Fantasy_World
Well-Known Member
I have a question for you ilostmymarbles. Have you ever or did you ever actually see any of the horses advertised by 'bombproof' or 'lazyplods'? I did. In fact their website along with a few other horse selling websites were saved in my favourites section and bookmarked for reference. They were one of the websites that I would visit, sometimes on a daily basis both before I got my horses and afterwards too. So in effect I was studying them for quite a long time.
To someone who was perhaps a tad gullible or even an every day person they seemed good horse dealers. Their website was jazzy. All the horses looked in good condition that had pictures listed. All of the ones I can remember were wearing tack and showed photographs of them being ridden or else having someone on their back as the picture was taken. In a sense they appeared just as the companies namesake 'bombproof'. Ages were given or approximate ages, along with height, breeding, sex etc. I never spotted any illnesses or faults listed but judging by the pictures I saw none of them looked ill, scrawny or very obese.
If I didn't check the website for a week in most cases there would be a sold across the name of a horse which had only been listed the previous week. I think the message was that the website was updated daily or words to that affect.
Now to a complete novice horse buyer how would you perceive a horse dealer like that?
Horses looking well. Being ridden. Not showing any particular clear faults. A high turnover of horses.
I don't know about anyone else but if I were a novice I would most likely think rather than it all being too good to be true that these were clearly clever people. They must have a large base. A high number of staff to help train the seemingly large number of horses and most importantly must be very popular with Joe Public because some horses were being sold within days of being listed on their site.
Why would an average person think any different?
They offered a money back guarantee. You could buy tack from them direct so you would assume you would receive help in finding the right tack to fit the horse seeing as they had done work with them to help make them 'bombproof' and 'safeplods' and so must have had the correct tack as ill fitting tack in most cases would not make a horse happy and in some cases cause injury or pain.
I am not defending the couple totally as I do think they were a bit too naive to be buying a horse in those circumstances, but yes we are ALL capable of making mistakes in some point of our lives. No one is perfect.
However what I am saying is that this dealer came across in a positive manner and as such could inspire customers to flock to their gates so to speak. Certainly if the number of sold notices were all accurate then you would think that the couple in question were not the only ones convinced by their advertising techniques.
Most of the horses were sold pictured but there was more than one occasion when they seemingly had a clear out of reduced priced horses that were described as 'straight from the field'.
I would not have thought for one moment that Samson was sold in this category as I do seem to remember the name as I paid a little more attention to the taller stockier types as I was looking for a weight carrier.
Anyway whatever has been done cannot be undone.
I do feel very sorry for Samson and I do still think that the couple were done a very big injustice by the dealers judging by the story I have read. He should never have been sold like that with COPD. It is a fairly easy condition to spot in a horse and as most of their horses were clearly sold with riding in mind ( never saw any listed as companion, light hack from memory) then they were clearly out of order, imo. COPD unless treated does affect a horse significantly. I know of 3 horses personally who suffer with it to varying degrees but all have riding limitations as result. I cannot accept for one minute that these dealers did not know there was something seriously wrong with the horse. He should have been treated for it there and then at the dealers. He should have been sold with the condition listed in the description. I am guessing that it was omitted for pricing reasons seeing as the average price listed for the ones I saw was in the region of £4,000. I cannot imagine for one minute that a large horse, in his late teens with diagnosed COPD would be worth even half that amount which is why I don't think his condition was even mentioned.
I am sorry but that is so very wrong imo.
I am glad to hear that the horse has a final caring home in which to live out his days though and that the other horse the couple had is safe and secure too.
To someone who was perhaps a tad gullible or even an every day person they seemed good horse dealers. Their website was jazzy. All the horses looked in good condition that had pictures listed. All of the ones I can remember were wearing tack and showed photographs of them being ridden or else having someone on their back as the picture was taken. In a sense they appeared just as the companies namesake 'bombproof'. Ages were given or approximate ages, along with height, breeding, sex etc. I never spotted any illnesses or faults listed but judging by the pictures I saw none of them looked ill, scrawny or very obese.
If I didn't check the website for a week in most cases there would be a sold across the name of a horse which had only been listed the previous week. I think the message was that the website was updated daily or words to that affect.
Now to a complete novice horse buyer how would you perceive a horse dealer like that?
Horses looking well. Being ridden. Not showing any particular clear faults. A high turnover of horses.
I don't know about anyone else but if I were a novice I would most likely think rather than it all being too good to be true that these were clearly clever people. They must have a large base. A high number of staff to help train the seemingly large number of horses and most importantly must be very popular with Joe Public because some horses were being sold within days of being listed on their site.
Why would an average person think any different?
They offered a money back guarantee. You could buy tack from them direct so you would assume you would receive help in finding the right tack to fit the horse seeing as they had done work with them to help make them 'bombproof' and 'safeplods' and so must have had the correct tack as ill fitting tack in most cases would not make a horse happy and in some cases cause injury or pain.
I am not defending the couple totally as I do think they were a bit too naive to be buying a horse in those circumstances, but yes we are ALL capable of making mistakes in some point of our lives. No one is perfect.
However what I am saying is that this dealer came across in a positive manner and as such could inspire customers to flock to their gates so to speak. Certainly if the number of sold notices were all accurate then you would think that the couple in question were not the only ones convinced by their advertising techniques.
Most of the horses were sold pictured but there was more than one occasion when they seemingly had a clear out of reduced priced horses that were described as 'straight from the field'.
I would not have thought for one moment that Samson was sold in this category as I do seem to remember the name as I paid a little more attention to the taller stockier types as I was looking for a weight carrier.
Anyway whatever has been done cannot be undone.
I do feel very sorry for Samson and I do still think that the couple were done a very big injustice by the dealers judging by the story I have read. He should never have been sold like that with COPD. It is a fairly easy condition to spot in a horse and as most of their horses were clearly sold with riding in mind ( never saw any listed as companion, light hack from memory) then they were clearly out of order, imo. COPD unless treated does affect a horse significantly. I know of 3 horses personally who suffer with it to varying degrees but all have riding limitations as result. I cannot accept for one minute that these dealers did not know there was something seriously wrong with the horse. He should have been treated for it there and then at the dealers. He should have been sold with the condition listed in the description. I am guessing that it was omitted for pricing reasons seeing as the average price listed for the ones I saw was in the region of £4,000. I cannot imagine for one minute that a large horse, in his late teens with diagnosed COPD would be worth even half that amount which is why I don't think his condition was even mentioned.
I am sorry but that is so very wrong imo.
I am glad to hear that the horse has a final caring home in which to live out his days though and that the other horse the couple had is safe and secure too.
