Horse shopping. What rings alarm bells?

Loubidy

Loubidy

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I haven't been able to ride my horse for a while now and still don't know if I will again (stomach problems) so have been preparing for the worst and looking at what's on the market.

i keep seeing things lie photos of horses doing something silly which yes might be a good photo for you but I certainly wouldn't put that up if I was selling a horse. Like one was sitting in the field, I just thought how long were they sitting like that?! and just other little things in the wording of the ads where I just think what sort of monster are you hiding!

what have you found that's had your alarm bells ringing?
 
"Can I chat to his vet?" "Oh, he's never seen a vet". Erm, unlikely, that scared me off of one :p Also anything like 'not a novice ride', 'needs competent rider' etc etc. Yes, it's a five year old warmblood x tb, I can deduct that it's not suitable for a beginner, but those phrases make me think it's a nutcase :p And POA, I just assume it's out of my budget. Also "readvertised due to timewasters" aka it failed the vet, or "no timewasters", I assume the owner is difficult to deal with. ;)
 
Old injuries on legs, no vet records to show and saying "Oh, that's just a visual defect, but doesn't affect his soundness at all!" - I'd just steer clear from such cases.
 
I tend to avoid anything advertised as not a novice ride as I rightly or wrongly assume it's a fruit loop.

Also I'd never ring up about a horse advertised as POA as I figure if they're not willing to list the price in the advert it's probably out of my price range.

I also tend to be wary of those that advertise their horse as 110% bombproof or never bites/kicks/bucks/rears etc. as at the end of the day horses can be unpredictable and I don't think you can ever guarantee their behaviour 100%.

Oh I also forgot those that say heartbreaking sale but must be gone before the weekend. I'm sure there's occasionally a genuine reason for this but personally don't like the idea of being rushed into a decision or not having time to get it vetted.
 
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Not much puts me off on an advert, its more speaking to the owner that puts me off!

Stupid photos that the horse is too far away or has rugs on.
Paragraphs and paragraphs of emotional description and waffle.
POA.
Readvertised due to timewasters/no timewasters = seller will be hard work.

Not novice ride doesn't put me off, I read it as honest and wouldn't want a plod. I would describe my horse as not a novice ride, but she has never bucked or reared in the 8 years I've had her..
 
Advertising a horse as a dressage competition horse using really awful photos (horse behind the vertical or on the forehand, etc.). It means that either the owner doesn't know what they are about or they know they have a crap horse and are hoping to find an idiot buyer.
 
Pigeon said:
"Can I chat to his vet?" "Oh, he's never seen a vet". Erm, unlikely, that scared me off of one :p Also anything like 'not a novice ride', 'needs competent rider' etc etc. Yes, it's a five year old warmblood x tb, I can deduct that it's not suitable for a beginner, but those phrases make me think it's a nutcase :p And POA, I just assume it's out of my budget. Also "readvertised due to timewasters" aka it failed the vet, or "no timewasters", I assume the owner is difficult to deal with. ;)
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I have several horses which have never seen a vet except for vaccinations. Wouldn't put me off.
 
We have just got a new boy for my sister and are also looking for the next one for my niece (damn these children that grow so quickly).

The things that put us off were (some of which wont be relevant to you but were to us): adults on ponies, loads of leather or a really strong bit on the photos. No time wasters, over stocked, POA and wording like that too.
 
The photo's of horse's doing cute things, like sitting like a dog or someone lying on its back mean to me, that the owners can't produce a picture of the horse doing what (you hope) it's trained to do.

Brief 2 sentence descriptions mean its probably a dealer. Long waffly adverts mean the owner knows the horse well and wants to describe how special the horse is to them. Although often, this gives more insight into the owner than the horse.
 
Will make a super xyz. Potential xyz. Fabulous, shame it's 10 plus and has never competed.

Stunning - picture of a moose. Perfect confirmation (or any other spelling error) really annoys me especially when the photo shows a cut and shunt barge.

Poorly fitting and/or coloured tack, riders in wellington boots and pictures of horses stood in sagging wire/electric fences. For me all of these tell me one thing - novice owner and not a clue. However, they could just have a diamond and not know it !
 
Any comment regarding timewasters, if im parting with cash and someone is serious about selling i expect to take as long as it takes, a comment like this makes me look no further. Any pic with someone standing on the horses back, why ?? Id much rather see a pic of the horse coping in traffic. Needs experienced rider needs a call to ask why ? If the horse is a bit sharp but has a proven record id still have a look unless it rears or bolts, in which case id pass
 
Re pictures sometimes it can be increadibly difficult to get decent ones. One I had for sale got a pro photographer out to do pictures, and out of all the ones taken about three were suitable for the ad.

It then took another visit from them, as well as finding old photos off the Internet and ones from a show to get any decent ones.
 
I recently bought a pony yearling off the internet unseen, the only picture in the advert was of him lying in the stable which I thought was really odd considering the person selling has a web site and picture other stock. Well I knew the breeding and managed to find some pictures of him as a foal and even with transport it was cheap so I decided to take a punt. When I got him off the lorry I could see why he cute pic. He looked like a giraffe, was under weight, had rubbed most of his mane, out feet needed trimming and looked depressed, with a receipt ' sold as seen' , if you had seen him at the sales you would not have given £50 for him. I had to laugh.
Its nearly a month since I got him and apart from the mane he almost looks like a normal yearling, and can not wait to see what he looks like at three.
I like picture that shows them four square side on and if they have someone on them, a neat polo shirt, hat, and tidy hair. I love pictures from shows at least it shows they have taken them somewhere and hopefully it loads.
 
Lots of things. Pictures of riders in wellies or tracksuits, pictures of riders with no hats, pictures of rider standing on horse, thats my real pet hate along with yards that look like junk yards that would really put me off

Not suitable for a novice would make me think why but I would still call and ask

No timewasters I dont like because it makes me think the seller if difficult. I wouldnt purposefully waste their time but I might get there and not like the horse
 
My experience is limited to ponies,but I will not consider small ponies ridden by an adult when I'm looking for something suitable for a child,ditto very strong bits.

Have learnt from experience that any pony described as 'fun' has a few tricks up it's sleeve.
 
And yet I bought my own cob from a two line ad with no photo. Ad basically said MW cob for sale, daughter has discovered boys and is giving up the horses. I have now had him for nearly five years and is very handsome and perfect for me.

Thank goodness the daughter gave up otherwise I might not have him now.
 
I have given up even thinking I know what to look for in an advert now, we have looked at hundreds of adverts, spoken to dozens of owners, been to see 4 and 3 of those were at least unlevel if not obviously lame! Bearing in mind we are looking at all rounders with a decent budget you'd think we could find something that could at least trot a circle..........starting to lose the will to live with it all tbh!!
 
Only look for fun but I am always put off by anything advertised in Kent due to the number of dodgy dealers that seem to abound there or rather the various incarnations of the same dodgy dealers.
 
I don't pay too much attention to ads TBH; if it's the right age/size/type I'd go to look before forming any opinion - most advertisers are deluded at best.
 
Dealers pretending to be private owners. I rang up a 'private owner' a couple of weeks ago and enquirer about their cherished older horse who was a 'sad sale, home more important etc'. asked if the horse was shod. Reply - Hm not sure, just fronts maybe - will have to check...
 
"Horse will go far in the right hands/with experienced rider...." or words to that effect.
"Has been turned away all summer/year, through no fault of his/her own"
 
Hey, I spent a few years riding in wellies and if I had been selling a horse at the time, there would have been pictures of me riding in wellies!

Anyway, I was most recently put off when helping a friend a horse hunt and we looked at one which was at a dealer's yard. Dealer had been going on, and on, and on, about how the horse was owned by someone local and they were good mates with said dealer and dealer had seen the horse out and about competing at local BD and BSJA for a few years. This was pretty much dealer's chat the whole time my friend was riding the horse. So towards the end of our visit, I said, "As you know the previous owners, would it be possible for us to get in touch with them?" Dealer looked mortally offended and said, "What are you going to ask for next? A pint of blood?"

Maybe there were legit reasons why the owner was selling the horse through a dealer and couldn't be contacted. Nasty divorce, didn't want to know as couldn't face selling, you know you can come up with a good story. But maybe not. Ockham's razor suggests not. Put us right off.

My friend didn't buy that horse.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Will make a super xyz. Potential xyz. Fabulous, shame it's 10 plus and has never competed.

Stunning - picture of a moose. Perfect confirmation (or any other spelling error) really annoys me especially when the photo shows a cut and shunt barge.

Poorly fitting and/or coloured tack, riders in wellington boots and pictures of horses stood in sagging wire/electric fences. For me all of these tell me one thing - novice owner and not a clue. However, they could just have a diamond and not know it !
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Lets get this right once and for all its ......... conFORMation............
if he is "Confirmed" he is a practicing member of the Church of Pegasus and he will be accompanied by a certificate confirming his Confirmation.
You are expected to conform to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Please confirm you have read, and in future please agree to conform. [rant over]
 
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mary christmas said:
Any comment regarding timewasters, if im parting with cash and someone is serious about selling i expect to take as long as it takes, a comment like this makes me look no further. Any pic with someone standing on the horses back, why ?? Id much rather see a pic of the horse coping in traffic. Needs experienced rider needs a call to ask why ? If the horse is a bit sharp but has a proven record id still have a look unless it rears or bolts, in which case id pass
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Vendor might not mention that he bolts or rears though.
However, I would expect people to call me on a telephone, I changed my ad to "needs experienced rider/home" after a procession of people who thought that two months in a RS meant they could ride, or worse "self taught" 20 years ago!!!
 
MrsD123 said:
Lets get this right once and for all its ......... conFORMation............ if he confirmed he is a practicing member of the Church of Pegasus and he will be accompanied by a certificate confirming his Confirmation.
You are expected to conform to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Please confirm you have read and understood. [rant over]
Click to expand...

Perhaps, MrsD123, you would like to read the words after the word "confirmation" in AdorableAlice's post...
 
I'm quite happy to consider a horse being sold by a dealer (unless I know they have a poor rep) but 'sold on behalf of .......' rings alarm bells for me, as I always think they are trying to get round the Sale of Goods Act.
I can never understand why any owner thinks I want to see their horse in its rug/at the far side of a 4 acre field or with a rider with an atrocious position in scruffy clothes. Surely if you are paying for an advert (or even if its a free ad) and you really want to sell, it's worth taking some current photos with the horse looking its best.
Another one I've seen recently is 'further details to follow', why bother putting the ad on if you're not ready? And better photos next week (or whenever) drives me mad too.
 
MrsD123 said:
Lets get this right once and for all its ......... conFORMation............
if he is "Confirmed" he is a practicing member of the Church of Pegasus and he will be accompanied by a certificate confirming his Confirmation.
You are expected to conform to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Please confirm you have read, and in future please agree to conform. [rant over]
Click to expand...

I would only look at adverts for horses that have good manors, are good on the lead rain and have 3 good gates:)
 
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