How many people do you bring when viewing a horse

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littlen

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A girl on my yard is buying her first horse. She asked me to help and I arranged to view 6 horses on Monday (3 are at a dealers which she wanted to see, other 3 are private sellers)

she then invited another girl on our yard ho I am good friends with for a third opinion, and has now rang and told me she's bringing 2 other ladies, her loan horses owner and friend.

Is it just me or is this an excessive number of people to ring to a viewing?
One of the horses she's viewing is a friend of mines horse ad she's expecting just 3 not 5 people.

Does it really matter?
How many people do you take to view horses?
 
I personally think that is too many .
The most I would take is 2 .Whenever I have viewed I have gone with my husband (also a rider ) and a knowledgeable friend.
I think anymore is a bit overpowering .
It is always possible to go back after the initial viewing if interested to see the horse again with a different person (although I suppose that depends on how far away they are)
 
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That's too many. A lady came last week with her child to view a pony here and she had her husband and his mate with her too but they stayed in the car.

I think 3 is plenty.
 
Well i took my friend and her 2 children to view both of my ones. Also went back a few times before i could get my youngster and took 2 other friends as well, when we collected her there were 3 adults and 2 kids as my other mare had been ill and fear of something going wrong so i followed behind and friend drove ponies for me.

For my loan pony only took my sister as knew i wanted her straight away.
 
I agree - that's too many!
I think 2 people is plenty, you can always go back another day and take someone different if you want another opinion.

It's not a school outing!!
 
thats to many esp if they are not family or sharers for riding,it seems to be more of a day out than horse search. Think rider and instructor/advisor and person paying (a must)! is enough I had a large group to view mine and I stuggled to find out who was who and who to speak to and answer questions....felt bombarded and being on someone private yard embarresed about the convoy that appeared.
 
Myself and whoever has driven with me, so 2 never anymore, if someone turned up with that many i would not show my horse to them, and if they rang in advance saying they where bringing 5 i would tell them the most i am willing to allow view my horse at one time is 3. sorry
 
i'd be really annoyed if that many people turned up- i'd fell bombarded! would also feel that you were just 'daytrippers' not real purchasers :eek:
 
Way too many. If I was the seller - I would not be impressed.

Personnally, I normally go on my own and then talk it through with hubby, who is not horsey but seems to have a nack of asking me the right questions to make me think about some areas again.
 
When I went to see my loan horse (not the same deal, I know, but still....) I went alone the first visit. I didn't ride as he wasn't shod and wasn't being ridden for a week or two due to a kick. Fair enough, I wanted to just get my foot in the door, meet the owner and the horse. The next visit I would have brought folk with me to see him - and that would have been my RI and maybe another knowlegeable friend. No more than that-- I'm not that green, have had horses so not exactly my first one, but certainly my first experience with a loan horse. As it turned out, the owner brought the horse to me to try at my yard where I could try him in the indoor, the outdoor and on a wee hack, and see him in a strange place. It also meant she could check out his potential new digs. And that day there was just about everyone on the yard having a neb, including the YO, the RI, my pals, and miscellaneous others.

The last horse I bought, I brought along a (different) RI who was more interested in the comission, I reckon. She offered no real opinion whatsoever about the horse, about my ability on her etc. We didn't know eachother that well as it was anyway. So it wasn't the entirely best situation, especially since it was the first horse in ten years that I'd bought a horse, and was only just getting back to it. The RI did find the horse for me, and it wouldn't have been offered to me without the intro (mare wasn't being advertised).

I think one or two people that are knowlegable and trustworthy are all that should be needed. Any more distracts from the actual job at hand.
 
i took my mum-she hasnt a clue about horses, my horsey friend and a very horsey neighbour-she knows everything!! also my brother and neighbours son came but sat in the car :P
 
If someone feels that they need that many people to make a decision then it's up to them I would have thought :)

I've gone on my own, up to taking five people - hubby, two daughters, Friend, and Friend-who-introduced-me-to-the-opportunity.

So long as all are well mannered then I don't see the problem :D
 
Buying a horse is a big decision and a big expense - as long as the people accompanying the potential buyer have something to offer to the process and everyone plays nicely, I think it's reasonable to have a few advisors on hand.

Personally I'd want at least three - my RI, my mum, and a horsey mate.
 
I took my parents (also as they would be paying lol!) and got them to take videos to show my instructor and friends. I would have considered taking my instructor along too, but seeing as she used to own him and told me about him in the first place there wasn't any point really!!! xx
 
I take my not very horsey OH. First he is paying and second he has a good eye for a horse. Other than that I have taken a knowledgable friend.
It does seem like a lot, but as long as people stay out of the way and are polite it should be fine.
 
well me, mum and sis (as we would all be riding it) + more knowledgable friend on second viewings so four.
 
I feel 5 would overwhelm the seller, and i think it would be rude not to let the seller know you were bringing say, more than 3 people in total.

I wouldn't object to it though, particularly not if the buyer is a relative novice and/or this is their first horse.
 
There were three of us when we went viewing, mum sis and me. I felt bad with three of us but we all needed to go. We also took lots of photos and videos to show horsey friends and RI, which worked really well. I'd also let the seller know there were 5 of you so you're not embarrassed and they're not intimidated. Hope it goes well.
 
I think the buyer and up to 2 others is plenty if the horse is being viewed at a private yard. At the dealers yard I don't suppose it really matters as they are used to seeing people.

I went alone to buy my current horse (mistake) and instantly fell in love with him, and that was that! No one else there to talk any sense into me. LOL :D
 
I took 2, one who drives and has backed lots of horses and one friend for moral support. The one who backs horses was very helpful in trying him out and doing the riding for the 5 stage.

I think your friend is going a little OTT!
 
I think really it depends more on the roles of all persons involved, rather than a top number per se. I can easily imagine there being a situation where both parents (as purchasers), 2 (or even more) children (as riders), a knowledgeable friend (as person giving day to day advice once the horse is purchased) and a riding instructor (for expert opinion) could turn up, and I dont really think that any of those 6 (or more) people should really be left out of the visit. They all have their roles, 3 kids need to try the horse, RI and friend may ask technichal questions to seller, but will largely discuss/give advice to parents, and parents may have questions for the seller based on advice from the instructor/friend, or around money/logistics.
I think the seller in this situation would understand why all those people were there (even though the quantity may still be a little overwhelming) and wouldnt mind.

On the other hand, I would say that an absolute max of 2 experienced friends is all that is needed (or appropriate). You get too many opinions going round, too many people trying to handle the horse, and its fairly likely that they will all have questions for the seller, so this has much more potential to be overwhelming. In your situation, I would try to persuade the friend to drop at least 2 people from the group, and if she couldnt I would at least make it a bit easier by backing out of it. I can imagine that with that many people involved all trying to do the same job within the group, it will be an unpleasant and frustrating exercise even if the size of the group doesnt offend sellers.
 
thats far too many tbh OP.....

first horse i took the bank of mum and dad.... 2nd was by myself. :D

i would take a friend - who knows my riding ability and someone more experienced for 2nd viewing for an outsiders view

so altogether 3 people is plenty imo.
 
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