For sale, 10 yo Draft gelding, sorrel, broke to ride, has been in parades and medieval events, great around everyone, 17 hands, only vices- occasionally throws his head up when bridled and is kind of pokey, not a very excitable horse.
The ad was long, detailed the horse's positive and negative points, had great pictures, basically, they had bothered to try to actually sell the horse. There was a ton more information, but I'm not remembering it all, so I'm not going to type it. But, suffice to say, it sounded like a nice horse, oh, and they wanted.... $800 for him!!!
$800 for a horse as well rounded as they claimed is a good price in today's market, and for a draft horse, that is even better. (my opinion only, but feel free to correct me in the comments if you think I'm wrong)
Being of larger stature, a thick stocky horse is appealing to me, so I stopped thinking with my brain and immediately forwarded the ad to my instructor, and emailed the advertiser asking for more photos. Within a few moments, I had pictures of this nice, thick, happy horse in various situations- being ridden at what looked like a renaissance faire type event, standing quietly for a photo to be taken, standing with a smiling girl (the owner?) with her arms wrapped around his neck...wow, seems perfect! I was giddy like a child going to an amusement park for the first time, like a teenager driving my car by myself for the first time, or like that time in Las Vegas! (umm..let's not go there right now...)
But it's a great sounding horse!! I thought so, and my instructor thought so....and so did the rest of the world, apparently. It all went downhill from there. The ranch owner AND the horse owner were both taking calls regarding this horse, and it didn't appear that they were communicating with each other regarding who was coming to look at him and when. One told me that I couldn't come until two days from now and look at the horse, the other told me I could see him the following evening, which unfortunately didn't work with my schedule. Then an hour later, I was told I could see him the very next morning, and then I got a call telling me that no one would be available to show him to me since neither the ranch owner or the horse owner would be available. I was assured no one was going to look at him for 5 more days, due to both the ranch owner and horse owner not anticipating having to show him so quickly to potential buyers and their busy schedules, then from the other source I was told that someone else was coming in the morning to see him, which is why I was told I couldn't come to see him. That afternoon, I got a call that he had sold. UGH.
I understand that you want to sell your horse quickly, so when you put an ad up that he's for sale, be prepared to show him as soon as it goes live. Also, don't give conflicting stories out to people...I had gotten so much of a run around that when they told me he had sold, I was relieved, since I felt I could no longer trust a word that either one of them said to me (not saying they were deceitful, just saying that once there is something minorly fishy in a business transaction, it puts doubt into every aspect of that dealing) and I was too exhausted about having to switch my schedule around to match their ever-evolving one. Oh, and my instructor was waiting to hear from me the whole time to know if she needed to clear her schedule, since I need her to look at any horse that I might be considering buying. (I know I don't NEED anyone to "help" me buy a horse, but the idea of a knowledgeable person standing next to me is kind of a good one.)
So, suffice to say, I think things happen for a reason. Maybe that horse wasn't the right horse for me, who knows? Maybe I wouldn't have been the right owner for that horse....maybe I'm just not ready and that would have been bad for both of us. It would be awfully selfish to think only of myself when considering the purchase of a horse- I need to be the right fit for the horse as well.
Is all horse buying like this????
2 comments:
Yes, it happened like that for a reason. But when are you going to tell the world the reason??? :-)
good idea!!
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