I have never done this before and I'm starting to wonder if I'm absolutely crazy. I used to ride/barrel race constantly until I had my twins 6 years ago. Since having them I have sold my horses and just focused on taking care of my kids. I'm ready to start riding again but of course have no horse. I don't have a lot of money to drop on one right now and I'm not worried about hitting the road competitively barrel racing right now. I just want something that I can put my butt in a saddle and enjoy riding again and then eventually put them on a barrel pattern slowly.

I came across this horse on a facebook auction type group so I thought what the heck I'll bid on him and see how it goes. I won the bid for $825! The girl that has him doesn't know much about him and she clearly states she only got him a few weeks ago from a kill pen. She did post videos of her working him on the ground in the round pen, him standing while she saddled him, and her in saddle walking on him. She told me she has kicked him up to a trot with no problem but nothing more than that.

Am I absolutely nuts for buying him sight unseen like this? My thought is I could either waste $825 on a junky horse, spend the $825 and maybe put a little money in him for someone to put some time in him and he turn out to be a decent horse, or I get an amazing diamond in the rough perfect horse for a cheap $825. I do have a personal friend that knows the girl that has the horse right now and she says she seems like a trustworthy person for what it's worth. What do you think?

I think you did good.   I normaly would never buy a horse without putting my hands on them.   Too many things you can't see in a picture.

I normally wouldn’t either, but I knew I didn’t have a bunch of money to find a nice horse by word of mouth like I usually would. It did put me at ease some with the several videos she uploaded. Even if he doesn’t turn out to be a barrel horse I’d be happy just to have something to ride around while my husband and his friends are roping and stuff just to get me on a horse again. 

Personally I wouldn't. Now I have with broodmares, but I knew the people I bought my mares from & they were very reputable & well know. But a barrel or riding horse, no, I would need to meet said horse & ride him / her. I also would be very cautious of who I bought a horse from. To many liars & crooks out there. JMHO

I have never bought a horse sign unseen, but know people who have. In my opinion, first thing would be a vet check. I feel that so many horses get thrown to the cub because they have an underlying cause like bad teeth or bad feet and with a little TLC they could be worth something. Good luck!

I have done it, once and I think I got lucky. He was a nice horse.. nothing fancy but was nice to have around and ride. I like the looks of your horse, you might be able to try to track down his previous owner and ask about him, always wonder how horses end up there. Hopefully you got yourself a nice horse there. Time will tell. I'm glad hes getting another chance at a good life, hopefully he deserves it! Good luck with him and please keep us posted! 

Kinda late for opinions since you already won the bid on this horse LOL. If I were looking for a horse I would want hands on with it befor I decided if it was going to be the one for me, but one coming out of a kill pen no not for riding. Unless I was just going to rescue him and put him in the back pasture with my retired horses. Theres a reason the horse was in a kill pen, but sometimes peaple do get lucky when buying out of a kill pen, but not many. If you do take this horse to a trainer please let them know it came from a kill pen. Since this girl has had him 3 weeks why is she selling him so soon?

He is a pretty fella, good luck to you.

Nope, I never would.

I have done it buying some unstarted colts. I had them vetted before purchasing and shipping. I have been happy so far but there are little things about the couple of horses that no one would think to mention or even notice and I would have if I went and tried the horse or watched the horse (other than the videos) . I have always been super hesitant about horses that come from the kill pen. I believe there are horses that end up there that are great horses, but I am always thinking what made this horse end up there... Because I have seen screw loose horses that work great until the second they come unscrewed. I love the looks of your boy and I hope he works out! Just be careful.

I personally would never buy a horse sight unseen, or one I haven't already ridden myself. You have two small children, so make sure to keep yourself SAFE for their sake.

How well does your friend know this person? As you know, there are plenty of dishonest people in the horse world. Personally, don't take her word for it, only in effort to keep yourself safe. This horse WAS in the kill pen and we don't know why. Did the owners simply not want him anymore? Or does he (for example) have a nasty bucking habit and they were dumping him? You just don't know. While his face and eye look very kind in the photos - you just never know.

So do your due diligence with ground work if you choose to mount up yourself, or as you stated, send him off for some riding without someone else first. Just be careful since you don't know anything about his history.

I would... and have... and actually just had one delivered from kaufman a few days ago. LOL. I bought a registered paint, 7 years old. Good looking fella. Been saddling and doing round pen work. Stepped foot on him yesterday. So far, he’s everything advertised. Maybe not quite as “broke”... but gentle and sweet. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t. 

I've done ok buying sight unseen but I've also been burned.

Most expensive horse I ever owned was FREE!

So a cheap $875 kill pen purchase price could sure add up after the fact. If you can stand to gamble with that money then thats fine, go for it. Sometimes gambles pay off big!

I know alot of us assume the worse bout the kill pen horse and I do too.  But it could be maybe a family member passed and family that is not horse people wanted a quick buck. or maybe they ran out of money to take care of horse.  Take it slow and make sure he is safe.  You dont want a bad experience on your first time back after a long break so setup to have the most success and good luck! keep us posted!

I would fear a cribber.  A friend bought one sight unseen and had no idea.  He was incorrigible.  

I would never buy one sight unseen.  

I do have a little update. I googled the person listed as the breeder/current owner on his papers and I texted them. Turns out I have contacted the man’s son. I explained to him that I was buying this horse and just wanted to try to find out why he ended up at a kill pen if there was anything wrong wjth him or anything. He said he doesn’t think there was anything wrong with him. They just sold off some horses they werent using. He was going to ask his dad and get back to me. This is what he just sent me... “I just talk to my dad. He says he’s a good horse and I’m sure that we raised him from a colt. He called him green broke. I’m not much of a horse man I just don’t have time to mess with them so I don’t pay much attention to them. He probably hasn’t had a saddle on him in over 10 years. He basically just ate grass in the pasture and lived like a wild mustang. I would not be afraid of him. I know when we sold him he was in real good shape.”

Be careful.  I sent one to the killer pen that was good looking, only 8 years old, had just been recently shod, very gentle.  But if you put him in a situation that he didn't like or got scared, he would flip over. 

How's that cute Buckskin doing that you got a while back that came from the kill pen, do you still have him? 

I find it questionable that she "rescued" him from the kill pen only 3 weeks ago. "Nursed him back to health" but isn't scared to send him back where he came from if he doesn't sell right away on a Facebook auction site. This says horse trader looking to make a quick buck to me. 

I would proceed with caution. And would definitely pay someone handy to put the first few rides on him, since you said you haven't rode in several years and have small kids. 

Me too.......I would proceed with caution.....too many people unload them at the sale barn because they do have issues.....

hmm based off what she wrote and what the son said to you, i'd really be careful. since you paid less thank 1k maybe you should send him to a trainer? for 30 -60 days or so. just my 2 cents.

I bought two horses sight unseen and hated them both. one almost hurt me really bad. i was very lucky. All the pics and videos in the world don't matter these days because people just drug them etc....

i know there are exceptions, i hopefully you got a good one!

Ive bought 4 sight unseen and they all were amazing except the last one.....................I should of don't more due diligence on my part but between my friend and I we bought 6 horses from the same people..................So it was completely my fault...............but oh well live and learn........................now I will always go look and ride the horse..................

becareful and have someone put some rides on him for 30-60 days he is cheap enough and you don't want a hospital bill or to get hurt...................

Did you notice on his coggins that his brand is listed nowhere and it says he has no markings? The vet didn’t mark the whorls either, so not to burst your bubble, but that coggins could belong to any horse that looks slightly similar with “no markings”. Did the vet do a health certificate as well? Usually the horses need a health certificate within the last 30 days to travel, or probably even leave the killpen. I would also be skeptical about the “nursed him back to health” in only 3 weeks time. Strangled and such can have a 3 week incubation period, so if you have any horses on your place or nearby, I would absolutely keep him quarantined for at least a month and monitor him for any nasal discharge, dullness, etc. 

I hope he works out for you- I’ve bought horses sight unseen and had it go both ways, so good luck!! Keep us posted!

Yept, that coggin's paper really raise's a red flag for me.. 

I've bought some sight unseen. One was an older mare for my younger sister to learn to ride on. One of the best horses ever for kids to learn to ride on, after my sister out grew her we sold her to a lady for her kids to learn on, and they had her for the rest of her life. Others have been weanlings that I bought based on pictures and breeder/farm reputation. I've also purchased some horses in person that were terrible. One had clearly been given something to calm him down. You didn't pay much for him and he looks pretty good from the pics. But to echo what others have said maybe have a trainer or someone who hasn't been out of the saddle get on him first for a tune up. 

Good luck with him! Keep updated. I'd like to hear how he turns out for you. 

I'm sorry, but there is NO WAY I could ever send a horse I bred or owned to any kill pen. My gosh, thet is just not cool

I did once, never again. Bought a horse that had videos, lots of info from the owner, talked to the daughter about what a great horse it was. Bought it with known navicular issue, got vet report from that, but no other PPE because I felt the lady was upfront about his issues (my fault). Got the horse with 105 temp, edema, body condition of about 3 and diagnosed as pleural pneumonia.

When I confronted the owner her response was she didn't know he lost that much weight because she never took his blanket off because daughter had moved on. He died 5 days later despite best efforts. 

I will now only buy a horse that I can ride and do an extensive vet check on. Good luck and I hope this one works out. 

Y'all know me--my heart breaks for these horses, and I truly hope he works out for you since you gave him his second chance.  Your diamond in the rough

Have 2 of those T-shirts, and lost over $12K getting rid of them.   I will Never buy another horse without seeing it in person first.  

I have done so several times.........all turned out great. However, I knew and trusted all of the owners so I felt comfortable taking their word for it. Only had one I had a little problem with - he just wasn't as far along in his training as I had hoped for, but we worked through it. He turned out awesome!

1st and only horse i have or will ever buy sight unseen was my weanling. BUT i owned her momma at a point and the woman who bred her i know. I also asked the vet, when he went out to pull coggins for her, if he saw anything major and he said besides being a bit scared nothing stood out.

I agree with everyone else, i would probably have a trainer ride the horse first or at least someone who nows how to ride and isnt afraid. Specially if hes green broke and been living like a wild horse for years.

I did it once and the horse was exactly as described but we ultimately were not a very good fit together.  Maybe I would have known that from the get-go had I tried him, or maybe not.  Either way I sold him and now have a horse I ADORE that i tried out thoroughly before I purchased.

I think there are two seperate issues here.  Purchasing site-unseen is one thing.  If you know the sellers, or at least their reputation, if you know the history of the horse, etc. etc. you can stack the deck in your favor a little bit.   Purchasing from a kill pen is another thing.  So having this be a kill pen horse who is also being bought site unseen with intention to be a nice family horse is super scary to me!  I guess a third strike against the situation is that you haven't been riding and will probably need a confidence boost to get going..

He of course looks sweet and worth saving! But be careful.  I hope it works out great! 

My life was more important to me than his.  This horse had a history of flipping over, from the time he was a weanling.  When he flipped over on me because he wanted to go back to the trailer, that was enough for me.  Anyone had the opportunity to buy him.  I would have given him to you.  I spent a lot of time and money on this horse, the decision wasn't made lightly.  But I didn't want to get hurt, nor did I want anyone else to get hurt.  Would you rather I'd lied and sold him to some unsuspecting soul?  If you knew me at all, you would know that I am very stubborn and don't give up on my horses when they have issues.  But there comes a time when you must admit defeat.

Here is a good example to proceed with caution.........Lots of horses are sold because they have issues.........

Exactly, I would not trust anything that came out of a kill pen.

Kill pens are tough.. you want to be that horses savior and have a really beautiful story to share later on. Most of the time those good happy ending, I saved him, he saved me stories are few and far between. So my trainer gets all kinds of kinds... right now hes got 2 horses in that some folks rescued from a kill pen.. these folks are completely new to horses.. hes giving them lessons on his good lesson horses while he works with these rescues. He said they are AWFUL.  Hes tried to tell these people these are not horses for them but they wont listen... the horses are gentle enough on the ground, sweet as can be actually... but he says the one TB will ride around ok, and as soon as he puts any pressure on her to do something she grabs the bit and takes him for a ride... not bucking ... just flat out running. Hes doing his best to get this horse to settle. Hes giving it a few more months before he says he cant do it anymore. The other is so so... a conformation nightmare ... and just dumb... not dangerous just extremely knock kneed, stumbles a lot and you could push him over if you really wanted to. Then theres the mare he bought for himself... a seasoned trainer, with a good eye for horses ... he purchased her at a big ranch sale for a nice penny... watched videos, watched her work in the pen... but didnt actually get on and ride her before bidding... he got her home and a few weeks later she put him in the dirt... 5 times in a row lol!  All his tricks didn't work ... she was broke ... would give to pressure, everything ... but would just go rank out of the blue and leave him sitting on the ground wondering what just happened.  He hauled her to the sale ... gave her papers and full disclosure... so who knows ... pretty little thing with super nice papers too. Could have been a pain issue but he wasn't going down that road again.. his good horse just had kissing spine surgery so he didnt feel like dealing with that situation again. You just never know what you're going to get! 

I hope that I would make the decision to let them go humanely before sending them to the kill pen where God knows what awaits THEM or either someone trying "to save them" ends up hurt. . . Or worse.  

I have to agree with you. While I've never had a dangerous horse, I've had plenty I didnt like. I've never sent one to a sale though either. So I cant really say what I'd do in the situation.... in a perfect world, I'd hopefully be able to put one down humanely if the horse was a danger to me or himself or others... because I personally believe a kill pen is a hell on earth for horses. I hate it and dont think they deserve that, but know its necessary... and that's all I'm gonna say bout that! 

I ended up selling him.... he was really nicely broke and level headed. Never got sick, as a lot of kill pen horses do. Was a statue for the farrier. Hauled and tied great. Was nice to ride. But wasn’t interested in barrels. Very unmotivated and didn’t want to pick up his feet as fast as I wanted. ;) But he’s a nice gelding. The guy I sold him to is very happy with him. Does a little roping and trail riding. 

Nope unless it was a yearling. I traded a nice 2D mare for a well bred gelding who I was told was super broke, easy to handle, been ridden in the feedlot for 90 days yada yada yada. Hauled 6 hours one way, only to watch him step off the trailer skin and bones. Of course I didn’t want to trade, but my boyfriend at the time basically guilt tripped me into making the trade since I had him haul all the way out there and missed time from his roping (insert middle finger). 

I couldn’t catch him....for like 3 months. Finally gained his trust by sitting outside the fence during feeding time and just talking to him. Every time I tied him to the trailer he would rear or pull back snapping every single halter I put on him. Riding was good the first 30 rides, until he turned into a bronc, or would randomly spin to the right. Spent hundreds of dollars getting him adjusted, teeth done, feed, etc to figure out his issue. Treated for epm, NOTHING worked. Finally he reared up and I came off and broke my ribs. I listed him as is, a horse trader bought him. Listed him on BHW the very next day for $10,000, had drugged him during the videos she took of him running barrels. Poor woman from Oklahoma bought him, he spun hard one afternoon and she came off and I believe broke her arm. Since then I don’t buy horses without riding myself a few times, unless babies then I like to see videos of how they move/soundness etc.