Following on from 'Buyer Beware' thread

PaddyMonty

PaddyMonty

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I was just thinking that given the rose tinted glasses some (ok alot) of sellers seem to wear when advertising a horse and the distances / costs involved in traveling.
How about we set up a HHO network of experienced peeps that wouldn't mind doing a preliminary check of horses close to them.
Thinking this would a FOC. I know a lot of people like looking at horses and this way it could actually help out someone else.

I am NOT advocating people buy a horse unseen on someones recommendation but it could save long journeys only to discover that perfect first horse only has 3 legs.

Thoughts?
 
Very good idea-
BUT I have to say that buyers themselves are often guilty and do not ask enough questions before coming out to see a horse. I.E I assume that the horse is open to vet? what medical history does he have? Im not an experienced rider would he be suitable for me? etc etc.
 
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Very good idea-
BUT I have to say that buyers themselves are often guilty and do not ask enough questions before coming out to see a horse.

[/ QUOTE ]
Couldn't agree more but that doesn't always save you a wasted journey. OH and I have spent years buying horses and ask all the relevant questions. Often the answers we get dont bear any relation to the horse presented to us on visiting. Often this is not out right lying but more a case of the rose coloured specs or lack of knowledge by the seller.
I know I would certainly be happy to travel within a 10mile raius of northampton to do a quick first look for someone.
If enough of us volunteered then the distances involved would be small
 
i think so too, definitely hence why i ended up sending OH and friend to check mine before i even got in the car...of course now all i hear from OH when horse gets praised by judges etc "well i always knew he would be / its why i chose hiim / my decision was right" etc!!
 
A good idea in principle but what might be one person's dream horse could be another person's worst nightmare! To be able to judge if a horse is suitable for someone you would have to really know the person you are looking at the horse for well, their preferences in type/build/temperament, their riding ability etc. It is easy to look for a safe sensible cob, but different poeple describe different types of horse as 'cob types' or what one confident rider might consider to be safe could be a challenging ride to a more nervous novice! Just as sellers often have rose tinted glasses with regards to their horses ability, riders can have rose tinted glasses with their own riding skills.
 
Again, agree completely. I wasn't thinking about someone advising about suitability for a paticular job. It was more a have a look and feed back such info as lame, stiff, naps, bucks. Basically the things that are obvious but weren't mentioned by the seller.
Suitability could only be determined by the buyer so this would not be "yes" / "no" advice, more a case of "if you do go to see it be aware that.........
 
i must say it might be a good idea i looked for ages to find Millie and exactly the same as sprout!!
however i have had all but one people ring up about my mare who have not asked anything about her having any mdeical problems....and im thinking "are u crrazy??!!!!!!!)
 
This would be a really good idea. As someone who lives in the sticks, it would be good to have an impartial pair of eyes have a look over any potential purchase before I made a journey. When I was looking last I did a fair bit of travelling only to find that the horse was not as advertised - I didn't even bother to see one ridden it was such a basket case. It would have been good to avoid that scenario. I think so long as you get all the details of what a person is after then it could work.
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I think it's a good idea as i know alot of people have had bad experience buying horses (i generally seem to find mine pretty quickly) and i would be quite happy to cover my area as such!
 
I think it is brilliant, When I was looking, we ended up in Yorkshire (live in hants!) and saw some right dodo's!

On the flip side, you would have to hope the person giving said horse a once over can be trusted, but I guess these things soon weed out those who are not as honest as others...
 
I guess if anyone was looking they could put a post up and willing people in the area the horse was in could reply? Then the prospective buyer could get in touch and have a chat with the person viewing on their behalf and make sure they get on and that it's clear what's required.
 
having already done this for a forum member already, i think its a good idea. funnily enough the horse i went to view wasnt the one in the advert photo so my 2 mile trip to see the horse saved said member a wasted trip of 100 plus miles
 
It did indeed Ottinmeg!!!

It is a great idea IMHO and I have offered my services a few times on here as have others - in fact one success story of this is Bex1984 (I THINK that is her handle) - she had Bert looked at first by a forum member
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I am not sure you would call Bert a success, he is far from 100% in traffic was sold suitable for a novice which he is not. He is bolshy on the ground, was a sh@t to clip & has cost loads in controlling his COPD. But then she did not even try him out when she got there. Just paid for him, had breakfast then we bought him home. As she has said many times if she knew what he was really like she would never have bought him, though she would never now part with him. She paid well over the odds for him. I think it is a good idea so long as the person buying actually rides & handles the animal before parting with any money.
 
Whilst I agree it seems like a good idea, I would question how it would work with the seller?
 
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