While possibly more enjoyable than saddle shopping, horse shopping is really such a PITA. Parts of the horse world are a good decade behind in internet technology. You see a horse listed for sale online. There's no picture because they wouldn't cough up the $5-$20 for a picture even though they're selling the horse for thousands. So you google around and find random youtube videos or pictures of the horse. Or you look at some trainer/sale barn's website that looks like it was made in geocities 20 years ago.
Seriously, if you want to sell a horse, could you just freaking post pictures and details about the damned horse? And for cod's sake, don't make me call you. I am of a generation that does not want to make phone calls. Like, for any reason.
I want to email/text you or look at information online. I do not want to call you. I especially do not want to call you and when you ask me how much I know about Arabian breeding and I say, "not that much," you say, "well, let me back up then and start at the beginning." And by beginning you mean 5,000 years ago in Asia working your way up to the effects that WWII had on the Polish Arabian.
I really just wanted you to tell me why the horse was 8 and only started under saddle, but I suppose you answered that in a round about way.
Finally, I know you're busy. I've run barns; I know it's a ton of work. I've sold horses before; I know it's annoying. But I'm a working professional. Your average buyer (at my price range) is probably a working professional and not a stay at home rich person. I'm going to want to meet you on the weekend. And since you're almost 3 hours away from me and I have to do morning feeding, I cannot get to you before noon. Not unless I get up at 6am. And I don't want to get up at 6am on a Saturday. I'm the customer here. If you demand that I must get to you before 11am, I'm just going to cancel on you.
Finally, when I show up to look at your horse for sale, can you please actually be there. Don't have me meet with your assistant trainer who doesn't know that much about this particular horse. If I have to pull up the ad on my phone to look up details while I'm standing at your barn because the assistant doesn't know the answers, I'm not impressed. If the assistant only knows the one set of tack for the horse and isn't able to get different tack - e.g. I'd like to try the horse in an English saddle instead of western because I ride english and I have seen it in such a saddle in the pictures - I'm not impressed.
Not how I want to evaluate jumping ability
I've bought 6 horses in the last 5 years (and sold 3 of them) so I've been through this before. And every time I go in thinking it'll be better this time. But it never is. Anyone else have any good horse buying horror stories?
I'll post tomorrow about the horses we did manage to look at. We may need to expand our reach and look in other states though. If anyone knows of any horses for sale, we're looking for a horse for my husband to do mostly endurance, but also a little low jumping with. Musts: 15hh+, 5-9 yrs old, Arabian or Arabian cross, sound and will pass pre-purchase, and sane. Would like/but not required: 15.2hh-16hh, gelding, broke to ride, not a chestnut. If it's in CA, that'd be even better, but we'll travel for a good horse.
