When you bought your horse was it as described?

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Worried1

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Just wanted your thoughts.

At the moment OH has taken a horse in for a lovely client who has made the difficult decision to sell him.

I have measured him and he stands a shade under 17.1hh. Now we have advertised him as 17hh as with his shoes off he is probably bang on. Sis has taken some amazing photos and done a brilliant video and we have advertised him on Horsequest, H&H a free local website as well as BD.

So far we have had very little response (other than people asking if he will go advanced) and no one to see him and the owner wondered if the height was putting people off and asked us to think about advertising him as 16.3hh.

I am against this for many reasons as I know how frustrating it can be when people don't tell the truth. We once went to try a 16.1hh middleweight mare who we never even got out of her box becasue she was 15.2hh at a push and a lightweight to boot. (In the pictures the girl looked small on her because she was barely 5ft and very lightweight.)

What do people think... Was your horse accurately described?
 
yes accurately described in every way thankfully, went to see many that werent, altho i must check the old advert and see if it said good to clip, cos he sure as hell isnt! other than that yes, spot on. good luck.
 
i'd be tempted to advertise him a shade smaller just to see if thats why you've not had much interest, I may be wrong but i've heard the sale market is a bit slow at the minute so that might be what it is
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My horse was described spot on. In fact over the phone the owner was a bit cagey and stressed his 'cheeky side' and I almost didn't go and see him, so glad I did though he is still with me nearly 5 years later
 
Yes, even though he does have a few issues they were never anything but honest. I did know the people I bought him off though.
 
not really...but it didnt bother me as i'd bought him untried and unseen from Ireland......

we now have an understanding!
 
As you are probably aware due to my previous posts I have spent the last month being absolutely frustrated by horses not advertised as what they are, being 'olympic hopefuls!' and no genuine 'allrounders'! I think it is a waste of everyones time to 'lie' (even if white) about a horse for sale. Be honest and sell honestly. We all know the horse market is slow at the moment but it is so frustrating as a buyer to go to a 'very well handled, backed and broken' four year old who has no idea what a bridle or saddle is!!! I am really lucky as just seen a beautiful filly who was everything the owner described (warts and all!) and she was exactly what I expected and I offered on her immediately. Be honest and the right person will come, lie and lots of the wrong people will come and leave you very frustrated. As a previous frustrated buyer I really plead honesty!!
 
The first horse I bought was not as described but the lovely person had all my money and my only escape route was to swap her and the second horse was as described to ride, he just forgot to mention that she was a cripple and not really that sound. The third horse he tried to swap her for I got vetted and I was told that I would be luckily if it lasted 18 months. So 3 horses and all accompanied by the biggest lies imaginable. Dealers - you got to love them.
 
Well you're more than likely right that if you were to advertise the horse as a 16.3hh, you'd have more interest.....however....he isn't 16.3hh and as soon as someone came to look at him and spotted this untruth, they may well start to wonder what other fibs have been told about him.

There are two types of dealers - good ones and bad ones - if this is something you want to do more than once, then you would likely prefer to be one of the good guys
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. Don't fib - tell the truth as you know it otherwise it could damage your reputation.

Well I'd say that most of my horses were pretty accurately described, mind you most of the ones I ended up buying was by word of mouth rather than adverts. The ones I did buy from adverts were pretty much described as is - the ones I didn't or hardly ever bought from adverts were not! Hence they were either not bought or if they were then the price I paid definitely reflected what I thought of their adverts!

At least half of my horses came direct from their breeders. Never have I been told fibs about them from the breeders.
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Now that we are where we want to be with our horses the vast majority of them will be bought in future direct from their breeders.
 
I have been in this difficult situation before when selling tall horses. Without a doubt, anything that goes over the 17hh mark has a more limited market, and I also think that most knowledgeable buyers are aware of the physical/joint issues that tall horses are more prone to.
The last horse I sold was 17.1hh and I advertised him as such. There is a huge difference between say 16.2 and 17hh as opposed to 16.0 to 16.2. But yes, how frustrating is it when people try to sell you a 16.2 that turns out to be a shade under 16hh!
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My current horse came from a dealer & was 100% as described.

Drove 200 miles to see a prospective purchase described as 17 hh but it was def at least 17.3. I know jolly well what a genuine 17 hander is like cos Cat was one. I must say, it does make you wonder how else the truth has been stretched, esp if they've blatantly lied about something that you can see at a glance.

Decided I liked it anyway, had checked with the owner before we even left home that it would pass a 5 stage & double checked again when I was trying it...and then it failed. Dishonest all the way thru or a co-incidence?
 
Mine was exactly as described, both in the ad and face-to-face by the owner. I'm almost certain though that somewhere along the line, the person who had her when she previously had her tendon injury didn't bother telling her next owner about it. So I didn't get all the info I needed really, but the lady who sold her to me didn't have it all!
 
I would advertise him as he is. There are people like me (I'm 6' tall) who are looking for taller horses.
When I was looking for my youngster I wanted something 16.3hh or bigger. Sometimes I'd see a really nice 16.2hh (including the youngster I bought!) & when I phoned I would always ask if it was a small or large 16.2hh
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& that i'm 6', & I was often then told the horse was actually 16'3hh or in one case (that I didn't buy) 17hh!!!
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They could have lost a prospective viewer by not being honest in the advert.
I'm glad to say that apart from that he was thankfully exactly as described as I drove from essex to dorset to view him!!
 
I was told my boy was 12, 16.2, sound schoolmaster.

Turned out to be an 8 year old, 15.3, blind in one eye nutbag. Still love him though! x
 
My horse was advertised as 16hh but is more like 15.2 - 15.3 .. but I liked him and bought him anyway.

I woudn't change the ad, some buyers will notice the change - I spent ages looking at ads when I was looking for a horse and saw a 16.3hh horse which was later advertised as 16.2hh ... made me wonder what else they would change in the description just to get a sale.
 
I must confess that I once advertised a horse for sale as 16.3 when he was probably closer to 17-17.1hh. Just because I think 17hands is a bit of a psychological barrier. When people called I'd explain that he was at least 16.3 probably a bit bigger but I didn't have a measuring stick so couldn't be sure.

The funny thing was, the people who bought him were thrilled with his size. They said that they'd been been to see loads of horses claiming to be be 16.3 that were too short !!! LOL.
 
Mine was as described the vet measured at vetting at 15.2 for passport but my measuring stick says 15.1 but he is as described a little sweethart really!! Be honest I hatted people that lied as I was looking fr a smaller horse as only 5 ft and 15.2 16hh was my limit and I looked at 14.2 and even 14.1 advertised as 15hh. It was a waste of time.
 
The horse I bought for my OH a few months ago was definitely NOT as described. We were told that he was suitable for a novice and he was quiet enough to ride at the dealers but once we got him home the firerworks started. He has subsequently been re-schooled twice and thown off every rider who has got on him.

My second horse whom I bought sight unseen from over 300 miles away is exactly as described and I love her because she is perfect for me and her lovely owner was completely truthful about her.
 
Well I own a good 17hh horse that was advertised as 16.3 didn't put me off.

Dressage people usually want the bigger horses so not sure if it's that causing your lack of calls.
 
Thanks everyone - Have told OH we need to stick to our guns.

I do understand where she is coming from but your right the market is VERY slow at the moment. I know the right person is out there for him.

I suppose when you have made the decision to sell you want them to go there and then and that doesn't always happen!
 
My boy was advertised as small horse with bis paces, he was advertised as 16hh and is probs 16.1 and a bit after filling out, she gave the correct amoun of bd points, pink papered, said he had xc'd and sj'd and had the talent just not the experience, overall, he is exactyly what it said on the tin and more....!
 
QR-
Def as described. Very kind, polite, honest wee horse with willing nature, suitable for confident novice. My dream horsey and with me for life!
Would always adverts to be true descriptions, personally- for the horse's sake as much as anything so they don't get passed from pillar to post.
 
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