Horse Buying- Bad, Dangerous or Strange

Last year I was looking for a 14-15hh cob type. I went onto a free-ads site I have used for a long time for various things. I came across one, looked exactly what I was looking for! a lovely solid 14.2 hh cob gelding. So, I contacted the owner (a ladies name) and we exchanged e-mails. I agreed to go and view and RIDE the horse. I turned up onto a bit of a dodgey looking estate, I was greeted by a fairly large man who told me to follow him the 4 miles to the field.....10miles later and litrally in the middle of know where,...he pulled into a little farm track and stopped at a wasteland field with not gate. I would NOT have stopped if the other half wasnt in the car too! Anyway, we had passed a good 7-8 yards so pulling up here seemed odd. I got out and followed the man, and was greeted by this gelding teathered by a metal chain and heavy metal 'collar'. No water, matted main. He was a lovely cob and in different circumstances I would have had him! But, when I said about riding, the guy said he hadnt bought any tack for him,..but I could jump on bare back and go for a ride (no!!). He kept saying his passport was in a box somewhere as they had just moved into the house (by the looks of the house, and how 'comfy' the kids were there, I don't belive this!) then, he told me he would post me the passport. When I said it is illegal to sell or transport a horse with no passport, he shrugged it off and said it was lost. We left!! I do wonder what ever happened to the poor little thing.

Just seemed to the OH and me that he was trying to hide the horse (apparently the old YO died and made him move the horse,....a horse that he could tell me no history about!). It stank of 'stollen horse.'
 
At no point did I speak to, or see this 'lady' who was apparently I was talking to. When I questioned this, the man said her mum was ill and couldnt be there that day and he didnt know much about the horse.....methinks I was talking to him all along! It was story and excuse after the other.
 
Abz88 said:
At no point did I speak to, or see this 'lady' who was apparently I was talking to. When I questioned this, the man said her mum was ill and couldnt be there that day and he didnt know much about the horse.....methinks I was talking to him all along! It was story and excuse after the other.
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Wow, its scary the sort of people there are out there! It was lucky you were with you OH :)

I looked into loaning a horse a couple of years ago, found a lovely advert for a women who needed a sharer for her horse. Emailed, spoke on the phone, all sounded great...I turn up and the horse is a complete nutter, bad tempered in the stable etc.
So I still agree to ride it, surprise suprise it was an absolute nutter in the school too! Every time you ask to canter it bucks like crazy and takes off across the school at a gallop...after a few attempts at getting it to canter nicely (and very nearly hitting the deck several times!) I decided enough was enough.
The horse would have been very dangerous if a true novice had sat on it...I think its crazy how people lie about their horses on adverts, its just dangerous. It's certainly put me off loaning/buying a horse that I've seen online :(
 
similar experience to Abz, went to view a childs first pony, which obviously i wanted my child and myself to ride and see ridden. Arrived at yard as arranged, pony was in field, caught up - just by owner - who didnt ride, didnt have any tack and there was not the promised rider there either. Was offered to hop on board too, whilst she held the leadrope like grim death, with "quiet" pony wanting to gallop off.... we didnt buy that one:)
 
Princess Jess said:
Wow, its scary the sort of people there are out there! It was lucky you were with you OH :)

I looked into loaning a horse a couple of years ago, found a lovely advert for a women who needed a sharer for her horse. Emailed, spoke on the phone, all sounded great...I turn up and the horse is a complete nutter, bad tempered in the stable etc.
So I still agree to ride it, surprise suprise it was an absolute nutter in the school too! Every time you ask to canter it bucks like crazy and takes off across the school at a gallop...after a few attempts at getting it to canter nicely (and very nearly hitting the deck several times!) I decided enough was enough.
The horse would have been very dangerous if a true novice had sat on it...I think its crazy how people lie about their horses on adverts, its just dangerous. It's certainly put me off loaning/buying a horse that I've seen online :(
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I have to say my experience didn't put me off looking for a horse to buy online, but I was much much more warey! I did in the end buy from a internet advert and my girly is brilliant, and still in touch with the old owner who gives advice freely and happily if I have query about her (the most recent being - has she ever stabled well?! He only major down fall!)
 
Not me, but went with a very novicey friend to view 2nd pony types for her daughter. Gave her list of questions to ask buyers & she arranged for us to see a 13.2 connie aged 12 that fitted the bill at 10 the next day, when she then mentioned she was bringing experienced friend. At 9.30 seller rang to say she couldn't make it & asked her to go in the eve with some tale about yo not liking lots of visitors so she'd rather she came just with child that eve. I realised it was a scam but child was insistent so we all just went. She told us lights didn't work, till another livery put them on. Pony was 13.2 heinz 57 which she couldn't show us ridden as she was too big & daughter was taken ill just before we got there lol. Decided I'd get on it anyway & maybe have it as a project if it was a loon. Pony was uneven in trot, best guess arthritis, very stiff so I got off & woman had fit & said I didn't know anything. We said thanks & bye with woman following us ranting & raving about how crap we were, how fantastic pony was & how she would sue us for time wasting. Then someone else appeared & started shouting at the seller, ending up in a fight. Ym appeared apologizing & we went home. Best was the seller rang my friend the next day offering pony for £500 to show good will!
 
Not bad or dangerous but a little strange was the owner of a cob I looked at who didn't want me to get him vetted - why did I want to as "he'd never been hunted". Still trying to work the logic out on that one ......didn't buy him as there were things with him that niggled me as being not quite right.
 
I was looking at unbroken 3 yr olds at an sales once, one looked more like a teenage unbroken broody & when I went to look in its mouth the guy told me I didn't need to as he knew its age!
 
ONe viewing that was probably all three - bad, dangerous & strange was a horse that the owner wouldn't ride - no thanks! MY personal all time low is driving 4hrs to see a horse with stringhalt - was not informed of this beforehand....
 
The child's pony that was only 18 but looked ancient and like it had cushings.We watched the owner's daughter trot it around and were told that he was so lovely,the kids got him in on their own,rode him unsupervised,he was good as gold ect.The father told the daughter to canter him,pony promptly bucked her off.The father claimed it was his daughters fault 'for not giving the pony the right signals.' Err,they advertised him as suitable for a novice,a novice child will give the wrong signals if they are learning.My girls were still keen to try him,but could not get him out of a trot [probably a blessing].We decided against him and the owners were really surprised.
 
A horse that had sarcoids on the saddle area. When asked i was told they had thought about sarcoids but actually they were caused by using dirty saddlecloths. Hmm, yes, clearly.... Same horse was also apparently a novice ride but wouldn't stand still and bucked in canter.
 
Drove for two hours on a boiling hot day to see a Haflinger which I fancied. I'd made it plain to the owner that I wanted it as a "riding" pony; however when I got there I said OK then so lets see it under saddle then if I like what I see I'll hop on board, there was a deathly hush - it was only broken to drive NOT ride!!! Aaaarrrgggh. What a wasted journey. It wasn't the nicest of places either, way up a bumpy farm track and my little car wasn't at all happy!!
 
Not buying but selling. I worked for a dealer, and we had a lovely but sharp little 15.3, who was great. We advertised him as a teenagers eventer, and had some people bring there 12 year old, who they said rode really well. My boss made her ride something else we had on the yard to see how she rode, she did not get on the other one, he simply wouldn't allow it!
 
Drove 80 miles to see a horse. Viewing went well and was keen to proceed. Started to make arrangements. Was due to move horse in three days time. Vendor then flat out refused to provide a transfer of ownership form or a receipt of sale, as apparently:

1) It wasn't needed :confused:
2) They were worried about having to pay tax:eek:
3) The passport agency didn't need proof of transfer of ownership:rolleyes:
4) They were selling it for their father who hadn't bothered to get his details put on to the passport...in the six months he had owned the horse:mad:

I didn't buy that horse. I later found out that the "private seller" was more of a family of "dealers" and that they advertised under numerous names!
 
I went to view a 16.2 19YO ex racer for share. He was described as a plod, although I was a confident rider, I had just spent the past year on my friends younster so was looking for an easy happy hack. Turned up, owner and Horse nice. Went for hack, owner riding her friends Horse. Horse fine on road, but as soon as he stepped on grass, his head was in the air and he was jogging and getting strong. I circled him and got him to relax. But then he did it again. I was just about to say to the owner he wasn't what I was looking for, then he bolted with me. It was a take the micky tank either, it was a full on panic bolt, down a road!! I did think of bailing out a couple of times but decided to stay on. Anyway he galloped all the way back to his yard, slipped over, my leg went through a concrete pipe which snapped at tore off the wall, my other foot was wedged in the stirrup, so when he got back up I did too. He proceeded to bolt again, this time heading torwards a very busy 60mph road. I managed to get myself straightened up again, he tripped and as his head went down, I pulled one rein as hard as I could to turn back to the yard, he ran into the indoor stables and luckily there was a group of people that managed to block his way and stop him. His owner screamed and shouted at me and said he was going to be lame again, when I asked what she meant by this, she said he has recurring back problems and has been on boxrest for the past 6 months, I was the first person to sit on him. He hadn't been on the lunge or big turnout field. He was PTS not long after, he bolted with another rider, then through his owner off who broke her spine in 2 places. I have a big scar on my leg from the pipe. But my confidence sufferd big time, I gave up riding for 4 months and was too scared to even stroke a Horse. 3 years on I still battle with nerves when I'm riding. I don't blame the Horse. But the owner, I will never forgive her!!
 
Driving 90 miles to see an ID type mare..it was a gelding that I pointed out to the dealer,honestly! Also had a 2 year old connemara filly..actually it`s teeth said four.
 
starryeyed said:
^ oh my god, you poor thing!!
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Was the worst experience of my life :(, I used to be such a gutsy rider before this! But now I can't even go onto a patch of grass, without feeling like I am going to be sick.

I have had Horses tank with me before, it's not nice, but manageable. But to have a Horse truly bolt with you, is something you will never forget!
 
LaurenBay said:
I went to view a 16.2 19YO ex racer for share. He was described as a plod, although I was a confident rider, I had just spent the past year on my friends younster so was looking for an easy happy hack. Turned up, owner and Horse nice. Went for hack, owner riding her friends Horse. Horse fine on road, but as soon as he stepped on grass, his head was in the air and he was jogging and getting strong. I circled him and got him to relax. But then he did it again. I was just about to say to the owner he wasn't what I was looking for, then he bolted with me. It was a take the micky tank either, it was a full on panic bolt, down a road!! I did think of bailing out a couple of times but decided to stay on. Anyway he galloped all the way back to his yard, slipped over, my leg went through a concrete pipe which snapped at tore off the wall, my other foot was wedged in the stirrup, so when he got back up I did too. He proceeded to bolt again, this time heading torwards a very busy 60mph road. I managed to get myself straightened up again, he tripped and as his head went down, I pulled one rein as hard as I could to turn back to the yard, he ran into the indoor stables and luckily there was a group of people that managed to block his way and stop him. His owner screamed and shouted at me and said he was going to be lame again, when I asked what she meant by this, she said he has recurring back problems and has been on boxrest for the past 6 months, I was the first person to sit on him. He hadn't been on the lunge or big turnout field. He was PTS not long after, he bolted with another rider, then through his owner off who broke her spine in 2 places. I have a big scar on my leg from the pipe. But my confidence sufferd big time, I gave up riding for 4 months and was too scared to even stroke a Horse. 3 years on I still battle with nerves when I'm riding. I don't blame the Horse. But the owner, I will never forgive her!!
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Thats a terrible story bit the moral do it is as I learn to my cost ( four years of surgery and left permanently lame ) always see someone else on the horse always always if there's no one when you get there get in the car and leave there is another horse somewhere.
 
I drove 3 hours each way to view a 15hh hunter. Got there and it was a battered 14hh cob. He is the sweetiest pony though. I collected him next day!
 
I went to see an 18yr old, 14hh pony as a school master for my novice daughter. We had to try it at a local yard because it had "had too many jumping lessons in their school and got over excited there". It was loaded in the trailer rather too carefully for comfort but behaved and five minutes later arrived at the yard. There D rode, mine rode and it behaved again. I remember thinking it was rather sway backed for 18, but would be worth the money.

The seller said she hadn't checked up on the ponies JA score because she hadn't wanted to lie at pony club.:rolleyes: I checked - the pony was 25yrs old. If I had been told at the beginning I still might have bought it, but I didn't trust the seller by that time.
 
Nothing too horrendous, but the very first horse I went to see when I was looking for my first was a beautiful 12yo PRE.

Unfortunately he was kept stabled 23.5 hours a day, and only knew how to trot in 15m circles... taking him off a circle made him completely bug out.

Having said that, if I had the experience I do now, back then, I would have been severly tempted to buy him - he was sooo comfortable (opposed to my extremely bouncy cob!)
 
I was looking to buy an unbroke but sane three-year old, and drove about an hour and a half to see a little Fjord mare that seemed to fit the bill. The mare was very calm, sweet and cute, as Fjords are, but she had terrible string-halt at the walk. The owner repeatedly assured me that her vet said that it was just a growing thing, that the mare would soon grow out of it. After seeing the mare, I spoke to my vet on the phone about this and he said that he would not touch a string-halty three-year old with a bargepole, not when there are plenty of nice, sound three-year olds out there, and assured me that he would probably fail it at the PPE. I told the owner I would not be pursuing it further and got an epically angry e-mail moaning about how she'd wasted a whole afternoon showing me the horse.
 
I went see a 7yr old Lusitano. Lady on the phone said it was her daughters horse and was fine to ride. Arrived to find a very scruffy horse with scars all over it and its tail hacked off just under the bone (I was told "its what they do in Portugal"). The horse was to be found in their back garden which is never a promising start. I asked if they had a field for it to be told that they had been renting a little paddock next door but the horse had trashed the fencing. Every question I asked, I was given the most crazy replies. The mother was there the whole time as was the teenage daughter. The daughter told me she couldnt be bothered with the horse anymore. I asked how it was to handle, ride, hack etc. to be told by her that the horse was bolshy to handle, had bolted with her out on hacks quite frequently and wasnt very good at cantering... ok... her mum just went along with what she said. She said they'd brought it over from Portugal, where the girl had apparently galloped to and from school on it daily... ok... Anyway, I asked the girl to ride it - the tack she put on was horrific. The poor horse had no clue. She vaguelly managed to get a stifled walk and a tiny trot out of it but the horse had no concept of steering, stopping etc. and looked utterly fed up of the whole thing! Needless to say I did not ride the horse and left, I felt so bad for the poor thing. I really couldnt quite believe the whole thing, my mum was with me so we had quite a laugh all the way home!

Worst bit was this horse was priced at £4,000! I emailed her after and said I was pretty shocked about the whole affair and offered her £500 out of sympathy for the horse. Needless to say I didnt hear back. Wonder what happened to the poor horse.
 
jaquelin said:
ONe viewing that was probably all three - bad, dangerous & strange was a horse that the owner wouldn't ride - no thanks !!!! ..
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I had the same, the lady said she didn't want to ride as she had been ill but I said I wouldn't be getting on until someone else had. So she begrudgingly called out her yard owner to get on him, and as soon as her bum touched the saddle he bronked his way round the school until she fell off, usual excise of 'he has never done that before' !!

Another one was a lovely bay hunter, the owner had a cast on her leg so couldnt ride him (unrelated injury apparently ) so i gave him the benefit of the doubt and got on, he then proceeded to get down and roll on me, very nearly squishing me in the process ! The owner turned really nasty and said that I was far too heavy for him and that I should be ashamed of myself for making him do that. I was so upset, I was 12stone and he was 16h for gods sake. As I left the yard in tears the yard owner came to see me and told me the horse had recently had an operation on his shoulder and spine and was meant to be on rest, but the owner couldn't afford the bills anymore :(
 
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