Selling and buying horses, need advice

little_critter

little_critter

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I've decided to sell my horse. She is my first horse so I've never sold before. Can you give and advice on what to do. (I will be putting the word around the local pony club)
Also I'm going to need some advice ref buying. I knew my horse and her owner before I bought her so didn't do any of the usual looking, trying, checking, vetting etc.
I'm almost tempted to try buying from a (good) dealer so there are several to look at in one trip.
Again, any advice? (an a-z guide would be good!)
 
Advice for selling would be to take your time. If you do put up notices/adverts, think very carefully about the questions you want to ask - assuming a good home is important to you. Have some photos/videos available you can send on to prospective owners and ideally be prepared to allow them to ride your horse 2 or 3 times so you can be happy they are going to be a good match.

Regarding buying, have your questions ready, remember things to ask about that won't necessarily be declared, such as Sweet Itch, Cold Back and last time anyone fell off and why(!). Take your time, buyer beware and leave a good budget for help to find what makes new horse tick. And remember, buying a horse is always a risky thing, so accept that and go with your heart!
 
Thanks for the advice. Ref buying I will be involving my instructor and will probably have an intensive block of lessons on the new horse to make sure we get off on the right foot.
 
First piece of advice would be to sort out selling before you start thinking about buying, yes it's spring but it may still take some time to sell and it'd be really frustrating to find something nice and not be able to buy because you haven't sold your mare yet!

Be honest, get your vet to print out her history from their system so you can show it to people, get as many photos of different things she has done in a pack so you can show them, write a simple but detailed ad (nobody wants your life history but they do need basic facts about the horse), if you don't want to loan or lwvtb but this clearly in the ad (people will still ask but you might put a few off), photos for the ad - one stood in headcollar only stood square and from the side, one ridden on the flat and one jumping (if she does)
 
I've just sold my first horse , my advice would be a take up to date photos & videos & put an advert on a reputable site . Also if you are advertising on FB don't get into long PM's coz there are a lot of time wasters on FB just reply to your PM' s and then give your number if they are really interested they will call. Good luck :)
 
Thanks , don't worry I won't be buying until I've sold.
This sounds dodgy but medical history might be tricky. The reason I'm selling is personality clash. She won't go for me but turns out is a push button ride for my instructor. However in getting to this conclusion I've had loads of medical tests done on her to check its not a medical problem (should have got instructor on her over a year ago!)
Of course I will be honest but at first look it will seem suspicious.
Also as I can't get her to go I will have to find someone else to demonstrate her to potential buyers.
 
Hi :) I'm buying at the moment, so though I could give you a run down of what I found frustrating about horse ads (so you can avoid ;) )

Things missing from (various) ads which I feel are important...

Age, height, gender, level of experience.

Things nice to have in ad, but not essential...

Good with vet, farrier, dentist? Can be clipped, bathed etc?

Shod or unshod (if unshod, needs boots for any particular terrain?)

Vaccinations, dentistry etc up to date? Seen an osteopath, chiropracter recently?

Good pics are a must, if you have only one photo take a decent conformation photo with only a head collar on. If your horse is coloured a photo from both sides is helpful.

If you can, also take some video, just a few minutes, showing: mounting, w/t/c on each rein - if in a school, transitions on the markers are good - and halt. If she jumps, a short course (3 - 4) jumps of a reasonable height for her/you - this helps to demonstrate steerability and control as well as showing "yes my horse can jump x height"

In your ad, be direct and to the point, break the ad into separate paragraphs. Have someone check your spelling and punctuation (becasue you can often not see mistakes in your own work, and a spell checker won't pick out correctly spelled words in the wrong context (see the thread on HHO about the "genital giant horse"!)

Good luck :)

PS. I don't mean to sound preachy at all, but I must have reviewed hundreds of ads over the past 2 months, some very good ones some abysmal ones.
 
A medical history that shows she's been tested for loads of stuff and nothing found would be of benefit to potential purchasers wouldn't it? You'll have to be honest about why selling (likely to be their first question), and an honest reply backed up by vet history that didn't find anything wouldn't put me off at all.

I'd be more suspicious if you wouldn't rider her at all, if you're honest and say you can't ger her to perform at her best - find I won't expect to see her at her best. A video of her at her best for your instructor might save you loads of cash - if your instructor is £20 a time to ride her for a buyer - you could have 10-20 people try her and that really adds up!

Other advice is be sensible about her value if she's not straightforward to ride.
 
Casey76 and polos mum thank you for your advice.
It's not a case that I can't get her to perform at her best. It's that something about me makes her plant so prospective buyers will see 10 minutes if me trying to get her out of halt.
My instructor rode her at the weekend and she was a push button ride!
Ill speak to my instructor and see if she is willing to do a video / demo rides.
 
I'd also ask around any/ all of your friends and get them to ride her also, no point in advertising her if only your instructor/ someone of that level can get her out of halt!

Or you'll have a lot of frustrated people turn up!
 
Thanks, ill ask round the yard for test riders. I too want to see if she's ok for everyone else but me.
My instructor didn't 'appear' to have to do anything special to get her going. She didn't even threaten to be difficult, she was a totally different pony.
 
Well, I can ride speed demons with no problem...but as a result of this, if you put me on something that is rather less forward going...I can't get them to move. And sometimes I mean actually cannot get them to even walk! So I'd try not to worry about it, although I know it's disheartening to see your instructor get on and get her going.

I second what Casey76 said. I too have been looking (subject to vetting on Thurs, I've found my lad!).

Things that instantly put me off:

horrific grammar and spelling (you've written coherent posts so you're clear on that one!)

awful photos of the horse e.g. bad angle, head on, etc.

I know they sound bleeding obvious, but I've seen some abysmal ads during my search!

Make sure you include age and height- again, sounds obvious, but I've seen so many ads where they've forgotten to mention height!

Put in your location- I didn't want to phone up about what looked like my dream horse to find it's 200 miles away.

Again, obvious- make sure the photos you upload are of that horse. Again, I've seen ads where the photo doesn't match the description at all (totally wrong colour!)

Again, as mentioned, split it into paragraphs. So much easier to read!

And just be honest. I've seen ads where they've said "just don't get on", "not the horse for me" etc and I haven't been deterred, especially if they've given a bit of an explanation (over-horsed themselves, etc). At the end of the day, unless you've known your prospective purchase for a while before, buying is a bit of cross your fingers and hope you've made the right decision!
 
Be very honest about why you do not ride her. I viewed one where the owner didn't ride it and she was awfully vague about it; then got some very pro guy to jump him. No way I was going to get on the horse if she wouldn't. If you can handle, mount and walk the horse around, then do so to demonstrate the horse is not a monster. Then explain your instructor ( or whoever) will demonstrate the horse. Trying horses for buying can be an extremely risky activity, and sellers often forget the risk prospective buyers take in getting on a strange horse, so re-assure any potential buyers about this. Good luck!
 
Casey76 said:
Hi :) I'm buying at the moment, so though I could give you a run down of what I found frustrating about horse ads (so you can avoid ;) )

Things missing from (various) ads which I feel are important...

Age, height, gender, level of experience.

Things nice to have in ad, but not essential...

Good with vet, farrier, dentist? Can be clipped, bathed etc?

Shod or unshod (if unshod, needs boots for any particular terrain?)

Vaccinations, dentistry etc up to date? Seen an osteopath, chiropracter recently?
Click to expand...

And the thing that bugs me the most is when people don't put a) a price (unless it's £10,000 +) and b) where they are. Always put a contact number, if you only put an email, people will think it's either fake, or dodgy.

Advertise her realistically, if she's a RC horse, say she is and not a competition horse. To me a competition horse is for affiliated competitions, RC/PC horses are more for exactly that and local level competitions, maybe BSJA/BE up to a meter or something. If she's leggy, don't make people think she's forward etc.

I've been to so many, all over the country in the past month and 99% of them were misadvertised for what I was looking for (competition horse) they were all more RC horses. But maybe my view on types of horses are completely different to everyone elses :p

Good luck! :D
 
So sorry you've not got on with your horse, it's so disappointing! I've had my dressage schoolmaster for 4 years and frankly the first 6 months were hell, he'd hack nicely but in the school i couldn't get him to do anything. I nearly sold him but was advised to give it a full year. I had lessons with a really good instructor, worked hard on improving my riding and had him ridden by a friend who could "get a tune" out of him. By the end of the year, he was a different horse and more importantly, I was a better rider and now he's my horse of a lifetime. You may have done all this but sometimes the devil you know is better than buying something different.
If you are going to sell him, you definitely need someone to ride him who can get him going. i would never try a horse without seeing him ridden first. Have you thought of sending him to someone to sell on for you? Sometimes you'll get a better price and cover your selling costs. Good luck I hope it all works out for you.
 
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