Has anyone ever advertised for a horse?

[Too many ponies]

Hi

Am hoping this is allowed.

I have been looking for a horse for 18 months now. I probably have a fairly narrow search criteria but an ok budget. I am trying word of mouth but that doesn’t seem to be working. Obviously also looking online at Horse and Hound, Horsequest, Nfed etc.

Given I am struggling I am wondering about advertising for a horse. I am worried though about having to sift through lots of inappropriate horses. Has anyone ever tried this route and did it work? Also has anyone any other ideas about other ways to find a horse to buy?

Thanks

 

[sport horse]

I have done this both for myself and for a couple of friends. Specify exactly what you want ie height, sex, age standard of work etc etc. and distance you are prepared to travel and budget. Yes, you will get the idiots who think a 16.2 in Cornwall might do when you are advertising for a 12.2 in Scotland but you can just ignore those responses.

You may get lucky and find something that is not on the open market. You have little to lose.

 

[Red-1]

Yes, I tried it, I said min 15.3 max 16.1, so I got people replying "I have a 16.2 but he does not ride big. Or, I have a 15.1 but he rides big.

I said no cobs or TBs (just personal preference) and I got mainly TBs and Cobs...

I said Min 5 yo, and had younger offered. I said gelding and was offered mares...

Must hack alone, had some that needed company or would hack but not if traffic was involved...

Every single reply was outside the criteria. I then re-did the advert saying not to reply if the criteria was not met as I would not acknowledge the replies that did not fit, and... had no replies. I did not repeat the experience!

I did state my budget, which was fair, and wondered if that was why everyone tried to tempt me LOL. I was just trying to be straightforward and upfront


ETA - I am not saying I would never do it again, but it was rather wearing, especially when people would just send one photo of a rugged horse eating grass etc, and when I said thank you, but not what I am after, then some got funny.

 

[newboult51]

I posted a wanted ad on fb with great success but maybe I just got lucky 🍀

 

[be positive]

No but I have sold a few to wanted ads, not everyone will be wasting your time and you may find the right one has not yet been advertised or someone is willing to drop price if you sound like the perfect home.

 

[kimberleigh]

I think its a good idea, but be prepared for people offering you something that is outside of your specified criteria...

However I think being open minded can be very helpful in horse searching...unless you want something for specific classes (like a 148cm jumping pony, or a heavyweight show hunter).

If you say must be 15.1-16.1 snd someone offers you a 16.2, it may well be worth having a look if it ticks all other boxes! Or 7-11 year old, perhaps dont rule out those just turned 6 or 12. Etc etc!

 

[oldie48]

Looking for my first horse I advertised locally for a 14.2 -15.2 suitable as a first horse for an older inexperienced rider, temperament more important than looks. Following a phone call, before the days of the internet, I drove quite a long way to see something I was told was suitable. It was the ugliest thing you have ever seen, looked as if it had been made from three different horses and was dripping with sweat (clearly had been worked hard). It's feet were dire and it had a warm hock. Trotted up it was clearly not sound. I said it wasn't what I was looking for and left with the owner screaming abuse at me for wasting her time as it was exactly, in her view, what I'd asked for. so if you do advertise be prepared to weed them out but also be flexible. My current horse came by word of mouth and ticked none of the boxes and although not a perfect match in the early days has become a real partner to me.

 

[Wheels]

I have done for loan horses in the past and found a couple that way but did have to sift through a lot of unsuitable horses even then. That put me off doing it when I was looking to buy - I didn't want to come across as an easy target

The last horse I bought was through an agent, it was all very successful, all done and dusted in a weekend. I knew he was a good 'un and after a year of ownership now I can safely say he is Mr perfect

I gave over my specifications and the agent found me several to try and I could have come home with a couple if I'd had enough money

Let me know if you would like her details

 

[Apercrumbie]

Yes I have - and actually my permanent loan horse did come through it, but we got a number of completely unsuitable responses and while he was my horse of a lifetime, he wasn't really suitable either

You have been looking for 18 months which is quite a long time, even in the horsey world. Are you sure you're not being too picky or unrealistic? What are you looking for?

 

[Auslander]

I did. Said that I was looking for an older advanced dressage horse to hack about on, and play around in the school with, and that I had no issues with slight creakiness. I had about 25 replies, all of them exactly what I wanted. Alf was the winner, and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect best horsey mate

 

[dixie]

Yes, I tried it, I said min 15.3 max 16.1, so I got people replying "I have a 16.2 but he does not ride big. Or, I have a 15.1 but he rides big.

I said no cobs or TBs (just personal preference) and I got mainly TBs and Cobs...

I said Min 5 yo, and had younger offered. I said gelding and was offered mares...

Must hack alone, had some that needed company or would hack but not if traffic was involved...

Every single reply was outside the criteria.

This was my experience too. However I did go to view one of those. I still think it’s worth doing though as it costs nothing on Facebook and you never know.

 

[teddypops]

I have. My one pony is exactly as I requested on my wanted ad! I had her on loan first then bought her a few years later. Her owner was the first to reply to my ad. However, I then had about 10 further calls with people wanting me to have their horse and not one was anything like what I wanted! It’s worth a try, you never know😁

 

[JFTDWS]

I haven't advertised for one, as such, but I did post on social media that I was looking for something, to see what friends and friends of friends could recommend. My brief was fairly vague - I wanted something cheap, but something I felt I could work with, with enough blood/quality/whatever to do a fairly specific type of job. I got a lot of replies, and many of the horses were entirely within the brief, and probably very suitable, but didn't appeal to me enough to want them in my life. There were others which I was suspicious of - the price being too low for the horse they claimed to have - and a few I was quite tempted by, but were logistically challenging or sold before I could see them.

I did go and see one, which was a "bargain", offered through a friend of a friend, which was very much not as described - I was told it was a sharpish small sports horse, and given some photos of it schooling which I did think were from a strange angle, but figured it was local enough to be worth a look. It was a very common looking welsh cob, in reality, several inches smaller than I'd been told, and very much not up to an athletic job. It was also very ignorant, despite being older and "more established" than what I'd been looking for, having spent its life showing locally. (Unrelatedly its owner turned out to be a bonkers holocaust denier, so is no longer even a friend of a friend - otherwise I wouldn't post about it in so much detail!)

In the end I found a little 4 y/old mare I liked on preloved and bought her instead - a year ago today, as it happens. She's not perfect, but she largely does her best, has a charming personality and has a few fun party tricks. I actually think that, though I didn't buy from a response to the "advert", it was useful. People recommended all sorts of horses I hadn't seen, or wouldn't have considered, and it certainly focused my mind on what I was really looking for. If my mare hadn't come up, there were a few I would've definitely gone to view, I think. Even the not-as-described-cob-alleged-sports-horse was helpful as I realised how differently people see horses - when I say I want something sane and sensible, I mean something that doesn't try and kill me at the drop of a hat. I thought that generally people's idea of that was more extreme than me - but actually, I think I probably have more balls / more desire for a non-brain dead horse than I realise.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Yep been there done it! You'll SAY you don't want this, don't want that, but everyone will basically see you as a "needy buyer" and will try and foist their lunatic horses on you as they think you'll take them on.

Plus the various dodgy dealers that people will inevitably tag you into, if you go onto FB.

I sooohh feel for you OP, I too searched everywhere for my next soul-mate for eighteen long months. I travelled a ridiculous amount of miles, had two, nay three failed vettings (cost me a fortune, but essential IMO), and fell in love with some lovely horses that there was no way I could bring home coz they'd failed vetting I was also treated like I was an idiot (like, a seller "hadn't ever noticed it" when I pointed out a lump the size of a golfball on a horse's girth area - FFS!), and was told a whole selection of other lies and fables as well as having my time being totally wasted by one seller who "hadn't thought it a problem" when a very nice otherwise Welsh D she was selling, and who had reached the stage where we were discussing vetting, suddenly decided to windsuck!! If they'd mentioned that before I'd driven a four-hour round trip I'd have been more impressed

The right horse IS out there waiting for you. Can I suggest that you throw away your "wanted" list?? Coz sometimes that just inhibits you finding a really nice little horse that comes across your path. After I'd all but given up finding a horse, a friend contacted me re. a horse which she'd backed at her yard. She was everything, but everything, I'd said I didn't want! Friend urged me to go see her. I did, and the rest is history as they say.

Good luck!

 

[fathorselover]

Yes I have, I wrote a really no nonsense FB post stating what I wanted, maximum budget etc, and shared it on a few horsey groups within a distance I was willing to travel. Had a few replies with nice horses and bought my cracking little mare through one of the people who replied who is a small time dealer, she was everything he said she was and more, absolutely love her.

 

[Cortez]

Yes I have, and found exactly what I was looking for. Why don't you talk to a reputable dealer with your requirements?

 

[Too many ponies]

Thanks for some great advice. I am glad I joined the forum. Like some of you I have this year had failed vettings. Fallen in love with horses that have either failed the vet or we have been back to hack it out and it has been totally unsuitable in traffic. We had a lovely horse from a well thought of dealer but every time the children brought their ponies from the field it jumped out after them causing nearly flattened children. Then it threw my husband off after a tractor came up behind! That had to go back.

I am not sure if I am being too narrow minded. I am mindful that while we have had horses for years we have young children about who love nothing more than to do their own ponies. We keep ours at home and although the children are supervised I want to minimise risk. So temperament is very important. We currently have all geldings so I was looking for another as we have a horse that we have had for 19 years and he becomes a lunactic whenever we have had a mare. I need something big enough for my husband and I to ride but not so big that I have to go and buy a new trailer. It has to be perfect in traffic as we hack out with children who wouldn’t cope if something was messing about. We live in an area with wide open arable fields with massive tractors, our instructor calls it the tractor motorway. Riding wise I am happy for it to be green on the flat but with a bit of potential. Needs to be honest to jump. It doesn’t need to have a proven competitive past. I was looking for something under 10 if possible as we keep our horses for life. I would prefer something middleweight native x tb. The two that I tried and loved were shire x and welsh d x. What do people think is that an impossibly fussy list?

 

[mavandkaz]

I think it's definitely worth a try. I found my current boy through a wanted advert - well my friend posted it on her Facebook profile as she has lots of contacts.
Got a few replies of unsuitable things but generally most were what I asked for.
Mine was quite general, wasn't fussed on breeding or age ( within reason). Temperament was much more important as I am a nervous rider. In the end I bought a full TB, which I probably wouldn't have considered when looking through adverts, had been looking for a cob type. He technically wasn't for sale but his owner realised she didn't really have time for him and thought he would be a good match.
He has gone above and beyond what I ever thought we would do and is a real cracker.
So I say go for it, what have you got to lose?

 

[AdorableAlice]

Yes, advertised for a RID HW capable of top level showing (to replace the exact same that I had lost to colic), I even put a picture of said lost horse to give potential vendors a clue as to what actually is a HW show hunter. I was inundated with replies and soon realised that, on the whole, no one had any idea of what a HW hunter is.

I ended up buying a French bred MW off a dealer. Even though the advert didn't work I would still advertise again for a wanted because there are a lot of people who don't know they have a potentially really nice horse and if you know what you are looking for and can see a diamond in the rough, you might find a nice horse by accident.

 

[splashgirl45]

i was looking for a loan horse about 15 hands, 15.2 max........ended up with a 16 hand horse who was perfect in every way except for the height so i would say be a bit flexible as you may find something which doesnt quite match your criterier but would be suitable....

 

[Apercrumbie]

Vettings are real heartbreakers so I do sympathise.

What do people think is that an impossibly fussy list?

Well that entirely depends on your budget. Young, sound and sane horses that can jump a bit and hack safely do tend to cost a bit as that's exactly what most riders want. Obviously people do get lucky at lower budgets too, as with everything with horses, it's often luck of the draw!

 

[JFTDWS]

Whether that's an impossible list really depends on your definition of "potential" on the flat, and what sort of height you want to jump. If you want potential to go out or win at PSG, and/or BE/BS at a decent height you'd need a substantial budget. If you want to be able to work at ele on a nice-enough-but-not-winning-every-class type and pop round up to around 90, given time and work, it's more realistic at a lower budget (indeed, I think my super-cheap mare would just about fit all the criteria for that).

 

[be positive]

I don't think that is impossible to find apart from the "honest to jump" part, I would not be concerned about the jumping if it ticked the main boxes a nice straightforward horse can easily be taught to jump and is often better if it has not been badly introduced in the first place.
Your priority is the safe to hack, good with tractors, it needs to be a gelding of a chunky type aged under 10, generally well mannered to deal with, the rest you can work on if it is sound and has reasonable paces.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I don't consider yours is a "fussy list" TBH OP; you're basically looking for something genuine, the sort that used to be called "family" horse or pony.

Now is the best time to buy, you might (fingers X'd for you) pick up something cheap that maybe someone can't afford to keep for the winter.

Good luck!