Very excited..coming to Ireland and Belgium to horse shop!!

BunnyDog

BunnyDog

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Hello again,

I'm awfully excited as I was able to snag a great airfare and am coming to Ireland and Belgium to horse shop this Saturday-Weds.

Already I can see it's different as on the first day alone I have 20 some odd horses to look at. Whew. This could be a long and tiring trip.

I am bringing a friend along to help me watch horses go and to just make it a more fun adventure.

I am excited to see what is out there on this side of things. I know at home what I see of this basic type is about half Tb's retrained post racing (What I do normally) and half imports.

More exciting we get to stop by the show at Cavan as well. That should be a great experience as well.

I know less about Belgium but with the help of the agent I think we'll muddle through on that one.

Any things I should be aware of? Incidentally it's amazing to me that you guys have a law that you can return a horse and be refunded if it's not as described. That is just amazing. We do not have that here.

Also I love the Dodgy Dealer FB groups. Can't do that here either due to Libel and Slander laws. It just would be a haven for lawsuits.

Many thanks,

Emily
 
Wow very exciting. Where are you basednormally, is it the US?

Looking forward to hearing how you get on and your thoughts on the process.
 
BunnyDog said:
Hello again,

I'm awfully excited as I was able to snag a great airfare and am coming to Ireland and Belgium to horse shop this Saturday-Weds.

Already I can see it's different as on the first day alone I have 20 some odd horses to look at. Whew. This could be a long and tiring trip.

I am bringing a friend along to help me watch horses go and to just make it a more fun adventure.

I am excited to see what is out there on this side of things. I know at home what I see of this basic type is about half Tb's retrained post racing (What I do normally) and half imports.

More exciting we get to stop by the show at Cavan as well. That should be a great experience as well.

I know less about Belgium but with the help of the agent I think we'll muddle through on that one.

Any things I should be aware of? Incidentally it's amazing to me that you guys have a law that you can return a horse and be refunded if it's not as described. That is just amazing. We do not have that here.

Also I love the Dodgy Dealer FB groups. Can't do that here either due to Libel and Slander laws. It just would be a haven for lawsuits.

Many thanks,

Emily
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Ah, the return of horses is a bit more limited than that actually; it's only if it is unsound in limb, sight or wind. If it's just a bit lively, or you don't like it then you'll have to keep it :-) Having said that, all horses in a sale will have been vetted, and you have the option to re-vet at the sale (vets are available).
 
How exciting, I hope you find what you are looking for!

I’ve never shopped in Belgium so I can’t help you with that one, but I’d hazard a guess it will be a different experience to Ireland.

I’ve been shopping in Ireland a few times and I really enjoy it and like the Irish very much – but I would warn you, depending on what you are used to, it might be an eye opening experience! What I would say however is know exactly what you are setting out to buy and what you are prepared to pay – the Irish could honestly sell snow to the Eskimo’s and even an experienced buyer can start to doubt themselves at times!

Are you coming from the US? A couple of things - the Irish are more relaxed about Xray interpretation than the US is, always worth asking if there is a set of Xrays on file your vet can review before spending out on more. The Irish (and I'm sure some might pipe up here and disagree with me), generally see US buyers coming with $$$$$, and prices quoted will reflect that. Do not be afraid to haggle.

If buying from sales, be warned there is a culture of bidding up. Hopefully you will have a good agent with you who knows the local tricks.
 
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Hi all,

Yes I am from America. And as a bit of an advantage I work at one of the better large animal university vet hospitals on the east coast as an administrative assistant. As such I am friends with a number of fantastic vets who are very versed in the normal and abnormal things one can see in vettings. Additionally I have a great vet that I use on a regular basis who is English so it all works out nicely.

I am looking from private sellers. I would be awful at auctions!! But another friend from the US is going to the Addington (?) auction this weekend.

I can't wait and am very excited. 2 more days.... Ugh....waiting.

Emily
 
You are seeing 20 horses in a day from private sellers?? How does that work? Assuming you will want to get a feel for the Horse, see it tacked up, ridden, ride it yourself etc. And that's without travelling between yards. There are not enough hours in the day for this to work.
 
Wheels said:
You are seeing 20 horses in a day from private sellers?? How does that work? Assuming you will want to get a feel for the Horse, see it tacked up, ridden, ride it yourself etc. And that's without travelling between yards. There are not enough hours in the day for this to work.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that!
I’ve just come back from Ireland and struggled to see 10 in 2 days. Although to be fair the agent was a little sloppy this trip.

OP Addington sales are a funny one for me. I’ve been 2-3 times and although there are a couple of showcase lots really you do have to ask yourself why the Europeans (who have a super auction infrastructure) feel the need to send horses to this rather poorly attended UK sale.
 
OK to clarify... 20 horses at 2/3 yards. It's not an auction is what I meant by private sellers.

And I have a friend coming with me who will ride some of them as well. So we'll pick and choose who to ride and see how they go. I imagine I will say "no" to some. So probably not riding all 20.

It is doable though. I helped a friend who has a sales business here and she had a potential buyer come in who only had 4 hours to work with and she rode 6 horses. And that was done inside of 3hrs 30 mins. We tacked two and started her up and then tacked a third took it to the ring when she was finished the first, brought the first back to the barn, put it away and brought fourth up and so on. That was with only 2 of us doing the work and one rider. In the situations I am going to I imagine that more than 2 people are there as these are bigger farms.

Emily
 
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