Misadvertising

Katikins

Katikins

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 March 2010
Messages
772
Location
Den Haag, Netherlands
Visit site
Following on from the thread about people not knowing the colour of the horse they are advertising, lets hear your stories of turning up to see horses that were completely different to what was advertised! I remember when looking for my first pony the amount of times we heard 'its never done that before', particularly after me flying over the head of a little 13.2 with his bridle in my hand after her refused a 1' jump :)

(also, my favourite EVER truthful add had an adendum at the bottom which just said 'for sale as insanely spoilt brat of a child has decided to give up' - it was in H&H as well)
 
Haha. I went to see two with the same owner. The rider got on the first, gave him a jump etc and gave him to me "he's really strong, just so you know" he was fine, in fact not in the slightest bit strong. She went to get on the second and her mum goes "don't bother riding that one for them, she's so quiet your granny could jump her" She bolted with me and I had no brakes whatsoever. After finally pulling up after lap after lap of white eyed wild galloping I got off very quickly and got the classic "ooh, she's never done that before!

Also went to see a 5yo gelding once and arrived to find a 7yo mare. Not sure how they managed that.
 
Hmmmm I went to see one once for an older lady who just wanted to hack about. Looks were unimportant. They were selling him because he had taught the daughter to ride and she now needed something a little more fizzy - he sounded perfect!

The horse was described as bombproof but a little 'common' and a native type. When I arrived it was a chestnut pb arab who was actually quite attractive. The daughter rode him in the tiny school and was obviously terrified but horse did nothing much wrong. I rode him in the school and he was forward going but not strong so decided to take him on short hack - well I got as far as just out of their very very long drive (about 1/2 mile) turned right, horse naps left and takes off in flat out gallop down the drive, I was completely unable to stop the little git and as we galloped round a double bend I was faced with either a very tall gate or the very tiny school, as I did not trust his balance in the school I pointed him at the gate and thankfully he stopped at which point I dismounted and handed him back to the 'shocked' owner, who said 'He has never done anything like that before' - yeh right!
 
Went to see a Conemara for my wife a couple of years back. We have a set list of questions we ask over the phone to make sure it's not a wasted journey. On arrival I had a look at the pony to see a sarcoid right on the girth strap. I asked "What is this then" to get a reply, "Oh, it's got a funny name, I can't remember what they call it". Yes one of the questions is Any Sarcoids?

Got on one when looking myself, should have known something ws a miss when it was put on the secind ring of a gag . Got on and the horse boled round the school and jumped out taking the top rail with it. I bailed out and the owner came over ad gave the classsic phrase.

Phoned another one where I asked the question "Does he have any Sarcoids" to which the chap asked what they were . i exxplained and he said "I think he has one on each of his front legs." I told him it wasn't for me. A few minutes later he rang me back and said, "My wife made me call back, apparently they are called Chestnuts." ! makes you wonder why he hadn't noticed them on his back legs as well!
 
i went to see a RDA horse'apparentley' he was a big belgian draft 16hh, and was advertised as black sensible good to mount nice and steady blah blah blah, he was like a very dark bay, about 15.2 he was a nut case in the school and set of with me hard to mount and scared me half to death, i looked at the advert when i got home of him they had changed everything , dropped the price someone bought him and put him straight back on to sell, typical........
 
Well I saw a very honest one once:

"For sale: 16.2 Warmblood Gelding. This horse is absolutly crazy he kicks and bites has no stable manners. He will buck, rear and nap the majority of the time your riding him. He does load in the lorry however so you could take him to france. Any offers excepted."

I'm not sure if it was a joke but was very funny!

I went to see a "future dressage star" would it even except the contact NO :p
 
I actually did say "He's never done that before" when an ID x TB I was selling a few years back bronced across the arena with a teen girl who was trying him out.

I had 3 more girls try him later in the week, one of which bought him, and he was his normal self!!

The 1st girl who he bronced with, came back with her Instructor 2 days later, and he did it again!!
 
nativeponies said:
I actually did say "He's never done that before" when an ID x TB I was selling a few years back bronced across the arena with a teen girl who was trying him out.

I had 3 more girls try him later in the week, one of which bought him, and he was his normal self!!

The 1st girl who he bronced with, came back with her Instructor 2 days later, and he did it again!!
Click to expand...

My old pony was teh quietest thing ever until this one girl got on him and he did the sam ehting she got back on did it again the I got on he was fine! Some horses just don't like some people! :p
 
Kokopelli said:
Well I saw a very honest one once:

"For sale: 16.2 Warmblood Gelding. This horse is absolutly crazy he kicks and bites has no stable manners. He will buck, rear and nap the majority of the time your riding him. He does load in the lorry however so you could take him to france. Any offers excepted."
Click to expand...

Haha, that is brilliant :)
 
I went to see a horse about 3 hours drive away. It was a '16hh mare, did not buck, bite, nap, rear, did dressage, sj etc etc'.

First, we were meant to be jumping in the jumping paddock, so she puts a dressage saddle on, when she did up te girth, the mare reared. She got on, the mare bucked her off straight away, she got back on, the mare had awful paces and refsed a 2'6" jump and the woman fell off again. Took her to the other side of the field, and the mare napped all the way back. Complete misadvertising! It was awful, didn't even bother to get on.
 
I drove 3 and a half hours to see a horse that had apparently been schooled over the winter, very good, no issues etc etc. Well I should have guessed all was not as was described when the owner wouldn't ride him, only lunge him. Also he was in a pelham with the chain tight and a standing martingale.

Well I rode him, and it was safe to say that he was not what I would called 'schooled'- if a horse can't do walk to trot then back to walk without running off into canter every single time (even when taken out on the roads!), it doesn't class as even basically schooled, he needed complete re-training and this poor horse was 10 years old.
 
I used to ride a horse for one of the liveries at my yard. Who was a bit of a nightmare. The owner made the tough decision to sell her and get someting more sensible as she'd hit the point were she was no longer enjoying her rides when she actually had chance to go on one as she has 2 small children) So sent her on selling livery. she did really well in her 2 weeks theres and was then sold the day after the ad got placed to the first person who saw her, for £500 less than the asking price. So we're all really please and hoping she's in a nice new home (and out YO then used the same girl to sell her show horse and some others)

2 weeks after the mare was sold, she's then put back up for sale for a grand more than what she was sold for....and the advert, something along the lines of - "Perfect mother daughter share" yes if you are both very competant riders "Never kicked, bitten, reared, bucked, bolted...etc," Well she did several of those things with me. "100%to hack" Like hell (tho she had improved when on selling livery). And the best "won lots of showing classes" no specifics....now the old owner had, had her since she was about 3....took her to one show and was asked to leave the ring (in an in-hand class) as the mare was so worked up.

Their reason for selling was that they had lost they're grazing (tho they we're also selling another due to lack of time with no mention of grazing) and apparently would like to keep in touch as they really loved the mare.

The poor thing is probably going to end up going from home to home now, as the advert read like she would be suitable for novices. and the lass that had sold her for the owner originally was fuming, they'd even used her pictures to re-advertise.
 
I went to try out *perfect 16.1 ISH, perfect manners, 100% in traffice, mother daughter share.
Spent ages asking seller lots of questions, sounded perfect.
Got on the mare, asked her for trot and she took off with me round the school couldnt stop her, she almost took a 5ft fence with me! and am a competent rider. managed to get under control, felt brave and took her out on the road, she saw a man with a lawn mower, span on her heels and bolted flat out along the very busy road!! again couldnt stop her, managed to pull her up, got off there and then!! not a nice experience!!
 
Blimey there are some real horror stories.

I went to see an arab once, arrived and the owner handed me the headcollar and pointed her out in the field. Then told me she had reared and thrown her of in the school breaking her wrist.
Caught, tacked up and got on, she was o in the school so I decided to hack her out. She napped so badly at the gate that I just could not get her to move. The YOs husband then got on, with no hat and procceed to lay into this horse, she reared, he came off!

However this does work both ways, I once advertised a pony that had been out of work for about 18 months, he was once a fantastic LR/FR. The last time he was ridden he bucked (proper rodeos) when tacked up. I had the vet etc out and we gave him some time off, circumstances them meant he had the 18 months off.
I advertsied him as a companion/project, I was honest with everyone who phoned and explained about teh bucking, and made it clear that he was being sold as a project NOT a ready made childs pony.

Cue potential buyers turning up with their child, who was already to big for small pony, child had a hat!! They asked if she could have a little sit, I refused, they pushed I still refused!!!! Bloody crazy!
 
Me: "Has she ever bucked or reared?"

Seller: "No, absolutely never, not a nasty bone, stick your granny on etc etc".

Seller mounts, leg on, horse drops shoulder and does an almighty series of bucks.

We left pretty fast...:o
 
I once drove 8hrs to see a gorgeous chestnut dressage horse. Had seen him advertised in H&H and his photo blew me away. Phoned the owner who said he'd been schooled well and done a few prelims. He was a 7yr old. We got there and it was peeing rain, took one look and realised it was not the same horse as in the photo. When questioned, seller said her camera was broken when she advertised so used a pic of his sire! (Who worked at PSG!) He had also been schooled and competed but as a 4yr old! He hadn't been ridden for 3yrs and was a bag of bones! We got back in the car and drove 8hrs home fuming!!!
 
Kokopelli said:
Well I saw a very honest one once:

"For sale: 16.2 Warmblood Gelding. This horse is absolutly crazy he kicks and bites has no stable manners. He will buck, rear and nap the majority of the time your riding him. He does load in the lorry however so you could take him to france. Any offers excepted."

I'm not sure if it was a joke but was very funny!

I went to see a "future dressage star" would it even except the contact NO :p
Click to expand...

I actually laughed out loud at this one! So funny :-)
 
There are, of course, those who read your advert but none of the words or what they are saying lodge in the noggin at all.

I had a horse which I knew would go far in the right hands (not mine!) if he found the right owner. He did indeed go far and is still winning as a showjumper aged 18.

His ad said quite clearly: 'Quirky but talented horse, needs competent, confident, competition rider to reach potential'.

You would not believe the number of calls I had saying "Is he suitable for a novice?"

Or one 14 year old girl saying: "I love your horse, he's pretty. Mummy has sold my first pony and said I can buy anything I like with the money"

Me: "Can I speak to your Mum please?"

Explained to Mum about horse and that he didn't like hacking but was pretty good at rearing if he didn't get his own way and was sharp as a tack, so he really wasn't at all suitable for her daughter.

Mum: "Can she at least come and sit on him? She likes roans" :rolleyes:
 
We had a super looking Sec A, had been gelded, not at all typey and could gallop like a racehorse, we put an ad in saying, lovely pony as long as your name is Willie Carson. We were inundated with people ringing up, he went to a lovely knowledgable home and became a super star. Better to be honest!
 
I went to see a horse not that long ago. They were asking quite a bit for it, I went along to find this scruffy looking creature in their GARDEN!! Yup, they kept it in the garden because quote "it had destroyed the farmers fencing in the field next door". I felt awful for the horse, it had scars all over it (including its face...) and the mum had HACKED off its tail (cut it to just below the tail bone!) as apparently "it had been annoying her daughter and its what's done in Spain" (we weren't in Spain...). I always ask loads of questions but me and my mum were truly horrified by every single answer which came out of the mother and daughters mouths! They were brutally honest. The teenage daughter even told me the horse had bolted with her several times down the main road and now had resorted to napping badly "even going over a few times". I thought, ok surely they're crazy, the horse cant be this bad - well the girl brought out some nasty ancient bridle with rusty bit and then leapt on BAREBACK. She proceeded to boot the horse in the ribs (so hard it weezed) and walk and trot randomly round the small garden. The horse clearly knew NO aids whatsoever - turning it involved yanking its head round to whichever direction she wanted to go in and kicking like hell. She asked if I wanted to ride it, I declined. I emailed the mum the next days and basically offered her £500 for it (IMO not even worth that, but she wanted £3,500!) purely as pity money. She didnt reply so who knows where this poor horse ended up :( And no, I couldnt report them to the RSPCA as the horse was pretty fat (probably worms. They did give it hay, but dusty-as-hell stuff) and its hooves although clearly trimmed DIY werent exactly cruelty-case.
 
Last edited:
I always ask when I enquire about going to potentially view a horse "Has it got any lumps,bumps,vices or blemishes,ifs buts or maybes?" As well as lots of other questions
Last Autum I went to view a hunter, woman pulled it out of stable to be presented by a horse with a huge sarcoid hanging from its stomach, I said to the woman when I asked you the question about lumps etc, why did you not tell me about the sarcoid she replied "I didnt think that counted"
I was very cross, turns out she is a Master of a very prestigious hunt, should of know better, or perhaps thought I was blind and stupid!!
Then 2 weeks ago went to look at a horse asked my relevant questions on phone, to be presented with a very nice horse with a rather large bone spavin!!! I was so bloody cross gave the woman what for, and got in my car. I was fuming.
 
Only two, and kind of minor.
first horse we went to see said it jumped, but only small. So all was fine, then owner put a tiny, and i mean tiny x pole up, horse refused, bucked and threw me over his head. Reluctantly got back on and spent half an hour trying to get him to go over a single trotting pole, in walk. Got him over it then gave up and left!

Second horse was 3 hours away, 17hh 4 year old , been backed at 3, owner said he had never done anything bad in his life, i got on and he proceeded to bolt off and canter round the school many times, and only stopped when i managed to direct him at the gate, which he very nearly jumped, but he skidded to a stop at it. Sister got on and he kicked out at the owner, she walked him round to calm him down he was fine, i got back on and he did the same again, but did eventually get him to calm down and he jumped quite a large fence with me, but still, even though he did get better, he was certainly misadvertised and scared me to death.
 
Well id planned to veiw a horse and arranged to go on a sunday. luckily i had a lesson on the saturday and told my instructor about it.
"its a thoroughbred, 'x'hh", and the he started explaining me to what the horse looked like and what he was described as on the ad! luckily, he'd been to see it wit a client 2 days before and said it was horrific and no way as described.

needless to say, we phoned up and cancelled. Then the next week the woman had put the price up by £1500, im guessing as it looked more expensive it must be "better quality".
Liar.
 
Through word of mouth from a dealer he said he had just sold a lovely 13.2 h bay mare, perfect for me. We got the new dealers number and went to have a look, he was a 14.1 h chestnut gelding!!

Went to see and ex NH horse, it had been round Aintree (not Grand national, the race before). Saw a piccy of him jumping Beecher's and thought wow can't wait to ride this horse. Went out to see him on the yard, you couldn't tie him up to groom or when loaded! He also only had 2 shoes on!! Anyway led him down the road to a grassy hilly paddock. The lady didn't speak very good english! She gave me a leg up and then made hand gestures, basically meaning that he was probably gonna buck and plunge around! Settled him a bit then went for a canter. He got faster and faster but I eventually managed to pull him up. She said crikey you did well, he pi**ed off up there yesterday with the owner!! So much for a retired race horse looking for a quieter life!!
 
I went to see a bay gelding, got to the field (was told to have a look at 2 up there and then come to the yard to see another) and saw a chestnut stallion! I called the owner up and asked if it was the chestnut, he said yes and I said it was a stallion. Bloke says is was gelded last year- I sez "get your money back, it has a big set of....."

Worse was, it was in a field with a very nice and well bred 3yo filly who he wanted to race that year......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top