Re: jealousy

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@naisp.net>]

From: <RhndLev@cs.com>

>  My solution so far has been to price Knightmare a little higher than I
think
> anyone will actually pay, and the plan is to slowly increase the price in
> accord with her training level so that it remains just a touch too high,
but
> not so high my husband can say I'm trying to sabotage efforts to sell her.
> LOL.  Anyone else have clever tricks to avoid selling horses?

The one pulled on me by the wife of a family who had agreed to
sell me their last-surviving-mare-of-a-blue-hen-mare-family worked
pretty well (it was the wife's name on the papers):

- no, you can't take the halter off her to see how easy she is
  to catch in the stall

- no, you can't try to load her in the trailer to see how she loads

- no, you can't have the vet do a biopsy on her to see if she is
  still fertile

- no, you can't have the vet do a culture on her to see if she is
  still fertile (we *know* she's fine)

- no, you can't have a vet examine her at all, it would upset her
  too much

OK, I'll buy her as-is, no questions asked.

As I pull up to the house to sign the papers, I hear shouting:
"I'm not selling her and that's that!" followed by the wife running
out of the house, jumping in the car, and driving off.

That worked really well.

The husband (who took care of the horse) was very apologetic.
The wife never wanted to sell her mare, but rather than directly
refuse her husband, she kept trying to drive away the buyer, and
only put her foot down when the buyer just wouldn't be driven
away.

Sigh...

Linda B. Merims
lbm@naisp.net
Massachusetts, USA