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Location: Texas | Do you always go money in hand and bring the trailer?
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 The BHW Book Worm
Posts: 1768
  
| if it is someone I have talked to a good deal. or know them personally and I only look if the horse fits everything I want anyway yes I will bring trailer and money. if it is close but I feel not quite right I wont feel bad for the little gas I spend and if it is a horse that is farther away I rather not make a second trip. now if I was buying a expensive animal of course I would vet check first so in that case maybe not. If im looking im serious about buying so it doesn't hurt me in anyway to have the money on me. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
 
Location: Kansas | NO |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| No I also don't take a trailer, and if you do a search this has been discussed quite a bit |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 357
| Depending on how far I traveled but most of the time NO. I always have to think about it a few hours. Im not an impulse buyer and always say if it is meant to be it will be. If someone buys the horse before I get back I wasnt meant to buy it.
I have taken a trailer and 90% of horse are not as described. I leave mad and wasted the extra gas bringing it along. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Slidin' N - 2014-01-22 9:53 AM Do you always go money in hand and bring the trailer?
No. The only time I have taken a trailer to look at a horse in the last 10 years was when I was lookng for a kid horse for my beginner rider. I'd had so many snatched out from under my nose, that I wasn't taking any chances in letting the right horse get away. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1611
Location: bring on the heat, NV | Depends on the distance and rep of the seller. I am this upcoming week but I already mailed a check lol. Otherwise probably not. I will take money to pay if its what I want and return with a trailer though because Ive missed out on horses before. (kids ponies specifically)
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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Most of the time, yes I bring the trailer and have cash in hand. If I'm serious, then I'm going to have done my research and be prepared to make the purchase. I'm also not afraid to walk away. Doesn't cost me anything more to pull the trailer than it would be to make another trip back to pick up the horse. I don't buy high dollar, finished horses, but in that situation I would probably plan on making a couple of trips to see the horse, so it wouldn't be necessary to have the trailer on the first visit. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| Yes, because most of the time I am traveling AT least 4 hours in one direction! I usually will look at the horse and then go have lunch, and do some shopping to think about it and then go back. I have driven a long ways many times to go home with an empty trailer.
If I am looking at one locally no. |
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 Expert
Posts: 4625
Location: Desert Land | I only take the trailer if the horse is a long ways away. I normally prefer to try a horse and stew on it before I make a decision. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| No |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| From a seller standpoint - I've had as many show up with trailer as without. Not all with trailer left with a horse, and most without trailer ended up buying the horse they'd come to look at and wished they'd brought the trailer. I don't mind either way, but without cash to hold I won't guarantee the horse will still be with me when the trailer gets back. And all sales are cash only if the horse is leaving on a trailer. I've also delivered a couple myself, but only to a known buyer and a guaranteed sale. I think both sides of a sale need to stay flexible, except the paid in full before departure part. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | Most of the time, no.
One exception to this, we drove about 12 hours away and stayed an entire week riding a whole bunch of different horses that we had previously arranged to try out. They were all finished, so wanted to be able to get a feel for each, narrow down, haul to a barrel race, narrow down, maybe ride one more time if we were on the fence about one, then make a decision, and finally have a vet check done. We stayed in our LQ trailer and had money on hand. |
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Veteran
Posts: 234
| I don't want to take the time to research the other threads but since this is out there will comment. I don't know what kind of trailer you are pulling and with what but it doesn't hardly cost us any more fuel to pull empty than just going down the road. I always show up with money and trailer. If it is an expensive horse I have already adjusted my schedule to allow time to get a vet check, talked to my vet and gotten a recommendation of a vet close that can do all necessary xrays and evaluation and send them on to my vet for a conference call. On the other hand selling a horse it just ****es me off for someone to pull in or show up without a trailer . To me they are not serious and are tire kickers, and I will not negotiate on the price. Of course if you are flying in to try our horse or others in the area that is a different story all together. We have found that requesting a deposit that is non refundable eliminates a whole lot of problems for both buyers and sellers. In that our ground at home is not good in the best of conditions. So we always offer to go else where, we are lucky in that several indoor arenas are available to rent within the area, we also have regular weekly jackpots that are about 2-3 hours away and recommend that you do that on a high dollar horse. This all takes time and money on our part to show you the horse. |
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| I have another question on the same topic...
I am going to try a finished horse in a week or so. I've never rode a finished horse that I was looking to buy. So I was wondering what the normal routine is for trying out a finished barrel horse? Thanks in advance! |
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 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Most of the time if I think its a good likelihood. We're going to get my new mare the first weekend of February. I've already paid a deposit though and will give the guy the rest on arrival. We have a contract for a vet check too so I can return her if things don't workout. I'm super excited. :) |
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 Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | mleu11 - 2014-01-22 10:39 AM
I have another question on the same topic...
I am going to try a finished horse in a week or so. I've never rode a finished horse that I was looking to buy. So I was wondering what the normal routine is for trying out a finished barrel horse? Thanks in advance!
I would ask the owners how they warm him up, how they get him ready for a run, everything that they do with him. A new rider can really confuse a horse and make them run slower or be inconstant. Secondly, I'd ride him and see how broke he/she is. Can they do a correct rollback? Can they turn a circle with light contact? Do they transition their speeds well? Lastly I would bring a trusted vet to look at the horse and take xrays of his legs. |
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Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | jbw tx mom - 2014-01-22 10:37 AM I don't want to take the time to research the other threads but since this is out there will comment. I don't know what kind of trailer you are pulling and with what but it doesn't hardly cost us any more fuel to pull empty than just going down the road. I always show up with money and trailer. If it is an expensive horse I have already adjusted my schedule to allow time to get a vet check, talked to my vet and gotten a recommendation of a vet close that can do all necessary xrays and evaluation and send them on to my vet for a conference call. On the other hand selling a horse it just ****es me off for someone to pull in or show up without a trailer . To me they are not serious and are tire kickers, and I will not negotiate on the price. Of course if you are flying in to try our horse or others in the area that is a different story all together. We have found that requesting a deposit that is non refundable eliminates a whole lot of problems for both buyers and sellers. In that our ground at home is not good in the best of conditions. So we always offer to go else where, we are lucky in that several indoor arenas are available to rent within the area, we also have regular weekly jackpots that are about 2-3 hours away and recommend that you do that on a high dollar horse. This all takes time and money on our part to show you the horse.
In a 6 month time period, I looked at 13 horses and bought 2. Some I flew to see, some I drove to see. Trailer wasn't hooked up until I was going to pick up the horse after buying. Another time I made a road trip to look at 6 and bought 1. Again, no trailer until horse was bought. I don't go for joy rides, but when buying a horse that's already riding, I am picky. Pics and videos can be misleading, phone conversations can be misleading, and there is no way to know for sure how a horse will feel without riding. If I piff off a seller, not my problem--it's my money. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 830
Location: Paradise , tx | Never have taken a trailor when I first go to look, usually take money just in case I want the horse and will pay for it then and go home to get the trailor. A few times I waited till I picked up the horse to pay for it. Just kind of depends. |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | Yes.
I'm the annoying buyer, I ask all of the questions before I get there (probably 15 emails over it) do the dirty work from home.
I don't go and look at horses willynilly, I pretty much know before I leave my house if I'm taking the horse home.
sounds bad, but it works for me. |
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Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | mleu11 - 2014-01-22 10:39 AM
I have another question on the same topic...
I am going to try a finished horse in a week or so. I've never rode a finished horse that I was looking to buy. So I was wondering what the normal routine is for trying out a finished barrel horse? Thanks in advance!
Do NOT just try out the horse in the seller's back yard, or home arena, or friend's house, or wherever. Enter a barrel race/rodeo. I have had it happen to me when I was wet behind the ears, and heard countless stories of it happening to other people, horses can act fine and perfect in a practice/try out session, take them to the real deal, they go nuts, run up the wall, duck off, etc.
Get a vet check, before paying any money on the horse. Expect a vet worth their salt to find something, know what you're willing to maintain, and what's a deal breaker.
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Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| jbw tx mom - 2014-01-22 10:37 AM I don't want to take the time to research the other threads but since this is out there will comment. I don't know what kind of trailer you are pulling and with what but it doesn't hardly cost us any more fuel to pull empty than just going down the road. I always show up with money and trailer. If it is an expensive horse I have already adjusted my schedule to allow time to get a vet check, talked to my vet and gotten a recommendation of a vet close that can do all necessary xrays and evaluation and send them on to my vet for a conference call. On the other hand selling a horse it just ****es me off for someone to pull in or show up without a trailer . To me they are not serious and are tire kickers, and I will not negotiate on the price. Of course if you are flying in to try our horse or others in the area that is a different story all together. We have found that requesting a deposit that is non refundable eliminates a whole lot of problems for both buyers and sellers. In that our ground at home is not good in the best of conditions. So we always offer to go else where, we are lucky in that several indoor arenas are available to rent within the area, we also have regular weekly jackpots that are about 2-3 hours away and recommend that you do that on a high dollar horse. This all takes time and money on our part to show you the horse. Only one time have we ever bought a horse that we tried only once and took the trailer with us. He was not advertised and we jumped on the opportunity to try him, he was 30K. We had a limited window to try him between ours and the sellers schedule so took 2 trailers to a rodeo, hubby and daughter headed 6 hours one way and I took the other girls and the horses home. Daughter ran him at a race, liked him so left a check for purchase price contingent on vet check and headed back home to make a Sunday rodeo (did not enter new horse). All worked out, good vet check and he was/is a great horse for us. Other than this purchase, we always try at the house, then at a race to see how they act. If we procede to vet check then we take the trailer and checkbook. I have never met a seller who thought this was not a reasonable process for trying and buying. Only one time did we ask a seller to bring the horse to a race and decided we did not want him so we paid the sellers fuel bill since it was a case of daughter just changing her mind, the horse did not do anything to make us back out of the deal. We have tried horses who ducked or turned into nuts at a race, in that case we just thanked them for their time.
Edited by rodeomom3 2014-01-22 12:33 PM
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | Most of the time, NO.
While I do get into a good converstation about the horse with the seller, I will never know if I like the horse until I see them in person. And a lot of the time, sellers leave things out.
My only exceptions so far was when I bought an unbroke 2-year-old, sight unseen. I realized I was taking a risk, but with the horse not being broke at, there wouldn't have been much for me to look at in person. |
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
Location: Texas | jbw tx mom - 2014-01-22 10:37 AM I don't want to take the time to research the other threads but since this is out there will comment. I don't know what kind of trailer you are pulling and with what but it doesn't hardly cost us any more fuel to pull empty than just going down the road. I always show up with money and trailer. If it is an expensive horse I have already adjusted my schedule to allow time to get a vet check, talked to my vet and gotten a recommendation of a vet close that can do all necessary xrays and evaluation and send them on to my vet for a conference call. On the other hand selling a horse it just ****es me off for someone to pull in or show up without a trailer . To me they are not serious and are tire kickers, and I will not negotiate on the price. Of course if you are flying in to try our horse or others in the area that is a different story all together. We have found that requesting a deposit that is non refundable eliminates a whole lot of problems for both buyers and sellers. In that our ground at home is not good in the best of conditions. So we always offer to go else where, we are lucky in that several indoor arenas are available to rent within the area, we also have regular weekly jackpots that are about 2-3 hours away and recommend that you do that on a high dollar horse. This all takes time and money on our part to show you the horse.
I usually don't take a trailer with me when I look at a horse.
I have a diesel and if the horse is any sort of distance away I take a good gas mileage car, if I want the horse I go back with my truck and trailer. There have been plenty of times I have gone to look at a horse and it wasn't as advertised, or the "kid horse" bucked the seller off, etc.
The last 3 horses I sold were bought by the first people to come try them, and none of them had a trailer with them the first time out. Would have been a shame to treat them differently because they didn't have a trailer, cause all of the horses went to great homes. |
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Location: Texas | Thanks for all the input. |
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | I have almost always taken a trailer to look at one, but I have drug it home empty if the horse wasn't what I was looking for. The last couple horses I bought, I wrote a check (which I know a lot of sellers don't like to take) and brought the trailer to haul the horse home that day.
Over the weekend, Matt and I went looking at a bunch of possible prospects and we took my car because we weren't prepared to haul a horse home that day. We fully intend to go back and spend more time checking out the ones that caught our eyes and we'll probably take a trailer & money on that trip. |
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Member
Posts: 31
Location: Oklahoma | I suggest you try a finished horse in multiple environments! Preferably ones he has never been to before.
I once tried a horse (at the horse's local arena) for the first time and everything went off without a hitch. I tried him again about a week later (at my local arena) and when I went to tighten my saddle up before we ran he fell over. He got right back up and seemed fine, so we went ahead and ran. He ran pretty poorly and they were pretty firm on their $30K price, so we moved on.
A few weeks later I went back to the horse's local arena and was making a run on a horse we had just bought and a local regular spotted my mom in the stands and told her all kinds of horror stories about the horse I had tried. Turned out he was a very hot horse (more so than my 15 year old self needed to be on) and the owner was having to drug him in order to people to be willing to try him out. Then it dawned on us why he had fallen down before our second run...
so ALWAYS ALWAYS try the horse out in different areas... and ask locals if they're familiar with the horse!
Edited by landis 2014-01-22 3:19 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | If I'm going to see a horse I'm 95% sure I'm taking it home so I typically bring a trailer and cash. |
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 Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | Crowned Image - 2014-01-22 11:33 AM
Yes.
I'm the annoying buyer, I ask all of the questions before I get there (probably 15 emails over it) do the dirty work from home.
I don't go and look at horses willynilly, I pretty much know before I leave my house if I'm taking the horse home.
sounds bad, but it works for me.
I'm the same way. If I'm looking for a horse for myself, and find one that I actually want to go look at, then there's a good chance I'll buy it, so I take my trailer and cash. The last horse I bought for myself, I took the trailer and cash, rode the horse, but for whatever reason was uncertain about it. I really have no idea why I was so hesitant, so I left and told the seller I'd think about it. About 15 minutes later I turned around and went and bought the horse and brought him home. I've never regretted it for a second, I just love him!
I've also gone and looked at horses without a trailer.
HOWEVER, I don't shop for high dollar horses. If I were to spend several thousand dollars on one, it's very unlikely that I'd take a trailer because I'd really have to think about spending that much, and I don't want to carry around that much cash. So it all depends on how bad I think I want the horse, how much it is, and how far away it is. |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| Have I taken a trailer - no, but I haven't bought very many horses either.
Would I...depends. On location, money, horses record if he has one, where and in what situation I am able to try him out, and the ability to have a vet check done.
Ideally I'd like to ride the horse at the sellers home, and haul elsewhere to make a competitive run if we're talking about a patterned horse. I like to know what I'm dealing with in and out of the comfort zone.
More than happy to and have in the past put cash down or paid in full, both with a contract, if I wanted the horse. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 209
| I would say it depends on how far of a distance. I drove four hours one way to try a horse, tried him, liked him discussed it on the way home and the next week drove back and picked him up and brought home. However made an 18hr one way road trip to try a couple horses and hauled truck and trailer, if I liked a horse and wanted to buy it I didn't want to pay shipping (I was getting some pretty high quotes) and I didn't want drive back just to get the horse. Worked with the sellers schedules and lined up vet checks, ended up vetting one before I drove down and it didn't vet so I didn't bother going any further. Found one I liked and had the vet check already arranged just in case and sadly it didn't vet good either so drove home empty but for that long of a drive I would rather have the vet checked lined up, cash in hand and be ready to take the horse home. |
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Location: las vegas nv | cash and trailer |
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 Veteran
Posts: 155
| Nope. Brings down the mileage, and I do not want to pay any extra gas for a horse that is not for me. When I got my mare, her owner was nice enough to let visit twice before buying- we did groundwork the first time, then a trail and some arena work the second time. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 422
Location: Fort Bragg North Carolina | Absolutely if i go to look at a horse and have done the homework and all I gotta do it try it out ill bring the trailer and money! I also can easily walk away if I don't like the horse rather have te trailer just in case. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 830
Location: Paradise , tx | r_beau - 2014-01-22 12:43 PM Most of the time, NO.
While I do get into a good converstation about the horse with the seller, I will never know if I like the horse until I see them in person. And a lot of the time, sellers leave things out.
I agree with that. Somethings, like personality , you just have to see in person to judge. I also have to see them in person and be aroiund them before I can deside. The older I get, the more important their personality is.
Edited by Tailwind 2014-01-24 7:46 AM
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Duct Tape Bikini Girl
Posts: 2554
| Yep. If the horse was not to be desired, I wouldn't be there in the first place. I want to be taken seriously. I can drive off with an empty trailer and the cash in my boot if I don't like the horse. |
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | jbw tx mom - 2014-01-22 10:37 AM
I don't want to take the time to research the other threads but since this is out there will comment. I don't know what kind of trailer you are pulling and with what but it doesn't hardly cost us any more fuel to pull empty than just going down the road. I always show up with money and trailer. If it is an expensive horse I have already adjusted my schedule to allow time to get a vet check, talked to my vet and gotten a recommendation of a vet close that can do all necessary xrays and evaluation and send them on to my vet for a conference call. On the other hand selling a horse it just ****es me off for someone to pull in or show up without a trailer . To me they are not serious and are tire kickers, and I will not negotiate on the price. Of course if you are flying in to try our horse or others in the area that is a different story all together. We have found that requesting a deposit that is non refundable eliminates a whole lot of problems for both buyers and sellers. In that our ground at home is not good in the best of conditions. So we always offer to go else where, we are lucky in that several indoor arenas are available to rent within the area, we also have regular weekly jackpots that are about 2-3 hours away and recommend that you do that on a high dollar horse. This all takes time and money on our part to show you the horse.
I've NEVER taken a trailer to go look at a horse for the first time.
I always make sure to work out with the seller a "deposit" amount, and bring a check. If I want the horse, I'll leave the check. If not, I leave.
I think it is really silly to get angry when a prospective buyer doesn't show up with a trailer. And I can tell you right now, that if a seller was rude to me based on whether or not I brought a trailer - I don't care if you were selling me a horse that crapped gold, I wouldn't buy him.
The mark of a good salesman is not making judgments on somebody's wallet based on their appearance. Ask my neighbor who sold a well known pro-skateboarder two Rolls Royces after his coworker refused to acknowledge the guy - because he skateboarded himself TO THE DEALERSHIP. |
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 Night Chat Leader
Posts: 13150
Location: Home....Smiling M Farms | kelly griffith - 2014-01-22 5:21 PM cash and trailer
Exactly, I don't leave home unless I'm certain the horse is coming back with me. |
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Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| Leo - 2014-01-25 3:24 AM kelly griffith - 2014-01-22 5:21 PM cash and trailer Exactly, I don't leave home unless I'm certain the horse is coming back with me.
How can you know that without looking at them? Despite all the homework we did prior to trying, we looked at so many horses in all price ranges that were not as described over the phone or as they appeared in pictures or videos, wish they had been, would make it so much easier. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | Rodeo Mom -- I think (not always) if you ask enough questions, and fish enough answers out of the buyer you can pretty much narrow down just on an emails whether or not the horse is for you. I'm not saying there won't be those completely dishonest sellers who can tell some good lies but usually if you ask enough you'll either get the complete story or you'll get enough inconsistencies to know something isn't quite right.
I also Google the rider and horses name. In this day a lot of the time you can find information about the horse (not always) or the seller. If they haven't had the horse long I ask who they bought it from. A lot of riders put videos on Youtube of themselves and if they don't have the horse listed I can't get a pretty good sense of what the horse is like by watching other videos of horses the seller is riding.
If the rider keeps yanking all their horses around a pattern (on majority of videos) that this horse isn't going to be much different. If they are flopping all over or can't run a nice pattern at all (on majority of videos) then probably their definition of finished may vary greatly from what you are looking for. If a majority of their videos and runs are decent & the rider seems well versed then that tells a lot of the story too. If they have 75 uploaded videos that are recent but don't have a single run posted of the horse for sale that also opens up the door for more questions.
This isn't a fool proof approach but it has saved me a lot of time when shopping. |
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Veteran
Posts: 107
| Yes, but I'm also prepared to walk away. |
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Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| RunNitroRun - 2014-01-25 8:33 AM Rodeo Mom -- I think (not always) if you ask enough questions, and fish enough answers out of the buyer you can pretty much narrow down just on an emails whether or not the horse is for you. I'm not saying there won't be those completely dishonest sellers who can tell some good lies but usually if you ask enough you'll either get the complete story or you'll get enough inconsistencies to know something isn't quite right. I also Google the rider and horses name. In this day a lot of the time you can find information about the horse (not always) or the seller. If they haven't had the horse long I ask who they bought it from. A lot of riders put videos on Youtube of themselves and if they don't have the horse listed I can't get a pretty good sense of what the horse is like by watching other videos of horses the seller is riding. If the rider keeps yanking all their horses around a pattern (on majority of videos) that this horse isn't going to be much different. If they are flopping all over or can't run a nice pattern at all (on majority of videos) then probably their definition of finished may vary greatly from what you are looking for. If a majority of their videos and runs are decent & the rider seems well versed then that tells a lot of the story too. If they have 75 uploaded videos that are recent but don't have a single run posted of the horse for sale that also opens up the door for more questions. This isn't a fool proof approach but it has saved me a lot of time when shopping.
I do the research, google horse and rider, gather all the info I can find, unfortunately some sellers tell you want you want to hear and sometimes what sounds like a great match doesn't work out that way. We have gone with high hopes but never knowing we were buying till we tried the horse. |
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | rodeomom3 - 2014-01-25 10:02 AM
RunNitroRun - 2014-01-25 8:33 AM Rodeo Mom -- I think (not always) if you ask enough questions, and fish enough answers out of the buyer you can pretty much narrow down just on an emails whether or not the horse is for you. I'm not saying there won't be those completely dishonest sellers who can tell some good lies but usually if you ask enough you'll either get the complete story or you'll get enough inconsistencies to know something isn't quite right. I also Google the rider and horses name. In this day a lot of the time you can find information about the horse (not always) or the seller. If they haven't had the horse long I ask who they bought it from. A lot of riders put videos on Youtube of themselves and if they don't have the horse listed I can't get a pretty good sense of what the horse is like by watching other videos of horses the seller is riding. If the rider keeps yanking all their horses around a pattern (on majority of videos) that this horse isn't going to be much different. If they are flopping all over or can't run a nice pattern at all (on majority of videos) then probably their definition of finished may vary greatly from what you are looking for. If a majority of their videos and runs are decent & the rider seems well versed then that tells a lot of the story too. If they have 75 uploaded videos that are recent but don't have a single run posted of the horse for sale that also opens up the door for more questions. This isn't a fool proof approach but it has saved me a lot of time when shopping.
I do the research, google horse and rider, gather all the info I can find, unfortunately some sellers tell you want you want to hear and sometimes what sounds like a great match doesn't work out that way. We have gone with high hopes but never knowing we were buying till we tried the horse.
And also, you can't figure out if you MATCH the horse over emails.
Personality and attitude is a HUGE factor for me - if not the biggest. I've bought two horses in the last two years, one I still have - one I don't.
The one I sold, was bought without ever seeing her, riding her, or meeting her. She was a doll, 100% sound! bred to the wazoo - but darn it our personalities clashed. I was pi$$ed off three minutes into every ride. We just didn't work. All the emails in the world wouldn't have told me that.
The gelding I do have, was fate. I swear it. I saw his ad on here, prayed and prayed that he wouldn't be sold by the weekend, drove 8 hours to go see him (no trailer), rode him, loved him, vetted him, bought him. A friend of mine picked him up a week later on her way home from a race. And still adore him, and every moment I spend in his saddle. I spent WAY less time researching/emailing/talking to the owner on that purchase.
Maybe it is just me and RodeoMom, but I don't think you can get a 100% accurate feel for whether or not a horse is right for you just by email and phone. |
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Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | svincent - 2014-01-25 10:45 AM rodeomom3 - 2014-01-25 10:02 AM RunNitroRun - 2014-01-25 8:33 AM Rodeo Mom -- I think (not always) if you ask enough questions, and fish enough answers out of the buyer you can pretty much narrow down just on an emails whether or not the horse is for you. I'm not saying there won't be those completely dishonest sellers who can tell some good lies but usually if you ask enough you'll either get the complete story or you'll get enough inconsistencies to know something isn't quite right. I also Google the rider and horses name. In this day a lot of the time you can find information about the horse (not always) or the seller. If they haven't had the horse long I ask who they bought it from. A lot of riders put videos on Youtube of themselves and if they don't have the horse listed I can't get a pretty good sense of what the horse is like by watching other videos of horses the seller is riding. If the rider keeps yanking all their horses around a pattern (on majority of videos) that this horse isn't going to be much different. If they are flopping all over or can't run a nice pattern at all (on majority of videos) then probably their definition of finished may vary greatly from what you are looking for. If a majority of their videos and runs are decent & the rider seems well versed then that tells a lot of the story too. If they have 75 uploaded videos that are recent but don't have a single run posted of the horse for sale that also opens up the door for more questions. This isn't a fool proof approach but it has saved me a lot of time when shopping. I do the research, google horse and rider, gather all the info I can find, unfortunately some sellers tell you want you want to hear and sometimes what sounds like a great match doesn't work out that way. We have gone with high hopes but never knowing we were buying till we tried the horse. And also, you can't figure out if you MATCH the horse over emails. Personality and attitude is a HUGE factor for me - if not the biggest. I've bought two horses in the last two years, one I still have - one I don't. The one I sold, was bought without ever seeing her, riding her, or meeting her. She was a doll, 100% sound! bred to the wazoo - but darn it our personalities clashed. I was pi$$ed off three minutes into every ride. We just didn't work. All the emails in the world wouldn't have told me that. The gelding I do have, was fate. I swear it. I saw his ad on here, prayed and prayed that he wouldn't be sold by the weekend, drove 8 hours to go see him (no trailer ), rode him, loved him, vetted him, bought him. A friend of mine picked him up a week later on her way home from a race. And still adore him, and every moment I spend in his saddle. I spent WAY less time researching/emailing/talking to the owner on that purchase. Maybe it is just me and RodeoMom, but I don't think you can get a 100% accurate feel for whether or not a horse is right for you just by email and phone.
I mostly buy started prospects and I can't do it without riding the horse. And it's not just personality/attitude/meeting of the minds, I need to know how a horse feels and moves under me. I have looked at horses that I wasn't sure about logically but had a good gut feeling and ended up liking and buying them. Even if they were ugly or not quite what was represented. Others sounded perfect on paper, looked super on video, but I didn't like the way they rode. When I was finished horse shopping a year ago, I rode one that I loved everything about him but he didn't clock with me for the price (ran him at 2 arenas) and the seller wouldn't come down. And then there is the vet check issue. If you're picky at all, there are lots of reasons you can research all day long and still not end up buying after looking at it in person. |
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My Heelers are Heroes
Posts: 4685
| Depends on price and distance. If it's close to me sure I might run over and take a look. If I have to drive very far I'm probably going to go ahead and take my money and trailer. If it's a expensive horse I may make arraingments to stay afew days to ride and haul to different arenas, which also allows me time with the owner to share all the ins and outs on how to ride the horse correctly. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | svincent - 2014-01-25 10:45 AM
rodeomom3 - 2014-01-25 10:02 AM
RunNitroRun - 2014-01-25 8:33 AM Rodeo Mom -- I think (not always) if you ask enough questions, and fish enough answers out of the buyer you can pretty much narrow down just on an emails whether or not the horse is for you. I'm not saying there won't be those completely dishonest sellers who can tell some good lies but usually if you ask enough you'll either get the complete story or you'll get enough inconsistencies to know something isn't quite right. I also Google the rider and horses name. In this day a lot of the time you can find information about the horse (not always) or the seller. If they haven't had the horse long I ask who they bought it from. A lot of riders put videos on Youtube of themselves and if they don't have the horse listed I can't get a pretty good sense of what the horse is like by watching other videos of horses the seller is riding. If the rider keeps yanking all their horses around a pattern (on majority of videos) that this horse isn't going to be much different. If they are flopping all over or can't run a nice pattern at all (on majority of videos) then probably their definition of finished may vary greatly from what you are looking for. If a majority of their videos and runs are decent & the rider seems well versed then that tells a lot of the story too. If they have 75 uploaded videos that are recent but don't have a single run posted of the horse for sale that also opens up the door for more questions. This isn't a fool proof approach but it has saved me a lot of time when shopping.
I do the research, google horse and rider, gather all the info I can find, unfortunately some sellers tell you want you want to hear and sometimes what sounds like a great match doesn't work out that way. We have gone with high hopes but never knowing we were buying till we tried the horse.
And also, you can't figure out if you MATCH the horse over emails.
Personality and attitude is a HUGE factor for me - if not the biggest. I've bought two horses in the last two years, one I still have - one I don't.
The one I sold, was bought without ever seeing her, riding her, or meeting her. She was a doll, 100% sound! bred to the wazoo - but darn it our personalities clashed. I was pi$$ed off three minutes into every ride. We just didn't work. All the emails in the world wouldn't have told me that.
The gelding I do have, was fate. I swear it. I saw his ad on here, prayed and prayed that he wouldn't be sold by the weekend, drove 8 hours to go see him (no trailer ), rode him, loved him, vetted him, bought him. A friend of mine picked him up a week later on her way home from a race. And still adore him, and every moment I spend in his saddle. I spent WAY less time researching/emailing/talking to the owner on that purchase.
Maybe it is just me and RodeoMom, but I don't think you can get a 100% accurate feel for whether or not a horse is right for you just by email and phone.
I agree you can't get a 100% accurate feel but I think you can sometimes (not always) flush out horses that you know aren't going to work and narrow it down to ones that are much closer to what you may be looking for. I've run into some sellers that can certainly tell me what I want to hear but when I start asking more questions the stories start to fall apart enough for me to move the horse from the "yes lets go see and try" to the "maybe... think on it some more" piles.
No amount of research can tell you how the horse will ride with you as the jockey but if you like certain qualities (turning style, movement etc), or some qualities are deal breakers (alley issues, cribbing etc) then sometimes if you can find history (aside from what the seller tells you) you can make more informed decisions on whether or not to make a trip. For example - if you find a horse you are interested in but will not buy a cribber ever and the owner may only have wire fencing and never experienced the horse cribbing so never thought to list it as a vice - if you research you may find an old ad still listed somewhere that says the horse cribs and must wear a collar.
I've lucked out both ways in finding extra information that made me want to go try a horse I was on the fence about, and I've found information on a horse I was all set to try out and probably buy that made me cancel the trip.
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Night Chat Leader
Posts: 13150
Location: Home....Smiling M Farms | rodeomom3 - 2014-01-25 6:02 AM Leo - 2014-01-25 3:24 AM kelly griffith - 2014-01-22 5:21 PM cash and trailer Exactly, I don't leave home unless I'm certain the horse is coming back with me.
It all depends on what I'm buying, broodmares, young horses, or a finished horse. As far as a finished horse goes, I knew the last four I've bought personally, competed against them for years, knew the owners, knew the horses as individuals. Basically said, 'hey if you ever want to sell that horse, let me know.' When the horses came up for sale, they called me. Has worked out very well for me, got 2 once in a life timers that way.
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When you go to look at a horse....