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Re: [RC] buying endurance horses over the Internet....thoughts and questions. - Jessica Spoone

I have 7 horses and all were found using the internet. My 2 mares I 
didn't see until they arrived. My 2 older geldings I saw when I picked 
them up. One I traveled to NJ to see before I bought him because he 
was going to be my potential herd sire and one was only 3 hours away 
so I visited him before I bought him. I live in NC and they came from 
Arkansas, Michigan, Montana, Virginia, and New Jersey. All have worked 
out well and were fairly accurately respresented. Internet is 
generally the first place I look for a horse to buy, its simple for me 
to look at multiple horses and from the comfort of my home. I will be 
breeding Morabs in the next couple years (waiting on my colt to grow 
up)and have already got a farm site setup with pictures and info about 
my horses. I will be adding pedigrees, ancestor photos, etc as soon as 
I get a chance and once babies are born they will be listed for sale 
on it too. 
Jessica Spoone
www.magickmorning.com
Magick Morning Ranch
The horses with Morab-ility!

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.


Curious here how many folks are finding and buying their potential 
endurance horses through  internet sites, and what kind of luck they 
are having. Many breeders now have web pages and seem to be selling 
all over the country.  People like Rocky Mountain Training Center seem 
to be selling horses regularly; have videos to send out.  This brings 
up all sorts of interesting questions; such as......do folks find 
horses over the internet, get info and photos and buy the horse sight-
unseen?.  How many people are flying across country to look at 
horses?  I find this an extremely interesting new way to market and 
buy horses, and see a resulting boom in the horse transport business.

For example..... I ran into an extremely nice looking mare in 
Florida.  Price much less than California.  I -could- have bought this 
mare, paid for shipping clear across country, and still put out less $ 
than this horse would have sold for in Calif......

I have found two horses off the internet in the last 4 years that I 
bought. Both were within a 3 hour drive for me.  Both were exactly as 
advertised. One was a baby, and of course, seeing the baby at 5 
weeks.....well, I bought her.  The other was age 4...and physical 
attributes were actually better than the ad.....training level was 
less, but oh well!   I also have bought a critter way back across 
country (after many, many photos, and questions answered).  He was 
size advertised, trainng was good, but he did not end up having 
anywhere near the go I wanted....so I resold him over the internet.  

What this internet exposure has done, and websites such as AGdirect, 
Dreamhorse, Bay Area Equestrian Network and Equine.com, not to mention 
endurance.net, is allow people to find exactly the size, age, color 
and breed they have dreamed of, especially if there is nothing 
locally.  I find the websites very compelling, and have found some 
neat horses....of well, you only live once!!!

And....here is another question to pose.....if you buy a horse over 
the internet, take a chance...how often is the horse NOT what it is 
advertised to be?  What would you do if you bought the horse based on 
description of factual info (age, height, color), and turned out to be 
different?  Of course, the obvious answer is to always do a vet 
check....but then sometimes, you just take a chance.  I do know of a 
situation where the trainer was selling a horse for a friend and 
client.  Photos and video were sent out.  Horse was advertised as 
15.2h......trainer was asked several times to verify height (as height 
was an issue and horse was going to be used potentially for a very 
tall person).  Trainer assured buyer several times horse was "big", 
and only a little bit smaller than her 15.3 paint mare.....but 
aparently never actually sticked her.  Anyway, a great deal was 
struck....as in a done over the phone....road trip to pick up the 
horse, transfer in the near dark....horse turned out to be under 14.3 
when sticked.  Is this misrepresentation?  I mean, training is pretty 
subjective...height, and color are not!!!!

And.....where do you determine the degree of flexibility on height?  
To me, if you stand a horse on a level surface, and have a rigid 
stick, and level to go across to the withers....well, height should 
vary less than an inch either direction (short feet, long feet, etc).  
Some days horses just seem to stand taller!!!  But, you sure don't 
expect a horse to be over 3 inches than advertised!

As the deal had been done, and my friend felt obligated to follow 
through on her end, she accepted the horse (and nobody had a stick to 
measure at that point).  Trainer has been asked to rebate some $ back 
since horse was misrepresented....but has balked.....said horse was 
accepted, and a signed bill of sale.  I find this somewhat unethical, 
especially since the accurate height was requested several times.  
What is the current opinion here?  Trainer has offered to buy horse 
back (would be 12 hour trip for current owner), so that is not really 
an option.....

Here is another question....buyng a baby.  That does really seem 
taking a chance, as you truly have no idea of future size or potential 
for endurance horse.  I bought a youngster from the breeder who we got 
my daughters mare from.  The mare was advertised as 15.2....well, she 
is just over 15h.....bred to a 15.3 hand stallion.....first baby who I 
bought ended up maybe 14.3 on tippytoe.  Now, the baby I bought at 5 
weeks, picked up at 5 months....from a 14.3 Arab mare by a Paint 
stallion, how 16h...very likely may hit 16h....and has turned out with 
great bone, feet and confrmation. This is the one I have taken on the 
trail her whole life, and careful on the feeding, etc.  My great 
experiment to create a future enduarnce horse......and she is the 
laziest thing I have ever had....plus I am not yet seeing any great 
signs of good recoveries, or even being able to keep up on short rides 
(she is now almost 5).  

Now I know Heidi will pipe up here it makes more sense to buy a baby 
from tested bloodlines, from performance parents, and to do agree with 
that.....but hey, I got sidetracked by exotic color!!!!

Just mulling over this stuff before hauling out lazy mare for lesson 
first then trail ride.  Here in Northern Calif the sun is shinning, 
yes my daffodills in bloom, and pasture grass up about a foot high!
Karen



Jessica Spoone
Magick Morning Ranch
www.magickmorning.com

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If you treat an Arab like a Thoroughbred, it will behave like a Quarter
horse. 
~  Libby Llop

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