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!