse hadn't put a foot wrong with her in the 2weeks she had it in but was grateful to be told the issues as was aware of her reputation.
 
as a mother and a potential buyer, i would have to say something. Buying a horse is a terrifying, risky and eventually rewarding experience, not to mention expensive, and so honesty is most appreciated. I recently had someone email me offering me their horse suitable for a novice rider, and if my instructor hadn't already warned me about him, i would have fell for it. she saved me from making an expensive mistake! Ads always quote 'No timewasters, joy riders' etc but what about the dishonest sellers who just want rid of a problem, regardless of the outcome?
 
I had something like this Saturday this lady see my horse jumping and wanted to buy him offered a lot of money for she wanted it for her child. I said no hes not for sale hes not suitable for a child [bad to handle] she kept offering me more money. I would not put a childs safety at risk and would have to say something. Although I have no children and don't like them much wouldn't never put one at risk no matter the amount of money.
 
Well I suppose it is always Buyer Beware, so there's nothing better than being able to try it out under all circumstances if in doubt, but I think a lot depends on the confidence of the rider concerned, as nervous rider = nervous pony, confident rider then pony follow rider's lead.

We bought one via a friend's recommendation from a dealer and luckily this meant we got a week to try it. We thought it was fab so bought it. I later discovered that the person who sold it to the dealer didn't think it was at all suitable for a child coming off ponies, and described it as totally unsuitable, spooky and frightened of its own shadow. Which frankly baffled us, as that wasn't the one we bought! Meanwhile my daughter still marvels at the fact this new one doesn't do anything silly (like tank off with a spook), nor does it decide to take off round the pony club field just for fun, and is continually amazed at how it stops just when you ask it to, tries hard and is always looking to please. All in a plain snaffle. Likewise although you can see it might be a little worried/cautious about fillers, ditches and water it will do them, no problem, and it won't 'jump the wings at 3ft to avoid jumping the 2ft jump' just because it chooses to. Totally unlike the new forest and Sec A that came before it. Daughter bemoans the fact that the SecA no longer bothers to buck or try to get her off...because it's fun when she does try her tricks, the pony however knows daughter is pretty much unstickable, esp now she is a lot bigger than she was.
 
Who would you say it to?
The seller already knows that the ad is inaccurate and you can't talk to potential buyers. I can't see the point of wasting energy worrying about something which has nothing to do with you.
Of course if you are on the same yard, you could be around at any viewing as say things like 'Oh you're not worried about the sarcoids then' Or whatever would be appropriate.
 
I had something similar but I don't know the seller. Girl is advertising her horse on FB. I liked the look of it and clicked on her profile to see if there were any other photos. There were lots, with a few of it rearing and lots of comments below from her and her friends saying how naughty it was and for how long. Advert clearly states the horse has never reared or bucked. What a doughnut!!
 
Yes a couple of times, but nothing terrible, just slight embellishments, wouldn't have put anyone at risk. First was a horse that was supposedly competing at a metre (make that 2'3...) and second was 'good riding club horse' that hadn't really done anything in it's life, don't think it had ever left the yard. Both were perfectly decent horses and I think they had the potential to fulfil their adverts, just no-one had got round to it.

It's really tricky because it would be hard not to get roped into an argument.

I think if it was an ongoing health issue, or a safety issue, I'd probably mention something, otherwise, not worth the hassle.
 
If you want to say something, you could phrase it as not wanting them to get sued if he bucked a kid off and hurt them. That way it sounds like you're concerned about them rather than criticising?
 
I swapped very difficult but beautiful and well bred mare for a very ugly but sensible gelding. I was very honest with 'swapper'. The mare had done very little, never been to a show as she was a fruit loop at home. She had jumped a small fence just a handful of times but that was it. A short time later she was back up for sale, at a big price, a seasoned jumper and quiet at shows. I knew the current owner had never even sat on her. I had too much free time in work and got a colleague to call so see how far the lies would go. My colleague asked would she be suitable for her nervous novice teenage daughter. Oh yes the mare is safe and sensible, been out of work a while but just a quick lunge and she'd be fine. Shocking really

Nothing I could do about it though
 
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I did, my mare had a foal before I bought her. Saw the foal for sale a couple years ago with lies about my mare (said dam successfully shown etc. which was untrue) Emailed the owner that I didn't think it was fair.
She was not happy but did change the add.
 
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