I am talking about horse traders. We're in the market for another horse. I hate dealing with these people. Let the buyer beware is true. Thought we had one. Had a deal with a person who was going to try out a horse for us. She was going to take her time and work him slowly and give us her evaluation over a two week period. Just to make sure he was the horse for us. He must of really been a good horse, because she bought him. Auctions. Ten minutes to make an evaluation, get real. There was a time when you could take people's word for things. Whatever happened to that? I guess Dad just raised me wrong, because I want to believe people. Anyway, in the market for a good riding horse in the Amarillo, Texas area.
Welcome to the forum, but from what is written, can't tell what is going on or what you expect. If you don't know horses yourself, you are likely at the mercy of those who do.
Hope you find a way and a means to find a horse.
Your profile will help us to know a bit about from where you are coming from. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Oh, I'm just venting. We have other horses, just looking for a special horse for the wife. When word gets out that you are in the market, the horse traders are all over you. On the phone it's "Seabiscuit". When you drive over to look at him, it's not. I know it's buyer beware, but as a profession this one is seriously lacking in honesty. The incident I am refering to above is a trader that I trusted. She lives 350 miles south of us. Therefore, she has access to a market we don't. She had told us she was getting a horse in on consignment. She had not seen it, nor had we. She knew what we were looking for. She was going to evaluate him for us. If it was not the one, it would of saved us a 700 mile round trip. She gave us a favorable report. Then she bought him for herself! Remember, this is from a horse trader I trusted! The wife recently lost her old gelding. What I am trying to do is purchase a really good one for her.
I can't tell you how many bombproof horses that turned out to be loony!
I rather shop for a used car than a horse.
I am a novice when it comes to horsemanship, and ended up buying a 20yr old QH that is absolutely bombproof. I prefer a safe old horse than a young wild one. If I were more experienced I would know how to handle more, but I will stick to the old horses since I am not barrel racing...
I think around here, with an abundance of horse boarding farms, if I was looking, I would hang out on weekends at these farms. Then watching and listening, pick up a horse that the owners need to sell (teenage daughter graduating from high school or discovering boys are probably the most common needs [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ). By hanging around, the behavior of the horse can be observed and noted for calmness, shying (what my horse did, and my dad was NEVER ready for it), kicking other horses, standing for bridle and saddle, patience, etc.
Maybe the boarding places don't allow such visits, but to me, that would be the place to see the horses first, and second, to pick one up that needs a home.
If you pay a finders fee, it should include a warranty or the finder gets the horse back, IMO. If there is no finders fee, then I guess one gets what that is worth, sorry to say.
I also know that a horse can be gentle as an old rocker for someone they are used to, and who won't let them get away with anything. But give the reins to a timid person, and the horse senses that right away, the horse will try every trick in the book of old horse tricks, until that person 'reins' them in, and shows the horse who will be the boss. Sometimes the horse wins, hands down.
Drpepper,
Finding a good broke ranch gelding is really hard to find in a price range you think you can afford and, as you are finding out, there is a reason the term “Horse trader†is on the same level as mass murderer.
I wish I had some good advice for you but I will say that beenthere’s recommendation is about what I would do. Those deals are out there but, unless you have someone you really trust, you will have to be the one to do the looking.
There are some good people on TBN/CBN who don’t like it when I say this but look around at some of the real high end performance barns such as Cutters/Reiners/ReinedCowhorse. You will be surprised at the number of not too old performance horses that have had a great career, and still could, but the owner wants to retire them to a great home where they will be well taken care of and used as trail horses. I recently let go of a really trust worthy 13 year old gelding that did reined cowhorse and reining and was a great trail horse. He LOVED getting out and about and would faithfully pack a rider. He had NO soundness issues and my only real criteria was that he go to a great home, that he not compete again unless he was just going to pack a kid around, and I get him back when his useful days were over.
Again, I know that some of the breeders here don’t like to have this said but you might also find a younger less talented horse that is not going to make the grade in a high end barn. Big time trainers have to go through a bunch of average horses to find the 2 that will get them in the finals.
They are not easy to find but I bet if you got to know some of those folks in performance barns you will find one. And, as beenthere says, you can get to know the horse.
Not sure how TX is outside of the Weatherford area but CA has too many city cowboys that think nothing of dropping $20k on a pretty ranch gelding that they will ride 4 days a week. That just forces the price way up on everything else.
You might also try poking around performance horse vets.
Keep looking and slowly build a network of people you trust that can help you look for that next horse.
I'm not as new to this as people are implying. What I am saying is that if anything "horse traders" are worse than I remember them. It's been about five years since we bought our last horse. Still have others in the barn/pasture. What we are looking for is one last good horse for the wife.
Horse traders can be really bad. No reputable trainer/stable owner/breeder/etc should ever do that. I am not sure that it has gotten worse from my perspective but its sure not great.
Best of luck on finding a new horse. They are out there....just keep looking.
Oh, no offense taking. I was just venting in this post. I'm doing what someone suggested and getting on with my business. We have so many "kitchen trader" horse people in this country that it is a problem when word gets out that you are looking. We don't really have the big stables that more populated parts of the country have. Most horse people keep their stock on a few acres around here. On a positive note, my wife is getting over the loss of "her boy". The only problem is that I keep catching her brushing my mare and slipping her apples! I'm fixing to lose my horse!
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