Turning up early to view

ycbm

ycbm

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People are often advised to turn up early when viewing a horse, and I do it myself. What have you seen? Did you buy?

I've seen the horse careering around the yard with a lead rope flying, but he was only two and I bought him. He did have separation issues and demolished a wall, but he was a good buy and I never regretted it.

Another one was still out when I arrived and the owner was on her way. He was in a paddock on his own, separated by electric wire from a quiet little herd of for others. As I watched, he ran full tilt at a horse the other side of the wire with his teeth bared. He looked completely savage. I decided not to buy before the owner arrived, but out of politeness I let her trot him up for me. He was wired.. She practically begged me to take him of her hands, and he was home bred too. I left that one where he was !
 
No, I haven't turned up early but still with one, suspected it had been buted before my arrival (it had been given paste and had a wipe stripe beside it's mouth)- it turned out it had (syringe and bowl were in the tack room!). A second had signs of being exercised very hard prior to my arrival. Walked away from both.
 
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I'd settle for buyers turning up on time! I don't deliberately turn up early for viewings - but I am naturally very prompt which seems to surprise some. I can't think of any case where I saw something truly unexpected. But then I have never bought on one single viewing either.
 
If people turned up on time that would be a great help... Instead of being late and not only Inconvienicing the owner, but all the other people on the yard who can't ride in the school/use the facilties because they don't know when the potential purchaser will turn up
 
Orca said:
No, I haven't turned up early but still with one, suspected it had been buted before my arrival (it had been given paste and had a wipe stripe beside it's mouth)- it turned out it had (syringe and bowl were in the tack room!). A second had signs of being exercised very hard prior to my arrival. Walked away from both.
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Oh, yes, went to a dealer with a friend looking for a horse for a very big eleven year old and was met with a blank stare when I asked why the horse was drying under lights. Unfortunately the friend bought and the horse went berserk in a new home and was returned with some difficulty.
 
ycbm said:
Oh, yes, went to a dealer with a friend looking for a horse for a very big eleven year old and was met with a blank stare when I asked why the horse was drying under lights. Unfortunately the friend bought and the horse went berserk in a new home and was returned with some difficulty.
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This is the thing! So many sellers (and it's not restricted to dealers) are so completely immoral, that endangering a child wouldn't lose them any sleep. The overworked one I went to see would have been intended to be a family horse. I actually stipulate now that I don't want a horse exercised before viewing but there are so many other ways for them to take the edge off of them.

Instinct is definitely my #1 tool.
 
I went to view a lovely big coloured youngster who was being sold due to a relationship breakup! When I turned up he was walking back with him from the school having lunged him first! When we went back to the school I nearly got booted picking his back feet up ... he was a 3 yr old and they had started backing him ... the parelli way which just got my back up immediately and put me off! Apparently the guy had left his bridle at home so I couldn't even see him bited. I wasn't new to horses but had been away for a long time so decided although he was a complete bargain I wasn't going to chance it and would have been out of my depth.

I bumped into said horse months later on a local yard (took me a few minutes for the penny to drop) and he was STUNNING .. the new owner said she struggled getting his bridle on (funny how it had been 'left at home by mistake' when I viewed him) but other than that he was a lovely horse. She was a complete numpty and I believe she ended up ruining him so I've always been a bit gutted about not buying first. Wouldn't touch him now!
 
I wasn't early for viewing my D but the dealer told me how "the girls" had given her a bath for me coming and she was still damp. Of course I knew it was sweat and she had been on be lunge or ridden hard and the horse still behaved like a complete loony. I bought her and got a bargain, but then I knew more about her than the dealer did and the risk paid off!
 
Shay said:
I'd settle for buyers turning up on time! I don't deliberately turn up early for viewings - but I am naturally very prompt which seems to surprise some. I can't think of any case where I saw something truly unexpected. But then I have never bought on one single viewing either.
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Generally my experience too. I'm usually a bit early or on time but not due to wanting to catch them out. Not had any unexpected misses and been pretty lucky with all my horses in terms of being 'as described'. My friend from Ireland advocates turning up without an appointment at all and surprising the seller deliberately. I'd be pretty peeved if someone did that to me as I'm 30 mins away from the yard!
 
Orca said:
This is the thing! So many sellers (and it's not restricted to dealers) are so completely immoral, that endangering a child wouldn't lose them any sleep. The overworked one I went to see would have been intended to be a family horse. I actually stipulate now that I don't want a horse exercised before viewing but there are so many other ways for them to take the edge off of them.

Instinct is definitely my #1 tool.
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Where £££ are involved, a lot of people would happily sell their own grannies.
 
I'm always early but have nothing to report but then, i only ever buy unbroken.

When i bought my D he was 3, when i asked to see him trotted up, they put a bridle on which made me chuckle! He was (is!) a big boy and you can see exactly whey they did that. Took me 3 months to train him to be handled safely without a bridle at home.

When i went back to pick him up he was in a stable, really fired up and rearing a lot. He loaded ok but i thought he was going to do an Incredible Hulk in the first 20 mins home, he kicked 7 barrels out of my box!!!
It took 6 months to get him to stay in a stable nicely - he spent the first few months overnight just rearing - so high he smashed all the protected light fittings and bulbs...
Now he is so settled in a stable its hard to get him out :D
 
As crackerz I tend to by unbroken and am normally on time and haven't seen any horrors. I once had someone tell me they wanted to catch the horse and do everything, Only problem was the horse knew my car and voice so I had to park around the corner and wait for them to arrive and then hide behind a bush until they caught her. Due to traffic they were 30mins late which was quite annoying.
I hate selling horses and am normally a bit anxious so the horse is usually ready at least an hour before so someone turning up early would save me the time stressing!
 
No horror stories, but I did turn up slightly early to see a laid-back, non-spooky allrounder escape from the person leading him up to the yard and spook at something in the next field. That was only the start of the erm......shall we say debunking of the advertising hype? He'd never seen poles either, let alone jumped them.
 
Due to a long drive I unintentionally arrived almost an hour early for a viewing. Glad I did as I saw 5 people slowly moving with electric tape in the field to corner the beast before managing to get a headcollar on it with legs (equine and human) flying everywhere. For some strange reason I was still not put off but the rearing, kicking and biting when being led down the track was enough to make me leave, ring them and make up a dreadful excuse of my car breaking so the money needed to go on a new car instead. I am terrible in a face to face situation so I had to leave and do it over the phone. Since then I have always liked to arrive a little bit early because I am sorry to say that once bitten twice shy, I don't trust anyone selling anything be it a horse or a car!
 
I went with my friend to view a "very quiet cob, suitable for a complete novice". My friend had, had a nasty accident and had lost her confidence, this had been explained to the seller. The seller was the owner of a very prestigious equestrian yard and his sons competed at a high level SJ.

We arrived too early, sat in the car park watching a coloured cob doing the wall of death on the lunge. It was walked out the school, tied up in the yard, was looked over by a character who was known to us as being a old type back "cracker". The cob fought as it had its back legs and pelvis yanked and rotated. It was awful.... It was then tacked up.... At that point my friend and I looked at each and joked about it being the "quiet cob" we were over to view.

Out we got and went over to the office. Yep, you guessed it, it was the quiet cob we had come to see. We were mortified and my friend had told the yard owner what we had witnessed and refused to ride it. The YO swore at us, called us time wasters and flounced off cursing.

It turned out this cob was a bit of a boomerang, it had been sold twice from this yard and returned for bolting and decking its rider(s).
 
HBB said:
I went with my friend to view a "very quiet cob, suitable for a complete novice". My friend had, had a nasty accident and had lost her confidence, this had been explained to the seller. The seller was the owner of a very prestigious equestrian yard and his sons competed at a high level SJ.

We arrived too early, sat in the car park watching a coloured cob doing the wall of death on the lunge. It was walked out the school, tied up in the yard, was looked over by a character who was known to us as being a old type back "cracker". The cob fought as it had its back legs and pelvis yanked and rotated. It was awful.... It was then tacked up.... At that point my friend and I looked at each and joked about it being the "quiet cob" we were over to view.

Out we got and went over to the office. Yep, you guessed it, it was the quiet cob we had come to see. We were mortified and my friend had told the yard owner what we had witnessed and refused to ride it. The YO swore at us, called us time wasters and flounced off cursing.

It turned out this cob was a bit of a boomerang, it had been sold twice from this yard and returned for bolting and decking its rider(s).
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Grief!!!
 
I was actually told by the dealer that if he wasn't on the yard when I arrived for my second viewing the following day (taking my own tack with me that time) I could help myself to the horse from the stable, tack up and ride and he would be there as soon as he could.

As it happens he was there but I felt that that was very good and honest of him. It wouldn't have sold me the horse just on that, he would have had to be a good ride and pass a full stage vetting and bloods. As it happens I wanted him from the very second I saw him and glad I did as he is my bright spot each and every day. :D

It should be noted that going to try and horse and discovering that there is no water in either its stable or field should ring alarm bells. Making a horse dehydrated by withdrawing water for some hours prior to it being tried out, will cause it to become lethargic.
 
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Arrived early to view a horse for a novice adult returning to riding. From way up on the hills we could see a horse being lunged in the distance. When we arrived at the yard the horse we had seen was just being led in, dripping with sweat. I did ride it and it certainly was not suitable for the purpose.
 
There is one I didn't even make it to view. I had rung the husband and received a glowing report about every aspect of the horse I was interested in. I hung up to have a think. When I called back to arrange a viewing, I got the wife, who described the horse as a different height and age! I left it at that. It wasn't that the height or age mattered a great deal to me at the time (although it was over five years difference!) but the inaccuracies in the story. If they couldn't get the basics right, what else were they going to try to slip by me?
 
My own horse was tacked up and tied up on the yard. Owner rode her where she bronced a bit, then I rode her and she bronced a bit more. I bought her anyway, though it took me a few weeks of struggle with tacking up. It was remedied with a change of bit though, I guess she was a bit tricky for them hence being tacked up already. She hasn't bronced since.
 
Try to arrive early arrived to one to find it tacked up and tied up .
Asked for it to have the bridle taken off and for it to be offered a bucket of water it drank like a camel at an oasis .
Left it at that .
 
I'm very lucky I suppose.

When I bought Buffy, the owners were private and very honest. When I arrived she was in her stable. I was able to go in, groom her, tack her up, hop on, rode in the Cross Country field then school, untacked her, groomed and sponged her down, they then had a wagon and trailer ready to show her loading in each and standing quietly, I put her fly mask on and turned her out.

2nd viewing I caught her, rode and hacked then turned out.

With Poutu my first horse she was being sold from a racing yard having been wintered out then in work for 2 weeks to sell, but again they let me do all of the above and were completely honest.

I turned up early each time, more out of impatience and excitement than anything!
 
My mare was a private sale. I arrived late (traffic) she was still out in the field, covered in mud, I caught her, groomed her, rode her out on the roads, untacked, fed, and took her back to the field again. Her owners have been very very honest with me. She has been almost exactly as described. Other than having a bit of colic a few days after she got me from too much grass, she's been amazing.

The best bit of advice that my mum has told me is that people selling horses tell lies. Thank fully not everyone is like this but it does make you keep your wits about you :)
 
I arrived early to view my late mare and my horse of a lifetime. No one was on the yard and she was in a stable next to her brother. It was love at first sight. Her full brother (an advanced eventer) pulled faces and lunged at my friend and I from his stable. A really aggressive horse. My mare to be was the complete opposite; attention seeking and so 'touchy-feely'. The man who was training her and eventing her brother turned up, and tacked her up. She cantered sideways all the way to the arena, wouldn't stand to be mounted, had the most peculiar canter I had ever seen, but the most amazing walk and active trot. I rode her and loved her. I put the deposit down subject to vetting then and there. I managed to sort her canter eventually and it became so good she could do easy canter pirouettes and turn on a sixpence when show jumping. It was all gut feeling, buying her.
 
I love the stories about buying them despite slightly unusual circumstances and behaviour haha. I know there are so many horror stories, and it pays to be careful, but it's nice when it works out right.

Also makes me feel lucky that I seem to have avoided any crashing bad buys so far !
 
Goldenstar said:
Try to arrive early arrived to one to find it tacked up and tied up .
Asked for it to have the bridle taken off and for it to be offered a bucket of water it drank like a camel at an oasis .
Left it at that .
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The old dehydration trick :) well spotted!
 
I was a little early to view a horse a few years ago. The horse was turned out and wearing a collar when I arrived - no mention of windsucking in the ad.
Lovely young house. I may have bought if the seller had been honest.
 
Second time I turned up to see my now horse I saw him wandering away from his stable without a headcollar to eat some grass with a person running after him with a headcollar. He had escaped from his stable. Didn't put me off though didn't blame him as he was skinny and wanted food. He still escapes from his field though if he wants to.
 
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