False Advertising?
I believe I already mentioned that the horse Natalie and I looked at on Saturday was a complete dud. Nowhere near worth what they were asking for him. Seriously underweight, dead to the leg, and not in good condition in general. Perhaps with some tune-up work and some weight he'd be awesome, but that would be months and you don't want to spend $2,500 on something that requires a lot of work, especially an older, unregistered horse.
Wednesday Chris and I went out to go look at another horse, a Haflinger gelding who sounded pretty good by his ad and was up in Cave Creek. He had been used as a hunter/jumper pony by a kid (though they couldn't tell us how old) and was purchased for the owner's children for the same purpose, but they didn't have the "focus" to stick with it and now they're selling him.
He was pretty good sized, 14.1 hh and closer to Chewy's build, which gives him the presence of a horse that is much larger (he "feels" about the size of my 15 hh Arab, except broader when being ridden). However the first inking of what we were in form was raised when the lady went in to retrieve him. Oh, did I mention that they had moved him from the barn that she had initially instructed us to go to that morning? That was slightly annoying, especially since she called us to see where we were and didn't tell us the place had changed. Anyway, she went in with the halter and when she got near his face he tossed his head and backed up a bit. She pulled him out of the stall (almost literally) and he walked on a bit wobbly, Chris commented that he looked a bit drunk. In the cross ties he was terribly twitchy. At one point Chris stood on the gelding's right side and just stood up on his toes and the horse did a massive body twist and slight jump to the left. Chris repeated it a couple times, but the reaction didn't lessen by much. He wasn't so bad on the left side, but he was still tremendously twitchy as I patted around his sides, flank, girth, etc.
The woman who was showing him to us didn't own him, she was the manager of sorts for the herd. I'm going to refrain from mentioning the name of the place, but their focus was Gypsy horses, which they have 90 of scattered about the US, the majority of them here in AZ and spread between various barns that they board at because they don't have their own facility yet. So the manager knew a little about the horse we were looking at, but not a lot. The normal trainer/rider for the horse, she said, suggested that they use another person to show the horse to us as the trainer was about 6' and she would "look ridiculous on him and they'd never be able to sell him." The other trainer wasn't at the second barn and the manager ended up having to go pick her up, which left Chris and I some time to chatter, shake our heads a little, and and do some more thorough inspection. I wanted to at least see him go under saddle, and part of me felt the need to at least go through the motions.
The trainer and manager returned and they tacked him up. Apparently the trainer usually rides saddle-seat, at least the trainer that was there to show the horse to us. I questioned her as she threw a martingale over his neck and asked if it was needed or just habit. She responded that she pretty much rides all horses with a martingale, so more habit than necessity.
They led him out to the roundpen and she longed him a bit on the line. I felt rather sorry for the poor horse. The lady just wouldn't leave him alone. She'd ask him to do something (like trot) and keep asking, asking, asking, after he complied and then wonder why he jumped into the canter because he wasn't getting any relief and was trying to figure out what she wanted. It drove me a bit nuts, but I didn't say anything. These were the "professionals."
It didn't improve when she got on. She had a vice-grip on his face, which created this ugly, inverted frame with his head high and haunches trailing. I asked if she could work him on a loose rein a bit, and he looked a little relieved. I got on and he felt a lot better under me than he looked under the trainer. I got him to actually round a little bit and he moved off of my leg rather nicely. He didn't require badgering to keep in gait as might have been construed from the trainer's handling of him. He didn't like moving up next to the fence where the people where, though he did seem quite honest about his intentions and seemed to try hard even if he didn't really understand.
But he is definitely not a kids horse just yet and he's not worth (in my eyes ... granted when you're used to selling yearlings for $5k I guess $3,500 seems like a wonderful bargain) what they were asking for him. We paid the same amount for Chewy, so it's not like I'm a complete tightwad, but they're quite different.
I think in the right hands he could become quite awesome. I don't think he's a bad horse by any means, and I think a lot of his twitchiness would be resolved with some fair handling. Just the same, though, he would not be a good match for a family with a bunch of kids who are looking for a horse they can hang all over and run around and who aren't incredibly horse-savvy. So the search continues.
Part of me really wanted to just say "nope, this isn't the horse you advertised, he isn't worth what you're asking, good day" (that and "you're doing it wrong!"). But I held my tongue and went through the motions of looking at the horse. These were the professionals, after all. The one trains horses for a living (scary thought) and the other manages the herd. I'm not sure if my holding my tongue is a good trait or not. Granted I'd rather not burn bridges. I don't want to come off as a snobby upstart, even if in some instances I'm rather positive I'm right. Just the same I hold pretty much all negative things to be said about a horse I'm looking at until I am out of ear shot.
Of course the whole experience makes me feel better about going around saying "I'm a riding instructor." Perhaps I'm actually worthy of the title and really do know what I'm doing compared to other people. I know I'm young, I know I don't have a tremendous amount of experience compared to some others, but I do believe that the knowledge I have is at least sound.
I'll be looking at another horse today with Natalie. It's being boarded at one of my other student's parent's house and sounds quite good (don't they all?), though I have a bit more faith in Renee's judgement of what a good horse is. Next week I'll be looking at a little TWH (pony sized even!) for the siblings.
Now I need to get up and give the horses their good stuff and then off to Kim's for the first time in over four months! I've missed it terribly. It is SO NICE to have eyes on the ground.
(I've added a new tag: "Horse Search" as it seems I'll be posting more of these types of entries, heh.)
Wednesday Chris and I went out to go look at another horse, a Haflinger gelding who sounded pretty good by his ad and was up in Cave Creek. He had been used as a hunter/jumper pony by a kid (though they couldn't tell us how old) and was purchased for the owner's children for the same purpose, but they didn't have the "focus" to stick with it and now they're selling him.
He was pretty good sized, 14.1 hh and closer to Chewy's build, which gives him the presence of a horse that is much larger (he "feels" about the size of my 15 hh Arab, except broader when being ridden). However the first inking of what we were in form was raised when the lady went in to retrieve him. Oh, did I mention that they had moved him from the barn that she had initially instructed us to go to that morning? That was slightly annoying, especially since she called us to see where we were and didn't tell us the place had changed. Anyway, she went in with the halter and when she got near his face he tossed his head and backed up a bit. She pulled him out of the stall (almost literally) and he walked on a bit wobbly, Chris commented that he looked a bit drunk. In the cross ties he was terribly twitchy. At one point Chris stood on the gelding's right side and just stood up on his toes and the horse did a massive body twist and slight jump to the left. Chris repeated it a couple times, but the reaction didn't lessen by much. He wasn't so bad on the left side, but he was still tremendously twitchy as I patted around his sides, flank, girth, etc.
The woman who was showing him to us didn't own him, she was the manager of sorts for the herd. I'm going to refrain from mentioning the name of the place, but their focus was Gypsy horses, which they have 90 of scattered about the US, the majority of them here in AZ and spread between various barns that they board at because they don't have their own facility yet. So the manager knew a little about the horse we were looking at, but not a lot. The normal trainer/rider for the horse, she said, suggested that they use another person to show the horse to us as the trainer was about 6' and she would "look ridiculous on him and they'd never be able to sell him." The other trainer wasn't at the second barn and the manager ended up having to go pick her up, which left Chris and I some time to chatter, shake our heads a little, and and do some more thorough inspection. I wanted to at least see him go under saddle, and part of me felt the need to at least go through the motions.
The trainer and manager returned and they tacked him up. Apparently the trainer usually rides saddle-seat, at least the trainer that was there to show the horse to us. I questioned her as she threw a martingale over his neck and asked if it was needed or just habit. She responded that she pretty much rides all horses with a martingale, so more habit than necessity.
They led him out to the roundpen and she longed him a bit on the line. I felt rather sorry for the poor horse. The lady just wouldn't leave him alone. She'd ask him to do something (like trot) and keep asking, asking, asking, after he complied and then wonder why he jumped into the canter because he wasn't getting any relief and was trying to figure out what she wanted. It drove me a bit nuts, but I didn't say anything. These were the "professionals."
It didn't improve when she got on. She had a vice-grip on his face, which created this ugly, inverted frame with his head high and haunches trailing. I asked if she could work him on a loose rein a bit, and he looked a little relieved. I got on and he felt a lot better under me than he looked under the trainer. I got him to actually round a little bit and he moved off of my leg rather nicely. He didn't require badgering to keep in gait as might have been construed from the trainer's handling of him. He didn't like moving up next to the fence where the people where, though he did seem quite honest about his intentions and seemed to try hard even if he didn't really understand.
But he is definitely not a kids horse just yet and he's not worth (in my eyes ... granted when you're used to selling yearlings for $5k I guess $3,500 seems like a wonderful bargain) what they were asking for him. We paid the same amount for Chewy, so it's not like I'm a complete tightwad, but they're quite different.
I think in the right hands he could become quite awesome. I don't think he's a bad horse by any means, and I think a lot of his twitchiness would be resolved with some fair handling. Just the same, though, he would not be a good match for a family with a bunch of kids who are looking for a horse they can hang all over and run around and who aren't incredibly horse-savvy. So the search continues.
Part of me really wanted to just say "nope, this isn't the horse you advertised, he isn't worth what you're asking, good day" (that and "you're doing it wrong!"). But I held my tongue and went through the motions of looking at the horse. These were the professionals, after all. The one trains horses for a living (scary thought) and the other manages the herd. I'm not sure if my holding my tongue is a good trait or not. Granted I'd rather not burn bridges. I don't want to come off as a snobby upstart, even if in some instances I'm rather positive I'm right. Just the same I hold pretty much all negative things to be said about a horse I'm looking at until I am out of ear shot.
Of course the whole experience makes me feel better about going around saying "I'm a riding instructor." Perhaps I'm actually worthy of the title and really do know what I'm doing compared to other people. I know I'm young, I know I don't have a tremendous amount of experience compared to some others, but I do believe that the knowledge I have is at least sound.
I'll be looking at another horse today with Natalie. It's being boarded at one of my other student's parent's house and sounds quite good (don't they all?), though I have a bit more faith in Renee's judgement of what a good horse is. Next week I'll be looking at a little TWH (pony sized even!) for the siblings.
Now I need to get up and give the horses their good stuff and then off to Kim's for the first time in over four months! I've missed it terribly. It is SO NICE to have eyes on the ground.
(I've added a new tag: "Horse Search" as it seems I'll be posting more of these types of entries, heh.)