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Re: [RC] buying endurance horses over the Internet....thoughts and questions. - Jessica SpooneI have 7 horses and all were found using the internet. My 2 mares I didn't see until they arrived. My 2 older geldings I saw when I picked them up. One I traveled to NJ to see before I bought him because he was going to be my potential herd sire and one was only 3 hours away so I visited him before I bought him. I live in NC and they came from Arkansas, Michigan, Montana, Virginia, and New Jersey. All have worked out well and were fairly accurately respresented. Internet is generally the first place I look for a horse to buy, its simple for me to look at multiple horses and from the comfort of my home. I will be breeding Morabs in the next couple years (waiting on my colt to grow up)and have already got a farm site setup with pictures and info about my horses. I will be adding pedigrees, ancestor photos, etc as soon as I get a chance and once babies are born they will be listed for sale on it too. Jessica Spoone www.magickmorning.com Magick Morning Ranch The horses with Morab-ility! This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Curious here how many folks are finding and buying their potential endurance horses through internet sites, and what kind of luck they are having. Many breeders now have web pages and seem to be selling all over the country. People like Rocky Mountain Training Center seem to be selling horses regularly; have videos to send out. This brings up all sorts of interesting questions; such as......do folks find horses over the internet, get info and photos and buy the horse sight- unseen?. How many people are flying across country to look at horses? I find this an extremely interesting new way to market and buy horses, and see a resulting boom in the horse transport business. For example..... I ran into an extremely nice looking mare in Florida. Price much less than California. I -could- have bought this mare, paid for shipping clear across country, and still put out less $ than this horse would have sold for in Calif...... I have found two horses off the internet in the last 4 years that I bought. Both were within a 3 hour drive for me. Both were exactly as advertised. One was a baby, and of course, seeing the baby at 5 weeks.....well, I bought her. The other was age 4...and physical attributes were actually better than the ad.....training level was less, but oh well! I also have bought a critter way back across country (after many, many photos, and questions answered). He was size advertised, trainng was good, but he did not end up having anywhere near the go I wanted....so I resold him over the internet. What this internet exposure has done, and websites such as AGdirect, Dreamhorse, Bay Area Equestrian Network and Equine.com, not to mention endurance.net, is allow people to find exactly the size, age, color and breed they have dreamed of, especially if there is nothing locally. I find the websites very compelling, and have found some neat horses....of well, you only live once!!! And....here is another question to pose.....if you buy a horse over the internet, take a chance...how often is the horse NOT what it is advertised to be? What would you do if you bought the horse based on description of factual info (age, height, color), and turned out to be different? Of course, the obvious answer is to always do a vet check....but then sometimes, you just take a chance. I do know of a situation where the trainer was selling a horse for a friend and client. Photos and video were sent out. Horse was advertised as 15.2h......trainer was asked several times to verify height (as height was an issue and horse was going to be used potentially for a very tall person). Trainer assured buyer several times horse was "big", and only a little bit smaller than her 15.3 paint mare.....but aparently never actually sticked her. Anyway, a great deal was struck....as in a done over the phone....road trip to pick up the horse, transfer in the near dark....horse turned out to be under 14.3 when sticked. Is this misrepresentation? I mean, training is pretty subjective...height, and color are not!!!! And.....where do you determine the degree of flexibility on height? To me, if you stand a horse on a level surface, and have a rigid stick, and level to go across to the withers....well, height should vary less than an inch either direction (short feet, long feet, etc). Some days horses just seem to stand taller!!! But, you sure don't expect a horse to be over 3 inches than advertised! As the deal had been done, and my friend felt obligated to follow through on her end, she accepted the horse (and nobody had a stick to measure at that point). Trainer has been asked to rebate some $ back since horse was misrepresented....but has balked.....said horse was accepted, and a signed bill of sale. I find this somewhat unethical, especially since the accurate height was requested several times. What is the current opinion here? Trainer has offered to buy horse back (would be 12 hour trip for current owner), so that is not really an option..... Here is another question....buyng a baby. That does really seem taking a chance, as you truly have no idea of future size or potential for endurance horse. I bought a youngster from the breeder who we got my daughters mare from. The mare was advertised as 15.2....well, she is just over 15h.....bred to a 15.3 hand stallion.....first baby who I bought ended up maybe 14.3 on tippytoe. Now, the baby I bought at 5 weeks, picked up at 5 months....from a 14.3 Arab mare by a Paint stallion, how 16h...very likely may hit 16h....and has turned out with great bone, feet and confrmation. This is the one I have taken on the trail her whole life, and careful on the feeding, etc. My great experiment to create a future enduarnce horse......and she is the laziest thing I have ever had....plus I am not yet seeing any great signs of good recoveries, or even being able to keep up on short rides (she is now almost 5). Now I know Heidi will pipe up here it makes more sense to buy a baby from tested bloodlines, from performance parents, and to do agree with that.....but hey, I got sidetracked by exotic color!!!! Just mulling over this stuff before hauling out lazy mare for lesson first then trail ride. Here in Northern Calif the sun is shinning, yes my daffodills in bloom, and pasture grass up about a foot high! Karen Jessica Spoone Magick Morning Ranch www.magickmorning.com ============================================================ If you treat an Arab like a Thoroughbred, it will behave like a Quarter horse. ~ Libby Llop ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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