Crazy things people do to sell you their horses. What's your story?

Question

I know allot of us have been told lies or not given the full truth on a horse we where looking at or bought, whats your story?

Here is mine:

We had up a wanted ad for a horse(you get literally people trying to sell you foals to people trying to sell you 10,000 horses, not a good plan, lol!).

This woman called me & told me she has a 5 year old QH gelding. She said her nephew(who was 14) had ridden him I he was okay, but needed some work. She said he was calm & friendly. We almost when to see him until I saw an ad for a horse by the name name & owned by the same person.

The ad advertised him as being a good bucking horse. She said in the ad he bucked like crazy, was mean & "not trainable!"

Answer 1

I wasn't in the market to buy, but a barn manager I know was "prepping" a horse for a potential buyer while I was there... She lunged and rode the horse hard 2 hours before the buyer showed up. He was soaked in sweat, so she bathed him, clipped him and polished him up. She let him stand in the cross ties to dry in a cooler while waiting for the beginner rider to show up and try him. This particular horse was a known violent bucker that had injured his owner once too many times and was now on the market. Luckily, the beginner didn't take the bait and purchase this horse... but it could have ended so badly. Always show up early to try a horse. You never know if someone is trying to drug or wear out your prospect.

Answer 2

Lol-I'm pretty good at picking through ads and conversations with owners and deciding what's believable and what's not! So, I don't have any stories really. The main problem that I have is price changes. For example, I was looking for a show horse-the ad said she was $5,000-not bad compared to most of the others that I found and it said that the price had been reduced! So, I emailed the lady and asked her some questions about the horse and checked the price to be sure it was really $5,000. She said it was. Then, the next day I emailed her and told her that I was very fond of the horse and was really liking what I was hearing. When I asked her about price again (just to double check lol), she said the horse was $10,000. When I asked her why she said the horse was $5,000 the day before, she said this:

"Oh, did I say 5,000? I meant 10,000 silly me." Really? Really? Ugh, annoying!! She lost a potential buyer for that one!



I know many people that have had this problem with buying. This girl that I know that I board with bought her first horse in the fall. Her first time ever experiencing it. When she test rode the horse, everything went perfectly so they ended up purchasing the horse without hesitation or a vet check!! After about a week at the boarding place, the owner of the barn claimed that he would not put that horse in with the herd (he told me this, not the owner lol). When I asked why, he said it was because that horse was crazy. That horse would try and chew on the wire and would just kick randomly at the air. She'd also kick the fences and at other horses when they passed by her private pasture. That horse also went lame about a month ago-bummer. She doesn't have it too bad thankfully and is on a fast recovery and still rideable!

Answer 3

I had a neighbor who had a Morgan gelding. He made an awsome hunt horse, but had had a bad experience with driving (what they originally wanted him for), so that was out of the question. He'd freak out even SEEING a cart.

Well, she advertised him as "broke to drive". Not true, at all.



Same neighbor had an Arab gelding that made a wonderful trail horse, but as a show horse he just couldn't do it. Not that he wasn't pretty and didn't have the movement, but he did NOT like being in the arena. It didn't matter what you did, you could lunge him til he was dripping sweat and tired, he would still buck and rear and carry on in the arena. And it wasn't ill-fitting tack or pain; take him out of the arena, he was a perfect gentleman. It was all in his head. To top it off, he was NOT a kids horse.

She sold him to a couple who's 13 year old daughter (young, but she had been riding her whole life: Thank God, it could have turned out worse otherwise) planned on doing show jumping with him. The girl ended up selling him after being thrown and breaking her leg. Among the million other problems she had with him anytime she took him into the arena.





This wasn't exactly an attempt to sell a horse, but it kinda fits.

The guy who boards my horse for me had a 4 year old Arab. She's extremely sweet, I've never seen her do anything mean. He sold her to a lady who's "trainer" is a kid I would guess around 17 years old. They had the mare for maybe a month, called the orignail owner up and said the mare is mean, they don't want her. "She kicks, she bites, she bucks whenever you get on her, she's just not a safe horse". Not gonna work when she's been bought for a 12 year old girl. So we got her back, I got on her the next day. She didn't do a thing. She walked for me, trotted for me, cantered for me, turned perfectly, everything I wanted. Other people have ridden her since, she hasn't done a mean thing. I honestly don't think that horse has a mean bone in her body, but the kid training was just an idiot. I saw him ride a little later (he's my boyfriends neighbor, so I see him all the time), and with the way that kid rides, I can understand why the horse didn't cooperate. Jerking constantly, spurring consantly, even when the horse is doing what he wants.

Answer 4

Um, I think that the stupidest question asked is- "Does the horse kick/bite?" Well hasn't it got feet/teeth??? I can climb all over my one filly, crawl under, walk around, etc. Then someone will ask me "Does she bite/kick?" The only thing I can reply is "Nope, not in a while.(meaning since I first started training her a year ago.)" I mean I know that there are tons of horses that are 'dead broke.' But it only takes one annoyingperson or a little too much hand feeding. ADD- Lol to the bucking thing. I mean, like if they want to know they can ride the horse and see! I have never seen a horse that has not bucked at least once under the saddle. Maybe I am the only one, but---

Answer 5

I was looking for a new horse last year after selling my paint gelding. I was looking for a younger show horse that would take me to paint world next year. I received several videos from a trainer that we had been affiliated loosely with, and one of them was a great bay mare. The trainer said that the mare was listed at $25,000. We got another trainer to come over, watch the video, and appraise the horse. We realized that the horse wasn't built as great as we wanted, and would probably go lame. I searched for the horse in dreamhorse.com, and figured out they were only asking $8,500. We asked the trainer about it, and he blamed it on the sellers. Very awkward and uncomfortable situation. The mare we ended up with had been trailered halfway across the country so that it would be impossible to contact the original sellers. Instead they sent her to an agent in Illinois, who promptly sold her to us. We should have seen through it, however we were dazzled by the mare. Fortunately she is becoming a good show horse after a year of bonding/training.

Answer 6

Heres mine p.s. i own this horse and she still has issues

the very day after my pony died my parents were looking at ads(they dont really know how to tell if its a good horse) they saw this black and white paint and on the ad it said that she could rope and is used to cattle and is such a calm horse. when i got her she was freaked out by the trailer and was dripping with sweat. The owners said she had been in a trailer accident and had a clipped ear, a deformed foot, and a lump on her back. They said she couldnt ride bareback,but it wasnt because of the lump. Turns out she is the spookiest horse i have ever met. She'll buck for no reason and its so hard to control her its like trying to puch a 300lbs rock witha small stick. She thinks she can do whatever and takes off randomly ad theres no stopping her. She cant lunge and when we tried she drug both me and my brother and ran the property. And i try working with her but she's almost killed me several times

Answer 7

We were looking for me a horse in 06 and found a really sweet amazing barrel mare. They said she would walk in and out of the arena nice and calmly. Doesnt get stupid at the gate. Also that she was honest honest honest. And we went and tried her out. And she was just as they said. Well we bought her and took her home. And about a week and a half after we got her she was a complete different horse. She started to get stupid and sycho at the gate. Wouldnt walk by the gate in the arena when cooling her out. She was just a stupid as hell dingy twit. She started to blow by the barrels and dive into them. And come to find out a year and a half later her brother the one that trained her was using fluphenazine. Which is a Anti- phsycotic. And we got some and she was back to the horse that we tried out. And it was a monthly dose. But I have worked with her. Gave her almost 6months off. Cause they ran her hard. She was a machine. Now she walks in and out of the arena like an angle and is an honest runner now.

Answer 8

I had one lady tell me her horse was registered. When I asked to see the papers, they were just transportation vet check papers from one state to another. "those are his papers" she told me. When I showed her what they actually were, she said, oooooh, well thats all we have. Then again when I asked why he was so thin she stated, "he's not thin", and I replied," He is thin, your not supposed to see his hip bones and ribs protruding out this much". She had other horses on her property and they weren't thin, so I knew she was aware of his state. Then finally I found what could have been the problem, a grapefruit sized melanoma sitting under his tail. Had I known nothing, I would have been totally taken advantage of. I shortly discovered looking for a horse isn't that fun given the state so many horses are being kept in by so many uneducated and inexperienced people.

Answer 9

saying that the horse needs an experienced, strong, capable, rider, but is really 13 and has had no training.... ever. or saying that the horse is perfectly fine and ready to go to a good home, but after my mom checked there website she saw that they had wrote on the site, "prince has a chip in his hoof, we don't know if it is lodged or not. he is on anti-inflamatories,and will be for the rest of his life," "prince is not very trusting of people and may not be compatible with other horses."yet they were more than willing to have me buy him with out telling me anything was wrong. oh and my personal favorite, " i'm really sorry,i don't wanna sell them, they are my babies" and how some rescues have horses on there site that are being leased in hopes to be adopted but when someone else shows interest in them they say that " they are being leased already, theres nothing we can do about that" hope this helps ♥

Answer 10

My friend was after a smaller horse for company to her 16hh cob, she was looking at something around 13, 14hh as she didnt want it too small because other people would want to ride it. She was told by a woman that she could buy her HORSE (note - HORSE not PONY so my friend assumed 14.3-15hh), who would be ok around a 16hh horse. when my friend went to see the horse it was a mini shetland!!

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Answer 11

Several years ago, I went to try a gelding named Blue. He was supposed to be a semi-push-button ribbon-earner. The instructor wasn't there, so the barn manager showed him to us. He was great and I really liked him. I was just about to stop and get off when he reared straight up and I came off. We came to find out that the instructor had been drugging him, unbeknownst to the barn manager.

Answer 12

wow, I really havent had any experiance with this, but my friend put up an ad 4 her horse 4 $2500 and said that her horse was an all-round horse.....TOTAL lie!!!!!! this horse cant do anything!!!!!!!!! she looks bad, and ISNT an all-round horse!!!!!!

It just drives me crazy when people lie about their horse and how well "trained" they are JUST to sell them!! grrrr