No viewings - opinion of my advert please

Agree - I like to see a horse's ears forward in photos so it looks willing in its work. It's easy to take a headshot with someone rattling something out of shot so she pricks her ears nicely. Also, you're using "15h" rather than the standard "15hh". That means if anyone searches for "15hh welsh x" for example, your horse won't come up.
 
Photo's are definitely letting the advert down.

Please don't take this the wrong way. When I look at adverts I always look 'behind' the words and the pictures. This gives me an idea of how experienced a vendor may or may not be. Based on what I see I will make a decision on whether or not the horse is worth travelling to see.

I look at the environment the horse is pictured in, I look at the tack and it's fitting and how the rider appears. So an advert of a horse in a rug i would not even read, an advert of a horse stood in sagging wire and broken fences I would by pass unless the conformation was exceptional.

I would by pass your advert purely based in the ridden picture of the horse on the forehand and saddle incorrectly fitted. Even though the wording is good I would draw the conclusion that the horse in the flesh, would be nothing like the worded description.

I hope I have not offended you.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Photo's are definitely letting the advert down.

Please don't take this the wrong way. When I look at adverts I always look 'behind' the words and the pictures. This gives me an idea of how experienced a vendor may or may not be. Based on what I see I will make a decision on whether or not the horse is worth travelling to see.

I look at the environment the horse is pictured in, I look at the tack and it's fitting and how the rider appears. So an advert of a horse in a rug i would not even read, an advert of a horse stood in sagging wire and broken fences I would by pass unless the conformation was exceptional.

I would by pass your advert purely based in the ridden picture of the horse on the forehand and saddle incorrectly fitted. Even though the wording is good I would draw the conclusion that the horse in the flesh, would be nothing like the worded description.

I hope I have not offended you.
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Not offended at all, all input is greatly received.

Just a little unsure as to why one photo of a saddle a bit too far forward would make you assume the horse wouldnt be as described? Genuinely interested to know :)
 
Paint Me Proud said:
Not offended at all, all input is greatly received.

Just a little unsure as to why one photo of a saddle a bit too far forward would make you assume the horse wouldnt be as described? Genuinely interested to know :)
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AA said what I was thinking and put it well, it is easy to write some words about how well educated a horse is, or even copy them from elsewhere, but if the photo contradicts the words I get put off.
When you see an ad saying for example "huge scopey jump" and the photo is of a horse popping over a small fence in an unimpressive manner you move on to the one that shows a horse jumping impressively, the first may actually be more talented but the impression is that if the seller thinks the photo is evidence of the "scopey jump" then you doubt that the seller knows what they are talking about.
Instant impact is what is required in the photo, it must catch the eye for the right reasons and then you will get the calls you want from serious buyers.
 
it says that she is part appaloosa, is she registered as part bred? Do you know if the appy parent was registered? People who are interested in Appy's would want to know that.
 
be positive said:
AA said what I was thinking and put it well, it is easy to write some words about how well educated a horse is, or even copy them from elsewhere, but if the photo contradicts the words I get put off.
When you see an ad saying for example "huge scopey jump" and the photo is of a horse popping over a small fence in an unimpressive manner you move on to the one that shows a horse jumping impressively, the first may actually be more talented but the impression is that if the seller thinks the photo is evidence of the "scopey jump" then you doubt that the seller knows what they are talking about.
Instant impact is what is required in the photo, it must catch the eye for the right reasons and then you will get the calls you want from serious buyers.
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This exactly. The photos do not support the ad or confirm the information given.
 
Paint Me Proud said:
Not offended at all, all input is greatly received.

Just a little unsure as to why one photo of a saddle a bit too far forward would make you assume the horse wouldnt be as described? Genuinely interested to know :)
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Purely because an experienced owner/vendor would not put a saddle on incorrectly and then use the picture to advertise the horse. For me it says, novice owner, possibly inflating the description of the horse. For instance the wording says started lateral work, yet the picture you have used shows the horse well on the forehand. Swap the picture for a lovely uphill one and a jumping one sideways on and you should generate some interest. I would also shorten the tail, that will shorten the back a little.

I think anyone selling horses just before winter hits is up against it regardless of how good the advert is, we have had 2 difficult winters, the country is still in recession regardless of what the politicians tell us and the increase in fuel and food costs has to be making decisions about leisure and hobby purchases a little more difficult for many people.

Good luck, she is a pretty mare, get that camera out !
 
AdorableAlice said:
Purely because an experienced owner/vendor would not put a saddle on incorrectly and then use the picture to advertise the horse. For me it says, novice owner, possibly inflating the description of the horse. For instance the wording says started lateral work, yet the picture you have used shows the horse well on the forehand. Swap the picture for a lovely uphill one and a jumping one sideways on and you should generate some interest. I would also shorten the tail, that will shorten the back a little.
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Trust me, if I had a better photo I would use it but I really have a very very limited number of photos to choose from. I had already decided on taking better photos :D

For the record though it wasnt me who put the saddle on like that, ha ha. Not normally how it is fitted (that is an £800 made to measure saddle!!) so I guess it may have been nerves before the competition that lead to the mistake - still gained 2nd place though, lol.

Quite excited about getting some new photos actually. Will tell the owners I am on a mission with my camera :D
 
The photos are awful I would look at them and move on if I was looking for a horse who fitted the description .
Better photos might get you some interest.
You have to capture interest at the first glance at the add .
Personally I hate the wording of the add all the fluff about the home is irrelevant to me it just says difficult silly people to deal with however I would not be your target market for this sort of horse .
Sorry to be blunt just my immediate thoughts when I read the add .
 
I love getting 'sales' type pics, and she looks very photogenic. I'm an equine photographer, so have a vague idea of how to get a horse looking it's best. Definitely a sunny day if you want the sheen, also shaving chin and feathers makes a huge difference. Because her mane is a typical wispy appy one, I would really recommend plaiting it for the pics. Flat work and liberty pics always look best with white bandages, make sure the rider is wearing as unobtrusive clothes as possible (black jods and dark shirt/sweater). Liberty pics do catch people's eye, especially as she did well at showing. For loose pics you want to excite pony! You probably want the rider, and a helpful assistant with a bucket of pony nuts and some crackly plastic on the day.
 
Goldenstar said:
The photos are awful I would look at them and move on if I was looking for a horse who fitted the description .
Better photos might get you some interest.
You have to capture interest at the first glance at the add .
Personally I hate the wording of the add all the fluff about the home is irrelevant to me it just says difficult silly people to deal with however I would not be your target market for this sort of horse .
Sorry to be blunt just my immediate thoughts when I read the add .
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ha ha ha, the fluff was only put in tonight after advice from another HHO member who said the advert was too dealer-esque and needed something more personal.
 
thanks for advice about dark clothing, will keep that in mind.

Chin and feathers now disappearing soon.......;)

Sadly though we are not allowed to loose school at our yard so no liberty pics :( boo hoo
 
Agree the pictures need to show the horse off better, and I'm another one who gets put off by the 'must go to this type of home' wordings - I just assume I won't be good enough and move on!

Ironically, if I hadn't just taken a welsh D on loan while my spotty grows up, this would have been just the type of horse I'd have been looking for!
 
If I was looking for a horse for sale these are the first things I'd think of the ad.

• I'd be put of off by the ears being back in the pics. Doesn't look like she's happy working or has a good attitude, even though its just a moment in time it really puts me off.

• A better jumping shot would be great, she doesn't look happy or jumping well in that one. I'd be worried she wasn't a good jumper as the jump is small and it doesn't look like she's jumping it well (but it could be the bad photo). If you say she's scopey, then stick a picture up that shows it. When I look at ads I always think the photos of jumping are people sticking up the shots of them jumping the highest of their comfort zone, which in this case is quite small. (The exception to these are the ads where people have obviously hurtled the horse at a massive jump to get a photo of it going over an impressive height - I don't mind these as i like a horse is doing a good scopey jump despite an obviously cr*ppy rider on board !)

• It comes across like someone who really loves their horse but is novicey. I hate the word 'potential' in ads unless there's some actual proof of natural and proven ability so far. I have potential to be an astronaut, but realistically its not going to happen. If she has potential to be a hunter-trialler then you'd naturally have pics of her jumping hedges and ditches happily.

• Saying two local shows doesn't sound as impressive as sticking a good pic up of her from the show, with her first prize rosette. If you are emphasising that she might have potential showing, then why not show the pics to back it up.

Be realistic about what kind of home she would suit and you have a better chance of finding the right home. If she's a lovely hack who would suit someone doing lower level riding club, then pitch it at that. For her sake as well, it's better to sell her to a good match instead of someone getting her and then realising months later she will never be confident jumping a course over a metre. When i bought my last lad they were completely honest about what kind of home he would suit, and he was exactly as they described.

• The other thing I would think is that if she is so great, why have you only kept her two years and why are you selling now? If she's great all-rounder then i'd imagine she's the kind people would keep and I'd want to know why she's for sale.

Hope you get a lovely home for her, she looks very sweet! I'm sure with better photos she'l be snapped up!
 
Not sure if I'm being a dunce again or what but it says in the ad that you can view a video to see her hacking but I can't see any video on the HHO ad :)
 
To be fair I have similar views on adds as AA. This is a young horse and bringing on a young horse is a really specialist job so for starters I would expect only a very experienced amateur rider to take it on. Then the photo of the horse shows a badly placed saddle - putting the saddle on wrong is one thing, taking a photo of it and advertising with it suggests the owner is not aware that the saddle is badly placed, which again suggests that the owner does not know what they are doing (I don't mean to be rude, I am just telling you what goes through my mind when I see the advert!). Similarly with a photo of a horse on the forehand, it suggests that the owner does not know how a young horse should be ridden and would make me worry that they have not done a very good job.

You need better photos and it might be best to remove the advert until you can take better photos. The on the forehand photo is the main one and if you compare it to other adverts, e.g. I see a young grey right under the mare, it doesn't compare favourably. Use a quick shutter option on your camera which takes hundreds of photos, it will be a tiny bit of work to look through all of them but it will allow you to pick the one that captures the best moment of suspension.
 
3Beasties said:
My instant reaction is she is too cheap and you need better photos.
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That was my thought!! Like her in the jumping one, but the flat work she looks very much on the forehand and the one in the stable looks a it odd as she is not stood up square and the pic is not taken from the side. Like the one of the head. Very pretty.
 
I really like your horse but the jumping pic would instantly put me off. It looks like she's struggling to get over it. If I don't see a photo of a horse jumping confidentially over a jump, looking sharp picking up their legs, then I move on.
As someone mentioned before the saddle being too far forward doesn't show her shoulder off the best and makes her look long in the back. Being on the forehand wouldn't put me off though. For me its all about the jumping photo. I can fix schooling problems easy enough but a horse has to be keen to jump and with good technique.

I think one good jumping photo, side on, will make all the difference. Set up a photo shoot this weekend and concentrate on a jumping photo. Jumping a spread side on. Then use this as the main photo. Good luck she is lovely!
 
Agree with the previous posters re the photos being off putting. The mare looks a tad grumpy and disinterested in most of them.

A (good) dealer I know uses video to film a horse to get action pics for on line ads. She'll film a schooling and jumping session and then use frame by frame advance of the 'good' bits to find the best stills. The results are lo res but look fine on line.
 
I would put the untacked photo of her as the main photo - she looks to be a nice shape in that, whilst the ridden photos do her no justice at all imo. She is still on the forehand in the trot, if you can't actually take a photo of her going uphill at least use one of the rider sitting rather than rising, as that makes her look tipped forward, which again emphasises the 'on the forehand' impression. I always prefer to see the rider in adverts dressed smartly, so not impressed by the jumping photo. As someone else said a side on view of a jumping shot is better. She is a priced a bit more than the 3 yr old which I bought earlier this yr. Ours was backed but needed to grow on and will finish bigger than yours, your ridden photos give the impression that the owner is not very experienced and might have caused problems for the next owner. I would only look at your horse at this time of the yr if the price was negotiable and I knew that she was registered part-bred Appaloosa (or eligible).
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I always prefer to see the rider in adverts dressed smartly, so not impressed by the jumping photo.
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LMAO! this really made me chuckle. Glad my outfit has an effect on your opinion of the horse ;)

Advert states she is still green and being on the forehand is part of that.

I have actually had quite a bit of interest in the last week and someone coming back this weekend for a second viewing so fingers crossed.
 
minimilton said:
I really like your horse but the jumping pic would instantly put me off. It looks like she's struggling to get over it.
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I think it is the point the photo was taken rather than anything, she is still on the take off in the photo and did actually clear the jump really well but photos were taken on a friends phone so not the best.

If she doesnt sell to the people coming for second viewing this weekend I will arrange a photo session and see if I can get someone else to ride her so I can be behind the lens where I belong!! :D

Thanks for the advice xx
 
Paint Me Proud said:
LMAO! this really made me chuckle. Glad my outfit has an effect on your opinion of the horse ;)

Advert states she is still green and being on the forehand is part of that.

I have actually had quite a bit of interest in the last week and someone coming back this weekend for a second viewing so fingers crossed.
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I'm glad that you are now having some success with your ad.
I made the comment about clothing because someone else had said that dark clothes make a better picture - I disagree.
There are ways to make her look less on the forehand, which can often be more about the way a horse is ridden than its stage of training. I suggested a couple of ways to improve your trot photo, which makes her look very on the forehand, which is likely to put people off.
In the unridden photo she looks to be a nice sort.
 
Paint Me Proud said:
I think it is the point the photo was taken rather than anything, she is still on the take off in the photo and did actually clear the jump really well but photos were taken on a friends phone so not the best.

If she doesnt sell to the people coming for second viewing this weekend I will arrange a photo session and see if I can get someone else to ride her so I can be behind the lens where I belong!! :D

Thanks for the advice xx
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Yes it's the stage of the jump and the angle. I'm sure she has a lovely jump. The hard part is getting people to view her. Once they see them in the flesh then the photos are irrelevant anyway, its just getting people out to see her in the flesh. Good luck with the sale
 
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