What is your pet hate when it comes to adverts?

The overuse of the word "stunning" when to me that's a matter of opinion. More than half the ones described as stunning to me are so very not. In my lifetime I have only ever met one or two horses that I could describe as stunning...so why is every yak described as stunning?!

And crappy photos...laying down, blurry, poorly stood up (on hill or whatever), ungroomed and not at all presented to sell. Before I part with my hard earned £1k, £3k or £5k I want it to look like it's worth that in the ad!

ooo struck a cord with me today, methinks! ;)
 
Seeing anything advertised over the age of 20!!!! Unless there is a really good reason or for a loan etc.
POA
BAD spelling
People who put a number and then never reply to you
KIDS who have advertised and dont have a clue
Liars, One horse I went to see last year was the 'next up and coming eventer' It was actually tied up in a cow shed with cows and had lice, was skinny and its feet were so bad that it couldnt even walk in a straight line!!!
 
Indalo said:
Liars, One horse I went to see last year was the 'next up and coming eventer' It was actually tied up in a cow shed with cows and had lice, was skinny and its feet were so bad that it couldnt even walk in a straight line!!!
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Oh my god, hope you told them off for wasting your time!
 
Ads written from the horse's perspective, blurry, badly angled pics, spelling the horse's breed wrong, changing your horse's colour to a more saleable one(dark bay for black, flaxen maned chestnut for palomino and so on), and putting conditions on the sale like "must be kept fed and rugged, as this is what she's used to". Can you really just force someone to keep a horse you have sold them fed and rugged? Or stop anyone from doing any non-NH horsemanship with the horse you sold to "NH home only" ? If you want the horse managed your way, keep it!
 
Ooooh, all of the above! I do particularly hate "stunning" in any context. The horse is rarely stunning unless they mean that it clonks you on the head regularly and stuns you.. I also hate "potential" if the horse is 12 or something. Pictures have to be the worst one though, I can scan through all the blurb if I have nice pics. I'd prefer just a confo pic over just jumping or just flatwork. I also hate "stolen" pro pics with the writing across them. And "no timewasters", I reckon if people know they're timewasters they will still go and timewaste even if they're told not to.
 
trottingon said:
Photos showing the rider without a hat on (proper riding hat I mean). Just because a person may consider themselves experienced, and/or ride for a dealer or a professional yard, it doesn't mean they will never again fall off, and if they do there is no guarantee they won't hit their head. Why, why, why would anyone no matter how experienced get on a horse without a hat???? And what are they trying to depict in adverts with these pictures, are they trying to say the horse is safe? It actually puts me off as I consider them to be reckless and I don't care to buy a horse from someone who is reckless, thank you very much...oooh rant over, be calm, count to ten slowly...
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I agree, I find it almost infuriating. My old loan horse's groom used to ride without a hat (she actually didn't have one) and it just reeks of arrogance. The girls on another livery yard I went to used to wear them but without the chin strap fastened which is equally as arrogant. If only they could meet someone that suffered something serious like brain damage or paralysis (as I read from the times saturday magazine as horse related) that would make them think twice. I admit I rode a pony on a french thing that actually didn't provide hats but that was hardly a risky ride and I felt exposed and weird cause I wasn't used to it.
 
Nothing.

I don't believe a word I read in ads anyway. All I want in them is age, height, breeding, colour, sex and a BRIEF description, as in, well broke, green broke or not broke. I don't care why you are selling, I am buying the horse, not you, your family or your opinions.

I don't give a stuff if the photo is crappy as long as it shows the actual horse and gives me an idea that it has everything in the right place and is the colour and approx height stated and I have yet to EVER view a horse that isn't smaller than stated, so if an ad reads 15.2h I go hoping for 15h but not surprised if it is 14.2h.

I'll find out what I need to know in phone calls or emails, all the whys, where's, whens, and whats. If I don't like what I hear/read then I go back to the lists.
 
enfys said:
Nothing.

I don't believe a word I read in ads anyway. All I want in them is age, height, breeding, colour, sex and a BRIEF description, as in, well broke, green broke or not broke. I don't care why you are selling, I am buying the horse, not you, your family or your opinions.

I don't give a stuff if the photo is crappy as long as it shows the actual horse and gives me an idea that it has everything in the right place and is the colour and approx height stated and I have yet to EVER view a horse that isn't smaller than stated, so if an ad reads 15.2h I go hoping for 15h but not surprised if it is 14.2h.

I'll find out what I need to know in phone calls or emails, all the whys, where's, whens, and whats. If I don't like what I hear/read then I go back to the lists.
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Spot on! :D
 
PucciNPoni said:
The overuse of the word "stunning" when to me that's a matter of opinion. More than half the ones described as stunning to me are so very not. In my lifetime I have only ever met one or two horses that I could describe as stunning...so why is every yak described as stunning?!
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Yep.... that's what I was going to add. "Stunning" is purely a matter of personal opinion and I often look at the pic and think "not to me, it isn't".

"No timewasters" puts me off too.... I wouldn't want to go and see in case I didn't like and got labelled.

And terrible photos....
 
Big horse - "ridden by a 12 year old". I should imagine all the Whittakers were better at riding than me at the age of 7 so it doesn't mean anything! Makes me giggle.
 
Waffle.."He's my best friend" "For Sale through no fault of his own"...who cares?

i just want the basics..age, sex, breeding, height, colour..i don't want to read waffle
 
carolineb said:
My horse's advert at the moment says "Readvertised due to timewasters" because that's exactly why he's been readvertised! They came to see him twice, asked us not to let anyone else see him because they wanted him, asked me for vets practices to use for vetting etc then ignored my calls when I asked to know what was going on and whether we could go ahead with the vetting. Then eventually rang back and said we've decided he's a bit too young for what we are looking for.

We had to turn quite a few people away and stupidly didn't write down a list of everyone who was interested to be able to ring them back.
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I had the same! So my new advert says 're advertised due to timewasters', they viewed him, loved him, put down a deposit, had him vetted (he passed), arranged a date, and then cancelled the day before. They were very novice, and luckily the horse is a saint and confidence giver, but we could tell the woman was anxious and nervous about riding despite him totally looking after her, I don't think she wanted to say she was as novice as she was, so went ahead with everything, I held on to him for two weeks waiting for them to get back from holiday and collect him! I kept the deposit to pay for my new advert.
 
When people miss out things like height, age, price (especially if its just an average horse). And silly photos of people standing on them etc. why?!?!?
 
Good to box, clip, or some other shortened version of the usual loong sentence. What about shoe, traffic and catch?!
 
I hate POA - I would never ring as I presume this means a millionaires budget is required.

No time-wasters - whilst some people undoubtedly waste your time most are just trying to make the best decision they can to buy a horse they do not really know from someone they don't know. This is such a big decision it's no wonder people change their minds especially as for many its quite an emotional decision - you fall in love with the horse but there are some nagging doubts in your mind as to whether you are really suited. Its not like buying a car.

As to "Not novice ride" - I would say my horse is not a novice ride - is he mad or bad? - No. He is quite spooky and will turn around and run off - stoppable within a few strides with a decent bit. I've mostly quelled this and he just stops and waits and then I encourage him on. He is a sweetie to handle, he is not generally nappy, he has never reared he only occasionally bucks usually in excitement not to get you off although earlier this year he had a bit of a tantrum over a mare he had fallen in love with. He sometimes shoots off in canter and if you don't catch it quick it takes up to 2 3rds of the arena circuit sometimes to get him under control but it is NOT a bolt. To an experienced rider he is a piece of cake just a bit cheeky - to a nervous or novice rider he would be quite naughty.

How do I explain this in an advert without it costing me an arm and a leg? Its much easier to chat to someone on the phone. Not that he is for sale.
 
POA!! Would never bother ringing about one!

Described as RC/PC, and when you phone up it turns out that the horse has not actually done RC/PC, but has the potential to do so...

Oh and when something obvious is missed out of the ad, like age/height/breed ect. When breed isn't included, they mostly seem to be ex racers being advertised for too much money!
 
The "no timewasters" tag can be perfectly reasonable. I have just added it to one of my ads which is very comprehensive and stetes the pony is a 3 year old NF, backed in July and going nicely in walk and trot and OBVIOUSLY VERY GREEN. I won't do any more with him as that (IMHO) is a big enough learning curve for him this year . .. so . . . . . my definition of "timewasters" includes (with regard to this particular pony):
. . . she came to see him twice, really liked him, rode him, her two friends rode him and he was a total star. She then says that he needs more work than she can do!!!! Er - read the ad, I was totally honest about him.
. . . the equine vet who came to see him, really liked him (again he went beautifully for her) and measured him at the withers ("because that's where you measure horses") - he's 13.3hh at the withers - and then said she wanted something over 14hh - er, he's 14.1hh on his bum (size also in the ad) and he's only 3 so got some more growing to do!
. . . the people who make a definite appointment to view and then don't turn up. I do love re-arranging my valuable weekend time to fit in with these people . . . . AARRGHHH!!!!
 
My main peeve is from the other side of things when potential buyers don't read the advert properly.
I advertised my little welshie last year, obviously being a 13.1hh pony I was expecting the onslaught of mothers ringing up for kids ponies so I specifically put a detailed description of her nappyness. I also put that she was a typical cheeky welsh mare so would suit an older more experienced child and that she was not a first pony in any way and would be very good for a competitive pony clubber.
I then spent several weeks on the phone with people who were saying "I want a pony for y daughter, it'll be her first pony..." after a 30 minute phone call - "does she nap?" "oh we were looking for something who had done a bit more" - the pony is 4 what do you expect!

GRR
 
Faithkat, whilst I agree that not turning up is inexcusable (why can't they phone??) I don't think the others are being timewasters.

You really can't judge just how green a horse is until you've sat on it yourself. You have an idea in your head how much work you can manage but it is incredibly difficult to get that across in words without sitting on the horse.

And I think unless your add specifically stated the size of the horse as 13.3, but still has some growing to do then she isn't really wasting your time. Though personally for me it isn't so much the height of the horse when you measure it, more the feel when you ride.

If people turn up and look and don't buy they aren't wasting time. They are making a difficult purchase. Bear in mind too that saying to a horse owner "I just don't like him" is generally seen as a bit rude, and sometimes a horse can tick all the boxes but you just don't really like it, so what do you say then????

I think it is really off to call potential buyers timewasters. You are trying to make a sale, you invite them to see the "goods" you are selling, hopefully they will like the horse and buy it but the way these things work is that not everyone will.

You don't get called a timewaster if you go into M&S, try on a jumper and then decide that the shade doesn't really suit you. You don't get called a timewaster if you view a house and decide that you don't like the layout of the kitchen either, so why do people get so ansty about people not buying their horses?

I guess because it is kind of like trying to sell your child as you have a lot of emotion invested in them!!! You can't understand why someone else wouldn't like them as much as you do.

But at the end of the day I think ads that say "no timewasters" look aggressive and unfriendly and I don't want to buy a horse from someone like that. I want to buy a horse from someone who is happy for me to go back for a second look and who is friendly and approachable and willing to talk it through and wants to see the horse find the right owner not just make a quick sale.

I'm going for a second viewing at the weekend and it was really nice that the horse's owners didn't seem to expect a decision or response on the first viewing.
 
skewbald_again said:
'Potential' in anything aged over about 5

Any mention of Parelli.
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^^This and Photos showing horses supposedly broken in and being ridden loose jumping.

I've never even enquired about a horse with POA at the bottom of the ad.

Overuse of the word stunning. my horse is stunning, i've been told many times by many people so i would put it in his advert mostly because there's very little else positive to say about him. My other two aren't particularly stunning so i wouldn't put it on the advert. My newest horse had "stunning" on his ad (which i didn't see prior to purchase) and when i did see the advert i said "is he??"
 
I know i am terrible at waffling about the horses but in an ad i just want facts stated, once given the facts i can then decided if i want to find out a bit more detail.
POA - just tell me the price so i know if it is in my price range or not.
Crap Pictures - let me see views of the horse standing square and being ridden. everyone has a mobile these days dont take long to clean and prepare horse for pictures
 
Definitely "No time wasters/Re-advertised due to time wasters". OK nobody wants people who take the mick going out trying horses they have no intention of buying (not that there are that many!) - that is a given fact and you and your horse are not exactly special in not wanting it to happen to you, so why put it in the ad? More likely you are talking about the people who try your horse then decide they are not willing to part with their cash as your horse isn't worth it to them. Hello, this is how selling stuff works and you shouldn't assume a viewer has any obligation to buy at all until a deposit subject to vet is left and a vetting is complete.

Adverts where the main picture, or all the pictures, are of some little runty mutant's strapping sire. :rolleyes:
 
Katt said:
Faithkat, whilst I agree that not turning up is inexcusable (why can't they phone??) I don't think the others are being timewasters.

You really can't judge just how green a horse is until you've sat on it yourself. You have an idea in your head how much work you can manage but it is incredibly difficult to get that across in words without sitting on the horse.

And I think unless your add specifically stated the size of the horse as 13.3, but still has some growing to do then she isn't really wasting your time. Though personally for me it isn't so much the height of the horse when you measure it, more the feel when you ride.

.
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I would have thought it pretty obvious that a just backed 3 year old is going to be VERY green (particularly as I made a point of stressing that in the ad)!!
And I put in the ad that the pony is just 14.1hh on his bum - who, in their right mind, would measure a 3 year old on the withers anyway? Surely everyone knows that no 3 year old has reached its mature height yet and I really would have thought that an equine vet especially would have had rather more common sense.
I made very sure when I compiled the ad that I included as much information as possible as I had taken on board all the comments that have been on various forums including this one, on what people want to see! That's why people who waste your time coming to see something that is clearly NOT what they are looking for, are classed as "timewasters" in my book.
 
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