A question for horsey people (or sort of rant)

does the way people advertise horses ever have your eyes rolling?

I've seen horses for sale recently, and 1 who while safe, is NOT a novice ride, VERY forwards and VERY strong is being sold as a first horse, another being sold as a fun easy thing basically needs a proffessional rider. The only one who is reliable has the only honest advert in that the horse gets fresh in winter!

It makes me cringe, and feel sorry for the riders, I went to try a horse that was described as good as gold, pushbutton type for a nervous friend, blummin' thing had no breaks. Thank god it wasn't her that got on it first! And the amount of times i've seen allrounders advertised as these amazing BE horses... why can't people be honest?!

Ranty rant! Not surprised a good dealer can and will charge through the nose. Used to say i'd never buy from a dealer, now, knowing a few good ones, don't think i'd bother with a private sale.

Just wondering if anyone else had come accross this and wether you'd go for a dealer or a private sale

It's the animals I feel sorry for - heaven knows where they will end up if someone buys them, finds them unsuitable and gets rid

I know a girl who bought an 'unsuitable' horse and stuck with him. and now they are GREAT, jump decent tracks together, worship the ground each other walk on. Whereas others just get sold on cheaply to the first person that will have one, and i've seen that happen too. Especially when a child/teenager is a bit overambitious and gets bought a well bred youngster or competition horse type they aren't ready for and it gets dangerous.

All it takes it putting "not novice ride" or "sharp type" in an advert!

This has been going on for years, at least 40 since I started in horses.

It is like any form of advertising, you need to learn to read between the lines and, if you are a novice, take someone experience with you.

Same happens with dogs, cars, etc.

I had my first pony vetted and he apparently didn't spot that she was so thin she was starving and therefore anaemic and also full of worms!

So much for having her vetted at vast cost! Also didn't spot the saddle sore which was about 4" long and very deep. It was invisible under the coat and crap she was covered in.

So you do need to be careful who you take as well!

rune

When I was looking around for a first pony (for my son to ride), I took my riding instructor for the first one and a horse friend for the second one. I had to leave it in their hands to tell me if they thought they were safe. The first one was a complete waste of time - travelled an hour to get there, only to find that said pony probably had never been ridden, even though we were told she had! Why bother saying that when it's obvious when we got there.

The second one was everything that I was told and was owned by a really lovely woman but I was lucky. My RI had told me some nightmare stories about some horses and ponies who were sold as bombproof and nother but!

Helen

I was really lucky when I bought my horse that she came from someone I had got to know well on a Highland Pony forum and I totally trusted her judgement.

It is a minefield really, especially for a novice.

I think people know that a novice might not know what certain phrases imply, but the horse i went to try was advertised as a "super safe horse for the most nervous novice" just because it doesn't rodeo doesn't make it suitable for a nervous novice,like the owner seemed to think!

And then all my friends who sell moan that they get people ringing/emailing who are novice or need a rocking horse not a real horse, and if they just said that the horse isn't for a novice in the add, problem solved! gah!

The horse world is probably one of the biggest industries of "buyer beware" there is.

So many exaggerations, mis-truths and in some cases down right lies, one has to wonder at times if those placing the adds have actually seen the animal that is advertised

But on the flip side its just as bad , the amount of prospective buyers who hype then selves up to be something they are not , never ceases to amaze me.

Lets not forget horses are very fragile creatures and even the best of horsemen will tell you , that their "school master" can throw one now and again, and you can always bet they will do it with a unfamiliar rider on board.

You have to learn to read between the lines, both on paper and face to face, never if you are a novice go on your own, take your instructor with you.

You also have to realise you capabilities..(something that seems to escape many) if you are a novice, then don`t be going looking at TB or TB x, because the very nature is going to tell you its not going to be a plod, nor a youngster, it will need far to much work that is probably beyond your capabilities,, and it only takes a second for a young (any horse) to realise he has a plod on his back, and can take advantage, unless you have the knowledge to work through his greenness , don`t buy it.

A horse can be ruined in as short a time as one lesson, but can take an age to rectify the damage.

If someone is selling a 5/6/7 yr old as a novice ride, or a school master, then read between those lines, it would have to be some horse /pony to have gotten to that stage at such a young age.

Needs an experienced rider, means exactly that, it needs some one who is experienced.

So many pitfalls in buying horses... and we have not even got onto the soundness/health of them yet

Unfortunately its just the way it is.

Ive bought and sold many horses over the years and when going to see a horse obviously the ad makes me interested enough to go and view but I always make my own mind up over the horse and test in a variety of situations (flatwork/jumping/hacking etc). I took on many horses with "quirks" because I could see potential (and they always fulfilled it).
I guess it is much harder for a novice.