Well, my ad has been up for 4 days and I'm already

Casey76

Casey76

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mentally tired and worn out.

It's a very perplexing array of responses I've had so far.

Two saying "too much for a leisure horse" (he's been advertised specifically as an amateur dressage prospect)
One saying "but *my* horse only cost xxx including transport"
One looking for a safe, kind, patient schoolmaster that I can play with and be part of the family" (I replied to that with - I'm sorry I don't think you'd be a good match)
One stated he wasn't interested if he wasn't a stallion (which is kind of a compliment!)

I have a lady coming this evening, but she didn't want to know anything about Blitz before she meets him - OK, I think this is a bit strange, but whatever!

More encouraging (for me) is an enquiry from a lady who competed at the regional dressage finals who has so far asked a lot of interesting questions.

I'm feeling very tired at the moment anyway - the weather is freezing, my field is frozen, doing yard work at 6am when it's -8C isn't the greatest fun in the world. As much as I hate the parting, now that I've started the process I want it over. I feel like I'm in limbo, especially as I'm hurting too much (physically) to do much riding at all.
 
I always find it odd when people feel the need to reply saying your horse isn't suitable. Why not just read the advert and move on? I see 100s of adverts for horse that wouldn't suit me, but I don't feel the need to tell the owner each & every time!

I hope you find someone you like & think will make a good human for Blitz.
 
I hope the lady this evening proves suitable or the dressage lady and that one of them clicks with your boy and wants him.
That's very rude to tell you yours price is too high though - if they don't like it, keep moving.
 
I hope you find a lovely home for him the dressage lady sounds ideal:) can't understand why someone would call about a gelding when they want a stallion very odd.
 
I really do wish you luck Casey and hope you find a good home for your boy
I have found dealing with the French on any level of buying and selling a perplexing nightmare, everything they have is worth a fortune and anything anybody else has for sale is worth nothing and should be practically given away, at this time of year they expect horses to be cheap as they think you are selling due to the cost of feeding them hay, your responses don't surprise me at all but in amongst all the rude idiots you will find a genuine buyer i'm sure, just put your patience hat on Casey and grit your teeth. xx
 
Also, it is a standard sales tactic...unsettle you by telling you you have priced your horse/lorry/tack too high. Smile and move on!
 
Casey, I hope you find the right owner for your horse. I agree with comments about the French attitude to horse pricing. I know people who have both purchased and sold jumping ponies for 20,000-30,000 euros. Yet nickel and dime about the cost of good competition horses.

My home bred Shagya mare, 6 years old, who has jumped 12 clear rounds out of 14 starts this year and qualified for the National Championships in France. People suck their breath in at 10,000 euros.

I point out that, having paid to swab and vaccinate her dam, send her to stud, (FEE 600 EUROS), pay for livery, ship her to and fro, care for her for a year, check the mare and foal, m/chip and passport the foal, feed, worm and vaccinate her for 6 years. Pay for farrier every 6 weeks. Back her, pay for her to be trained and competed. In short 7 years of up-front investment for me.

Let us say it cost a modest 1,000 euros to put the foal on the ground. Then apparently I have kept her for 1500 euros per annum, including feed, worming, vaccinations, training, shoeing, saddlery and competition. I have not costed the value of the dam who we purchased and transported from the Hungarian National Stud.

This is why we have so much irresponsible breeding.
 
It's bonkers here, so far beyond any crazy that I ever experienced in the UK. I've given up breeding and selling to the French now having seen how some of my beautiful ponies are now being treated. Please be prepared to hang on for the right person.
 
Even though I've been on a "competition based" yard - i.e. one where nearly everyone goes and competes very regularly - for nearly 5 years I still don't understand the whole thing with the ponies.

Ponies go for absolute silly money, even as 3/4 yos when they can't even trot in a straight line, but they can jump. It puts real pressure on people to do age classes. There is one pony on the yard, who arrived barely broken as a 4-yo... actually thinking back he may have been unbroken. He's great, gone from strength to strength, and he was on the winning team at Lorraine EuroPoney. Consequently his owner then started asking in the region of 35k for him (as a 6yo). In the month since EP, he has done his first 1.20 class and finished clear, so no doubt his price has gone up again. It's a real shame, as he has been on lease to a lovely quiet rider here, but the lease is up now (rider now too tall and needs to change to horses), but the owner has completely priced him out of anyones sphere locally!

I see a lot of leg issues, a lot of very young ponies with a "jumpers bump," very hot ponies bitted up to the eyeballs etc - but as long as the riders can point and shoot...

For horses there seems to be no middle ground. You have your backyard bred, conformationally challenged nags which you can get for peanuts, straight to horses which can go and compete at Am level and they are all between 10 and 25k.

I'm not going to be looking for another horse, Tartine needs to be my focus for the time being, and my finances need to recover a bit. But I have no idea where I would start if I wanted to buy something with a bit of quality, as an all rounder, that hasn't been hammered by the time it is 5.
 
Shady said:
Lol Luci, you need the patience of a saint over here, they will make Casey think they are doing her a favour buying him and she hasn't even got to what they will expect for free !
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Shady, I must have been the most gullible horse buyer ever over here. I've bought 3 horses in France, and I never haggled over anything. I didn't ask for tack or rugs etc. I never quibbled over the price, even if Blitz was almost 3x what I was expecting to pay for a 7mo old foal.

Tartine didn't even come with a headcollar! Pinto did come with a saddle and bridle, but the saddle was so awful I donated it to the local riding school!
 
Casey76 said:
Shady, I must have been the most gullible horse buyer ever over here. I've bought 3 horses in France, and I never haggled over anything. I didn't ask for tack or rugs etc. I never quibbled over the price, even if Blitz was almost 3x what I was expecting to pay for a 7mo old foal.

Tartine didn't even come with a headcollar! Pinto did come with a saddle and bridle, but the saddle was so awful I donated it to the local riding school!
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Lol Casey ,i was the same when i bought my first car here, then i realised that EVERYTHING that i wanted to buy was more expensive, from houses to hay and i got tougher, the French are greedy, end of, when you realise this you can deal with them.
I looked at over 10 horses before i bought my Shadow from an English couple, most of them i despaired over, one made me cry and i almost bought him out of pity, the fact i didn't has haunted me. Buying our broken PRE was hilarious and the dealer started wailing about why didn't i just take the keys to his car and his house too, so funny but i still payed too bloody much for him!
I would say that in one respect this is a better time to sell than Spring, you get a whole bunch of Aholes then who just want a horse for the summer to cack around on doing the big randonnes then they sell them on when the grass runs out.
The lady coming to see you who doesn't want to know anything will either be a nut job (!!!) or the most interesting in my opinion.xx
 
Ah, but you have to realise that in most places (other than England) it is expected and normal to haggle. That doesn't make the French (or anyone else) weird, bonkers or greedy, just different from what you may be used to.

I've been looking at a few horses in the UK recently and have found that experience hilarious: the only place I've ever had to be "interviewed" in order to be allowed to view, as if offering money for the precious darlings wasn't enough :-)
 
Cortez said:
Ah, but you have to realise that in most places (other than England) it is expected and normal to haggle. That doesn't make the French (or anyone else) weird, bonkers or greedy, just different from what you may be used to.

I've been looking at a few horses in the UK recently and have found that experience hilarious: the only place I've ever had to be "interviewed" in order to be allowed to view, as if offering money for the precious darlings wasn't enough :-)
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Some of the English are a bit odd I admit it .
However buyer seeking to ensure their horse does not get sold to an idiot is to be encouraged.
 
Casey, if you want an all round family horse, have you heard of the Henson breed? Bred up by the Somme, developed especially as an easy keeping all rounder of about 15.00 hh, dun in colour.
 
Hi Orangehorse, I'm not looking for another horse at the moment. I need to concentrate on Tartine for the time being, making sure she is completely compensated for her PSSM.

Orangehorse said:
Casey, if you want an all round family horse, have you heard of the Henson breed? Bred up by the Somme, developed especially as an easy keeping all rounder of about 15.00 hh, dun in colour.
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And have you advertised your horse in Germany? You are so close to the border you should give it a go if you haven't already. :)

Since you are in Alsace why not go and look for a new horse in Germany once you are ready for it? :)
 
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Hmm, well the first viewing last night didn't go so well.

As I hadn't heard from the lady since last Friday, I sent a message to say that the school was frozen and it wouldn't be possible to ride, and would she like to postpone her visit until later in the week when it would be possible for my instructor to ride. Didn't get a response. So I trundled up to the yard ensuring I was in plenty of time and I waited, and waited. Just as I was about to give up, the lady turned up 45 mins after the agreed time.

She asked how much hacking he does and how much jumping (bearing in mind that I said in the ad he has started work over poles). She lifted his feet and asked if he was shod (the ad states he has never been shod). We took his rug off and she had a look at him. I stood him up (fairly square) he'd just had his rug taken off and it was -4C, so he was a bit fidgety. I walked and trotted him up the yard and put him back in his box.

Then she asked if I used éthologie (i.e. Parelli). Yes, things went down hill when I said I don't agree with it, that I don't believe in using increasing amounts of pressure and negative reinforcement. She stood for a couple of minutes pointing her finger at his hip - of course he didn't move as he as absolutely no idea what, if anything he was meant to be doing. Then she came and stood by his shoulder and stood for a couple of minutes not seeming to do anything, but expecting a reaction from him as she said "nevermind" when ass he was doing was falling asleep.

Then she said she would need to come back to ride (well duh!) so I suggested Saturday, during the daytime, or Thursday evening when my instructor would be there, as it wasn't possible for me to ride. She agreed that during the day would be better - at this point she asked how much he was and when I replied she was horrified "for a Mérens??? no, that's far too much." At which point she decided to walk away.

Blummin racial profiling! Blummin éthologists. Blitz wouldn't react well to Parelli type training.

Onwards and upwards!
 
Oh dear Casey, can't say i'm a bit surprised, i would have told her to naff off for being so late and not phoning, blooody rude considering how cold it is with you now, the Parelli stuff is all the thing now in my area, lots of horses for sale with plastic bags included in the photo's!!
Merens are lovely AND expensive here for a good one
Stupid woman :(
Hang in there, the right person will come along, are you advertising on any English sites?
Lovely and sunny here today, 14 degrees...... just sayin :D x
 
Merens are not not cheap up here in Brittany either!

Just to be clear, my definition of 'bonkers' is backing ponies at 2yo and competing them at 90cm as 3yo. Happens up here at many of the competition pony breeding yards. They are mostly sour, nasty and knackered by 7. One that I bred was sold last year at 5yo for 30k, been competing at 150cm for the last 18 months but won't last much longer, she's only 13.3hh.
 
Casey76 said:
Two saying "too much for a leisure horse" (he's been advertised specifically as an amateur dressage prospect)
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I've seen his ad and honestly I do think his price is steep for where he's at in training at the moment. For that kind of money I would expect him to have been out even just a few times for something for his CV.

The French don't do the 'but he does have potential' thing so much IMO - they expect more for their money than we do.

Do you have any videos of him that you could put on the ad? I don't think the pics are doing him much justice, although I do think he's gorgeous.
 
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