Viewing Potential New Horses

AmyMay

AmyMay

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Ok, so the post about dodgy dealer has gone.

But it prompts me to ask if when viewing a potential new horse you ever get on it just for the hell of it - even it is obvious that it is not what you want or was as described?
 
No, I wouldn't get on it, I have been to see horses who have not been as they have been described and have walked away after seeing them standing in the stable. eg a horse for showing that had been fired
 
I know this sounds terrible but if i driven a very long way to see one i will ride it anyway even if im pretty sure its a no. If it was round the corner and i didnt think it appropriate then i dont think id bother. Im not going to do the horse any harm riding it anyway and the people have bothered to get it in a tacked up so you might as well try it.
 
Ive only ever viewed two horses, and i brought both of them!

However i think if i didnt like the horses i was viewing i wouldnt bother to ride it as it would just be wasting peoples time.
 
If the horse is not as described, not my type then I don't get on it. If it looks quite nice I get on, however if when riding it I know we are not suited I dismount thank them for their time but say it is not suitable
 
I have viewed four horses, of which two I have ended up with...

I have ridden all of the ones i have been to see, but if I turned up and it was not for me then I would kindly thank the owners for their time and explain that it is not what I am looking for. That way I am saving me time, and also not wasting the owner's time either.
 
only happened once when we got there the horse was nothing like what the lady described and about 2 hands smaller so we left withought even seeing it out of the stable
 
No. I went to a dealers yard and didn't even get any of them out of the stable. I've been to private sellers and turned away without riding when the horse was not suitable.
Experience has taught me to ask lots and lots of questions on the phone - when looking for Meg I only went to see 2 horses, as I could tell the rest of them were unsuitable from the phone calls.
 
It does seem that that's the key Fairhill - homework.

First horse I went to see recently wasn't remotely what I wanted - but I really had not asked enought questions about it. I watched it ridden for all of two minutes then said no thanks.
 
No never! I buy so many horses that I generally know the moment I set eyes on the horse whether it is for me or not. And it doesn't matter how far I have travelled, I just won't waste time riding it if it's the wrong horse.

I go by 3 rules:

1. If I think it is, then yes I will ride it and generally make my decision then and there.

2. If I am unsure then I will watch someone ride it, then I will get on it and it's usually then that I know instantly whether this is a horse I want to buy or not.

3. If I just know that it is definitely not for me, I tell the seller not to even bother tacking up.....I thank them.....and then I leave.

I have very strict criteria when buying horses and if they don't fit into this then I don't waste anyones, let alone my own, time.
 
if it's not suitable from first look i wouldn't get on, i have been lucky that most have been accuratly described and worth riding - but a few had the faults become apparent under saddle not from first view and sometimes something might be worth a sit on incase it would actually be suitable.

i hope i don't get joyriders when i advertise Sassy - all the time it takes it would really upset me, i am going to be as honest as i can to hopefully avoid this???

could i put no joyriders in my advert????
 
I did once, and learnt my lesson! I liked the horse (for the amount of money he was advertised for anyway, which was pretty much peanuts) but could tell the seller was a dodgy dealer. I should have known it wasn't meant to be when the seller didn't want to ride but told me to get straight on... I couldn't as the horse was convinced it should move off as soon as I had weight in the stirrup. The horse was obviously an ex-racer, just the type of horse, it's attitude etc., and when I finally managed to get on I rode a 10m circle and got off! As a sometimes nervous rider I really shouldn't have bothered! It turned out the woman was a dodgy dealer anyway, tried to sell me various horses with obvious sarcoids ("oh no that's not a sarcoid dear"), ones that had been fired, and one that was allergic to flu jabs ("but you can still ride it at riding club shows"). Hmmm, I'll never be going back there, she wasted more of my time showing me awful horses, than I did riding one I really shouldn't have bothered with!
I know now though what I'm looking for in a horse, having found "The One" (and broken her). When I start looking again I won't bother riding anything I'm concerned about. Sometimes it is necessary to help make a decision, sometimes it's just a waste of everyone's time!
 
hehehe sounds a bit 'chav' ?? i will be asking decent money for her so hopefully this will put jollies off??

last one i sold i had someone mess me about so much, even took poor horse xc schooling then she suddenly decided he was too big - she'd ridden him 3 times!! how did he suddenly change size!!!

lets pray i get nice sensible people looking at Sass as she's such a nice horse!
 
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could i put no joyriders in my advert????

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You can put anything you like in the advert ! Unfortunately the sort of person who deliberately comes to try unsuitable horses just to get a free ride, and who has no intention of buying, isn't going to be put off by that.
 
No I wouldnt. I went to see a few when looking for G - 3 of the were nothing like described so I just said thanks but no thanks and walked away. One I quite like, watched the owner ride and thought no blinkin way am I getting on that, so walked away.
Saw one I liked but had no facilities so watched owner "ride" it on the side of a hill, made arrangements for her to bring it to my yard to try it if I liked he was going to stay on trial for a month. The night before he was due she phoned and said she had changed her mind about selling him. A week later I found G and a couple of days later she phoned saying she had changed her mind again! Don't think so love!
 
Would definitely not get on anything I didn't think I might potentially buy. When I was looking last year, I saw several that I didn't ride. Just said it wasn't what I was looking for and I didn't want to waste their time or mine.
 
Probably not, unless I though there was the slightest chance I might like it once I got on! I went to see a horse who certainly didnt look anything special in the stable, looked a right state. I think a lot of people would have walked away when they saw him. But once I got on I could see what a great attitude and potential he had so I bought him
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We have just bought a new pony. He was the fourth we viewed. The second one we viewed bucked a lot with me on board and so I didn't let me daughter get on it.

The first one we viewed was great until we saw her do a round at an evening jumping competition and she refused 6 out of 10 jumps and bucked and span in between them! My daughter had already ridden her and she was fine!
 
Interesting.

I almost didn't get on Thumper because I was a little disappointed in his movement under saddle. It was only a hesitation really - because he certainly ticked all the boxes for me.

But actually, I found him a lovely ride - and rode him much more forward than his owner. And when I popped him over some fences - well what can I say? Knew he was the one for me!
 
I only viewed once and bought her, mind you I was in an exceedingly fortunate position in the fact I knew the owners, I'd had lessons on the horse and I knew the Livery owners for around 2 years prior to her coming up for sale.

I think if I try and bought from the market out there I would poop myself!

Hb
 
I wouldnt get on a horse if it wasnt what I wanted I dont like to waste peoples time and my own for something I Have no intention of buying, When I first saw ben I knew he was for me it wouldnt have mattered how he rode as I was having him anyway
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When we were looking for my daughter's new pony we looked at 5, they all looked suitable and we saw them all ridden by someone else first. Although she is only 12 I allowed her to have the say so as to which one we bought and after travelling for 2 hours to look at the first one she road it for less than 5 minutes and then got off and said she didn't even want to jump it, as it didn't slow down when she asked, on questioning the owners it turned out you couldn't touch it's mouth you had to use your weight in the saddle to slow it. Number 5 she had made her mind up within 5 minutes and what a brilliant pony he has turned out to be. However if I had seen anything that looked unsafe I would not have let her ride.
 
No, I have spent an hour on the phone with someone the horse sounded lovely - she lied, I drove 200 miles to see it and I watched her very gingerly walk it for 15mins around the arena and said no and went home.

I've seen a few horses and never got on it, they usually look very scarey.
 
I hated Boss the first time I tried him. Hated him the 2nd time I tried him too but my instructor persuaded me to try him xc schooling and the rest is history!

Got hundreds for sale currently and it's so much easier if people are upfront about whether they like the horse or not, saves everybody a lot of time!
 
I would ride a horse I'd gone to view even if it didn't look quite my sort because sometimes they feel different once I'm on. However, I'm really picky at the viewing ads/questioning owners stage so hopefully don't put too many people out. I only viewed 6 in the space of a year before I bought my present horse and the first one I got off after about 5 minutes because he definitely wasn't right for me. I would never be classed as a joy rider as I don't find trying horses that joyful an experience due to hating my own riding
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So far ridden everything I've been to see even if it wasn't right.

I've usually told the seller straight away and asked politely if I can still ride.

My philosophy being 'well I've come this far.....' I am inexperienced at this horse buying mallarkey and so wanted to get a feel of what they were like to ride plus I didn't want to rule any of them out on appearances alone.

Sorry to say so far nothing has measured up to the one I have!
 
I wouldn't ride the horse if I knew it wasn't for me. I tend to know what I like when I see it.

As for asking lots of questions, that doesn't always work - In the past I've driven for 4 hours to see a horse that sounded perfect over the phone and ticked all the right boxes. Amongst many other questions was "has it got any lumps/bumps/blemishes and would it pass a 5 star vet?" The seller assured me it was clean limbed and sound.. Well it had so many knocks, scars and swellings, not to mention that it walked out of the stable as stiff as a board, it probably would have failed a vetting in the first 10 minutes.

It's just so frustrating that people can't save their own time and yours by being honest on the phone.
 
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