Why is it so hard to buy a horse?

Buying or selling horses is a nightmare but I would rather buy lol. i have 5 horses, 1 homebred 3yr old so he doesn't count. Three of the others event, 1 at pre-novice the other 2 at novice level. One cost me £7k and the £4k and then £3k. The £7k was vetted, showing which we knew a small old tendon injury in 2 seasons hasn't proved to be a problem. The other 2 not vetted and were fine but I agree I accepted the risks. The 5th horse is an ex race horse bought for a pittance and bar fired into the bargain. All of them have great temps and do their jobs.

One is for sale and after spending copious amounts of time on the phone to buyers and being totally honest with them. Have now agreed that our question to buyers will be " how many horses have you viewed" if its over 8 then please don't come and see ours as you either aren't listening to our answers, have the wrong budget completely or expecting miracles. Before you ask, no the one for sale is not being sold for a profit.
 
morrismob said:
Have now agreed that our question to buyers will be " how many horses have you viewed" if its over 8 then please don't come and see ours as you either aren't listening to our answers, have the wrong budget completely or expecting miracles. Before you ask, no the one for sale is not being sold for a profit.
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lol, I'd have lost at LEAST 6 buyers if I said that! One had actually seen more than 30 horses before she came to me and had almost totally lost confidence after being bucked off, carted, and had horses fail the vet! Nearly 3 years on she's 101% happy with the baby I sold her!
 
Personally, I am happy to not compromise for the time being.
I lost the horse of a lifetime last year and it is only now that I feel emotionally ready to start sticking my toe back in the water. Having had my lad for five years before having to have him PTS due to injury, I know what my perfect horse is. And, while I am not looking to replace him, I won't settle for anything less than what I had with him because I know it is achievable, at my budget. It might just take a bit longer. But as my OH said, better spend a long time finding it, than be stuck with the wrong one. I want to give the right horse a home for life, our animals become part of our family.
OP, I really hope you find something great!
 
I can't PM as I'm on my mobile, but my friend is selling her gelding purely due to finances and having 2 other horses, she is struggling with the time to put in to his schooling. He is just under 15hh, 5 next year, Connemara gelding. Forward to ride and a lovely jump on him. He is green though and needs the schooling put in. Hacks alone and in company and is sane!! Kent area. If anyone was interested I will send you the add. Just matched someone's description on this thread who is looking!
 
morrismob said:
One is for sale and after spending copious amounts of time on the phone to buyers and being totally honest with them. Have now agreed that our question to buyers will be " how many horses have you viewed" if its over 8 then please don't come and see ours as you either aren't listening to our answers, have the wrong budget completely or expecting miracles. Before you ask, no the one for sale is not being sold for a profit.
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I can see where you are coming from but it may well be that the buyers have seen so many because they have listened to the sellers of the other horses they tried and believed that the horse was as described, on arrival finding they had been misdescribed or worse. I rarely look at more than one or two because I am cynical, take time to read between the lines and only go if I feel the horse is accurately described, however I have still managed to see some that are so far from what was expected that we do not even get as far as riding them, not every seller is honest, many may be honest but deluded and it takes experience to be able to sift the wheat from the chaff in a phone conversation.
 
I don't sell horses any more, but when I did (for a living; I was a breeder and trainer) I would always send pictures, a video of the horse loose and being ridden, and a detailed description/pedigree/history. If I was buying a horse which was any distance away I would expect the same information before I went to view, and 99% of the time I can make an accurate evaluation of whether it fits my requirements from that. I have also bought many horses from video/pictures and have not been disappointed, but then I am not looking for the reincarnation of a perfect being and am realistic and experienced enough to A. know what I'm looking for, and B. able to make the horse into what I want.

When I was selling horses I was absolutely fed up with silly people not knowing what they wanted, what they were looking at, not being able to ride and having no idea of what it actually took to get anywhere with horses.
 
I've bought some utter idiots of horses and made them into what I wanted....perfect horses don't exist, someone's had to make them and that costs.
Cheaper is to buy younger and make them yourself.
And what's perfect for one person won't be perfect for another....
 
Been looking for ages too, one thing I realised was that the financial crisis in 2008 and after, would have put a lot of people off breeding.
I think thats why I have had a very hard job finding some thing suitable, as my age crieria was a youngster.
I hope I have now found what I wanted!, albeit a different colour!
Good luck in your search.
 
see OP to me you're looking for a nice event horse youngster to bring up the grades and make a profit off in 12 months and that's what sellers will see and want to do themselves! You'll need at least 4-5k for something that looks like it might do something and is not too young if not more so you may have to drop your quality requirements.
 
I would love to be buying at the moment to be honest. The prices in Ireland are low, and as winter sets it the prices and dropping even more. There are so many tempting me but I am currently pregnant.
Part of my thinks I should just buy one and put it in the field for the winter. The prices could be on the way up next spring. They certainly can't get any lower.
 
[Part of my thinks I should just buy one and put it in the field for the winter. The prices could be on the way up next spring. They certainly can't get any lower.[/QUOTE]

I think they will, 'tho.......
 
Cortez said:
[Part of my thinks I should just buy one and put it in the field for the winter. The prices could be on the way up next spring. They certainly can't get any lower

I think they will, 'tho.......
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Oh great, so when I arrive home with a new horsey this winter and hubby goes mad, I'll just blame you! ;)
 
Ha ha! Yes, go ahead. I am firmly sitting on my hands at all opportunities; great time to buy horses at the moment, but I would wait another year or two in order to be able to catch the rising tide in about 5 years time (I'm reckoning) when people are looking to buy nice made horses again.
 
Lola, that is the single most important criteria, why was it not on my list?!

I don't think you can judge a buyer by the number of horses I've looked at as whilst I've seen many, I am finding what I like and attempting to get it vetted (however unsuccessfully!) and there are a lot of unscrupulous sellers out there who will hear what you'd like and tell you all the right things about their horses to make sure you at least pay them a visit - if they get you through the door, then surely you'll consider it? There are a couple of horses I've been to view that I've not even got on as I could see from the ground that they weren't what I was looking for despite being assured that they were. It's irritating as a lot of the time, people also edit videos/pictures (if they even have videos available) to show the good side of their horse rather than their true behaviour. I saw a really good example of this when a friend went to see a pony that I could have said was unsuitable from the video (saw this after their viewing). It was advertised as a great PC all rounder but they showed no pictures/videos of a child riding - the adult that was riding it could not stop it running into fences - needless to say when this friend's daughter sat on it, she stood no chance and could not hold it at all!

SusieT, I'm not looking for a great breeding, amazing potential youngster, but a nice little all rounder. I want to event next year and would happily consider something that would only ever have the scope to BE90/BE100 as long as it was genuine and I could enjoy it (this is exactly what the last one that the vet saw was), that's what my search is really about. I won't be selling to make a profit but because I hope to be entering a permanent role in quite a tough profession in September and will potentially be moved around a lot so don't want to leave a horse sat around and not doing a job.

Minimilton, why not, equally you could get a good quality youngster to be a nice prospect for a couple of years down the line. We won't tell on you ;)
 
Buying a horse is easy peasy! Little mare went to loan home last week and we were congratulating ourselves on having an easy winter ahead with only one horse and one pony both out as not working. Cue phone call from acquaintance desperate to sell her young mare. Great prospect, ridden by daughter often, at a giveaway price, how could anyone say no? So here we are with 3 donkeys again (4 really as the other mare could theoretically come back any time) Hey-ho!
 
Well i have recently witnessed dishonesty in a seller. My friend is selling her horse and had a lovely photo of her riding it on the flat.
Last week whilst trawling ads on horsemart i saw an ad with the same pic and thought 'oh she must have re advertised her'. When i looked, the new ad was for a gelding the other side of the country and although they had used their own photos for the jumping pics, they had stolen my friends pic of the flatwork because the horse was very similar.( Both grey but friends is a mare and other was a gelding)
Therefore anyone who goes to view this horse will prob find they cant get it to go so well on the flat, thats because its not the horse in the picture!!
 
Hi All, I have been looking for horses for sale for a while but not in the position to buy right now. Hopefully in 2014!
First, I'd like to say if any of you guys are going to view a horse for sale in Surrey/Kent/London area and would like some company, I'll be happy to come along. It is always good to have another pair of eyes and I could video and take pictures of you riding if you wish.
That would be a good experience for me also to prepare me for buying a horse.
By the way I did go to see a few already so got some experiences with that.
Secondly, I just wanted to mention a few trusted places that I found out to buy horses if it can be helpful (in the south east):
- for all types cobs/ponies/horses : Sam Darvill Equestrian (very trustworthy young lady she will tell you the truth! - she has only a few horse/ponies for sale at one time but worth contacting with your requirements, she might find what you want)
https://www.facebook.com/SamDarvillEquestrian?ref=br_tf
also clipcloptraders
- for irish sport horses : southgatefarm
- for dressage warmbloods : Oldencraig (nice horse but expensive!)
- for exracers : retrained and rehomed -> Moorcroft or http://www.thorncroftstables.co.uk/
- for iberian horses : bapsh website
Hope it helps.
 
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