Buying horse from the Internet

lisae

lisae

New Member
Jun 15, 2000
1,462
0
0
67
NY, USA
www.nyhaflinger.com
Searched the archives on this, no luck. Has anyone ever bought a horse off the net SIGHT UNSEEN? It goes against my rational tendencies but it isn't much different than buying at auction, although there you can see conformation better. But as to character, there's no way you know until you bring them home.

Anyways, I'm thinking about buying a weanling colt who is lovely to look at (pic too big to post here) but too far away to go see easily. Reasonable price even with shipping costs though. Wouldn't vet a weanling at a low price anyways, so is it really just going to be luck and intuition? He's a Paint Arab cross red dun tobiano.

Has anyone done this and had a success, or for that matter, a miserable failure? :eek:
 
Well, I bought Tia off the internet from a picture, unseen. Having said that I knew her breeding, knew I wanted that breeding in whatever pony I bought, and she'd already been shown with fantastic results - so it's a much better bet than a horse with no record whatsoever.

I think with a weanling I'd probably rather go and see it. With Tia I knew already that she moved straight, had good limbs, and was true to type - as a yearling she was reserve champion at a big show, so it wasn't much of a gamble. When there's no way of judging how they might move or how straight they are because there's no performance record, I'm not sure I'd want to take a chance on just a picture. I was offered a colt over the net, but when we went to see him he was actually quite toed out, which wasn't at all obvious in the pics (or video!) I was sent.

I guess it depends on how much of a gamble you're willing to take... :D Any chance you could see video of him? That sometimes helps when travelling to see them really isn't possible.
 
Buying a Horse off the Internet

yes I did. Biggest mistake ever. Was advertised as anyones ride, a gentleman with impeccable manners.

Nothing could be furthe from the truth.

He bucked, had splints, really bad feet and appalling manners. He was bought from me by an experienced person who is now nursing him back to what he previously was as he had been mistreated in his last home.

I paid 2800 for him and was advised that he was not worth more than 1500.

Be warned, and make sure that the person you are buying from has had him a while.
 
my new horse I am buying unseen as he is too far for me to go and meet.
He arrives end of October and I have seen photos etc and his owner and I speak daily.
It isn't how I usually how I buy a horse but he is what I was looking for at a really good price so I wasn't going to let distance stop me getting him.
 
I bought Kat & Duchess sight unseen. It was unwise and a bit rash--but they were just what I was looking for, and if they *hadn't* been, I could have re-trained them and sold them off anyway.

Unless they were unsound or otherwise unsuitable to ride. And I knew I was taking that chance. Some people don't...I know of one woman who has now bought at least 3 horses sight unseen--each was unsuitable for her. One was permanently unsound from an old injury, two weren't suitable for her level of riding (novice), though they were advertised as better. She's taken a loss on all of them.

I was lucky; my sellers were truthful and helpful. Sellers are not necessarily honest.

And once you've had a horse shipped to you and you have possession of it, and it's been paid, for, it's near impossible to refuse payment and have the horse returned. You *might* get a partial refund if you ship him back, but you'll be out the shipping both ways. And you might end up with a horse unsuitable for anything, but be unable to return or sell him.

Have you tried locating someone in the area and asking them to go have a look at him?
 
You are brave! :eek: I would like to at least see it. I'd be paranoid that some evil snapping turtle walked off the trailer and I would be stuck with something I can't sell on.
So I drove 450 miles to see DJ.
Outrider is in Michigan today to try out a potential new horse by the way (we are from Texas). Good luck, Outrider! :)
To me it is not so much about the money as it would be about the stress of having to find a new home for a difficult horse. I have a tough time to pass animals on so it's important to me that they be a good fit.
 
Better than I thought..

Well, most of the responses were positive! I had Mara over at the trainers today (who used to show Paints) and she said "video" too! Here's a link that may work. His sire is nice looking, his dam looks like a professional broodmare.

http://www.sunsetarabians.com/SASurprisinglyDun.html

Even if I never bred from him (he's just a baby still!) I think he has potential as a riding horse. I can geld and sell him on down the line, and in the meantime I can afford to maintain him at a reasonable cost since we have them at home.

The seller seems legit, she is due with a baby in two weeks and is downsizing. Foal is not weaned yet which is good!

Of course, I have not mentioned this to OH yet, although there is now a pic of horse baby on the dining room table...hint hint ;)
 
Last edited:
I found both of my babies on the Internet. There is a listing service for all horses for sale in CA and it saved me so much time and gave me hundreds of horses to look at when I was looking. However, after going through the internet ads, I would call the owners whose horses I was interested in and then make an appointment for a test ride. Buying horses was nerve wrecking for me, I can't imagine buying one sight unseen. I would have had a heart attack.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back