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Buying Horses Woes
Well, I think I can top these Beth, been on the great horse
search for only a few weeks now, first horse:
5 year old arab gelding, well broke and extremely
underweight. Owner said that's how all arabs are and that
he'd be great for endurance. (Non-endurance folks think if
you have a dingy horse that is underweight, they've got the
perfect prospect!)
2nd: experience was with a breeder, of course I explain
that I have a horse, he just isn't going to be my endurance
horse anymore due to scar tissue in his fetlock.
So.......go to the breeder and first thing he does is tell
me I don't NEED one of his horses I have a perfectly good,
SOUND horse at home! I just need to go home and ride him
and there must be some reason I don't WANT to ride anymore.
I explain the whole story AGAIN! He says if you just loved
yourself enough, your horse would get well. Of course this
diatribe went on for about 20 min. him telling me I don't
love myself enough, etc. He also said he never comes down
in price as it devalues the horses in their minds!
2nd horse: Friend of a friend gives my name and phone
number to a guy who has an arab gelding that is too hot for
him. He calls and I start asking my usual questions:
How old? (9 yr. chestnut gelding, spanish/polish lines.)
Then the guy says "he's the absolute prettiest horse you'll
ever see." Wow, there's a good endurance trait!
Loads, clips & bathes? (Well, he sometimes doesn't like
straight load trailers.)
Easy keeper or kind of hard to keep weight on? (Gee, my
wife just keeps the groceries coming and he is always a
little underweight!)
Any bad habits? Kicking, biting, cribbing? (Well, he kicked
me last week and broke my leg, but it was probably my
fault!)
Oh yeah, he wanted $3000 for this horse. What a deal, I'll
be right over with my straight load trailer to pick him up!
heidi
--- beth glover <bgloverhrsewmn@hotmail.com> wrote:
<HR>
<html><DIV>Hi Ridecamp; I have embarked (again) in that
self mutilating journey called "selling a horse". For
those of you who do this as a business, are you crazy? How
can anyone do this routinely?</DIV>
<DIV>I thought I'd share some of my present and past
experiences with you all so that I can put off going on
Prozac. Ventilation is good for the soul. </DIV>
<DIV> I have a mare for sale, mostly for
financial reasons, but also she is not cut out to do what I
want to do. (i.e. she's a show horse mostly) I
put a number of ads listing her price, size, color, gender,
past accomplishments, training level, trail miles,
camping experiences, where she has been ridden, (beach,
mountains, desert, rivers)show record, age, and a photo.
The phone calls come:</DIV>
<DIV> "Has she ever been on the trail
before?".</DIV>
<DIV> "Is she a girl or a boy?"</DIV>
<DIV> "What color is she?"</DIV>
<DIV> "What is the lowest amount of money you
would take for her?"</DIV>
<DIV> "How much does she weigh?"
(this one really perplexed me..who cares what she
weighs?)</DIV>
<DIV> Then the lookie loos come to visit. One
brings a small child who has been horse shopping for 8
hours and probably 300 miles. The kid is whiny , tired, and
disinterested. </DIV>
<DIV> "I don't like your saddle!!!" </DIV>
<DIV>She swings her helmet in the horse's face, almost
smashing her, gives the horse a dirty look, then the
mom tells me, "she doesn't like the horse, she's afraid of
it".</DIV>
<DIV> The 80 year old comes to visit. Gets lost
on the road. Calls me several times. Finally shows up
4 hours later. Declares, "You know, if I fell of a
horse and broke my hip, I'd be laid up for a
year". </DIV>
<DIV> Another visitor comes.
"I dont like your saddle!!!" (Excuse the hell out of
me that I provided my $1000+ Stubben for them as well
as a helmet) "I don't like helmets, I only fall on my
back". This one then commenced to fall off onto her
back, landing on the sore spot she fell on two weeks
before. Damn Saddle. And to think she was the
"expert" to come try the horse for another person.</DIV>
<DIV> Then I get the emails from
teenagers: "Shhh! Don't tell my parents I'm emailing
you daily because I am in love with your horse and want to
buy it next year when I get out of school, if my grades
come up and my parents stop beating me, and the stalkers
quit sending me death threats, and maybe you can keep her
for me until then??"</DIV>
<DIV> Then there was the time I had a four year
old , hot hot hot halter horse for sale, and this couple
shows up to look at her, then tells me they're thinking she
would be the perfect cart horse for taking Brides to their
wedding. </DIV>
<DIV> Of course we have the classic
buyer, who doesn't want such an old dried up lousy old
horse (15 years) for their child, who surely needs "a
frisky one, about 3 or 4 years old." And nobody in the
family has ever put on tack before. And they
would like to borrow yours for a month to see if they
like it and then send it back if they dont. No money down,
no questions asked. </DIV>
<DIV> The latest one is, " will you send me your
most recent vet check?" </DIV>
<DIV> Does anyone get a written report card every time
your vet comes out to give some shots? I offered
her some two year old NATRC cards. </DIV>
<DIV> Oh how I would love to hook up with a
real good rider who is real knowledgeable, and understands
the limitations of a 15 year old horse, but also the
benefits. I have seen some real crappy horses
out there, with happy blissful riders who explain away the
kicking, biting, rearing, refusing, bolting and
lameness's. How do they hook up? It's a
mystery. </DIV>
<DIV> So how should I word my next ad?
something like.."Leave me the hell alone, unless you are a
qualified endurance rider that wants a horse that only can
go about 35 miles max, and slowly, but prefers the
arena. I will not be interested in your drippy nosed
children, or anyone with osteoporosis and broken bone
injuries, bring your own saddle, and learn how to
mount before you get here,get your own trailer, no you
can't borrow her, you have to pay cash, don't ask too many
questions, don't annoy me and look at the damn picture if
you want to know if she is white." </DIV>
<DIV> Thank you all for allowing me
to pull my hair out here in public!<IMG height=12
src="http://216.33.236.24/emwink.gif"
width=12> Beth</DIV><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE
download of MSN Explorer at <a
href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p></html>
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