How to not be a timewaster or daytripper / what do you define as a time waster

[splashgirl45]

i have had my own horses for many years, but after losing my last one i couldnt afford to buy another so i looked for loans. i wanted about 15 hands, chunky, older safe horse....someone local had a 16hands ex hunter tb cross and i reluctantly went to look at her as this was a friend of my YO. i felt safe on her and enjoyed riding her but felt she wasnt what i was looking for. my YO gave me a bit of encouragement so i had her on trial for 3 months, it took about a year for me to fall for her and she was one of the best decisions i ever made even though she wasnt what i thought i wanted so dont expect to fall immediately....

 

[TGM]

I would class a timewaster as someone who comes to try the horse then says they don't want to buy it because of something that was obvious before they came. Eg. I don't want a mare/I'm looking for something smaller/older/different colour/more competition experience when all those things were on the advert.

Interesting! We once went to look at a horse who we thought was probably too big, too young and too inexperienced for my daughter. Truth be told, we had been let down by a seller at the last moment and had a day free to view horses. We went to view the horse in question, despite our doubts, because there was just something I liked about him plus he wasn't too far away. We actually ended up buying him and he has turned into my daughter's horse of a lifetime. However, if we had turned him down (whether due to his age, his size or lack of competitive XC experience) would that make us timewasters?

 

[HashRouge]

I think you're really only a time waster if you go to view a horse with little to no intention of actually buying it.

TGM - in your case, I'd probably be open with the seller that I wasn't quite sure (for the reasons you state) when arranging to view. The fact there was something you liked about it and the fact that you were actively intending to buy a horse does not put you into the category of a time waster though, even if you had ended up buying the horse.

 

[sportsmansB]

Every horse I've sold in the last 5+ years I think every prospective purchaser has had it filmed, so don't worry about that.

I would class a timewaster as someone who comes to try the horse then says they don't want to buy it because of something that was obvious before they came. Eg. I don't want a mare/I'm looking for something smaller/older/different colour/more competition experience when all those things were on the advert. Or whose budget is vastly lower than the asking price and who didn't mention that until after trying: "I love him, but I can only go to £3500"... for a £6k horse.

This! There are some things you don't know until you get there
But if the horse is correctly described, someone comes anyway and then decides that one of the things they don't like was something obvious in the ad, then thats time wasting. I think some people do what they do when looking at houses- think its better to see plenty, to try and narrow down what they want- and that is time wasting in a way. I had a coloured horse for sale at one time and it was very frustrating with the no shows / no intention of buying people as there was a whole lot of bathing involved in showing him!!

The ultimate time wasters are the ones who don't have the funds to buy the horse, as thats pretty fundamental.
I replied to a wanted ad once as I had a horse which wasn't really for sale but could have been, and they told me that while they had just put the wanted ad up they didn't actually have the money to buy a horse until after Christmas and were just 'putting the feelers out' - in September.

As far as needing to feel they are 'the one' I have had that with one horse, but others i have bought because they are the right one on paper and I didn't dislike riding them. My current horse was this one, he was fine but no fireworks and beating heart type excitement when I tried him. I was still heartbroken from the loss of my previous horse and he was everything I should have wanted so I bought him. Hes been great and I love him now.

 

[SOS]

I don’t think you’re a time waster but I do think you need to be stricter on what you go see. I normally struggle to find anything to even view by the time I speak to the owner and see proper confirmation pictures and videos.

Also don’t be afraid to cut a viewing short if you see something you don’t like and always get them to trot up on the hard before you ride, I’ve walked away a few times then. Don’t go ahead with the rest of a viewing and wasting time when something you saw at the beginning is an absolute no. Not that you shouldn’t give a horse a chance as they’re not going to always be perfect but if a horse isn’t sound or is horrible in the stable and that’s a hard no for you, then say sorry I don’t think he/she is for me and don’t want to waste your time.

 

[Birker2020]

I'm looking for another horse and asking prospective horses for videos (that came out wrong ) but I like to see if they are sound before I go and see them, not that I'm an expert but I like to think I can at least spot some indication of lameness if any is present.

Then I will ring up and maybe ask a question that has been highlighted in the advert, for example, 'horse prefers to hack out in company' as I would take that as the horse is an absolute ba**ard unless its in company. As that aspect is so important to me I'd like to make sure that I could cope with a horse that is not very confident on its own before I went three hours to view it. By asking the right questions you can gain a better understanding of the situation.

Having turned a horse that wasn't confident on the roads and that would rear, spin and nap on the roads to a horse that everyone who wanted to hack out with because he was practically bombproof and would baby anything less confident I feel that I could cope with the challenge again.

I was going to see one on this weekend but unfortunately asked a friend for their opinion and it wasn't really what I wanted to hear and now I don't know what to do. On paper the horse seems perfect, the friend was going to elaborate but didn't get back to me. And now I am totally torn.

 

[splashgirl45]

if you really liked the horse cant you contact your friend and get more info....it may be something that you could be happy with and your friend wouldnt. if i was going to look at a horse there are some people i wouldnt ask because they would be very picky about conformation and would put doubt in my mind which would never go away. my friend who is a trainer would look at the whole package and would advise knowing what i need in a horse and if it had conformation faults it wouldnt be important bearing in mind i would be happy hacking and maybe low level dressage and virtually no jumping..other friends are more competition riders and would quite likely be looking with competing in mind and forgetting that i am a bit old and battered now...

 

[sport horse]

When you go to view a horse with your friend. Ride it for one hour in the school and then hack out. Come back a second time, with trainer and both ride again. Return with another friend plus your saddle, turning up one hour late and at a time when you have been told I would be busy with farrier - which I was. Then say 'no sorry, it is too big'. Well do you know it was the size it was advertised, it was the same size the first time you tried it as well as the same size on the second visit, when your trainer came!

 

[Snowfilly]

I don’t think you’re a time waster but I do think you need to be stricter on what you go see. I normally struggle to find anything to even view by the time I speak to the owner and see proper confirmation pictures and videos.

Also don’t be afraid to cut a viewing short if you see something you don’t like and always get them to trot up on the hard before you ride, I’ve walked away a few times then. Don’t go ahead with the rest of a viewing and wasting time when something you saw at the beginning is an absolute no. Not that you shouldn’t give a horse a chance as they’re not going to always be perfect but if a horse isn’t sound or is horrible in the stable and that’s a hard no for you, then say sorry I don’t think he/she is for me and don’t want to waste your time.

I did do a whole viewing once when I knew I wouldn’t buy from the moment I arrived - alleged 14.2 was barely 13.2 on tiptoes! Seller was a BHSAI so I knew she knew how to measure and I’d been very clear that it needed to be 14 at least, but preferably 14.2 and she told me she’d measured it on flat tarmac.

I was so annoyed after driving an hour and half each way, I saw it ridden, rode it in the field and hacked it out before I got the measuring stick out the car and stood it up. Seller went very quiet and started apologising; I said ‘no good for me,’ and left.

Petty but satisfying.

 

[LegOn]

Every horse I've sold in the last 5+ years I think every prospective purchaser has had it filmed, so don't worry about that.

I would class a timewaster as someone who comes to try the horse then says they don't want to buy it because of something that was obvious before they came. Eg. I don't want a mare/I'm looking for something smaller/older/different colour/more competition experience when all those things were on the advert. Or whose budget is vastly lower than the asking price and who didn't mention that until after trying: "I love him, but I can only go to £3500"... for a £6k horse.

I would also class some people who don't actually try the horse as timewasters. eg. the lady who rang to cancel 15mins before she was due. She was coming from 3.5hrs away, so she must have known at least 3.5hrs ago that she wasn't coming, which would have saved me an hour scrubbing the sparkling white horse and cleaning the tack for nothing!

If people ride, and don't click, I have absolutely no issue with that. I want the horse to go the absolutely right person. I thank them for riding the horse for me for that day and saving me a job!

This!

I agree with some other posts about going to see a horse that might be a little outside of your height/age etc bracket but that means you are willing to compromise and understand that something outside your wishlist might be suitable. I dont think it makes you a timewaster as you are genuinely looking to click with a horse and understand they might be a little off your page.

From friends selling horses, I would agree - turning around and after riding the horse and saying 'I really like them but I didnt want a grey' when the horse clearly didnt change colour overnight but also have a bit of tact and just say they were lovely but just not for you! Real timewaster was a person who came to see a friends horse, loved them, rode incredibly well together, really clicked, she loved the horse, asked if she could come ride again - friend was so happy the match was so good, she was happy to let her come ride again!

Then asked if she would bring the horse somewhere, again friend brought the horse to a local venue, again fabulous ride.... and THEN the lady proceeded to say she didnt want a mare!!!! Horse hadnt put a foot wrong the whole time... now THAT is timewasting.

But I think its just how you deliver the news, even if you really decided you didnt want a grey after going to ride one - WHY would you tell someone that, just keep that shit to yourself & move along. I had a list of 'MUST HAVES' and then a list of 'will compromise on' and I just did my best to stick to that.

I do agree though the pressure to buy shouldnt be so vast from sellers - this is a partner you are hoping to have in your life for a very long time... you should make sure its the right horse for you too!

 

[Jellymoon]

I totally agree. We viewed a pony once and the family were AWFUL. Pony actually seemed quite sweet but the family were so awful that we just couldn't carry on. Pony was a bit spooky when Katie was on board. Izzy glanced at me, pulling an 'oh help' expression because she is nervous riding in front of others and the pony looked a bit whizzy. The mum saw it and shouted at us both: "Oh for god sake you're complete timewasters aren't you. You aren't going to buy it I can tell already. You might as well just leave. I don't want you riding anyway now'. I said 'we have driven over 2 hours to get here and the pony looks nice. We want to ride him please'. My daughter was in tears by this point so I got on and I found out afterwards that the whole time I was riding the mum and daughter slagged me off in front of the twins. "She can't even ride. look at her. She's only walking. What an idiot' etc I was walking because the pony was ridden by a pretty awful teenage rider who just galloped everywhere hanging on with hard hands. She didn't show any flatwork, just immediately started jumping to show the pony's scope - all from a fast canter. I asked her if she could trot a cross-pole and she couldn't. Pony seemed tense and was rushing. So I was slowing everything down and got the pony on the aids and listening. And relaxing. Pony was actually very nice and I felt we could work with him. But when I came back after about 10 minutes thinking 'this might work' the girls were shaking. The sellers were fuming. I read the room and said 'ok this does not seem a good match really'. They then shouted 'we should have gone hacking what a total waste of time' and left us alone on the fields shouting TIMEWASTERS over their shoulder as they marched off. I have never know anything like it. And the weird thing was we had had a long conversation the day before and she had seemed quite sane and normal. She was a fruit-loop. I wonder if they ever sold!

Oh my GOD, what an absolute nutter! You do get people like that in the horse world, and I bet we all have some hilarious stories to tell about horse buying.
My best one was going to see a horse years ago when I was mid 20s and said horse exploded in the arena, ditched its rider, jumped out of the arena, galloped off round the farm, and then they eventually brought it back, and said, would you like a go now??? Hahahah! Erm, no!
And another when I was a bit older, being shown a horse who was with with an Australian eventer, can’t remember name, and the little horse reared up and went over backwards with him. I said straight away, no thanks, he’s way too much for me, but he just carried on schooling it, then kept trying to persuade me to get on, said you’ve come all this way, why not just have a sit. I said, in the politest possible way, but there’s no way I’ll be buying him, so what’s the point? Anyway, he still wouldn’t let me leave, persuaded me to go out for a hack with him on a clients horse (not for sale sadly) so off we went bombing around the countryside, having a jolly time. Then there was a yard tour and tea snd biscuits…
Went away most bemused. Told friend, who said, well clearly he fancied you. Hasn’t even occurred to me!!! Damn it, he was really hot and a proper Australian event rider, imagine what life could have been like…
Wish I could remember his name…

 

[1523679]

I’d rather have 10 time wasters than sell unseen

(Speaking as a private individual currently lowkey-selling a pony)

 

[Gloi]

I feel quite lucky really. I've always bought unbroken youngsters so have never had to ride a new prospect in front of the owners which I would find quite stressful.
I did once go to look at one I wanted to show in hand and have the odd experience of the owner keep turning one side of the pony away from me until I managed to get close enough to see it only had one eye.
I went to a breeder once to look at his yearlings and they'd been fetched down off the hill into a paddock. We walked up towards them but when we were about 20 yards away they ran and the whole gang jumped/scrambled over a big drystone wall and shot off up the hill. I did get one of them the following month when they'd been rounded up again.
The only real problem I've had with selling is with people just not turning up when I've waited in all day. I've been lucky in that I've nearly always sold to the first to turn up.