People who lie when selling horses

I actually agree with Cortez (even though Cortez called my boy an oversized cob :D) get someone to source you a nice Irish import who has hunted a bit, should be able to find something that ticks all the right boxes that way
 
After many years I still can't work out whether sellers are deluded or dishonest buying can be the most soul destroying experiance .
 
So can selling Goldenstar, I could have sold my daughters cob several times in the past few weeks that he's been up for sale as he's fab but I've had to turn idiots away and people who have no regard for his mental well being.
3 viewings by families wanting to stable him at a yard that does no turn out and not one could understand that the lovely boy he is would be no more if stabled 24/7, and I'm wrong for refusing to sell him :(
Then numpties that don't know the front end from the back end of a horse despite saying not for sale to beginners or as a first horse.

Getting so fed up now, but I can't just take the money and forget about him and not care where he goes :(
 
Mmmm I am on the other side of the coin at the moment, trying to help a friend with selling their pony. Clearly described as a pony that doesnt like a nervous rider, the child couldnt even do rising trot and when told not to kick her but squeze the child wouldnt move at all. When she did start walking the child froze, mare moved sideways and child fell off !!. They decided the pony wasnt for them and left us standing there totally bemused.
 
WS this is exactly what we went through when we were selling annie, plus when you put the word 'cob' in the add and also the words 'not for a novice' they completely don't see the latter!!! we had some absolute pilchards turn up for her, one guy got his check book out, he knew what he was looking at, doing and talking about and he was buying it primarily for his teenage granddaughter, which would have been fine if hed have been there to support her but he was 80 and had months to live, I refused his check (could see his daughter sighing with relief) and said I would rather he thought it through some more, he was also really quite frail :(. This was the only purchaser I felt sorry for because he fell for her and I suppose it was him trying desperately to live the last few months of his life to the max, but I/we had to prioritise annie, her long term future and welfare, we were lucky, we found the best possible for her and now they are achieving great things together :) it isn't easy though and it's a long hard slog, you have to have the strength to say no to the wrong people and the faith that the right one will turn up. Everything matters to the buyer too from the horse, to the advert wording, the price must be fair and reflective, too low and you scare people off, if the horse doesn't sell immediately people question what's wrong with it... Logistical nightmare, I'm just so very lucky that I can think of the horses I have sold on and know where they are, who they are with and how they are being treated and smile!
 
Our problem is that we're not picky enough! Tried one, liked him but he totally wasn't right for us. Tried number 2, still not right for us but bought her anyway... and stepdad was like "hey, why don't we go and buy the first one as well?". Fortunately we decided against it.

Then we bought the first horse we saw for my mum too.

No wonder we have trouble with them. :p

OP - good luck with your search. I'm sure you'll get there!
 
I completely understand your frustrations. It is so annoying. We have just found out the seller 'flexed the truth' about my boy's age, breeding, how long they had him and what work he had done! (I am in NZ, they don't have the passport system here)

I wouldn't send him back for a million dollars, love him to bits, but I definitely paid too much for him.

Buyer beware, eh! Good luck with your hunt :)
 
Well, I'm a bit heartened to hear there are genuine sellers who have similar difficulties with numpties turning up to buy! I was beginning to reach the conclusion that if someone has a good horse, then why would they sell it? The ones for sale are likely to be unhealthy/badly behaved/nutters etc as the good ones won't be for sale, they'll be kept by their current owners.

I still think that horses from dealers must be dodgy though because why would an owner want to sell their horse through a dealer, unless it had frightened them to death and they wanted nothing more to do with it? Surely a dealer will just take a cut of the sellers money and mean the owner loses control over where and who their horse ends up with?
 
Holbert said:
Well, I'm a bit heartened to hear there are genuine sellers who have similar difficulties with numpties turning up to buy! I was beginning to reach the conclusion that if someone has a good horse, then why would they sell it? The ones for sale are likely to be unhealthy/badly behaved/nutters etc as the good ones won't be for sale, they'll be kept by their current owners.

I still think that horses from dealers must be dodgy though because why would an owner want to sell their horse through a dealer, unless it had frightened them to death and they wanted nothing more to do with it? Surely a dealer will just take a cut of the sellers money and mean the owner loses control over where and who their horse ends up with?
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Good point although a bit depressing. But I do think there are good horses and sellers out there. If people's lives change that can mean they need to sell a good horse, or they buy young and bring on, or they've outgrown the horse in size or scope. So they do exist. I tried to go for feel - totally subjective and not sure how good a judge i am but i thought ' do I think these are generally honest '? people. Recent purchase I also did 4 week trial, lessons and took friends and instructor with me!

Irish imports - from what I've heard there is a different view of horse ownership and not necessarily a sign that the horse is no good if it's passed to a dealer or sales for the uk market. I think we assume selling via a dealer in the uk means a dodgy horse. I've sold 2 on sales livery but because I didn't want the time hassle and muppetness of selling privately ! I spoke to the purchasers though and one still keeps in touch
 
I thInk it all depends on the circumstances, for us Annie was never going to be sold, but my mums health deteriorated and keeping two wasn't something I could do, she was just starting out and loved her job we just couldn't let her waste in the field, any others Ive sold on have been projects I took on, poor little critters who I rescued and rehabbed, and rehomed, if anything I probably over emphasise the bad bits as I want to ensure they go to the right person.
 
Re: New Zealand. No passport system in America either. I'm from there. However, if I'm buying a horse because not only do I like them but I like the pedigree, then I need proof. Word is no good. It could be I'm not interested at all in pedigree which is fine but if you want to tell me about the pedigree have proof or you look silly.

In the world of selling and buying both parties can be equally as bad. If I'm selling it does me no good to hide things I know about. And not just because of buyer. I want the horse to have the best possible chance of a good home. I too have turned down dreamers and people not suited for a horse.

Terri
 
FabioandFreddy said:
The other big thing was that he was showing slight lameness behind - at trot up, work and on hard or soft surface. !
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I'm afraid this vendor realised over the phone that you are too inexperienced to spot an unsound horse.
You should make sure that you take an experienced friend to your next viewing and then even if the vendor is 'economical with the truth' at least you won't find yourself paying out for an unsuccessful vetting.
 
Gosh, people here (in Ireland) are much more relaxed about the whole thing, both buying and selling, but there seems to be a different attitude in the UK. Why so suspicious of sellers? If no-one had horses to sell, where would you all get yours? Some people make a business out of breeding, training and/or finding horses, that doesn't mean that all of them are out to "do" the buyer.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I'm afraid this vendor realised over the phone that you are too inexperienced to spot an unsound horse.
You should make sure that you take an experienced friend to your next viewing and then even if the vendor is 'economical with the truth' at least you won't find yourself paying out for an unsuccessful vetting.
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I'm not sure how they'd get that from over the phone?!

Taking a break from looking this weekend and will carry on the search frommnext week.
 
FabioandFreddy said:
I'm not sure how they'd get that from over the phone?!

Taking a break from looking this weekend and will carry on the search frommnext week.
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I rest my case!

Just to explain; experienced people ask different questions from the inexperienced and tend to talk about horses in different terms.

Good luck with your search!
 
Thanks so much. I'll be sure to bear in mind to hold back from asking anything that sounds too novice on my next calls to enquire about horses.
 
PaS - Just out of interest, how have you deduced that fandf is novice?
FandF - good luck in your search for a new horse.
 
First off OP, good luck I do hope you find the right horse - he or she is out there I am sure, its just a question of time.

I do sympathise with you. I was blatantly lied to. Needed to buy Mini TX a pony that she could event and do a bit more with, as her loan pony was too old and did not travel well. Got recommended by a friend of a friend to try a lovely ex JA, who was only being sold apparently as the owner was far too big for him.

Did all the right things, tried him 5 times, took our riding instructor and our YO with us and have a 5 stage vetting. All fine, so we took him home. Took him to some local shows, plus some unaff events and he stopped every time at jump 3 or 4. The odd thing is that he would jump any height and any course of jumps at home with no issues, and had jumped to Foxhunter anyway, so the pony club 2 foot 6 classes we were taking him to should have been fine. Anyway, did get there in the end and she affiliated him to BE. He started the same thing again. Had everything checked, yet again. No pain, nothing. YO and instructor took him showjmping, He stopped at fence 3, and could not be persuaded to move past it.

Regretfully decided to sell him and we did to the 2nd person who looked at hime to a lovely PC home, who just wanted to hack, do rallies and did not care for much else. The young girl fell in love with him - he was so well mannered and was a lovely looking pony as well and we sold him for what we paid for him.

I put it all down to experience, we then bought Mini TX's lovely little mare, and the rest is history. However, about a year or so ago I was chatting to a freelance instructor who used to come to teach another livery and she told me he had been totally and utterly overfaced at BSJA. He had also had a nasty fall and it had terrified him. That was the reason he had been sold. Apparently he would jump happily at home, up to 1.30 with no issues, but take him to a show and he freaked out and stopped at fence 3. She said she knew the owners who had had a good laugh at my expense and that I had been a huge mug and that it was a good thing that we did not know much about the showjumping scene locally, as everyone knew about him and him losing his nerve. I would add that YO is an eventer, as was instructor and had never heard of this pony.

After doing a little bit of digging I found this out to be true. Such a shame, as he was sweetie. Thankfully he is still with his new owners as Mini TX stays in touch on FB. He is in a home for life and I can only give thanks that he was not passed around.

I dont waste much time thinking about this, as it left a nasty taste in my mouth and I have far better things to do with my life. He taught my daughter how to ride though. I have seen his last owner about and they made sure they avoided me. Liars, the truth will always come out.
 
I wonder with finances as they are for alot of people at the mo if this sort of thing is going to get worse. Its always gone on but sometimes desperation sets in and people will say anything to get a sale. I dont sell my horses as Im a big softie and it would break my heart to say goodbye to any of them. If for some reason I had to sell any of them I would be brutally honest and probably put everybody off! I would hate anybody to take on a horse without knowing all their quirks.
I found this fudging the truth happens alot with kiddies ponies which really is very annoying. I lost count of the miles and hours wasted viewing ponies described as first ridden, mothers dream etc only to find some bolshy little s*** that no one wanted to ride!
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I'm afraid this vendor realised over the phone that you are too inexperienced to spot an unsound horse.

Pearlsasinger said:
IMO an experienced person would have spotted the lameness and not bothered with a vetting.
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What kind of questions differentiate the 'experienced' and 'inexperienced' then, just so I don't inadvertently ask the wrong 'type' and portray myself as the wrong one if I ever want to buy!

Good luck with your search, OP, I wish people were just honest too :mad:
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Talking of asking novicey questions.

Went to a local show today - saw a lovely coloured pony - then asked the young lady holding him

"Awww he has a lovely fringe, do you trim it with scissors?"

She went grey and announced "its a forelock and has never seen a pair of scissors"

Then left muttering about novices and silly questions!!

I have no idea why I called it a fringe nor mentioned scissors......:D
 
I advertised my cob last year and was perfectly honest about his oddities and guess what no takers! except for complete novices who had only been riding a few monnthd but felt they could cope as he comes across as a fab horse on the ground and 99% of the time to ride as well. Needless to say I did not sell him to any of these people, I still have and will keep him now until the day he dies as would hate to think of him passed from home to home because of his issues.:)
 
Tarte Au Citron said:
I can't believe you're having so many problems finding a horse especially with that budget :eek: i was under the impression it was a buyers market! Also i really do not get why people are so dishonest when selling especially if it will come up in a vetting - it will be found out before buying so what the hell is the point!. I mean we're selling one now and being brutally honest about him as we don't want to waste anybody's time and want him to go to the best most suitable home possible. We love him too much to do any different :).
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the vets are the biggest liers most of them are in many dealers pockets :eek:
 
I was told by my boy's last owners that he was 15.3!! measured him (he has a huge wither), and at highest point he's 17.1. In no way does he look 15.3! hehe.
 
I can honestly say I would never buy from a private seller! They usually have a completely unrealistic view of what horse is capable of and price to match. Why not go to a dealer? See and try as many as you like and they dont take it as a personal insult if you dont like what you try. You also have a comeback with dealer if you have any probs. Im obviously talking about respectable dealers not dodgers!!:)
 
Deseado said:
Gosh, people here (in Ireland) are much more relaxed about the whole thing, both buying and selling, but there seems to be a different attitude in the UK. Why so suspicious of sellers? If no-one had horses to sell, where would you all get yours? Some people make a business out of breeding, training and/or finding horses, that doesn't mean that all of them are out to "do" the buyer.
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I agree, I am in the UK and plan to buy horses from Ireland and the continent to sell/produce/compete and sell on. I don't want to 'do' anyone, I just love doing what I am good at
 
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