Experience the ENDURANCE of Foundation Breeding
HOW NOT TO SELL A HORSE
February 4, 2007 (updated 03/30/07)
It all began in December 2006 when I decided that as much as I admire the beauty and grace of the Paso Fino horse, I'm not all that thrilled with their ride. I just really prefer the ride of a Tennessee Walker. I truly believe the Paso is absolutely stunning, they have heart and stamina that cannot be killed, but the actual ride doesn't thrill me at all.
With that said, I decided to start searching for a New Promise Farms stallion to run endurance and stand as a stud. Numbers can never run endurance again so she's going to breed me some endurance foals. Although in her mind, she's keeping herself in condition so she CAN run endurance again. That mare is out there in pasture boogying around like some two year old, she doesn't' care her leg was broken last May. For those of you not current on her leg status...the leg is actually healed very well, she gets around like no-one's business and I have watched her do a perfect running walk in pasture with no signs of a limp (from time to time). The good foot eventually did founder from bearing the weight of the bad leg, but it was a minor founder and didn't require any treatment. She will most like never be sound enough to ride, except maybe to pony around some little kid, but she is more than sound enough to bear a foal.
Okay - so I know what I want in a stallion. Lean mean running machine. No fancy high stepping Big Lick horse for me! I have a mental image of a short coupled, lean bodied, high necked long legged horse. (Hmmm, sounds just like Numbers and Bee-Bee, doesn't it?) I also don't have a lot of money to spend unless I would sell these Pasos really quickly, so the field of play narrows down dramatically. I know that the stallion for me is out there, I just have to find him. (Yoo Hoo? Stallion? Where are you?)
I start searching all the websites for horses (Dreamhorse, Equine.com, Equine Hits, AgDirect, FreeHorseAds, Horsetopia, etc) In the first week, I sent out 15 feelers on some likely horses for me. I was very specific in my requests for information and the type of photos I wanted to see. Buying a horse long distance is NOT an easy task and takes a lot of diligence, hard work and a great sense of humor. I swear, I had no idea that every horse on the planet is "perfect" with no vices or problems (according to the people that are trying to sell that horse). I must be the only person in the horse business with horses that have quirks. Hmmmm.
So, in that first couple weeks, 3 of the 15 people actually provided me some semblance of response to my queries for photos. The other 12 people had one excuse after another why they didn't have photos (never needed to take photos, don't have a camera, don't have someone to hold him, can't find him), couldn't get photos (he's fuzzy with winter hair, he's muddy from all the rain, he's in the pasture and it's too cold to go out there, the camera is broke, I don't have a camera, etc), would mail me photos (have your heard this one before? Check's in the mail - and you know the rest of that statement), and on and on and on.
Now, when I post a horse on the internet for sale, I make sure I have recent photos ready to go when someone inquires and I get back to them immediately when they email me. People want instant response, want to see flattering photos, and have specific questions. WAIT A MINUTE! That's what I want when I respond to an ad.
Now, I get hooked on three horses. This is the week after Christmas (please note the date of this story)...I have the original emails in which the owners send me old photos they had taken when the stallion was younger. I was impressed with the build, I was impressed with the answers to my questions and I wanted to see more. In all these cases, the people state in their ad, "Must sell, too many horses, must sell, will negotiate, must sell."
Okay - if you want to sell so badly, I'm a live one! I'm ready to wheel and deal. I need MORE INFORMATION, god dammit.
Here's how this is going ...
Golden Locket.
If this lady will EVER GET THE FUCK BACK TO ME, this is my absolute first
choice. I want this horse but she must not want to sell because she NEVER
GETS THE FUCK BACK TO ME. Where I am in the negotiation process. On
January 4th she promised me new pictures (this one is taken of him as a two year
old, he's four now.) I want photos of him standing square, side view-front
view-back view so I can see how his conformation ties into his legs. I
also want him to get a stick on because she says he's 15.1 but I have a photo of
a lady holding him on a lead and the lady is much taller than he is. She
states the lady is standing on a mounting block, but because the shot is only
from the neck up, I can't tell that for sure. I don't want a pony because
Numbers makes a small baby, I need one 15 to 15.2 hands. It's
important to me the height for my breeding program....not for me personally,
I'll ride anything that works well. To date, I have sent 7 emails to this
woman and she still has not sent me what I need. She has more excuses than
a four year old kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar. SEND ME
PICTURES! I'll buy the freaking horse! (Still my first choice if the lady
ever gets back to me ... emails sent to her again on Feb 4th - HELLO?!?!?!?)
UPDATE March 4, 2007: You'll love this. I decided (in an effort to get this horse purchased for myself) to have a friend of mine send her an email about buying the horse. My friend sent her a long involved email, asking for photos of him under saddle, stated that she was prepared to drive down and ride him in person and take him home if the photos showed her a good prospect, etc. My thought process was that this lady didn't like me and that's why she wasn't getting back to me. NOTE: This lady sent to my friend the exact same three photos she sent to me and hasn't responded back since. DAMMIT! If you're selling the horse, respond to your potential buyers!
I'm Maximus.
I like the build on this horse. I don't like the color, but you know what,
you don't ride color. Again, here's a guy that did a little negotiating
with me, didn't come down quite as far as I'd like for a two year old (yep, this
is one I'd have to raise a little more, train and couldn't compete for three
more years). Although I was looking for one already broke to saddle, old
enough to start conditioning and ride, this one caught my eye because his build
is exactly what I'm looking for and he has okay papers. Nothing
spectacular, but a lot of athletes in his pedigree so his potential to work hard
is pretty high. Now, I would like to see a recent photo (taken like
yesterday) and he still has not provided to me that piece. He has given me
everything else I need to make a sound decision except that picture. Yes,
we have a number of excuses, and he doesn't get back to me for a day or two
(that's okay, not everyone lives on email like I do.) If I could get a
recent photo to see whether this horse has thickened up in his barrel as he's
maturing (no good for me) then I would buy this horse since Miss Excuse Central
with the first horse can't seem to get her shit together. I have decided
against purchasing this horse as he is only two and will not be suitable for me
for breeding for a year or for competing for two years. I need something
NOW. I was a good buyer and sent an email on February 5th letting the
seller know I've dropped him from my list of possibles. Marc likes this
one ... amazing.
Mountain Man.
Okay. As soon as you saw this picture you knew why I got hooked on this
guy, right? He is built just like Numbers, looks just like Numbers, is
apparently temperamented just like Numbers (based on the multitude of emails
I've had with this lady.) and is used to long trail riding work.
He's pretty plain, has an old foundation background on his pedigree - no Big
Lick WGC horses close up but a lot of working horses all over that pedigree.
Exactly what I'd like to be raising myself. He's a little smaller than I'd
like (he's right on 15 hands) and that isn't an issue. His price is right,
his overall work ethic sounds right. It took them a month to get photos to
me because they live in the boonies, don't have a camera, the fella selling the
horse doesn't have a computer. His niece finally took regular pictures,
had them developed and emailed me the photos on Friday from a scan. Not my
first or second choice for a stallion, but this woman worked very hard to get me
the information I needed in a relatively short time period (okay, in my mind, a
month is not a short time period, but compared to these other two people, she's
smokin'!) And the pictures are horrible, taken inside a barn so the
lighting is bad, he's not positioned in a flattering manner, but I can see the
potential here very clearly. She is a very good seller. Always got
back to me, stayed in contact while I was thinking about things. I decided
against buying this boy on February 7th. He has no coggins, has never had
shots, they aren't willing to negotiate the price a little to accomodate the
hauling fees to get him from there to here and I found out that he hasn't been
ridden in over a year so he's going to be WAY out of shape and need a whole lot
of riding to get to where I need him to be.
So here I am ...wanting horse #1, bailing on horse #2 and #3 and I've started shopping again (02/04/07).
This is IROC.
He is posted on about six different horse sales sites at the end of December
2006. I have sent this woman numerous emails beginning February 4th and
left one message on her phone. Today is February 8th and I have not heard
back from her. Now, it is quite possible that she went out to ride this
horse, he threw her and she's in the hospital in a coma, so I have to forgive
her for not getting back to me right away. That would also eliminate this
stallion from the possible purchases I want to make (chuckle). The other
possibility is that she has heard of the famous Dodie Sable all the way down
there in Tennessee and is frightened to reply to my emails in case she would end
up on one of my stories. Well, guess what? Ignoring me did not work.
You're now in my story. I like this stallion's movement, he's young, he's
leggy, and he's Pusher bred (and you all KNOW I love a Pusher bred horse for
running.) He's chestnut (sigh) but you don't ride color.
So I decided to buy this chestnut stallion (YEA!) and asked the seller about making payment arrangements. A hauler I have been working with was in TN and could have picked him up right away to get home to me. The seller tells me to send a PayPal transaction. I did. I then get an email from the seller that because the PayPal transaction will not clear for a week, they cannot release the horse to the hauler as they're skeptical. (sigh) I contact the seller back and tell them to refund the payment and I'll get a money order from the bank and send to them. Now I find out from PayPal that as the transaction has already processed, it till be 8 days until the refund will be back into my account...which means I don't have the funds to send them a money order. I freakin' give up. The hauler immediately refunded my payment to them for picking him up and offered to take the money order with them to pick up the horse. This is a great hauler...they've worked very hard with me as one transaction after another has fell through trying to buy a stallion. They have phenomenal customer service and I will recommend their services to anyone!!!
The moral of this story is ... if you are going to sell a horse on the internet, be prepared for buyers like me that want information, pictures, video if available (not necessary, but very helpful) and ANSWER YOUR DAMN EMAILS!
Thanks for letting me vent in this story and any feedback you want to give me on the choice I'm about to make will be greatly appreciated. You can email your comments, I will quickly reply to you (grin).
Remember my needs...a horse that is strong enough to work endurance...possibly ready to roll this year because Joker is not doing too well. She has a splint on her rear leg and a possible foal in her belly because Sam couldn't stay in his own fence. Bee-Bee is going to be running this year so how nice would that be to produce a good running foal out of two running parents. Numbers already has a running reputation...she would have cracked 1000 miles this year if she hadn't broke her leg last year....but she needs a good husband that will produce a bigger foal because she tends to make little foal...
...and I just want a good natured horse to work with.
To make
matters worse ... my buddy has offered me his Walker stallion to cover my mares
this year, so in theory I don't need to make a snap decision. I could
probably even talk him into letting me keep him for the running season and put
him to work on 25's and 30's this year. I have ridden this guy and he has
the courage to go the distance...he's more a racking horse than a walking horse,
and he was comfortable enough to ride...but what the heck happens if I get
attached? Oh my gosh ... I can't afford to buy him, and I'm not really
fond of the pinto pattern for myself, and that just gives me more dilemma???
I'm really a crack up, aren't I? But it keeps all you readers amused in
the dark cold winter months....I have Cat at my barn now (February 18) and have
decided that as soon as my mares are covered, he's going back home. His
ground manners are atrocious. He has dragged everyone, myself included,
all over the place. So, now we are doing some ground training on how to
walk with your person and stop dragging them all over the barn. I have
been riding him in hopes of competing him (he's grand under saddle) but I'm
finding he's an 8 mile horse. After about 8 miles, he doesn't want to work
hard anymore. If I take him out on a putt-putt ride, he'll work 15 miles,
no sweat, but if he's working hard, he gets an attitude right about the 8 mile
marker (drat). So I'm still looking for a stallion of my own and I've put
him on the back burner as a breeder only.
March 18, 2007 - Phooey!
Now I've been taken to task by a buyer...and she's right, I'm losing my touch. I have a mare for sale that recently came back to me in late February and due to winter coats and shedding, I haven't taken any new photos of her EVEN THOUGH I'VE POSTED HER FOR SALE! So, here this lady is, very interested in the mare, and I don't have a single new photo to show her. And she mentioned to me that she read this story and I should make a note that when selling a horse, make sure you have good "RECENT" photos. If you notice the above paragraph about Golden Locket, I have made the same mistake that I accused that woman of.
OUCH.
Guess what? I'm running to the barn right now and taking photos of this horribly shedding mare to send to this lady. My apologies everyone for breaking my own rules ... please wipe this incident from your memories and keep it a secret between us..PLEASE?
And today (March 18), I entered into negotiations to trade Sam and Margarita for a TWH mare and stallion. The stallion is Pusher Bred (whoo hoo) with a strong dose of Merry Go Boy and no Pride of Midnight. The filly is Ebony Masterpice with a heavy dose of Merry Go Boy (double Whoo Hoo) and no Pride of Midnight. Wish me luck that we can work through the trade and "git 'er done". This will put my endurance program over the top AND hopefully get me a good stallion to compete on.
(March 22) - HE'S HERE
and he's awesome! My new TWHBEA stallion.
You can see his pedigree and everything on the stallion page. Now, you should be aware by now that I'm not fond of chestnut, and I am definitely not fond of pinto markings - and if I am terribly in love with him, you know he has to be exceptional because he's chestnut AND pinto. Jamie is in love with him, too. She's been riding him all over the place. GO JAMIE! Get this man in shape for some endurance riding. Enjoy him now because when I'm healed from my surgery on April 9, I'm taking over! (I rode him twice now and love him to pieces...love him love him)
Instructor/Manager: Dodie Sable
Located in New Smithville PA at 37 Fenstermacher Road, 3 miles north of Kutztown University
Call us at 610.756.3836 or email us at dodie@newpromisefarms.com