Pls HHO give me strength is selling horses really always this frustrating????

Chloe_GHE

Chloe_GHE

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So Dustry's ad has been live for just over a week now and so far about 7 calls and 2 viewings, and countless (despite stating 'NO TIMEWASTERS' on the ad) time and effort wasted.

I really do think I've had it all when it comes to silly questions. I'm based in Wilts and had a lady from Devon say that was too far, fair enough we all have our travelling limits, but in the next moment I have a lady call from Northumberland saying that was fine she would just route map it, only to call back a day later to say after checking the map actually it did seem like a few miles too far *confused and flabberghasted smilie*

The 2 viewings have been very uneventful the first lady said he was 'too quiet' and wanted something a bit more lively *sigh* not the reaction I was expecting having spent all this time de-racehorse-ing him and turning him into a placid calm character, and the 2nd people didn't even bother getting on him as they said he was too small, they had just outgrown their 16.1hh....so......*scratches head* I can't understand why they then came to look at my 16.1?????....... *sigh*

So I'm calling on your help and advice if you have any. I have made his ad as comprehensive as poss to avoid the wrong people calling, I've included a confo and ridden pic. It's on horse quest, horse mart, equine adverts, and a free site, and I've put paper ads up in 7 tack shops. So.......what more can/should I be doing?....

The last project I sold was a lovely little strawberry roan nf mare and she went straight off to the first viewing, but that was a few years back, and I wondering if the market has changed or if I've just blanked out all the previous irritations associated with selling horses.

Home made cookies, a mug of earl grey, and a side helping of 'resigned helplessness' x
 
It something I've never done (all of ours seem to grow roots and stay for ever), but I feel for you it must be so frustrating.

Can't believe someone said he was too quiet - that must be a first for an ex racer viewing.

Can you put a link to the ad to see if we can suggest any little tweaks.

Fiona
 
as a buyer, if i was looking and saw an ad saying no timewasters it would put me off as i would feel intimidated before even looking at the horse.. i looked at 3 horses before i found mine and they all sounded ok in the ads but were not what i was expecting. i hope the sellers didnt class me as a timewaster as i was as honest as i could be on the phone before viewing.

i think it is helpful if the ad says the type of rider/owner you feel would be ideal for the horse, and the type of activity the horse would be most suited to. hope this helps a bit and good luck in finding the right buyer:D:D
 
it is a total nightmare but you have to be patient and do a lot of tongue biting! soooo frustrating. but hopefully it will be worth the wait when mr or mrs right comes along. fingers crossed for you!
 
i agree with splashgirl45, some of the ads i've seen that say "no timewasters" come over quite rude! i haven't seen your add so i don't know if you yours does, but one i was looking at the other day totally put me off! the horse seemed alright but the way the advert was written i disliked the seller too much to give the ad any more of my time! ;)
 
Thanks Charliemouse at least knowing it's not just me is some comfort :)

Fi I'll PM you a link to the add so it's not 'advertising'

Splashgirl45 'no timewaster/canvassers/dealers' etc is par for the course these days I think , I see loads of ads with it on so stuck it on mine to try and eliminate some potential 'joy riders' I have been told tales of people who just turn up to 'view' horses just to have a ride with no intention of buying it at all!!!

Type of owner/rider might be a good edition thanks for the tip :)
 
i just think its a case of being patient :rolleyes: unfortunately there are a lot of nice horses for sale for not much money at the minute so people are all after a bargain... might be worth getting him out to a low level comp or something so that you can add that to your ads?
 
_Charli_ said:
i agree with splashgirl45, some of the ads i've seen that say "no timewasters" come over quite rude! i haven't seen your add so i don't know if you yours does, but one i was looking at the other day totally put me off! the horse seemed alright but the way the advert was written i disliked the seller too much to give the ad any more of my time! ;)
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Oh crikey! No it doesn't come across as rude it's pretty informal and chatty I think the 'no timewasters' is just that tagged on the end.

Here's the ad text.... what do you think?...

16.1hh 4yrs Bay Irish TB Gelding. By Chevalier out of Church Mice foaled 19/03/06
Briefly raced but showed no form. Retired from racing illness and injury free Sept 09
Absolutely brilliant temperament, hugely affectionate, with a fab laid back attitude.
Lovely manners, quick to learn, and very willing. Great natural ability, paces, and attitude.

• 100% to catch, lead, load, traffic, farrier, vet, turn out alone/in company, stable, hose legs/bath, pull mane, lunge, groom, rug, hack alone/in company etc
• No vices, micro chipped, wormed, and vaccinated
• Very hardy sound little horse (wintered out 09/10)
• Non fussy eater. clean limbed with light/medium bone

To date he has started working on the bit getting the idea very quickly, and has been introduced to poles and small jumps. Brilliant to hack alone or in company, bold, forward and not at all spooky or backwards thinking. He's a real 'people person' and a pleasure to be around. Smartly marked with 4 white socks, star, snip, and a very attractive head.

Eligible for ROR classes, and more than capable enough to go onto a future RC/BD/BE/BSJA career. Cracking little horse that is a total sweetie, and such an easy youngster so he deserves a loving 5* home. NO TIMEWASTERS.

Leaving contact details and price off so hopefully won't be accused of advertising :)
 
Oh man :( Sorry about this my dear. Some people are such nobs. I'm afraid it happens though. When I was looking to buy I think I saw about 5 or 6 before I found J. Of those one was an ex racer (she told me when I got there, despite me asking if it had raced before as I didn't want an ex racer), about 3 were not as described (at all!), one I felt so sorry for I just wanted to take it home as the people were just horrific, plus he was overpriced by about £4,000!!

The right person is out there Chloe, just stick with it. I think some sellers are just as bad. I guess buying/selling is like dating... you have to sift through all the **** before you find anything decent :D
 
Your ad seems to cover all the bases, and the only thing I might ask is has he been 'out' anywhere, even a RC rally or unaff dressage. I wouldn't have a clue about prices in SE england though, have you checked (instructor/friends etc) that the price you have put is realistic.

If I were looking for a 4yo then I would at least ring up about him, and view if priced within my budget.

Best of luck in finding him a lovely new mummy.

Fiona
 
Booo hiss, such a difficult market at the moment sadly, but stick with it and i'm sure the gorgeous little fella will find a great home. The two poeple i know recently who have bought horses, have bargined them right down :-( one was on at £4k she offered £2K and got him!!!

Have you tried Pony Club websites, Riding Club websites or Hunt websites, maybe worth it even for a small fee? Or popping along to local events to put an ad up in the caravan ? (i'm thinking pc type events as he sounds such a sweetie for competant child coming off ponies to progress?)

Hope he finds a loving home ...... ;-)
 
Your advert sounds great - I think you have been clear and straight forward and as long as you are not asking a ridiculous price, the right person will come along. I sold my TB last year and found it extremely traumatic and hard work to the point I then took on a loan horse after so I didn't have to go through experience again. Hated loaning and bought another ex racehorse! Despite advertising for 'experienced home only' I had several people emailing asking if he was suitable for a novice rider! He was competing successfully at BE Novice, was totally genuine but needed quite a bit of 'keeping together'. Still took me 7 months and a 1000 off the price to sell him to a suitable home. I really don't envy you, so the very best of luck!!
 
kirstyl said:
Your advert sounds great - I think you have been clear and straight forward and as long as you are not asking a ridiculous price
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I don't think so I've checked with friends and he's a fair price plus it's ono which I hope indicates that there's room for movement. I've tried to be as clear as poss about his progress, but I did have one caller say 'is he the type of horse who will stay straight into a jump and not try to run out the side?' well what can you really say to that? he's just turned 4, and he's only done little fences a handful of times, and he's always been straight and keen and popped over, but essentially he's a blank canvass.

I was thinking maybe people want a more produced 4 yr old eg jumping little courses, xc schooled, and having been out to a few comps but if it was me I would want to do all that with them first myself and wouldn't want someone else to have done it their way, but maybe that's just me and not a common requirement?... plus if he had done all that he would be more £££
 
Sorry Chloe, not got time to read the thread, but I can imagine. The super little Welsh cob I am jumping was at a show yesterday, some people came to see him, and went away, because they wanted a 4/5yr old and not a chestnut! Well why the F*** go look at an 8yr old orange one then?????
 
As a note, too, the market has indeed changed a great deal in a couple of years. It's not affected the top end so much - the people with lots of money still have money - but it's knocked the stuffing out of the lower end markets and it's affected prices for race horses A LOT, with a trickle down affect on retired ones. Most people cannot afford to take a flyer these days so are more inclined to want to be absolutely certain about a horse or keep their money in their pocket.

All that said, selling horses has always been a tricky game. Look how many stories there are about it going REALLY wrong. I've had people come to see high end showjumpers that can hardly post!! :eek: Not to mention that *everyone* lies about heights etc. so everyone is trying to second guess everyone else. Nightmare. :)

But what's at the bottom of it is, except possibly for buying established competition horses, it's about the "fit". There is someone out there for your horse, it's just a case of keeping him out there until that person sees him. Not fun, I know, but it will happen in the end.
 
I feel your pain, there are few things worse than selling horses. If I'm super critical I might wonder about the "bold and forward" when hacking and have doubts about his brakes, especially seeing as he's an ex racer. Other thing which might make people think twice is saying very hardy sound "little" horse, would make me wonder if he's a bit on the weedy side coupled with saying he's got light/medium bone. Which if he is a small 16.1hh is obviously fine, but may put a proportion of your target market off.

Would it be possible to maybe take him somewhere local and low key to do something like a walk/trot test just so you can say he's been out somewhere?

ETA could maybe try the H&H webstite, think it's only £20
 
:D:D
he sounds fab, and if i was looking for a youngster i would be interested. your no timewasters comment doesnt come across as negative and would not put me off.. my only comment is maybe too much info, may make people think he is too good to be true.. good luck!!!!!!!​
 
Actually, i don't count either of them as timewasters. The first person - fair enough, he wasn't her type of horse. At least she was honest and told you do. The 2nd people - they didn't do what people often do which is ask a million questions, ride the horse, go away to think about it... before telling you it's too small! I'd say you've been lucky.
 
having looked up the ad on Horsequest i would get rid of the first photo and just leave the ridden photo and the last conf shot.

also possibly get a photo of him over a little fence.

i would also take out the bit about him being light of bone- the photos show he isn't a great hulking NH tb and the phrase makes people think he is/will be weedy.
and i would probably take out the line describing his markings, as again people can see them in the photos and makes the advert more wordy and likely to be scrolled over.

and lastly i would make a bit more of his potential in the advert- there is only one line about him eligible for ROR and could be affiliated in any career.

when you are up against so many horses advertised with 'potential' you need to talk him up a bit to keep up with the others.
 
All I can suggest is use your nouse when they first call, don't automatically bend over backwards to answer all their questions - if they sound like a numpty ask some of your own and don't be afraid to say "I don't think he'll suit you" if they sound like idiots. If he really is a nice type I would send a couple of emails to some pro's in your area with a link to a good pic or two, they might fancy him as a project.
 
I wonder if he is falling between two categories, in that if you are good enough to bring on a 4yr old tb, you would probably go the whole hog and buy one straight off the course which would be cheaper and you would have the satisfaction of doing it all yourself.

And if you are not competent enough to do that, you would probably want something a little further along the line that had been out and about, even if it is then more expensive.

Perhaps get him out as much as possible while you are waiting for the right person, and charge accordingly. Just an idea!
 
Thank you everyone for your advice.

I think TS hit the nail on the head with the second guessing nature of selling horses and Megabeast highlighted that by reading forward going and bold as possibly not having many breaks! which is deffo not what he's like.

Have tweaked the advert accordingly and added what type of rider he would suit, and bigged up his good points a little more

Llewelyn I think you have a point there too so I'm gonna crack on with his education get him out to a few unaff things and maybe even xc school, then the price tag will go up accordingly. Maybe people really think he is too good to be true! :)
 
Given the frustrating time I am having buying at the moment I can feel your pain!

But I don't think that putting no timewasters will put them off if people have the brass neck to be joy riders then they will do it anyway, after all what can you do to stop them. I think all it will do is put people off who are worried about being labelled timewasters if they don't make a quick decision. It would put me off, I don't want to be hurried into a purchase or have a seller tutting behind my back if I ask lots of questions or want to come back and see the horse a second time.

I don't think that the people you have had so far are timewasters, some people don't put themselves accross that well. Someone saying he's too quiet is just them saying he isn't quite their type, it isn't even necessarily a comment on how he rides! And the too small comment is also fair, 16.1hh horses vary a lot in how they ride and how much leg they take up, which can make a big difference to someone tall. You never really know until you see the horse, and often not until you sit on it.

I'm sure you will find a home for him soon, but it is likely to take a bit of time especially as you are pitching to a limited audience, those confident enough to take on a 4year old ex-racer but not confident enough to buy one straight off the track or an unbroken youngster.
 
I agree with others about 'no timewasters' putting me off..

though you may be honest about your horse in the advert many people are not and also what people say doesn't always reflect what 'you see'. Think about two people describing the same scene - often it appears they are talking about two different places even though both think they are describing things accurately.

Also in terms of height at one point I had three horses.. the one that measured the smallest actually looked and rode the biggest..so its not always easy to tell. My current horse is only about 15.2-3 but rides much bigger - I certainly wouldn't have gone to look at him based purely on height as I would have considered it much too small - so I wouldn't class your last viewers as 'timewasters' and equally if it wasn't what they were looking for and they could tell immediately why 'waste' your time.

I bought mine from Ireland, viewed about ten - I was concerned that a couple of people had brought their horses 'to us' involving a couple of hours journey and didn't want to think they may have wasted their time. It was refreshing to find that their was absolutely NO PRESSURE to buy -the agent said if the sellers don't show them you certainly won't buy them!! That you don't buy them doesn't reflect on the horse just that its not what you are looking for - obviously for these people its what they do for a living and part of the selling involves the showing...
 
Chloe_GHE said:
16.1hh 4yrs Bay Irish TB Gelding. By Chevalier out of Church Mice foaled 19/03/06
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He's a half-brother to Wilby! Doubt I will be able to talk the parents into having a matching pair though...

I don't know what else you can do really... The right person will come along eventually I guess, and he sounds like a nice little horse :) At least it sounds like you haven't had any numpties get on that have knocked his schooling right back though. Besides, if you can't sell him, does it mean that you have to keep him?
 
BronsonNutter said:
He's a half-brother to Wilby! Doubt I will be able to talk the parents into having a matching pair though...

I don't know what else you can do really... The right person will come along eventually I guess, and he sounds like a nice little horse :) At least it sounds like you haven't had any numpties get on that have knocked his schooling right back though. Besides, if you can't sell him, does it mean that you have to keep him?
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Ahhhhh go on you know you want a matching pair ;)

Well no such situation as 'can't sell him' really as he will just remain for sale till sold however long that may turn out to be....I'm going to keep on with him as if he was mine to keep so the more he does and better he gets the more I will have to seriously think about changing the price....another dilemma! :)
 
Hi Chloe,

I've just had a look on Horsequest and I think your ad reads well - if I were looking he'd definitely be the kind of horse I would look for, and in the right price bracket too! I dont think he is overpriced, and for what it's worth I agree with you that many people would like to do the work themselves - although some would prefer him to have XC schooled, etc. You cant please everybody!
All I would say is that I dont think your confo pics do him any justice. The ridden pic is lovely, but I dont like the first or the third - he isnt stood properly and as a result it makes him look a bit gangly. Maybe it would be better if you could get a shot of him popping a small fence so that people can judge what his jump is like, and get him stood nice and square and take a confo shot from a good angle? I think it would make a big difference to the ad! :)
 
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