Horse Shopping on the Negative
When you go horse shopping, what do you emphasize most about your candidates--their positives, or their negatives?
I recently had the chance to work with a professional horse buyer while preparing an article on the subject of buying, for an upcoming issue of Horse & Rider. This pro makes his living by buying horses on others' behalf, charging for the use of his experience, his keen eye, and his long list of seller contacts. He provided all kinds of great tips for my article, but one comment in particular really stuck in my mind. Here it is:
"Most people shop on the negative, and that's how they miss good horses. They focus on some little thing that they see as a potential problem or that doesn't fit their fantasy picture, and then use it as their excuse to walk away."
I'd never really thought about it those terms, but I've witnessed plenty of evidence to prove his point. "Your horse is cute, but you say he's 15.3, and I really want something 15.2." "He'd be perfect for my daughter, except for the fact that he's sorrel. He doesn't match her outfits." "I just wish he didn't have that shorter sock in front. If it matched the other three, I'd buy him." "We like your filly except for her mane. It looks a little thin."
This isn't to say that we aren't each entitled to hold out for our dream horse. But in today's era of on-line horse emporiums, with thousands and thousands to look at behind the protective veil of a computer screen, has it become all that much easier to just look and kick the tires, than to know a good horse when we see one?
posted by Juli Thorson @ 3:44 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I had an old cowboy tell me that they use to just hope to find one good thing that they liked in a horse. But nowdays the horses have developed so much that all we look for are the bad things.
I agree with your horsebuyer. I know I am even guilty of it sometimes myself. I just can't ride an ugly horse no matter what.
As a breeder. I have to deal with the negative buyer you're talking about. It's so frustrating to show someone a horse that is exactly what they said they were looking for to hear, "He'd be perfect if he just had one more white foot." I'll see those same people later in the showring with a horse that has that extra marking but has half the quality and talent. It's just plain wierd.
chuckle. I think the negative actually keeps me from selling my horses 'oh he has this issue, I couldn't possibly sell her, she has this issue'. Doh! That is why I have three.
Like the blog!
rising rainbow brought back a memory. I had a customer that was going to get started in horses. They had a young daughter that was really green and plenty of money. They found a black horse they liked. I knew a lot of people that showed with this horse and found out all about it. I told them "you do not want to buy this horse"! Their answer was "but she is such a pretty black horse". They bought her, paid dearly for her, almost got the kid killed and then wondered why it happened like that. UGH
I have an OLD GOLD gelding for sale at the moment and almost had him placed in a great home only at the last moment the potential buyer asked me if he had any Horsemanship training - I said no and that all of his training was listed in the ad - but that he had a great foundation and could learn it quickly.
That was the last I heard from her. Go figure. God forbid you have put a little work into a younger affordable horse.
Oh well - someone will come along.
OH and I once had a buyer turn down an all-star black Dymanic Deluxe gelding that was as sound as a bell and just knock-out in the ring - because I SHOWED HIM IN KIMBERWICK in the HUS picture I sent her??!!
Go figure. I always try to give the horse the benefit of the doubt, who says it will act the same, move the same or place the same under you and your trainer? If its a good deal with potential - I always give it a chance.
My adult daughter and I have been looking for a long time and we have tried to keep an open mind..I'm a little more open minded than she is but...what has just knocked us off our feet is to get to a final prepurchase exam and have so many fail...3 so far (and we didn't notice a thing before the exam) generally hock and stifle issues. The cost of these exams are really putting a dent in the money pot to make a good offer.
I'll never forget a pony I had for sale. I sent her to a trainer on a trial basis,and the trainer and the kid loved her. But the mother rejected the pony. Why? The pony didn't cost enough. She said she wanted to pay more for a pony for her daughter.
I asked the trainer "couldn't you say you had another one, just like this one, only double the price?"
I am so disgusted with tire kickers. They e-mail and want a thousand pictures, then never bother to let you know whether they received them or not. Also, the many people you get who want to know how tall your baby is going to be at 3 years old. If only I had a crystal ball, I could win the lottery and never have to sell another horse. I would rather sell a horse through an auction than deal with the e-mail horsebuyer. One lady I sold a horse thru the inetrnet decided after two months she didn't want the horse any more and called my cell phone constantly for weeks and sent me nasty e-mails. I finally gave her the money back. It was either that or change my cell phone number. The internet market does work but it also can be a real hassle.
Great article. I totally agree, it's hard to find solid buyers these days without them being so incredibly picky about the teeniest details (eg sock height, stripe/snip, etc). I love that places like equine.com and others give you the ability to view hundreds of horses and do advanced searches, esp. on things like color, size, price, etc.
Outside appearance is important but what the horse can do is more important to me. We use ours strictly for cattle and color or have all white socks doesn't even matter. I just want a good sound horse with lots of common sense.
Post a Comment
<< Home