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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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