Etiquette for people viewing/showing a horse for purchase.

[1pebbs1]

MHB I think that is very unfair for a seller to have more than one person viewing horse without your permission- I had a similar experience, except it was that the next set of viewers arrived 3 hours early to see the horse!! It was a nice horse, but not 'the one' so to speak but the other viewers thought I was interested in the horse so bought it there and then without riding it themselves- then asked me what I thought of it and why I wasn't upset at not having it just as I was leaving- talk about being hasty.

I've had many experiences: went to see a horse that was 5 years old, when I got there was told it was actually 4 yrs old, when I bought her she turned out to be 3- I thought she was a green 4yo. I actually was looking for a horse between the age of 3-5 and fortunately it turned fantastically. The sellers of this horse were lovely, and every other thing they said/wrote about her was correct.
Went to see 16h bay gelding, turned out to be 17.2h chesnut mare (and evil!!) just imagine how unimpressed I was!

Went to see 4 yo, he was 11.
Was promised that horse would never ever ever bolt- guess what was the first thing it did when the woman sat on it.
Bloke told me horse not brilliant to bring in from field but not lethal- horse kicks bloke and breaks his arm then tries to kill me.

Phoned up lady to tell her her horse was not suitable for me after viewing it the day b4- I didn't say why and she didn't ask. Was then yelled at and told to 'go and f**k myself' then had the phoned slammed down on me. She phoned up 5 mins later and apologised for her behaviour, then asked why I did'nt want said horse. Told her that he had lovely temp and paces, but jumping wise he wasn't scopey enough to go above novice BE- (he struggled over 1m upright.) She then said I would never find a horse like him again and that I am really up my own f***ing bum and had phone slammed down on me again.

Couldn't believe it when same lady phoned back about 20 mins later to say that she has another horse that may be suitable. I said thanks but no thanks and was sworn at again b4 having phone slammed down on me again.
I've seen too many unlevel and lame horses to mention! Talk about having bad experiences!

Funnily enough all of the horses that I have bought have had fab owners in respect of being good, honest sellers.

 

[gemmahodgkinson]

I do agree the lady should have phoned you to tell you that the horse had sold. But i dont really agree that she broke her word. Yes, she understood you would not make an offer there and then, but unless I have misunderstood she didn't say she would hold the horse until you made your mind up? I have only bought horses and never sold one, but if I was in the seller's position in your case, I would have sold it to the first person who made a firm offer, although i think she should then have phoned you to say it was sold and to thank you for your time. In the present market, it is too risky to turn down a definite sale on the basis that someone else may decide they also want the horse. I DO think it was really out of order for her to have two lots of potential buyers there at the same time though!!
good luck finding your horse though! x

 

[Rachel_M]

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Phoned up lady to tell her her horse was not suitable for me after viewing it the day b4- I didn't say why and she didn't ask. Was then yelled at and told to 'go and f**k myself' then had the phoned slammed down on me. She phoned up 5 mins later and apologised for her behaviour, then asked why I did'nt want said horse. Told her that he had lovely temp and paces, but jumping wise he wasn't scopey enough to go above novice BE- (he struggled over 1m upright.) She then said I would never find a horse like him again and that I am really up my own f***ing bum and had phone slammed down on me again.

Couldn't believe it when same lady phoned back about 20 mins later to say that she has another horse that may be suitable. I said thanks but no thanks and was sworn at again b4 having phone slammed down on me again.

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Dear lord

I can't think of anything to say but at least you have to admire her guts to call you back and offer you another horse after she had so rudely ended a conversation TWICE *shakes head*

 

[Rachel_M]

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I do agree the lady should have phoned you to tell you that the horse had sold. But i dont really agree that she broke her word. Yes, she understood you would not make an offer there and then, but unless I have misunderstood she didn't say she would hold the horse until you made your mind up? I have only bought horses and never sold one, but if I was in the seller's position in your case, I would have sold it to the first person who made a firm offer, although i think she should then have phoned you to say it was sold and to thank you for your time. In the present market, it is too risky to turn down a definite sale on the basis that someone else may decide they also want the horse. I DO think it was really out of order for her to have two lots of potential buyers there at the same time though!!
good luck finding your horse though! x

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This was over a year ago, when the climate wasn't as bad now but either way I am not disagreeing about wanting a firm sale.

I just have higher set of morals I guess. In the same position I would have at least contacted me to say "XX have made an offer of xx and I am going to accept it unless you can offer me more, etc. She had my mobile, I had just spoken to her on it earlier. No excuse for dropping me cold and having no intention of calling me back.

 

[Smash]

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I just have higher set of morals I guess.

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Your morals may be different, but they are certainly no higher.

 

[xspiralx]

I do agree that the seller should not have arranged two viewings at the same time, and that she should have called you to say the horse was sold, but I do not think she did you wrong. You had your right to wait before making up your mind, but she had the right to sell the horse to the people who wanted him. If they offered the asking price, it would have been immoral for her to try and make a quick buck by offering the horse to you for more money. If she had told the buyers they would have to wait for you to make up your mind, they might have gone to see another horse by then and she could have lost the sale. I do not think she was in the wrong to sell the horse to them, though I do agree she should have told you.

When it comes to selling horses, in my opinion the horse is on the market until someone puts a deposit down.

The number one thing I hate as a seller is lack of communication. I've had many occasions of people arranging viewings, getting the horse in and groomed and waiting for hours to have nobody turn up, or turn up hours late without so much as a phonecall to explain. I also hate it when somebody says they'll let you know later if they want the horse and then never call back, which again I have had happen to me loads of times. In fact to be honest, I think I've only ever had a very few people call me back to let me know either way.

 

[Rachel_M]

You're very much right.

I would have understood and let it wash over me had it been a visit down the road but it was that I had done such a long journey to see the horse and for not to be given even the manners of a phone call or be told straight when I left, stung.

Ah well, it was nice enough weather at least!

 

[dieseldog]

Sellers - if you arange to see a horse, and if I tell you that to fit in with your schedule I will have to take the afternoon off work, and I make you promise to phone me if you aren't going to show or be late - TURN UP!

I went to see a horse once - drove 2 hours to see it, when we got there someone else was sat on it. Turned out that they had phoned up after us, but lived closer so got there before us. I made the mistake of getting on it while they were still there and even though they couldn't ride one side of it they saw how nice it went with me so wanted to buy it. The woman said that they had first refusal as they got there first.

 

[Booboos]

I think there must be a lot of buyers out there who are very gullible as I have also driven for miles to see horses that were clearly a different size, age, breed or temperament from what was described in the advert, including some fairly sick poor animals.

When I view I always call if I am late or to confirm I am on time if coming from very far away, I always ask if it is OK to carry whip/use spurs before I get on and ask the owner to tell me if they would like to me ride differently or have any advice (have gotten some super pointers from clued up owners on how to ride their horses which has really helped).

 

[Tia]

As a buyer:

I no longer travel hours and hours to look at horses. The furthest I ever travel is to a large city about an hour and a half away. I happen to love going to this city therefore viewing horses and then going off shopping suits me fine

. Actually every horse I've ever viewed up there, I have bought them. I just leave a deposit and get a receipt and then go back the next day with my trailer to collect the horse and pay the balance of the agreed price.

I rarely take my trailer with me any more. Generally I do as above, leave a deposit and either go back that day with the rest of the cash and the trailer, or the following day.

I dislike sellers who fib through their back teeth about the horse. Once I travelled, with my huge trailer needless to say, along some blooming dirt track which was about 30 miles long (honest!). Took me 2 hours to get to this place. Turned up, horse looked nice, very quickly realised there was something seriously wrong with it, finally figured out that the thing was totally blind! Owners hadn't realised and couldn't understand why the horse ran into a huge trough that they had moved in the field and almost drowned in it. Doh! Dummies should not have horses!

I don't expect any seller to keep the horse for me, that's why I generally make my decision then and there and settle on a price that we are both happy with. If I choose to buy the horse then I leave a deposit.

My newest tack for calling or emailing sellers is, nowadays I ALWAYS say the horse is for a child. Most sellers do have a conscience and won't sell a loon to a small child. Some who might sell a loon to an adult, generally also have a conscience about this too.

I would be miffed if I turned up and another party was there to view the horse at the same time. Actually I would leave.



As a seller:

When selling my horses, I always always tell the truth about the horse. I want my horses to go to the best possible homes where they will be a great match and where the buyers will hopefully keep the horses for a few years. So far, none of the horses I've sold over here (and only 1 I've sold in England) have moved onto other owners - they are still with the original people I sold them too. That makes me very very happy.

I will offer to drop the asking price substantially if I feel the buyers can't quite afford the horse but will give it a very good longterm home. If I feel they will give the horse a great home but they can afford it, then I just quietly wait till they make an offer and then I will consider it, or negotiate a little higher. I gotta say, I don't tend to get bumped down in price by much though.

Many of the horses I sell do not leave this property. I still have so many of my previous horses still living here years after I've sold them. That's nice too; not only do I still see them every day but I also have people paying for me to see them daily

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I will always hold other potential buyers off if I have been emailing someone who sounds perfect for the horse. Generally I don't let a lot of people come and view my horses for sale. I am very thorough about finding out everything I need to know via email. Sometimes I make mistakes though and I simply deal with this when the people arrive and I can see immediately they are not suitable for my horse. I tell them the horse is not suitable for them .. and that's the end of it. I would never change my mind on a buyer - if I do not care for them to have a horse of mine, then they will never get a horse of mine.

As much as this is part of my livelihood, I found a couple of years ago that I was becoming increasingly intolerant of foolish people who bum up their "riding skills" when in fact they have no clue how to put the saddle on; hence my change of tactics on both buying and selling. I rarely offer more than 1 or 2 people to come and view any one of my selling horses, as I make sure I find out as much as possible about them before inviting them here. I admit I do tend to check up on most email addresses/telephone numbers

, I find this gives me a lot of extra information that some people "forget" to tell you

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