Selling horses RANT!

Lisamd

Lisamd

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I have 2 horses to sell, a 4 year old and a 5 year old. Having advertised the 4 year old for sale on Tuesday i have had several phone calls/emails which is great.
When i am asked if he has any vices and i say no, i mean no. I understand that people are weary of purchasing horses and that it is a mine field but please have some trust in human nature and a belief that people can be honest. Neither horse bucks, rears or bolts and neither has ever shown any tendancy to nap or be overly spooky, but they are young so i always point out that although they have never done it - i can't discount the fact that they may not do it in the next 20 or so years of their lives!
On speaking to someone last night i said that the 5 year old was 'sharper' than the 4 year old, due to being more TB and less ID, to which she started trying to put words into my mouth about his 'sharp' behaviour. He has never done anything wrong in the 12 weeks he has been broken in but he is not as laid back as the 4 year old - simple.
I love producing all my babies into happy, well rounded individuals. I enjoy every minute with them, doing all their 'first' stuff so please if you are looking to buy a horse make it as pleasent to sell them as it is to produce them.
Ah i feel better now - thanks for surviving my rant!
 
I've lost count of the amount of people who ask the same question over and over again, I always give them a straight answer, mostly the answers are positive (ie no the horse doesn't bolt/rear/bite/steal cars) and they STILL don't call back or want to see the horse! I always wonder if they think I'm lying as no horse could possibly be that nice? I think most people are mental, I mean if you're buying a 4 or a 5yo surely you wouldn't expect them to be completely established in everything and you hopefully wouldn't expect them to have learn many bad habits?? Mental.
 
There is an old phrase that 'fools breed horses, for wiser men to buy', I think the modern equivalent is 'The wise breed horses, and fools phone, text and e-mail them endlessly with no real intention to buy'.

Best of luck, both with selling and dealing with the numpties.
 
The thing is, though, I do know some people who use the term 'sharp' to mean that the horse is a bit naughty and might suddenly spin or buck, so I can quite understand the caller wanting to clarify what you mean by that term! At the end of the day I would rather a caller ask lots of questions and decide not to view the horse, rather than ask hardly anything, come and try it and then find the horse unsuitable for their purposes and waste everyone's time!
 
I can understand your feelings. But I think that some people who are buying may also have had bad experiences before... you see, one bad experience is enough to somewhat spoil the next 10 (!!!) viewings. Some people go and view a horse a hundred miles away which is meant to be sharp, but when one arrives it's actually much worse than that. After that, you'll be analysing every single word the seller says!

Similar to the discussion about "forward going", "sharp" can be many things. Yes, it can mean a horse that is more "alert", but similarly, I have had plenty of people describing my mare as "sharp" - when oftentimes she is quite a bit more than alert... maybe the alertness that one only achieves after drinking 3 cans of coffee and 3 cans of red bull in one sitting!!!

People wonder why I ever bought her - but I had her since she was a baby, and it's hard for me to just let go.
 
I think if someone is worried about a recently broken 4 or 5 year old being forward going or sharp, then they are looking at the wrong horse.

I could rant long and hard about idiots buying youngsters, but that is a whole subject on its own.
 
Can understand your frustration, I put NO TEXTS in the ad last time I sold a horse as I dont have time to reply to endless questions... After texting me, a woman proceeded to call me all sorts of names because I hadn't replied to her text!

On the other hand, I'm looking to buy at the moment and always ask about sarcoids. Needless to say, the vendors always claim the horses have no sarcoids and when you point them out, the usual reply is 'oh, i;ve never noticed that before!' or 'they won't cause any problems', or 'they're warts, not sarcoids'. It's a complete waste of their time as well as mine as I won't buy anything with sarcoids!
 
Delta, Texting is the thing that annoys me the most.

Why is it that people text about a horse you are selling?
Have the lost their tongue? dont have one? their head fell off?

Its the one thing that really annoys me.
If you are keen enough to want a horse then why cant you be bldy adult enought to actually make a phone call!!!

I might be wrong but I dismiss people who text straight away, dont want them owning any horse I`m selling.

Rant over......now look what you started lisamb! lol
 
I felt the same about people texting but if I'd dismissed them without another thought, my old horse wouldn't have found such a wonderful home.
 
Lol - i somehow knew it would rattle some cages!

Although i do appreciate what some people have said re the use of word 'sharp' - thanks for the heads up.

Texting is great - hows this one...
Is ur horse still 4 sale. If so pls cn u tell me wot its like? Just need 2 spk wiv trainer first.

Now seriously???
 
Yes I agree, when I see adverts saying sharp or forward going etc, it does depend. I would say my mare was sharp as sometimes she will whip around on hacks if you're not paying attention, very alert etc. But to some people it means other things.

My friend tried to sell a horse once, got texts from a girl. She stupidly replied as she had no other interest, and the next day got the girls dad ringing up shouting down the phone about how irresponsible it is to sell a 17hh eventing mare to a 12 year old that hadn't asked her parents etc! Needless to say she doesn't reply to texts or emails now and neither would I :)
 
ha ha, I think that person text me aswell!!

It was someone like : is ur hrse still 4 sale. wots she like. does she jump.


so, thats ok I hear you all saying!........It was a companion mare.....
 
Personally, I don't see the problem with enquiries via email in the first instance. If I saw an ad for a horse and I had some queries about it's suitability then I wouldn't hesitate to email for further info, and would then proceed to telephoning if the questions were answered satisfactorily. An example would be if the ad said that the horse had showjumped, for example, but not what height it had competed at or what results it had had. I might email to ask that information to see if it had the experience I wanted, rather than waste the vendor's time with a telephone call when I wasn't sure whether the horse ticked all the boxes.
 
I can understand your frustration and it does take time to sell a horse, but I can see it from the buyer's point of view. For example, you say you mention the horse has no vices, and then talk about bucking, rearing, etc. Personally if you said the horse has no vices I would take this to mean the four vices (box walking, cribbing, wind-sucking and weaving) which the vet asks about in a vetting and not naughty behaviour such as bucking and rearing, so I would ask separately about that. Also, descriptions such as 'spirited', 'lively', 'sharp' can mean different things to different people so I would always ask for more info on what they seller means by them. I wouldn't consider someone a numpty or a time waster for asking these questions to be honest.
 
I don't have a problem with emails and this also gives you a chance to attach more photos, links to videos etc. The bloomin text that says "is ur horse still 4 sale" or "wot colour is it?" is time wasting AND asking me to spend MY money to reply to them! People who call me when I'm advertising a tb and ask if it's a FULL tb or what colour it is- that's just dumb, they can see that in the advert. I have no problem with most dumb questions (what would he do if I waved my hands in his face/ saw a spaceship/ was ridden on the M25) but when it clearly states in the advert? I'm not just talking about airy fairy things like "good looking" or "clean legs" which can be misinterpreted but actual facts such as- not suitable to be ridden, BAY, Thoroughbred, BSJA registered, jumped up to a meter etc.

Texting gets my goat the most though- seriously, "can u tell me about it?" how many texts will I need to send? Maybe send one that says "it is very nice" ans wait to hear from them? Grr..
 
Buying and selling horses is such a mine field. Ive just sold my girl. She was very sharp, tense, 16.2 Shire XTB, built like a brick Sh**house!! I put a vid on you tube so viewers could see what they were coming to look at with the idea i would get more serious enquires and not waste anyones time. That didnt happen! I told people on the phone, was 100% honest. Still got novices come out though, one girl wouldnt get on her! Said she was intimidated by her size! She had watched the video so could see what she was coming to see which did confuse me a bit!
On the other hand buying horses is hard too. Just recently saw a mare advertised as a dressage superstar in the making, quite cheap. Had photos of her prancing around, looked very nice. At end of ad said she turned out her toes slighlty, this was her one fault. Rang up to enquire about this and owner said she turned it out a bit when working. Now this can mean a lot of things, dishing, etc and can be strengthened with work so i asked her to do me a vid clip so i could see it before going to look at it. She did this and to my horror the poor mare didnt turn out her toe, she actually had more of a club foot! I contacted her back and said sorry but that cant be retified and she actually told me off and said what was i expecting for the price she was!! My reaction was, a horse i can ride! That poor girl shouldnt have been advertised as a ridden horse, the stress on her limbs would be enormous. I am pleased i enquired more about it as if i had driven 1 hour away to find that at the other end i would not be amused!!
 
I must say I find texts quite useful. For starters I hate talking to strangers on the phone; secondly if the advert is old I would rather find out if its still for sale rather than ringing up 101 people to find they have been sold.

On a selling point of view, I also finds it comes in useful. Two examples, fisrtly I am at work, I cant talk at the minute, however I can reply to a text saying something like yes horse is still for sale, he is suitable for a first ride, if interested please ring me back after x time.

Secondly, you tend to see time wasters easy on text, and dont have to talk to them. For example my 11 yo grandaughter is desperate for a horse on loan is yours still available (16.2 cob x tb built like a tank) errr.... not suitable!
 
Whilst it wouldn't occur to me to send a text reply to a horse advert, I'm keen on e-mail.

Simple reason being that I've been mis sold a horse in the past (other side eventually admitted that the horse did have a "history") which resulted in large financial loss and a pair of crutches.

With e-mail I have written answers to any questions I may have about the horse. If the advert says for example, "good to hack" but doesn't mention traffic, I want written clarification.
 
I am afraid I am one of those that email or text occasionaly only because in our area signal strength is very hit and miss and no I cannot use a landline as not in area. So please bear in mind we are all not timewasters
 
I am afraid that I need to text as I am hearing impaired and cannot manage to hear well enough to use the phone . I find phoning so stressful ,I cant be the only one so please it is not fair to say no texts.
 
I do not mind texts or emails and I will reply to them all, my pet hate is those ppl that come out to see a horse 4 or 5 times, bring their 'knowledgeable' friend then their trainer then getting a vetting then say no I dont want it for such and such a reason!!! Winds me up and this happened to me last week with a very nice youngster im selling and the persons excuse at the end was hes too green!!!! Also people that email asking for loan when your selling a horse
 
I know how you feel. I sold my cob last year but it took about 10 viewings before someone normal can along. Ad said no novices and the amount of novices looking as a complete joke. One just walked round as said she was terrified, he hadn't done anything any other horse wouldn't have! also had a family coming down practically every weekend was various people, trying and even trying to put a 5 year old child that hadn't ridden before on a forward going 15hh cob. They didn't believe anything I said and in the end I told them politely to get lost! I've just put one of my youngesters up for sale which I'm dreading but he has to go! i've been putting it off for months!
 
guido16 said:
Delta, Texting is the thing that annoys me the most.

Why is it that people text about a horse you are selling?
Have the lost their tongue? dont have one? their head fell off?

Its the one thing that really annoys me.
If you are keen enough to want a horse then why cant you be bldy adult enought to actually make a phone call!!!

I might be wrong but I dismiss people who text straight away, dont want them owning any horse I`m selling.

Rant over......now look what you started lisamb! lol
Click to expand...


I am so on your wavelength here!
Email is fine, texts I don't respond to - I fail to see how it is an appropriate method of communication for buying an expensive living animal! In fact it won't be long before I am adverttising one and I will be putting in 'no texts please!'
 
Oh do not start me i am sick to death of idiots! I have a lovely young horse for sale, know his full history, produced by me. Due to circumstances beyond my contol he is for sale. Have had the woman along with trainer, husband, vet, friend from work, neighbour etc Come to see him sit on him, do whatever they liked with him, never put a foot wrong. Goes away declaring undying love can she come back with vet for vetting, all arranged, don't hear from her again. Eventually speak to her has decided she has changed her mind!! Hmmm would have been nice if she had told me that. Then the one who wanted a DVD that was sent, never heard from again. Then the potential Badminton rider, who was very late, but when he did turn up raved about him, couldn't believe what a great horse he was for the money. Went away sent an email saying the wrong colour! The list is endless and i have really reached the end of my tether with it all. Sick of the stupid questions, the requests for countless information, the sending of photo's, videos etc to be given ridiculous reasons as to why he is unsuitable do people really know what they want?? When i buy i know instantly if it is the right horse, i do not need 8 weeks to make my mind up, numerous peoples input. I know my own mind.

OK and breathe!!!
 
I have to admit, I did text about my horse, but to be fair I tried to ring the lady and got no reply and no answerphone each time. I didn't want to annoy her by constantly ringing, especially as the ad was old, so I sent a text (in proper english!, not text speak!) asking if he was still for sale and if so, what was a good time to contact her. Thankfully for me, her and the horse, she replied and I now have the horse of my dreams, and he has a home for life (barring acts of God!). He could definitely be described as sharp...not that i was told that my the seller!
 
I have to admit, at the moment I am emailing people about horses to buy. Mainly because my reception is awful and moves every 5 minutes, and a lot of adverts don't have enough information on or lack of/rubbish photos. So by emailing they can also send me more pictures. I have also emailed some people as I would rather waste their time through a quick email which they can choose not to reply too, than a phone call. And to ask if they are willing to negotiate on the price for the right home :) BUT I use good english and explain my situation, my experience, what I want to do etc

These have all been horses that I have been slightly interested in but want more info, If I could find a horse advertised that really gets my attention and I think WOW I have to have that horse, then I will be driving into town where I have reception and ringing up :)
 
I posted a thread yesterday about how to not look like a timewaster as I am looking for another horse. Its difficult on both sides, and peoples interpretations of a horses behaviour can be very different depending on that person's experiences. I'm looking for a 5 - 6 year old and I know they will be green and need educating, however there is a big difference between a youngster with a nice temperment whose willing to learn and a young horse who has a poor attitude to work and a bolshy attitude to life. I don't want the latter so I always ensure I clearly understand thier definitions of behaviours they describe.
 
I text and email. However the only text I will send is *Not wanting to waste your time, is your horse still for sale? If so please call or reply and I will call you back* this will go to vendors whose horses have been advertised for a while, as otherwise you can spend your day calling people only for them to tell you the horse is sold....WELL AMEND THE ADVERT THEN!!!

If there is an email addy I will ALWAYS email first with a list of questions and enquiries.

Selling horses is very hard these days, the amount of numpties you have to put up with is astonishing, it is why I send my horses away to be sold now. I am helping to sell a fantastic allrounder at my yard ATM, and we have had around 10 people come to try him and only 2 of them could ride *sigh* Sadly he is still for sale :(
 
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