What sentence from a seller would stop you going to look at a horse.......

Tonto_

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I think, like most things that people say, it's very open to interpretation.

Did the owner of the horse really mean that of all the people who came out to try the horse, you were the only one who clicked with her? That's how I interpreted it.

: )
No, she told me that everyone else, even her friends who had just been having a sit in her had been bolted with or thrown off. She looked genuinely surprised I didn't have any issues
 

Lois Lame

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I think DabDab meant that the seller might come out with some excuse for the not standing still for mounting.

Tonto, that seller does sound dodgy. Or just very very bad at expressing herself. I would have been aghast as well.
 

Fabled Thoroughbred

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I once saw....
“Has her moments but usually she’s good.” The Horse was apparently pretty safe. 15 hh OTTB, I got MIXED messages. Luckily she was far from me and I was just browsing for fun- she had a PRECIOUS face (on the ad, anyway). Not the horse’s fault, hope she found someone❤️♥️!!
 

Caol Ila

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Someone on Facebook (not a horse person, but an acquaintance who loves animals) forwarded me an ad for a 7-year old Clydesdale gelding, described as a "a good boy but needs kind and firm handling," "needs an experienced owner," and it had been sitting in a field for the last year due to current owner "not having time." They also wanted about £4500 for him.

So, he's a barely-broke seven-year old heavy draught, built like a brick sh*thouse, with zero manners who has probably scared the daylights out of his owners. Or he's lame. Cool.
 

windand rain

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Hand reared or home bred and well handled. I might look but would be wary if it seemed a thug
No price or location drives me nuts It is so time consuming and wasteful to have to enquire then be told by the seller they dont like it when price is the first question. Maybe everyone else has deep pockets or no top budget but not me
 
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DabDab

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What backing method causes them to not stand still at a mounting block?

Sorry, only just seen this.
Rider thrown up while the horse is on the move, or legged up and then the horse moved off immediately. It's a legitimate way to try to avoid a tension point, but it's just a personal pet peeve. I like horses to stand and think nothing of just waiting around and can be trusted to stand if I need to get back on out hacking. And I find it a PITA to teach retrospectively. Just a personal thing
 

Northern

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I've recently found a good one.
WB gelding, aged 11 of average breeding. Video is terrible and the horse looks suspiciously unsound in parts, IMO he's sore in his hocks.
Has never been out to compete, no record to speak of. Advert only has pictures of his right side (8 photos :p ).

The clincher? Horse is now unridden due to personal reasons. So price has been reduced from £14.5k to £12k (converted from AUD). :eek:o_O
 

Pipala85

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"Not a novice ride" if they don't explain why the horse isn't a novice ride
I'm not a novice rider but I don't want something that's going to be bouncing all over with me!

And "needs an experienced handler".

My boy is not a novice ride and needs an experienced handler -me. Should I have to ever sell him I will do so by word of mouth, via people that know us well, rather than come out with rubbish like that. I've owned him for almost a year and he is starting to get along well - he has a past I fear.

Having said that, I had no indication of his 'interesting' personality when I bought him, he behaved fairly well when I rode him and when my instructor got on too, but since that I have had to move him from a livery yard because he became 'dangerous' - a matter of opinion; I know that the YO dealt with him too forcefully (witnesses) and he became even defensive (he is loving and usually merely pesky with me) - and now we are on a quiet private yard and starting again, with fewer episodes!

I don't think the issue is warning people of issues; rather that you don't expect to sell horses with issues to strangers? I wouldn't have bought my chap had I known, but he is mine, I love him, and if I ever have to sell him I will only do so to a network of people I know and trust. Xx
 

The-Bookworm

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I do wonder what quirky is supposed to mean. I take that as sharp or difficult. No novices put me off too! I’m not a novice but I like safe horses and that makes me feel like it’s not safe!
Mine has been described as quirky along with obstinate. For her she's an opportunist and so has a mischievous streak.
 

milliepops

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I do wonder what quirky is supposed to mean. I take that as sharp or difficult. No novices put me off too! I’m not a novice but I like safe horses and that makes me feel like it’s not safe!
if pressed I suppose I would describe Kira as quirky.
She's a complicated mixture. She really really wants to do the right thing, but sometimes her brain won't let her. She's highly trainable and very clever about it, but some of her fight/flight responses are so hard wired they take over despite everything. There are things you have to do her way, and if you do the rewards are huge.
Often I think quirky can be code for plain rude or with undesirable behaviour... while that is true on some level with her, there is more going on behind the scenes and you have to play some things her way or else you may as well not bother.

I wouldn't put a novice on her, no, and I also wouldn't put someone bullheaded who thought there was one way to train or "discipline" horses because all of the progress I've made with her has been through thinking outside the box ;)

I wouldn't turn down quirky if I thought the horse was worth it. But it does rather depend on the honesty of the seller and whether it's a euphemism for dangerous.
 

Pearlsasinger

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if pressed I suppose I would describe Kira as quirky.
She's a complicated mixture. She really really wants to do the right thing, but sometimes her brain won't let her. She's highly trainable and very clever about it, but some of her fight/flight responses are so hard wired they take over despite everything. There are things you have to do her way, and if you do the rewards are huge.
Often I think quirky can be code for plain rude or with undesirable behaviour... while that is true on some level with her, there is more going on behind the scenes and you have to play some things her way or else you may as well not bother.

I wouldn't put a novice on her, no, and I also wouldn't put someone bullheaded who thought there was one way to train or "discipline" horses because all of the progress I've made with her has been through thinking outside the box ;)

I wouldn't turn down quirky if I thought the horse was worth it. But it does rather depend on the honesty of the seller and whether it's a euphemism for dangerous.


TBH, I don't think any-one should take on a horse (buy/loan/foster) if they're not prepared to think outside the box. We have had to do that with all of ours, for various reasons, all different.
 

milliepops

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TBH, I don't think any-one should take on a horse (buy/loan/foster) if they're not prepared to think outside the box. We have had to do that with all of ours, for various reasons, all different.
No, but lots of people only see horse training through the prism of their own experience or what has been handed down to them from other old-skool influences. Arguably someone looking for a straightforward novice ride to suit their lack of experience shouldn't have to think tooooo far beyond the norm, most of the time. that's the point of a horse suitable for a novice IMO ;)
 

Leandy

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No price or location drives me nuts It is so time consuming and wasteful to have to enquire then be told by the seller they dont like it when price is the first question. Maybe everyone else has deep pockets or no top budget but not me

No location is very annoying. I'm not travelling to the other end of the earth so why not put it in and I'll only contact you if I consider the journey doable. No price I can understand although it is much easier if the price is included as again everyone saves time if it is out of budget. I understand why people do not wish to disclose price though as there are many reasons not to make this a matter of public record. They should however be prepared to answer the question as the first question given budget is a very relevant factor for most people and there is no point discussing any further if the price is not affordable (or, in my view, often if it is too cheap also...).
 

Pearlsasinger

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No, but lots of people only see horse training through the prism of their own experience or what has been handed down to them from other old-skool influences. Arguably someone looking for a straightforward novice ride to suit their lack of experience shouldn't have to think tooooo far beyond the norm, most of the time. that's the point of a horse suitable for a novice IMO ;)


Well, yes. But I am always prepared to think outside the box and I would not look at a horse described as 'not suitable for a novice' in an ad, although to be fair I have bought horses that when I spoke to the seller they did warn me about ways that the horses have taken advantage of novices.
 

Fabled Thoroughbred

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Hand reared or home bred and well handled. I might look but would be wary if it seemed a thug
No price or location drives me nuts It is so time consuming and wasteful to have to enquire then be told by the seller they dont like it when price is the first question. Maybe everyone else has deep pockets or no top budget but not me
Yes. I must know all details that could restrict me from purchasing him/her. Location bugs me because I’m not paying to import a horse from ABCDEFG across the world unless that’s what I want to accomplish. And no price is a little annoying- I get that if the horse has a higher price tag/range that’s off-putting, but if you have the honest commitment to sell a horse it’s best to be honest.
 
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