** Worst, most shocking horse-for-sale viewing EVER! **

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MagicMelon

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I have just come back from viewing a horse for sale and to put it mildly I am absolutely horrified! For those who followed my earlier post - this was an Andalusian, imported from Spain last year. The girl was extremely honest, so honest I was left speachless on a number of occassions! Here's the run-down:

1) Turned up to find horse in her front garden... Apparently the farmer had stopped her using the small paddock beside the house. She said she planned to move the horse to a livery yard asap but I dont know...
2) The horse had had its tail cut off (VERY VERY short) which looked horrendous, when asked the girl said "I hacked it off because it was so long and bugged me".
3) The horse was covered with scars including sliced sort of scars on its face. What the hell someone had done to this horse I have no idea.
4) Its front hooves badly needed a serious trim (although not quite cruelty case).
5) The woman on the phone said she'd give the horse a good wash before we came (its grey), however it had clearly not been groomed in ages with a very knotted long mane.
6) The girl leapt on it and basically booted it like hell to make it move (with it coughing and spluttering) and rode with one hand which hauled it about. This horse clearly had NEVER had ANY basic flatwork of ANY kind (its a 7yo!). She barely could get it to trot (there was no room in the garden to canter). She girl hated riding in tack so after I asked her to put a saddle on it, she muttered that she hated tack and refused to use the stirrups. I asked what bit she used and if it had worn a snaffle, she said "oh a Spanish one, she wore a snaffle once and hated it" - this bit turned out to be a basic rubber straight bar...

What I asked and what I was told and I AM NOT KIDDING:

- How is she to ride? "hmm, she's ok. I mean some days she's really lazy and we can barely leave the yard, other days she gallops off with me".
- Has she ever bucked/reared/ cantered off? "Oh yeah, she can do really big rears - last time I tried to ride her down the track she wouldn't go and was rearing up so high that she almost fell twice. She bucks when excited. She canters off quite a lot with me".
- Ok, so what did you do on hacks in Spain, did you walk/trot/canter her ok? "No, I basically galloped her bareback to school and put her in a field then back again everyday" (I AM NOT KIDDING PEOPLE, this girl was 15yrs old BTW!)
- Has she ever seen traffic? "Yeah, well she did in Spain but I met a car a while back and she galloped home with me".
- Have you ever competed her? "Yeah we raced her a few times" (I really dont want to know what this consisted off!).
- Does the horse load and travel ok? "Yeah, she loads fine but she doesn't like corners and thumps about a lot".
- Is the horse vaccinated? "Against what?" (they had never heard of tetanus / flu). I didn't even bother to ask about worming.

This horse was advertised at £3,500!!! Now knocked down to just under £3k. By the end, me and mum would have laughed if we hadn't felt so damn sorry for this horse. The horse was so nice natured and could have been such a lovely horse had they not utterly ruined it. I'm planning to tell them all this and offer them pity money of £500 just so it doesn't end up going to the meat man
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I've never had such a ridiculous horse viewing in my life!
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Maybe the young girl Doesn't want to sell it? That's the impression I got from reading what you wrote, she tried her best to put you if buying! Could be completely wrong but.....
 
When I hear about things like this I get an awful feeling of desperation and helplessness. Its really upsetting how some owners are so naive and stupid. I wish I had a million quid to set up a sanctuary for these poor horses.
 
Was it just the girl showing you the horse? Any chance she was trying to scare you off? Parent's selling her horse and her not wanting it sold? Just an idea?
 
Oh god, wasit bad enough to call the RSPCA? I wounder what they are feeding it? Sounds like they have no idea! Poor pony, lets hope they take you £500
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Let us know what happens x
 
Horse_Crazy2 - that's what went through my mind too. A young girl who's mother has said she has to sell her horse and she's doing everything to prevent a sale.
 
omg! poor horse! people are very strange! do you think the 15 year old girl may have been telling a few exaggerated truths with the bucking/rearing etc- was mum selling and she didnt want her to go so put a bit of a this horse is awful act on?!
 
Sounds about par for the course for the average Spanish horse owner (i mean the owner being Spanish, not the horse) - I'd be interested to know how long they lived in Spain for it to have rubbed off on them. The straight rubber bar is the norm here, that or a metal one, usually with badly adjusted curb chain and reins on the lower ring, not many horses are ridden in snaffles (as a matter of fact my Spanish horse loathes any kind of jointed bit).

Poor neddy, I hope they take your offer!
 
The mum was there the whole time. I did wonder if she didnt want to sell the horse but she totally had a "couldn't care less attitude" to the horse. She treated it as if she really didn't like it (yanking it about etc.). The mother didn't say anything to her daughter being so honest! In fact, sometimes she'd back her up! The mother said at the end "we just aren't Pony Club people, we do things the Spanish way"!!!

It's not so much a cruelty case simply because it actually isnt thin or anything, its actually slightly too fat (wormy probably!) although Im not sure how as it is literally on a tiny bit of grazing... Its hooves were too long BUT not long enough to be a serious concern. I know that the RSPCA only do something if the horse LOOKS really dreadful condition-wise etc. Apparently they fed it chaff and pasture mix, maybe they gave it this by the bucket load as the hay it was eating was dusty and half straw!

I have just sent her my email stating why I did not think it was worth what she wanted and offering her £500! I genuinely could not spend more than that on it though as it would be a HUGE project. I feel so bad for it though, I wanted to take it home
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Are there no other rescue organisations near you and/or the horse that you could contact? I personally would find it very difficult to live with myself if I just left it there, but on the other hand it's clearly not worth the price they are asking and persumably expecting.

Good luck. Hope she accepts your offer. Please keep us informed.
 
This isn't the same mare I saw on another Scot site that is no longer for sale due to 'change' in circs is it?

If it is the same one for 3500, she has been for sale for a while, nice looking mare and I was tempted because of I have one the same.

I hope its not.
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I have to say despite, as you say, being awful for the horse that made me laugh once I had picked my chin up from the floor after the initial shock! I think the rearing part was just the best bit lol!

If you can get him for £500 it would be good. At 3k he wont fall into the wrong hands hopefully.

Poor horse.
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Trust me, the look on me and my mums faces must have been a real picture. At first, I almost thought she was joking... clearly not as it continued and got worse and worse! The horse was a sweetheart though, I could see it had put up with a hell of a lot and I think could be reschooled but it would take a lot of work.

Ive heard there's other people coming to see it, so goodness knows what they'll think!

With regard to reporting it, honestly I do not think the RSPCA or local ILPH would do anything, they never do unless the horse LOOKS really terrible which yes it's covered in scars and its scruffy but its NOT thin and its hooves arent cruelty-long. They have a stable for it right beside the house and do feed it hay (not good hay, but still). I don't believe its being starved or anything, I just think their situation is far from ideal and they simply don't know how to actually handle and ride the horse! Thing is that their lease is up on their house as well so they're due out by the end of the month! And if what she says about trying to get it to a livery yard is true, then Id be interested to see what the other people there think! Its weird as right next door is a really nice arab stud... you'd almost think they'd have offered a paddock or something.
 
It is not uncommon for Spanish horses to have a docked tail, also the cuts/scars on the face may have been from a the noseband with the serrated teeth you can see being worn over there.
 
'Its weird as right next door is a really nice arab stud... you'd almost think they'd have offered a paddock or something. '

Maybe the neighbours have a better picture of what these people and their horse are like?



Why on earth reward these people with £500??!!!


Go and find a decent horse to spend your money on.
 
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