Superb conformation....Erm, really?!

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Puppy

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I've been browsing some for sale adverts, and I can't believe some of the stuff people claim about the horses, which the photos clearly disprove!!

For example, for one horse, they claim it has "Superb conformation... beautifully marked... HOYS potential... an asset to any stud, etc etc" with pictures of a horse with quite possibly some of the worst front leg conformation I have ever seen!! I'm not kidding, I sat up in shock to have a closer look, as I thought I was seeing things.... How much? £9K :eek::eek::eek:

Another one, apparently is, 'a proper model of event horse'... 'a real head turner'... 'a worthwhile investment' and has a POA price tag and yet it's conformation is once again, one that made me sit up in shock. The text says it's 'well able to gallop', which looking at how the horse is put together, I'm not sure I'd believe it is... :confused:

Do people really believe what they read and spend this sort of money on horses that look like this? :eek::eek:
 
Yeah, people are bonkers. I often see ones that say "stunning", "gorgeous" etc and the horses are far from it. My mare is pigeon toed to death (well, not as bad as some I've seen) and had a foal before I got her! I wonder what that looked like....
 
Didn't have a pic, but the one I laughed at recently said: "anyone's ride but can have a cheeky sense of humour".....

Answers on a postcard please....:cool:
 
I'm looking for a friend at the moment and we just can't quite believe the photos that people take of their horses? Surely it is common sense to take a conformation shot and at least one ridden shot with it actually moving? I'm not going to drive to the other side of the country to see a potential event horse when the only photo is of it standing still with a rider sat on its back on the yard.
 
dwi said:
I'm looking for a friend at the moment and we just can't quite believe the photos that people take of their horses? Surely it is common sense to take a conformation shot and at least one ridden shot with it actually moving? I'm not going to drive to the other side of the country to see a potential event horse when the only photo is of it standing still with a rider sat on its back on the yard.
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totally agree - i looking too and the ads are awful no info and rubbish pics - i want to see it moving trot and canter and a confo shot no tack. how do ppl ask silly prices but not seem able to write an ad or take a good pic
 
I went to see a £9k 4yo horse bred to event a few years ago, being sold by a pro event rider. Despite asking questions on the phone about movement/conformation, etc (all supposedly good!) i knew i didnt want it the second it came out of the stable. It moved so close and plaited so badly that it would never make it down the centre line!
 
I saw an advert a few weeks ago but can't find it again...might have been on Horsemart if anyone else saw it...

A black gelding with one pic of the tiniest little girl on him not able to reach the stirrups, then another pic of him rearing up with the owner on top. In the add it said definitely not a novice ride!!! I clicked on it thinking it was some sort of stunt horse for sale.

But yes I have also seen loads with horrible conformation. Or ones that say they move well and have a lovely jump, but either the photos are lacking, rubbish or the horse is jumping flat with it's head stuck up in the air! I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder but....
 
I recently undertook a six hour journey to view a horse that was supposedly "show quality". The owner had sent me photos of a different horse!!!! I got there to be met with a ewe-necked, goose-rumped, malnourished pony who looked like a xylophone because you could see every rib. Poor thing :( I nearly bought it out of pity but then my husband pointed out that the owner would only breed another pony and treat it just as badly. I later heard that WHW had paid her a visit :mad:
 
I have recently called about an all-rounder. It hadn't actually done anything but pleasure rides, was unschooled but someone had told them it has dressage potential and was 12 yrs old. They want almost 4k for it.

Another was a registered Section D for almost 3k, the woman answered every question with either yes or no, didn't expand on anything - it was like trying to get blood out of a stone and she didn't even know the horse's breeding - don't you think that's the first thing a Welsh cob buyer would ask, or is it just me?

I have had three responses this week to the question "does it have any seasonal allergies?" All went along the lines of "Oh no, nothing like that, apart from the fact that it: 1. Headshakes and needs a nosenet, 2. gets bitten by flies and is covered in lumps all summer, and 3. Doesn't have sweet itch, but can rub her mane and tail quite badly in the summer" ?????

I rang about one 12 yr old Section D and asked how old the photo's were, as I didn't think it looked as it should fot it's age - they were SIX years old!! Welsh cobs quite often aren't fully grown upwards or outwards until they're 8!! The same horse was being advertised as an allrounder and I had all it's virtues listed. I asked when it's next show was as I'd like to see it do a dressage test and in a show environment, only to be told it had just had the winter off and had been brought back into work 3 days before. And this was another 4k horse - it didn't even have shoes on.

Getting sooooo fed up with this horsey shopping now!
 
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Forgot to say - on the subject of photo's - what is the point of posting one photo only in an ad, and that photo is of the horse's head over a stable door? Or the horse with a rug on. Or the horse grazing. Or the horse with some pratt standing on it's back - what on earth does that prove? Or the horse lying down in a stable/field.

God I'm getting a bit ranty - must have some chocolate to calm myself down :)
 
It's the fact that the pictures are such a million miles away from the text that I find so gobsmacking!

I mean, everyone has heard about the seller who puts up great pictures to try and lure you there for a cheap horse, but the confo shots of these two horses were some of the worst I've ever seen, no exaggeration, and yet they were asking £9,000 for one of them! :eek: I *really* wish I could put the pictures up to show you, but I'm sure I'd get my wrists smacked! ;)
 
Puppy said:
I've been browsing some for sale adverts, and I can't believe some of the stuff people claim about the horses, which the photos clearly disprove!!
:
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I once saw an advert which stated SNAFFLE MOUTH yet in the photo the horse was wearing a pelham.......made me chuckle.
 
MagicMelon said:
Do you expect shoes to come with a £4,000 horse? Lol. Sorry, just seemed like an odd comment as plenty of horses are ridden and competed barefoot / unshod.
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I read it as the horse had it its shoes removed due to not having been in work for a while....not that the poster had a problem with unshod horses per se :)
 
Puppy said:
I've been browsing some for sale adverts, and I can't believe some of the stuff people claim about the horses, which the photos clearly disprove!!

For example, for one horse, they claim it has "Superb conformation... beautifully marked... HOYS potential... an asset to any stud, etc etc" with pictures of a horse with quite possibly some of the worst front leg conformation I have ever seen!! I'm not kidding, I sat up in shock to have a closer look, as I thought I was seeing things.... How much? £9K :eek::eek::eek:

Another one, apparently is, 'a proper model of event horse'... 'a real head turner'... 'a worthwhile investment' and has a POA price tag and yet it's conformation is once again, one that made me sit up in shock. The text says it's 'well able to gallop', which looking at how the horse is put together, I'm not sure I'd believe it is... :confused:

Do people really believe what they read and spend this sort of money on horses that look like this? :eek::eek:
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Puppy, years ago before I bought R, I went to look at some horses like this.. One was described in the ad as "stunning coloured mare, show quality and evenly marked, SJ, XC, schooling nicely, snaffle mouthed". I got there to find a fat, ugly (sorry!!) *white* gypsy cob with one small black spot which their RI who rode her for me couldn't get over a X pole in the arena. And it was in a pelham.

I saw so many **** adverts and horses that were nothing like they had been described when I went to see them!
 
dwi said:
I'm looking for a friend at the moment and we just can't quite believe the photos that people take of their horses? Surely it is common sense to take a conformation shot and at least one ridden shot with it actually moving? I'm not going to drive to the other side of the country to see a potential event horse when the only photo is of it standing still with a rider sat on its back on the yard.
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I've learnt to read between the lines pretty well, but once went quite a distance to look at a 3yo, had lots of pics by email and it looked promising, but when I got there it was roach backed. The owner had managed to take load of pics without actually revealing this.

My OH has the best approach - "expect to travel hundreds of miles and come home without, before you find the one".

BEST EVER REPLY - Does it have clean legs? Silence.... then........ Well, we washed them yesterday..lol lol.................
 
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