Have you ever been lied to when buying a horse?

A dealer friend of mine, was sold an appy, didn't see it, just turned up and loaded it on the lorry, got back turned it out in the field. Next day sent his stable hand who is about 70 and from the black country, he gets down the field, calls the dealer up and says 'Mayte, there is nout with spots darn ere, sure you sent me to the right'un?' dealer obviously tells him hes a blind old coot and drives down, he glances around the field, no spotty in sight, however, there is a big grey that wasn't there before :P :P It had rained in the night and washed all this horses spots off. He has told me this story about ten times, but each time he tells it me it gets funnier, I think its the 'blak kuntray' accent that does it :D

Me personally, no, because I have known most of the people I've bought from, and I'm pretty mean looking :P :P

It happens very very often though.
 
Oh yes!...... went to view one horse, walked right past it, it didn't resemble the description at all!. The horse had splints, was overweight & didn't track up & that was just to start with.

I listened to all the b*** s*** the seller had to say, even when she told be she'd got someone very interested & coming up from London the next day to see him so I'd need to make my mind up quickly. I mentioned vetting & she said she didn't believe in that, (DING DONG DING DONG ....ALARM BELLS!)I told her that I wouldn't like to deprive the people coming the next day of trying him & buying him as they'd travelled all that way. After what I'd seen & heard there was no way I was interested. We then left.

I'm sure some people think you were born yesterday. :(
 
Not an outright lie that I can think of ATM. However I do tend to buy from people I know or check on the seller, through friends / friends of friends etc before purchasing.
 
First horse I went to see was supposed to be chestnut mare that had been used in a riding school and was in good health.Fair play to it she was a quiet tb mare. Severly underweight, had rain scald, corns, wouldn't load, more scars on her legs than anything. Needless to sag they whacked her price down to meat money when we discovered all this.

My current boy was sold to me as 6 year old, quite green but docile. Brought him home turned out he was 3 years old if lucky, had just been gelded, just been backed, napped, bucked and bolted like a bugger. None the less I preserved and am glad I did :)
 
Where to start?? Most dealers seem to be congenital liers..which might be funny if it was`nt putting lives at risk.
I have learnt that whatever point they emphasise is usually the problem area..i.e. "it`ll load in the back of your car if you`re not careful"..when they collected her as not of description (she would nap,spin and bolt) they half killed her for two hours to get her into a very low loading trailer.Must say her bottom lip did droop when we collected her.
Paragon of vitue..arrived from Eire ..name of dealer means money.....mare has a huge injection site reaction on it`s neck.Had stressed my bad back ,cannot afford falling off,friend rode it a couple of days later,said it was extremely tense and def not what was on the tin.Two month lay off due to F@M outbreak.Horse neurotic,explodes as soon as anyone`s bum hits the saddle, in hindsight I know it had kissing spine and the injection was a massive anti inflamatory.It takes eight ACP`s in some feed to enable catching it,and then vet runs into stable ,shimmies up horse and injects sedative..just so we can load it for it`s return to Eire. Money named dealer admits later it "is a most unpleasant animal".So how come his niece was supposed to amble round the lanes on it and hunt it?
Filly ,supposed to be two year old..actually four.Same dealer..travel 90 miles to look at a grey mare..it had a sheath.
Could go on and on,thankfully I now have two charming mares,paragons of vitue and honest as the day is long,one is from a dealer! The other bought unseen `cept for photos, in very poor condition which took some time to rectify. Thank God I will never have to tread that minefield again!
The sad part is that the dealer I got sucked into buying the unrideable was the same one who sold me my first paragon..so sometimes you just are lucky.
 
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I've only really had lies about size(usually attempting to upsize the horse, no idea why people think bigger is better) and misinterpretations of colour, which doesn't matter much to me when I'm looking at a horse, but I do notice if the roan is actually a greying chestnut, the black horse is a really a dark bay and the like. I was told Kelly kicks when you pick up her back legs, but she doesn't, but I'm hardly going to complain about that!
 
Gawd many times, am now so wary of the whole process I doubt I'll buy another, but who knows time is a great healer :D

Most blatent was a very well known dealer who, in answer to my question as to whether the horse had any vices, replied absolutely not. Said horse never stopped crib biting and could windsuck while being ridden!

Tried a horse for a novice friend which proceeded to buck for britain (never done it before apparently ;)

Bought a doped one that was completely bonkers

Just so many, I could go on... :(
 
Ayla84 said:
When i sold Beau my OH pointed out all the bad things and none of the good, he still sold :D

Maybe if he lied he would have stayed lol
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Spot on............I think this is why I havent found horse yet as soon as the owner starts lying I just then wonder what else they are lying about and thats it turn off for me! Leave!

Trying to convince me has unconvinced me.............!
 
Yes!
I nearly bought a chestnut 'rubber snaffle mouthed hunter' off a dealer. Found out later that it was being sold on behalf of a client and that my friend worked for that client, the horse was known by the owner as 'that crazy chestnut horse' and was sent to the dealer because it wouldn't hunt!

Then I bought a coloured horse. Well where do I begin, nearly everything was lies, even the supposed 'owner' selling the horse wasn't even the owner but someone working on behalf of the dealer to sell it privately so there wasn't any comeback when the bute wore off and it went lame. That was just the start of the lies! I lost a lot of money and gained tons of heartache with that horse :(.

My late grey mare the seller was pretty honest but she omitted to say that the horse was impossible to shoe! When we rang her up she said 'oh I have nothing to do with the horses being shod the grooms deal with it and they've never said anything to me' yeah right! She did say she wouldn't sell me anything dangerous and to be fair the mare was a cow on the ground and as sharp as they come but she was genuine and not dangerous (apart from when she was being shod!).

My current horse I was pretty much told the truth about in fact he was better then they said! I had him on loan first anyway so it would have been pointless to lie as he would just have been sent back.

The biggest lies were from the dealers, the real private people I've brought from have been ok. :)
 
Went to a leading showing person to view a horse for a client. Told the seller that we were looking for a easy first horse, but one with a bit of class, as she was a pretty good rider. They came up with a lovely 16hh 8yr old warmblood, who went beautifully on the flat - as you would expect from the person who was selling him, popped a small fence very nicely and calmly, and hacked out like a donkey. We tried him twice, had him vetted and finally decided that he was "the one".

First indicator of a problem was when the new owner rang me in tears fron the yard she had arranged to move him to. She had gone to pick up horse, and the sellers had casually mentioned that he had "a touch of ringworm"(!!!) As a first time owner, she had no idea that it was a problem til she arrived on the new yard and they refused to accept the horse. I called the seller, who basically told me to get lost...

We basically spent an entire afternoon on the phone trying to find somewhere for the poor horse to go - while he stood like a lamb on the trailer. Finally found him a corner of a field - and he lived alone in a 20m square of electric fence for weeks whilst we got rid of the ringworm.

Finally got him sorted, and moved - and in that time, he turned into the horse from hell - used to freak out and turn himself out for no apparent reason. I have never seen anything buck like he could - and I've started a lot of racehorses!!

Interestingly, he never bucked with me, but put his poor owner on the floor on a daily basis -which makes me think he wasn't doped when we tried him, but that he was worked very hard by professional riders, and made to toe the line. As soon as he had a break, and was ridden by a non professional - the real him re-emerged.
 
I fully sympathise with all of you who have been taken in. There are far too many people in the horse world who want to offload their problems on the unwary and trusting. Having said that, I have not been deceived with any of my own purchases, several of which have been bought unseen from abroad. All have been exactly as described and are still with me, problem free, several years later. There are honest people out there but buying a horse is a bit like walking through a minefield of charlatans.
 
Oh definitely yes ! Horse advertised as confidence giver, had taught beginners.Hacks alone and in company Total gent. However, horse total spook box, refuses to go forward out on a hack on its own, pretty uncatchable except by me and sometimes i cant catch him.
Seller seemed very genuine, mature lady, however, her daughter rode on viewing, as "she had a bad back" and of course after purchase dawned on me she was too scared to ride her own horse !
 
most definately, yes, twice! First time horse was diagnosed with major kidney problems (he could throw tantrums tomake the worst toddler jealous, and buck/rear/spin at same time :-( ) I sold him on declaring everything I knew then a year later saw him in a local field, bag of bones, being advertised as 18 year old novice ride!!!!! I offered to buy him back just so he wouldn't kill anyone but offer was refused. A while later new owner contacted me via micro-chip number to tell me the very sad tale of how she had bought him as a hunter etc etc, the only help I could offer was in my opinion the only safe option for him and anyone dealing with him, was to have him put down :-( Second time I ended up buying a beautiful horse (who despite his faults gave me all my ridden confidence back) who had kissing spines and was carrying strangles. This all became apparent at same time so the only thing I could do as he was virtually home-less was have him put to sleep (losing every penny I paid for him & vet treatment) Very sad. I am always too honest when I sell a horse, at least then the new owner knows exactly what they have paid for :-)
 
I commented on another thread here, that a young girl came to our yard with a horse that had a circle with an L in it ( loss of use ) horse slightly lame, I said old owners were willing to buy back, now been told no that was not the case.
When girl turned up horse already tacked up, she did not untack, never seen horse bare and would not know what the circle ment anyway, when they picked horse up it was rugged to go.
Going to get the vet to look and farrier, as the girl is looking for a hack only it might work out depending on what vet says, we have our fingers crossed for her. Buyer beware I know, still not fair.
 
i would imagine alot of the problem is that people who end up owning problem horses often cannot move them on genuinely in the private market. So in desperation they often find that the dealers are the only people who will offer them any money at all for the horse.

As a result the dealers are buying in cheap problem horses then working their 'magic' on the horses new advert and clapping their hands when an unsuspecting buyer comes along.

However - when i sold my mare at the start of this year I didnt tell the buyers tat the previous owner had told me she had had several professional jockeys try to ride the mare but none of them had managed to stay on for more than a few minutes.
You might wonder why i didnt tell them.........basically i hadnt had any problems since i owned the mare and had ridden her nearly every day, and a teenage girl had also been riding her, she was also fantastic to hack out. I was worried that by telling the new buyers this they might always have it in the back of their mind, when it was no longer a problem for the mare.

Horses change from owner to owner - said mare has even been performing much better with new owner than she did with me!
 
Yes and no ish

My first horse I was blatently lied to about. Good to load - took me 2 and a half hours the first time I tried to put her in a trailer. They were 2 hours late when dropping her off, blamed on the other horse they had with them not loading. Lesson learnt there...

Good to hack out alone - no, she spun and reared though was ok in company

A whole pack of lies. Even allowing for behaviour change, the old owner outright lied to me. I'm certain she saw a first timer coming and rubbed her hands together gleefully.

My second horse, I see how people could come to the conclusion. I was told he was great to handle and perfect to catch. He barged out his stable door over the top of me numerous times, and reared when trying to move him away from other horses in the field.

But, I also recognise that this is because I was too careful having just bought my first youngster, and I was far too nice to him. He came to my yard and immediately started getting away with murder, so it didn't take long for him to become much naughtier to handle than described as.

I recognised I created this problem, but I imagine some people would have assumed the old owner a lier.
 
Yes, I have been lied to, but not with the horses that I have now.

A little true story from when I was learning to ride...

The YO's elderly mother was a real old BHS type and she sold the occasional horse every nown and again.

She had a really nice liver chestnut pony who was in his winter woolies and lacking in his schooling but essentially a lovely chap. A girl came to see him and she rode the pony nicely. She said that she really liked him, however she wanted something a bit flashier. 'That's ok' says YO's Mum, 'my friend has his half brother for sale, he's a bit classier than this chap, would you like to see him? I could have him bought over here for you to try but he is more expensive than this one.' Girl says yes and they arrange a viewing in two weeks time.

So the liver chestnut is clipped, trimmed and schooled. They put a different browband on his bridle and get a different numnah. Girl comes and tries the pony. 'Oh yes, he's much more my type' she says. ;) He did look much smarter and he did go better because of the extra schooling and she bought him!
 
I am selling a horse at the moment and have been very honest about him in the advert and when people call and to be fair I have only had suitable people ring up. But it is a nightmare. I know this horse takes a good month to settle somewhere new - he does not do anything nasty but will just try it on with seeing who is boss. With the wrong person or someone who lacks confidence he will walk all over them.
We have never bought a bad horse - is this down to luck? No its about being practical and having a clear idea of our capabilities.

For instance we would never buy a horse who looked poor in May-Sept unless there was a drought because there is no need for it and to me it screams issue. Its easy to learn about teeth from a book so you can check the age. To find out if they nap we hack them out on own and go past entrance several times to see how they react. Always put up a double to jump as many cannot cope and shows you when someone has not done what they say. Always change the fences from what someone has put up. Ask to canter them on grass. Little things like this will tell you a huge amount.
 
I read a friend's advert recently for a pony I know well and simply didn't recognise the animal!! Tongue in cheek, here's some of my favourite advert interpretations:

Potential = hasn't done anything meaningful
Huge potential = hasn't done anything whatsoever
Ideal child's pony = if you have the "ideal child" they have a half a hope with this one!
Been to camp = was recently imprisoned!!
Occasionally spooks - mad as a box of frogs
Occasionally cribs after meals = sucks like a Dyson for 23 hours a day
5* Home more important than price = I'll never get what I'm asking
POA = I want so much I'm embarrassed to publish it!!!!
 
Paint Me Proud said:
i would imagine alot of the problem is that people who end up owning problem horses often cannot move them on genuinely in the private market. So in desperation they often find that the dealers are the only people who will offer them any money at all for the horse.

As a result the dealers are buying in cheap problem horses then working their 'magic' on the horses new advert and clapping their hands when an unsuspecting buyer comes along.
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I dont know any dealers locally that would take a dangerous horse although there must be some. I just havent asked. I find it hard to believe what any sellers are telling me.
 
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cavaletti said:
I dont know any dealers locally that would take a dangerous horse although there must be some. I just havent asked. I find it hard to believe what any sellers are telling me.
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i didnt say dangerous, i said 'problem' - a horse having a problem doesnt always make it dangerous.
 
I havent read all the replies, so i apologise if this has already been covered...

I find that a lot of private sellers view their "pride and joy" through rose tinted glasses and have simply got used to the little "quirks" their equine displays (Tows the leader towards the nearest patch of grass at 100MPH after forcing its way out of the stable), or truly believe that because Daisy jumps a 2'3" course very quickly must equate to FEI potential! I dont think they INTEND to lie as such, in the main.....they just see their pony in a different light!

Then there are those that over exaggerate their horses faults in an effort to be truthful, only then have no viewings so resort to not disclosing them at all...IE what MOST of us would consider "good in traffic" ONCE ran away from a tractor that was creeping up its arse.....the seller tells the potential vendor this who wont then consider it for viewing - so they end up not disclosing ANYTHING

And then there are those that are exactly as described, tried 100 times, but take a while to settle in and display behaviour HONESTLY never seen before - labelled as having been drugged, when the reality is give it a bit longer and all is fine (it will never cease to amaze me how even the most placid cob can behave so differently in a new home for the first couple of weeks)
 
Sunny08 said:
Just talking to a friend whose horse was 'mis-represented' when sold to her and i am appalled about how easily some poeple can lie when selling horses, and how far people will go. I am lucky I brought my girl off someone I knew, so when I got her, I knew warts and all. Every time I have sold a horse I have shared every single bit of information I can as I couldn't live with myself if a mis-sold a horse, especially if I hid bad points which later resulted in an accident or something.

Are there any horror stories or are they few and far between? How can you protect yourself?
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I don't believe anyone unless they are a very good friend. I have been known to catch the horse that had thrown the rider who was being given a leg up and as I handed the horse over told them to get the horse sorted before trying to sell it on and lie. Or tell the truth next time.

Also asked the owner who said the horse I was about to view had manners to die for!!! Turned out there must have been a lot of windows around as all manners flew out of them when we entered the stable. Oh and the horse kicked there 5 year old child who went round the back of it. The owner is a Blacksmith (Not mine).:mad::rolleyes:
 
I went to see a gorgeous gelding who sounded perfect - he was the first one I'd been to see and I went on my own. :o

Got there to be met by a very handsome, very friendly horse. Noticed his withers looked a bit odd - can't really explain how, he was just a slightly strange shape. Owner (Lie 1) joked about it but said it was nothing (Lie 2). Alarm bells rang slightly when he was a bit stiff to ride, but owner was 8 months pregnant and explained that he hadn't been ridden for a while as her husband wouldn't allow her to ride when pregnant (Lie 3).

I really liked how affectionate he was and how willing to please he seemed, so took my friend and vet back to see him a few days later, cheque book in hand.
Vet took one look at him and immediately asked the dealer how he'd broken his back, and how long ago it had been. :eek: She'd let me ride him, KNOWING that!!! I sobbed all the way home. :( Poor thing had tried his heart out for me whilst I'd ridden - he must have been in agony (or doped up to the eyeballs... But I dread to think of how much damage I'd potentially done). (Lie 4 - she told the vet I knew all about it and had agreed to buy him and nurse him back to health!).

Same dealer later advertised a 6 year old fantastic eventer - said horse was back on a well-known website a few months later (same seller) as an 11 year old field ornament/broodmare. :mad:
 
Oooh yes, so many times! I'm looking to buy a horse at the moment and am already losing count of the number of horses I've turned up to see in the last 2 weeks who have been nothing like they were described in the ad. To make matters worse, it's not just the ads that are misleading, people lie blatantly on the phone knowing that you're going to drive miles to see their horse only to turn round and drive straight back again as soon as you clap eyes on it. It's so depressing and has made me mistrustful of everyone I visit who is selling a horse. It's sad that people are so unscrupulous and only think of the money.
 
Well not sure if I was lied to but you'll all enjoy this story. I was in the process of buying a schoolmistress competition horse for my daughter from a well-known horsey family (and I do mean well-known). I wrote the cheque and asked for the passport (the said schoolmistress had lots of affiliated placings and was regularly out competing). I was handed the KWPN sheet of paper which sets out the identity and pedigree for the mare. 'Uh...hmmm, excuse me but this isn't a passport' says I. 'Oh yes it is' says the undoubtedly super-knowledgeable vendor. 'Oh not it isn't' says I; 'Oh yes it is says the vendor'.
Clearly I wasn't going to get anywhere and I wanted the horse, so I let the vendor think I was an idiot and took the piece of paper home, as the breeding was good and I thought I might be able to get the mare blood typed to get a proper KWPN passport. Anyway I proceeded down that route and it turns out that not only was the piece of paper not a passport (I knew that already), but the markings didn't match up with my mare!!!!! and the piece of paper was for a GELDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahahahaha.
Even more 'entertaining' is that I had a full five star vetting (yes a proper well known horse vet) and the lack of/incorrectness of the papers was never picked up.
I suppose it's possible that the vendor didn't know what a proper passport looks like, but I find that difficult to believe as they'd just bought in a batch of horses from Holland. Anyway the mare has been great for us. My daughter adores her and I'm greatly entertained by that episode. Buyer beware...but hey ho...life's rich tapestry and all that. Tha mare now has a Weatherby's 'unknown breeding' passport so I'm legal...what use that is I know not.
I hope you all enjoy my tale.
 
i dont think i have ever met anyone who had been sold a horse and not been lied to so they could sell it?????????

i know every horse i have ever owned has had something "missed" from what they have said...

1 i bought a few years ago was sold to me as handled but needs work, very well mannered ect ect .. got it home and couldnt get near it once the drugs had worn off and as for manners.....

my newest... sold as 7yr old (he is 5) ride and drive total bombproof and novice lmao!!!!!

bucks everytime you ride (and yes had saddle teeth, back ect checked) poos his pants in traffic, never been lunged and tacking up is such a challenge. also had no passports, wrong passports, 2 passports (which neither of where correct lol)
 
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A horse I bought some time ago was sold to me as "a cross country schoolmaster" which was rubbish. When I got the horse home, he napped horrifically in the XC start box to the point that it would take 5 mins just to leave! He regularly threw in the towel half way round a SJ course too. I thought it was me, but someone came over to us once at an event and said they'd seen him with the previous owner - getting beaten up as a youngster in the SJ ring and also napping with them XC. Poor horse had basically given up on the whole competition thing by the time I got him. Wasn't nice of them to lie, especially as I was only young and this was my first horse! I sold him as a hack/flatwork horse and he's been very happy since.

When selling, I think I'm too honest! I want my horse to have a long term happy home, so I dont get people who lie - if you lie about a horse, its not going to turn out well now is it!
 
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