WWYD if you saw an advert for a horse than you KNEW wasnt honest

I

IWTO

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 April 2009
Messages
468
Visit site
Ive come across an advert for a horse that i know isnt as its being described. The horse has recently turned quite dangerous. I say recently in the last few months- previous to this the horse was always a handful but never dangerous.
The seller knows i know and asked me not to say anything. It has been said that there is something physiological wrong with the horse and its sporadic dangerous behaviour has come on over the last few months.
I have ridden this horse before this new dangerous behaviour started and whilst it might have had the odd buck and could be a handful on the ground it never showed any of the behaviours it is showing the seller. I know its back was checked in the summer but i do not know whether its teeth or tack have been checked however i assume so as seller is a very experienced horseman.
Its attracted a lot of interest because the horse is very striking and is very well priced as she wants rid.
I see the seller on a daily basis also. Inside i am screaming but outside i feel i should stay well out of it.

What would you do?
 
I think at the very least you should tell the seller that what she is doing is extremely wrong and a potential buyer may even have a legal come-back if she does not disclose the information about the horse being dangerous. You should encourage her to either spend more time getting to the root of the problem and trying to treat it, or PTS, or at the very least advertising the horse honestly.

You should not promise to keep quiet. If anyone asks you about the horse you should be free to warn them.

I don't think there is much else you can do sadly.
 
webble said:
Presummably any buyer is going to want to see it ridden before they get on and will want it vetted so hopefully that will protect them
Click to expand...

It passed a 5 stage vetting recently, it's behaviour is so sporadic that it could behave brilliantly for a viewing quite possibly although at its price I wonder if some people might just bite his hand off without really viewing properly
 
Last edited:
Just been in this situation, the old owner who had sold it as a problem/project case, pointed out to the new owner that it really wasn't what she was trying to say it was, ie reared and was not suitable for the type of people the seller was trying to target.

Sadly turned into handbags at dawn, with a valid point being turned round with the seller saying that the old owner was just miffed to see the higher price tag- not at all, and the seller being made to look very irresponsible but all their friends trying to make light of the dangerous points raised.

Not sure that there is ever a happy ending here!
 
What a difficult situation. If you say something is she likely to cause you issues in the future? She's not giving the horse anything for the viewings to calm it down I assume? So there is a possibility of the horse playing up?
 
EquestrianFairy said:
It passed a 5 stage vetting recently, it's behaviour is so sporadic that it could behave brilliantly for a viewing quite possibly although at its price I wonder if some people might just bite his hand off without really viewing properly
Click to expand...

Ah right thats slightly different then. In that case I would have a serious word with the seller
 
kerrieberry2 said:
What a difficult situation. If you say something is she likely to cause you issues in the future? She's not giving the horse anything for the viewings to calm it down I assume? So there is a possibility of the horse playing up?
Click to expand...

I think it would certainly start an issue if i did say something.
I dont think (I hope!!) she wouldnt give it anything to calm it down :/
 
I'd keep out of it, it is a case of buyer beware I'm afraid, and as much as I dislike dishonesty, when buying a horse I am prepared to be told untruths sadly. I'm not suggesting that all sellers are dishonest - but best to be prepared I think.
 
I'd just tell the seller that you are not going to go out of your way to tell people about this horse and tell tales, but if someone asks you directly you will not hesitate to tell them the truth
 
It's a hell of a risk to take. If she is dishonest and the horse hurts someone she is going to have quite a court case on her hands, is she prepared to risk that?
 
southerncomfort said:
It's a hell of a risk to take. If she is dishonest and the horse hurts someone she is going to have quite a court case on her hands, is she prepared to risk that?
Click to expand...

Unless she is a dealer, it is highly unlikely that there would be any comeback. This is why every-one should remember the old adage 'Buyer beware'.

I'm another who when buying horses, only believes what I can see with my own eyes. Sis and I have spent many hilarious hours comparing the stories we have been told about prospective purchases by the sellers and their friends. It's almost unbelievable how many inconsistencies there are.
 
EquestrianFairy said:
It passed a 5 stage vetting recently, it's behaviour is so sporadic that it could behave brilliantly for a viewing quite possibly although at its price I wonder if some people might just bite his hand off without really viewing properly
Click to expand...

So do you know the horse too? Confused as OP is IWTO.

I was once in a similar situation but with one of my liveries selling a trailer. The floor was rotten and I had told them so, and not to travel their horse in it. Next thing I know I spot it for sale on ebay as 'in excellent condition and recently serviced'! In the end I didn't say anything. I was in an awkward position as it was one of my liveries and I had inadvertently found out their ebay user name by spotting the trailer which would have seemed a bit stalkerish. But it has bugged me ever since. I just can't believe people would be so dishonest when it comes to a matter of safety.
 
I have been on the receiving end of buying a horse that had previous with hurting people and no one spoke up till after. I would not want anyone to go through the same as we did, for horses sake also, so If I was in your position I would speak to seller and try to convince her to do the right thing and be totally honest.
 
I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut. I would speak to the seller and encourage him/her to come clean with any potential buyers. As long as the erratic behaviour is fully disclosed, then the buyer can make up their own mind as to whether they want to take the horse on.

I appreciate that this could make life quite tricky for you, but better that than wishing you had said something later on. If the horse does end up seriously injuring the new owner, you will inevitably feel partly responsible for not speaking up.

How anyone can live with themselves by trying to sell a dangerous horse without full disclosure of the issues is beyond me.
 
I would call as a potential buyer then let the seller know that you know the horse has issues and to be honest in the ad so no one gets hurt, let alone the horse.
 
Known a dealer do this.. the horse had apparently been to shows/cross country ect.. in under a week (made out for horse was perfect in every way, really wasn't i'd ridden it!), but i just kept my mouth shut as wasn't my horse anywhere along the line.

I wanted to say something but it would've been to much hassle the dealer was 'respected' and still is so no one would have believed me (a little gobby teenager at the time), I would just leave the dealer/seller to ''hang themselves'' as it were, as when things go wrong the buyers will be straight on the phone to them!

Personally i would just try and send a message to potential buyers but avoid sellers!
 
Wagtail: for some reason my computer keeps doing this- I've given up trying to work out.
I think the names are merged?!

There's no reason for anyone to ask me about the horse but I can see the comments and there are a lot of people interested. One in particular for her 15yo daughter.
 
Very difficult situation for you go be in. Seller is prepared to knowingly sell an animals that is known to be dangerous at times without any disclosure to prospective purchasers.

So if it is buyer beware, all you have to do is ask yourself if someone's daughter's seriously injured and their life changed for ever could you live with yourself? Or do you need to do everything you can to keep everyone safe, which includes telling the seller what they are risking.
 
IWTO said:
Wagtail: for some reason my computer keeps doing this- I've given up trying to work out.
I think the names are merged?!

There's no reason for anyone to ask me about the horse but I can see the comments and there are a lot of people interested. One in particular for her 15yo daughter.
Click to expand...

'Comments' - is it a facebook ad? If so couldn't you/someone you know post in the comments 'pleased that you have sorted out his/her issues, hope he/she finds a good home' It should at the very least make people question what it's issues might have been?

Saw a horse advertised as a Happy Hacker, which most certainly wasn't true, I spoke to the sellers and they said they weren't selling him any longer but were going to send back to the dealer they got him from - not much more I could do. But they didn't send him back, they sold him on, he even failed the vetting... Buyer beware...
 
A lady near me advertised her daughters pony as having done things with her daughter that it hadn't done. I just chuckled to myself as pony wasn't dangerous, just not as good as advertise, and it made her daughter look good. No harm done.

However I did work for a dealer once and a lovely child's pony came in. It was find to tack up but as soon as anyone went to sit on it it flipped over backwards. The lady I worked for sent it back to where she got it and I then saw it at a sale. It was still looking lovely, was all tacked up with a note to say what a great child's pony it was!!! I just hope to god that a parent didn't scoop their child up onto it. I had to walk away without saying anything.
 
Leave them to it, let the horse kill someone...

OR

Have serious words with the owner about the potential danger and serious trouble she could get herself in.

If horse is that bad, perhaps speak to her about PTS and she could possibly go through her insurance to get her money (as she is more for that, than horses welfare)
 
That is SUCH a crappy situation!

I was in an almost similar situation (just no where near as bad!)... there was a horse I had always liked put up for sale because of sharpness. It was especially bad with traffic which is quite an issue for a cart horse.
They described him as 'trained to pull and backed. Very genuine horse - just needs bringing on.' No mention of the sharpness plus he had never been sat on!

I knew there was a girl interested in him who was competent but nervous rider (accident a few years back) who was interested. I told someone who I knew would tell her (my cowards way of dealing with things).
The final solution - I bought him! :) (Not because of the advert - because he is awesome - just nervous).
 
The seller doesn't need to be a dealer to end up in trouble. Personally I would talk to them, and say she needs to be honest, if she won't, then I would comment on the facebook ad I'm afraid. My ex bought a horse from someone which was far from as described, he took her to court after it broke his wrist, and she had to take it back. Having had friends who have been injured when they have tried horses who were described as safe childrens ponies, I just wouldn't take the risk.
 
That is a dreadful situation to be in and I feel your frustration as been there myself a few years ago. The horse was being sold by a lovely lady whom I knew fairly well and knew they really needed to sell the horse but he had serious health issues (which either showed very well or not at all; also passed 5* vetting).
I did intervene. My thinking was and still is that if we CAN do something that saves life/heartache we simply should do it. Couldn't care less of "buyers beware" nonsense, if more people spoke up about situations like this, the less of a "done thing" it would be.
I should add that the situation did cost me a couple of "friends" but I wouldn't do anything differently.

In summary: yes, I would try to convince the seller to change wording on the advert.
 
Had this twice, once was with a perfectly nice horse, they'd just exaggerated (lied) about it's competition record, so not really putting anyone at risk. Another was "good to hack/load/shoe etc" when it really really wasn't, that was a bit more of a dilemma. Luckily they took the horse off the market before anyone came to view it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top