August 30, 2012

Are they even trying to sell their horse?

The ad:

"2 mares for sale. 1st is an Arab cross. 13 yrs. Very sweet, likes to please. Trained by a pro. No problems or bad habits. $1200
2nd is a dappled Palomino. 8 yrs very loving and gentle. Very smooth tide. Great trail horse. No problems or bad habits $1500
Both are freshly trimmed and healthy. Both load easy."


Then I asked some more about the horses, training, how often they are ridden, where, how, by whom and where they are located etc.  This is the response.

"Not much to to say beyond the add. They are in good health and very nice girls. Not for beginners though as they will test you. We are down between LaVeta and Walsenburg."

Sorry lady but I'm not that interested in digging for information on your sales horse when previously I've asked questions about peoples horses and they write a long description and answer all my questions.  Some people have surprised me and they don't even have pictures and act like it's the hardest thing to come by.  Really?  One seller said, "you should just come out and see them". 

NO!  I will not drive even an hour to go see a horse that could have horrible conformation; I'm not requesting pictures to see if they are "pretty".  There is a real reason to see pictures and most times they are not great pictures but at least it gives me an idea if the horse could potentially be worth the time and expense of driving out to see them.  Uge.  If they make it that difficult to learn about their horse for sale then I don't want to be bothered.  Maybe I sound like a jerk but I've learned from a couple instances that a lot of times its a waste of time if you don't get the answers first and just go see the horse.

Have you all had these issues when horse shopping?  I'm finding as the weeks go on I'm getting even more picky about the information I want to get before I see the horse.


2 comments:

AmberRose- Girl With a Dream said...

I completely agree with you, I would never buy a horse or even go and see the horse without seeing a picture of it! I think a potential buyer/owner however you want to phrase it has every right to see a picture before going to see the horse in real life. So I completely agree with you. <3

K.K. said...

I've guess I didn't ever really go horse shopping ever so I can't totally relate. My first horse was given to me for my Birthday. I'd been working with him and falling in love with him for a few months so his owner just gave him to me!
But I guess getting my OTTB was kind of like shopping. I had 40+ OTTB's to choose from and they were all free. I just had to pick out one I liked. (A track vet has a 4,000 acre "retirement ranch" for racehorses. So they are well taken care of and it's not a case of animal hoarding haha! I even get a free vet check out of the deal! Score!)
But I can understand your frustration. We had similar problems when buying a horse trailer. Most of the ones we wanted to look at were over 200 miles away, and we didn't want to go sight unseen to waste our time.
Something will work out when you give it some time!