Telling the truth in adverts

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JoJo_

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A livery on my yard is selling her horse as she keeps putting in dirty stops while jumping and it has battered her confidence so much that she has decided to sell. I have just seen the advert and firstly I think she has overpriced her by at least £1000-1500. Also there is no mention at all about her dirty stops. It says the reason for sale is due to family comitments and not because of the horse and it just says she has successfully showjumped and gone on fun rides etc.

The advert reads very well and will probably attract a lot of people as the horse sounds faultless.

I am not sure if she is planning on telling anyone about the horse's bad points as I know she has someone jump schooling her at the mo (the girl fell off twice last thurs while doing this). As she is a private seller, what comeback would people have if they bought her then found her not to be as good as they thought?
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It also opened my eyes to how private sellers can be guilty of not telling the truth as much as dealers can do.
 
It is a mine field out there isn't it? Unfortunately when buying you can't ask for references for the horse from another person.... I hope the person selling in this instance is honest when someone comes to see the horse, and I hope the horse is honest enough too to put in a dirty stop...
I don't know how much comeback a buyer would have if they complained, not much I think as it would be almost impossible to prove.....
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I think in many cases private owners are WAY worse than dealers

1. As dealers they have a reputation to maintain and you only have to look on here to see how quickly one can have the reputation don't touch with bargepole and

2. I think as private owners we have a bond with horses that dealers don't have which makes us a bit blind to their faults/ quirks. Or blame ourselves for such problems and think darling horse is faultless. I know I have kept ones I maybe should have sold because I believed no one else would ever truly "get" them or understand them.

Have still heard of private sellers being sued though so they should be careful. Horse worlds are small places and lies often catch people out...
 
PS. Mine was sold as sensible and sane 6 months ago, but she is flighty, spooky and does not like nature! I have no comeback, as I rode her several times, jumped her, hacked her out (in company), and spent a bit of time with her.....
She 'looked' at things, then, but the slightest thing can get her stressy....
I'm just getting on with it as she is a lovely person
 
The horse is perfect to handle. Perhaps with a more confident rider she'd be better as she can be a bit spooky hacking. Would do ok unaffiliated dressage and is usually placed. Just puts in such dirty stops and they are only small jumps. I think she used to be owned by a PC home and was sold on for the same reason.

I thought she would be honest but I cant help thinking it would be a wasted journey for people coming to view her to then be told that shes not as good as the advert makes out.
 
A private seller does not have a duty of care in the same way as a dealer does, however they do have an obligation to tell the truth to a direct question.

So if they are asked how well the horse jumps and they answer fine they've never had a problem, then the buyer would have a legal case for returning the horse (if they can find evidence to show this is a lie). However if the seller said the pony had been known to stop in the past but it has been reschooled and hasn't had any problems since, then it is unlikely the buyer would be successful in any claim.
 
I told the truth 100% when i sold my daughters pony. I was still taken to the small claims court, after being told by solicitors, citizens advice and consumer direct i couldn't lose. When sold privately its "Buyer Beware" and the pony only has to be as discribed ie colour, breed age. I lost and had to take the pony back because after owning her for less than 48hrs she said that the pony would not hack out alone. Which i said in my advert that she did. Which was true. So tell them to be very carefull the buyer only needs to be lucky and get a judge who knows nothing about horses. I lost but i won the moral victory the day i picked up the pony i hacked her away on her own.
 
I think some private sellers can be very untruthful which is a real pain. One I went to see was only 4 but was really talked up in the advert and was ridden by a professional dressage rider. When I went to see her she was incredibly green in the school and had real trouble understanding basic aids. I was also told she was hacking out confidently on her own, however when I rode her it was a real effort to even get her out of the yard and a 200 walk up the road took about 40 mins as she just didn't want to move! I travelled from Scotland to Somerset and it was a complete waste of time. Another one I viewed in Kent had cataracts but they didn't tell me that until I arrived
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I work in horse sales. I'm an equine agent. I sell a few of my own, sell for other people and search and find suitable horses for people too.
I have built a reputation on selling a horse with 'warts and all advertising'. I never lie in an advert. I've sold bolters buckers and horses with all kinds of quirks, and I can honestly say the only one I took back was a youngster who I agreed to re sell after 6 months as the lady who bought him was too nervous to ride him through a town centre. There was nothing wrong with the horse, in fact he was a lovely young chap. His current owners are thrilled with him.
The three main reasons I don't lie are firstly, it will be found out and I will leave myself liable.
Secondly, time wasters piss us all off. But are you a time waster if you turn up to see a horse that was miss described? Or does that make the seller the time waster?!
I usually sell a horse within a couple of viewing's because I put off those who are unsuitable and describe so accurately that they know the horse before they meet it. I don't have time to waste with people who are viewing an unsuitable horse. I can spend half my day with a family during a viewing. I want a bloomin' sale out of that!
Thirdly I only sell good horses and I do care what happens to them. I would be absolutely sick beyond belief if I ever saw a horse I had sold end up in a crappy sale.

I believe I can find a suitable home for every horse I work with. Really no need to feed BS at all. (Not British Show jumping!) Just because it won't jump doesn't mean you should BS about it and flog it to some poor sod who will get ditched next week. Instead, do some dressage with it then be honest and say it's not a fan of jumping but look what scores we get in dressage.
If it's bone idle in the school and can barely be arsed to break a canter, someone will pay you well for a horse they feel will never be strong or piss off.
If it's been eliminated from the past three Intro's you've tried, don't hide that. Be honest but push the fact that he may be amazing over hedges as long as there are hounds in front of him.
Horses all have strengths and weaknesses just as we do.
The horse that hates jumping might be perfect for the have a go dressage dreamer.
The horse that's eliminated eventing might be perfect for the nervous lady hunter.
The horse that won't hack alone might be great for the teenager who just wants to jump.
Don't lie, explain quirks and weaknesses but let the strengths shine out best of all. A good advert is written by one who knows the horse and knows the market. Clever marketing will bring you the exact match for your horse, and no fear of repercussions after a sale.
I have a couple of quirky ones to sell in the next couple of months. One is very nervous, another is quite a live wire. I've no doubt I will advertise them honestly and sell them to good homes where the owners will be perfectly happy with the horse they have taken on, warts and all.
They will keep in touch with me, and probably recommend me.
No need to lie, a horse wouldn't.
 
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