And this is a brush!
Apr 02 2010
It’s been a while since I’ve addressed how to sell and market your horse and step #1 of that topic:
PICK UP A DAMN BRUSH!
While I’ve been saying this for years, clearly not everyone is listening, as Dreamhorse and Craigslist are still plastered with filthy horses that someone is trying to sell or stand at stud.  As I’ve noted before, when you are trying to sell your house, it goes without saying that you clean and vacuum before a showing. When you are trying to sell a car, you wash it and vacuum it out. But when people are trying to sell horses, or breedings, it is amazing how many of them think a picture of the horse sniffing poop in the field with his mane in knots is sufficient. They wander out and take a cell phone picture at the worst possible angle and think somehow this is going to attract buyers — even buyers who have five figures to spend, who are looking for a serious show horse!
Look, it’s a yak!
No, believe it or not, it’s a two year old Swedish Warmblood that they are marketing as a stallion prospect and asking $10,000 for!
Honey, he may very well be a nice horse cleaned up. It is hard to tell from the picture. From the picture, he looks like a QH-mustang cross that someone dumped at the Woodburn auction. His head looks huge, you can’t tell a thing about his conformation from the picture and it’s obvious you did not even bother to pick up a brush before you took the picture, much less clip his goat whiskers or pull that out of control mane. C’mon, you want a not-so-insignificant price for him — let’s see a little effort here!
Let’s say that you have a horse like this, in pasture condition. You don’t have to bodyclip him, and I understand that a bath may not be possible in a cold climate. So here is what you can do:
1. Make sure his feet are freshly trimmed. Nothing says “I don’t really care” like ragged feed. That isn’t the case here, I’m just mentioning it because I see it a lot!
2. Clip him up. You don’t have to do the inside of the ears and do the whole show clip, but clip a bridle path, take off the long whiskers on the nose and underneath the face (that alone cleans up a horse’s appearance a lot!) and the fetlocks unless he’s a breed where they stay long (Clydesdale, Friesian, etc.).
3. Comb out his mane and shorten it if that’s appropriate to his breed. Comb out his tail. You don’t need water to do this – anything from baby oil to Show Sheen to WD-40 will help you take out knots and burrs. A nicely combed-out tail makes all the difference to a horse’s appearance. And a shaggy mane on a breed that is shown with a neatly pulled one really detracts from your horse’s appearance.
4. You may not be able to wash the whole horse, but you can wash the socks even if it’s pretty cold out. Just drag out some hot water from the house. White socks make the whole horse look better!
5. A great grooms’ trick is to go over the entire horse with a damp towel after brushing. The brushing raises up the dust out of the coat and the damp towel removes it so that you have the illusion of a horse who has been bathed, even when he hasn’t! Again, this is something you can do in the winter that won’t chill the horse – you’re not getting him wet at the skin level, just passing a damp cloth over the top of his coat to remove the dust and grime you’ve curried and brushed to the surface.
6. Another good winter trick is baby powder on white areas to make them look whiter when you can’t thoroughly wash them.
7. If you don’t have a quality leather show halter, then pose the horse with a bridle instead. If you use riding pictures, make sure your tack looks clean and well cared-for.
8. Clothes! As we have observed many times before, no one wants to see your bare chest, if you’re a man, and if your butt is hanging out of your hot pants, if you’re a woman, the horse will not be what they are focusing on! You don’t have to wear show clothes, but breeches/boots on your english horse and nice looking jeans/boots on your western horse make a difference. Wear something on top that does not resemble a tent. No rude slogan t-shirts — it’s nice that you want to save a horse and ride a cowboy, but again, this really does distract from what the viewer should be looking at – the horse.
Especially if you are trying to get a good price for your horse, put in a little effort. Heck, we clip up the rescue horses and they’re rescue horses that we are typically asking under $2000 for. Please make the same effort with your $10K horse!
However, while I am a fan of grooming, you don’t need to prove it in your sale ad by posting a picture of it! This picture is spectacularly unflattering to the horse, particularly given that they have her priced at $11,500. Way to show off those cow hocks, downhill build and a short neck!  You know, once you get into the five-figure range, you really need pictures that show the horse performing – ideally show/competition pictures. I’m sorry, looking at this picture, I don’t see anything that defines her as any different from a $1000 Craigslist mare. Apparently she has had some professional training but there is no mention made of any show record, and she is seven years old. She is supposed to be a reiner/cutter, so let’s see her actually do something. Here, I will give you an example: Here are pics that make me think the horse is worth every penny. Those pics make me want to ride that horse – he looks like a BLAST!
Now, you do not necessarily have to spend money on professional pics, or not include any “field” pics to make a good impression. While you know I am not a huge fan of the foundation QH’s, I will say that this particular one has good amateur pictures. They know how to shoot their horse, they have a nice variety of pictures, and they are showing him off to his best advantage. It can be done.
More examples of what not to do here:Â Bad Ways To Sell Your Horse
Oh, and just another note:Â Please don’t name your black mare Oprah, among other things.
135 comments to “And this is a brush!”
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So, about brushes:
Does anyone else suspect the damn things of breeding at night in the tack room? I would swear that I’ve only bought one brush for the gelding I lease, and his owner swears that she has only bought one brush for him, but somehow we have like four in the tack box and no one in the barn is complaining about missing brushes.
And I’m giving up on him ever being clean for more than 2 minutes — without fail, as soon as I put him in the paddock after a ride and a nice bath he finds the dustiest patch in the whole field and spend ten minutes luxuriously rolling around and making happy grunty noises. He gets up and I have a brown hose instead of a black-and-white one.
I think that my brushes actually run away! Semi-annually I have to go and grab 3 or 4 new ones. I think I’d rather have the breeding problem.
I actually have a couple of theories about the NEED to roll in white and horses with large amounts of white. 1. Camo?
2. “But I was originally brown!” 3. Cause they know it drives us nuts! I have a dirt colored (not bay/brown but actually dirt/dust colored) horse that never rolls but my gray mare and leopard appy looove to roll.
My brushes reproduce, along with headstalls, saddle pads, blankets, saddles, and just about anything else I don’t need more of. Oh no! Tack sale season is here again. Quick, someone hide my car keys!
My grooming supplies tend to end up in odd places. How a dandy brush got into the laundry room I have no idea. I thought having two tack totes (one in the trailer, one in the tack shed) would mean I’d never have to remember to pack the trailer. However, all my brushes end up one place or the other.
The work of a gremlin, I’m sure.
My brushes always grow legs and run away to sea, or so it seems. MY kids that are absconding with them, smiling innocently and claiming never to have seen them.
I now get fluorescent pink ones, they cost just a little more but no-one wants to be seen dead with them!!
Here is an example of a non-professional picture that turned out quite nice. This is a yearling Welsh Pony filly. I pulled her mane, brushed the heck out of her and even took saddle soap to her halter. I stood her up and handed the camera to my seven year old son. I told him to start taking pictures and not stop. He took about 80 pictures on our little point-and-shoot digital camera and this is what came out.
The key to this picture, in my opinion, is that my son stands at the height of this filly’s shoulder. If you shoot from standing adult height, her legs would have looked stumpy when they clearly are not.
One other “to do” for sales pictures: if you wash your horse, wait until he/she is dry before taking pictures. The drowned rat look does NOT scream out “I am worth a lot of money!”
That is a nice picture! A nice pony too
I was going CRAZY trying to figure out where I had seen that pic before, and then I realized I’ve been to your web site before! Your pictures and ponies all look great!
“The key to this picture, in my opinion, is that my son stands at the height of this filly’s shoulder. If you shoot from standing adult height, her legs would have looked stumpy when they clearly are not.”
EXACTLY. Most horse’s center of gravity is near the elbow, and the best pictures will be taken nearly perpendicular to that spot. When you find it, you can adjust up and down, forward and back to emphasize different parts in your pictures.
I wish I could buy that lovely pony, and borrow your son! Just kidding, I can’t afford the pony, and I know you won’t lend out the boy.
Microfibers are awesome as rub rags. They have this weird sticky quality that makes them suck up dirt and water. You don’t want to use them too much on a nice shiny coat, I think, because they probably suck up a little of the natural oils. You can buy a huge pack of them from a big warehouse store for…I forget how much. $20 maybe? We bought a pack of 25 a few years ago for baby (might be TMI, but we stuff cloth diapers with them), pet and household cleaning and haven’t had to replace any.
I’ve heard the best final buffing on a clean horse or dog are hands, because they bring out the oils in their coats. I just get dirty hands, but at least it makes the animals happy.
You have such pretty ponies!!
I’ve checked out SProcket before – he is amazing.
Thanks for breeding & training great ponies. Too many people around here will just throw together family groups of… um… Halfies, QHs, TWHs and godonlyknowswhut … and if the offspring are stunted, call ‘em Kid Ponies.
Any chance that Foundation QH (named Sonitas San Zetta) is related to Mugwump’s Sonita?!
I dunno, but I think he’s kind of neat.
AAUUUGH!
I clicked on the link to that other blog about selling horses, got down to the March 22′nd entry and went BLIND. What is wrong with that mare’s butt?!?
Re: Oprah named black horse
This isn’t as bad as it gets. You should see the names that black horses get here in the south.
I went to a nearby saddle repair shop – the old fashioned kind that you don’t see anymore, run by an ancient old man and his wife, to have a sheep hide cut to fit my saddle’s seat. While there, we got to talking about mules. The man had mule pictures all over his wall from a lifetime of logging, working, and riding them.
I mentioned that I saw a beautiful black mule while I was riding one day – and I thought it was extra pretty because it didn’t have that white/lighter muzzle and points like most mules have. Instead it had a solid black muzzle just like a horse.
The old man looked at me for a minute, his wife turned away and braced herself. He looked at me with a straight face and said “You know what we call those, dontcha?” N*gger-nosed mules!”
I’m pretty sure that’s the first instance of horse-related racism I’ve ever heard, it took me completely by surprise.
When I rode Big South Fork a few years ago ( in TN ) I came across a guy with a matched pair of black gaited mules on the trail, riding one and packing with the other. The mules’ names were Spook and Pickaninny (Ninny for short, he explained). He offered me moonshine and asked if I wanted to ride with him, since we were both out solo. I said “Nah, I’m good, thanks” and rode off to the sound of Deuling Banjos.
I used to work in a vet hospital in a ghetto neighborhood near Seattle. The names people give their cats and dogs are just as bad as horses. One cat was named Spook. Another was Nig-ga. The owners thought it was hilarious in the evening when they called the cat to come in the house. “Here Nig-ga, Nig-ga, Nig-ga.”
I’m probably missing something due to being Canadian and all, but what’s wrong with Spook? I’d have assumed the cat was shy.
Here, spook can be used as a deragatory term to refer to black people. I believe it originated in the South.
From the dictionary: Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a Black person.
It originated in the 1940s apparently.
The thing about the horse in the first picture is that yes, it does need to be groomed, but it doesn’t look God-awful ungroomed. You can tell that even with a layer of mud on top, his coat is still gleaming underneath and that he is not a low-quality horse. He has a good top line, and overall is not terribly ugly. I would go so far as to saying that he is even cute.He seems to have a nice shoulder and hip, and although this does not justify the apathy in presenting the horse for sale, the picture is not, in my opinion, the perfect example of what you should not do when putting a horse up for sale. There are far worse sale ad pictures out there. And 10,000 dollars is definitely the low-end of the warmblood price-o-meter, especially for a stallion who looks like he has some dressage potential. Not to mention that he is two, and probably (at least I hope) not broken. Although it is unfortunate, unbroken horses (at least this is true at my farm) are not payed as much attention as those who are in regular work and showing because there is not enough time to keep them in tip-top show condition, and there is no need to. They are young! Let them be dirty little ponies if they so choose.
Sure, I can show far worse ads all day – but they are usually for $500 horses. For $10K, people do expect some presentation (and they should get it).
And as long as they’re just growing up, I’m also a fan of letting them be dirty and having fun – it’s when you put them on the market that you need to at least clean them up long enough for pictures.
You can tell he’s a cute horse but can they not at least get on the same side of the fence? That’s the first thing I think of. It looks like an ad for fencing as opposed to an ad for a 2 year old. I don’t expect an equine teenager to look like its grown up counterparts, but at least prove to me you can get near it.
All I am trying to say is that if the buyer is very serious and willing to dig a little, they wouldn’t write off a horse because it is dirty. They could easily call the seller and ask for a picture in which the horse is bathed and groomed. If they were really serious, they would see that a) it has no obvious conformational flaws from what you can see in the picture (it is not like that freakish super hump-backed paint that was on here a while ago) and b) for its breed, that is an extremely reasonable price, mind you it is not a Hilltop horse. Yes, bad sellers for such crappy presentation, but overall I think that mustang x quarter horse is a bit of a stretch.
Eh, I don’t know. That angle does not do it any favors. It would not jump out to me as a warmblood from that pic. What does everybody else think?
My first impression was an Arab; the blaze blends into the sky and makes the head look dishy. Of course I’m half asleep today too.
Oh and when my showed her dogs, she would make sure to wear an opposite color from the animal so it would stand out in the championship photos. The same could be applied to horses, pose dark horses in front of a light background, light horses in front of a dark background. The devil’s in the details and a good picture could be the difference between getting your asking price and being negotiated down.
I know the stallion. I’ve rode his offspring. Not terribly complementary to him.
We don’t need to know he’s calm around “dogs,4-wheelers, and kids” The text Ad is just as important as the pictures. As a buyer, I’m not interested in dogs,4-wheelers, and kids.
If your asking $10,000 for a 2yo stud who’d done nothing but roll in the mud, calm around dogs,4-wheelers, and kids. I’m off to http://www.warmbloods-for-sale.com/
If your serious about selling a horse.. Put some effort into it. This sounds like it was put out by a teenager and expecting $10,000 for very little effort.
The thing is, there are so many different variations of the ‘ideal’ warmblood. You have the stockier, compact, more classically bred ones and then you have the giant, leggy Superhorses commonly seen today in the big-tome dressage and jumper rings. And again, this guy is a two year old: He still has time to gain muscle and height.
I thought he looked like an adorable little mixed-breed with a ginormous head, the kind of horse you see following his kid owner around the barn picking his/her pockets for carrots. I didn’t think the pic made him look big, expensive or anything like what I would expect to see in a WB stallion, even a young one. My first thought was “that’s a cute little bugger”.
I don’t think $10,000 is reasonable just because it’s a warmblood. I think the “expensive warmblood” boom is not as big as it was, say, 10 years ago. Not that there aren’t still a bunch of high-priced warmbloods, but you can also easily find them for under $10,000. Same with the baroque breeds. I just went to dreamhorse, searched for all DWB, Hanoverians, and Holsteiners (just because those seem to be among the more common ones and I didn’t feel like going through and clicking on ALL the different ones) under $10,000 and there were plenty that showed either a decent comformation shot or a decent riding picture. They didn’t all look straight out of the show ring – in fact, some look like they probably live in a field and don’t get groomed every day – but at the very least it looks like the owner went out into the field with a carrot and a brush for a quick touch up and then took the photo from a good angle to show the buyer what they’d be getting. Why would the buyer feel inclined to send an email asking this seller to please groom and take a better photo when there are plenty of others that they are interested in because they already have put in that effort. That would seem like a waste of time to me if I’ve already got 10 other horses to look at, and I’d assume there must be a reason this one didn’t take a good picture in the first place. Say there are two different restaurants that make the same exact meals for the same price but one of them is nicely decorated with pretty pictures on the walls, candles and flowers on the table, nice landscaping, and the other one looks like a wherehouse. Would it be up to me, as the customer, to go to the wherehouse one and ask them if they wouldn’t mind decorating a little so I would enjoy my meal more? I’d rather just go the the one that already looks pretty.
BTW I would not have guessed that chestnut horse was a SWB. He actually looks a bit like a horse I used to know who was half qh, 1/4 arab, and 1/4 morgan. In any case, based on the picture I’d assume he was some sort of grade mixture with that huge head and thick neck (probably not in real life, but looks that way from this picture).
I personally like a good look at a horse’s legs in a photo. I would never present a sale photo of a horse with a front toe pointed, even though it is simply poised in play in this particular case, I assume. It still sets off a “navicular pain ” bell in my head. My eyes go to it right away.
I have owned a horse with heel pain through her final years, so I am particularly tuned in to that! I notice them in the fields as I drive by…. same with horses with atrophied muscles where the saddles sit. But now I am way off topic.
This is the cute photo I would send to my friends or sister. Horses are so available over the internet that you want to put your best presentation foward. “Cute” horses are common. Also, he does not represent a type or breed strongly . You are trying to present a future high performance athlete. And even if $10,000 is cheap for that breed, you would then want to know why. They cost so much to develop. However, with all said that, he is very cute!!!!
And if you brush them and put tack on them, know that there is a right way and a wrong way to use a picture of a tacked-up or partially tacked-up horse in a sale ad. The right way complements your horse and helps show what discipline you’ve trained it for. The wrong way only makes a train wreck worse.
Yes:
http://www.equine.com/horses-for-sale/horse-ad-988750.html
This mare has her lower legs wrapped so that you can’t see if there are any old injuries or blemishes. They are appropriate to her discipline, she is clearly fit, healthy, and well-groomed, and the wraps don’t hide her overall conformation.
Yes:
http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_horse.php?form_horse_id=1494261
This gelding is tacked up for jumping ring work, or possible a trail ride, which is what he’s advertised for. The saddle and pad don’t obscure his topline, they don’t distract from the horse overall, and it’s easy to see that he’s very nicely cared for. The angle of the photo is a little odd, with the horse turning his head away from the camera, but if I were in the market I’d definitely be looking at him.
NO:
http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_horse.php?form_horse_id=1499905
When your horse’s shoulder is THIS STRAIGHT, the last thing you want is to have a straight-line saddle-cloth six inches away, showing just how awful it is. Nor do you want said saddlecloth poking the length of your hand out from the pommel of the saddle, because that means it’s sticking straight out from one heck of a shark-fin wither. The colour of the blanket and the saddle itself do nothing to enhance the look of the horse.
OH SO CLOSE:
http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_horse.php?form_horse_id=1494383
I’m not a western rider but I’m pretty sure the back cinch shouldn’t be so loose that if the horse starts to trot that thing will flap around like a dutch lop’s ears. If you’re going to tack up your horse for a picture, make sure you do it up properly. By the way, lest you think I’m picking on the western folks too much, that horse is SUPER cute, it’s a great photo otherwise, and looks like he’d be a nice ride.
Not only does a loose rear cinch look tacky, it is downright dangerous. Out on the trail brush can get caught in it, and on very steep hills if it is loose enough there is a chance the horse can even get a back foot through it. Talk about begging for a bad spook or a broken leg! It’s pretty much useless when it is that loose anyway, since the sole purpose of it is to keep the saddle from coming forward. 99% of the time when I see a horse saddled like this it is being ridden (or more likely round-penned) by some urban weekend Parelli-ite cowboy with an expensive QH and big ole’ 60 lb roping saddle. We had an accountant that boarded at our barn that did this all the time. This guy actually registered his truck to his family’s summer cabin in Montana so he could drive around Ohio in a new pick-up with Montana plates. He was the source of much entertainment, I was sad when his wife made him sell his horse. (BTW- that truck NEVER had a horse trailer on it as he never left **wait for it** the round pen with his horse.)
LOL! LOL! LOL!
Ride ‘em cowboy!
Man, if you never get out of the round pen, there is something WRONG. And the Oh So Close horse–really. Supposedly he’d ponied horses off the track…you’d think a pony horse on the track would have a rider who knew how to put ON the tack.
Me, I don’t want to see a tacked up horse in an ad unless the horse is being ridden or driven. When I was looking through those ads, there was one horse who was turned out within an inch of his life–including his owners rubbing a chequerboard pattern into his rump–but between that and the white splint boots and the big white numnah and a larger english saddle it was impossible to get a good look at the horse. If the horse is tacked up and going hell for leather on the polo pitch, flying over an oxer, or pulling a cart, that’s one thing. If it’s because somebody thought putting a saddle on their poor little base-narrow weedy upright-pasterned cow hocked HYPP N/H 3yo would make it look better, FAIL.
Oh, he rode her in the round pen- and she bucked him off religiously every time he asked for the canter for 4 years straight. He never could sit out a buck. Gotta give him an A for effort though, he kept trying. And she had pasterns like tent posts. At least she was N/N though, although she was a product of genetic russian roulette with a N/H dam. Sad part is he had an awesome Poco/Three Bars bred QH that he paid 8 grand for and had no interest in because the horse was dead-broke and bomb-proof. He wanted something he could Parelli-ize, hence the crazy mare that rode like a jackhammer. My BO bought the gelding off him for $100, papers and all. Like I said, he was entertaining, a true NHer! Not one thing he did ever made any sense, and I was pissed I didn’t get that gelding before the BO did.
Okay so how tight should the back cinch be? I was taught that your hand held flat should slide easily between the horse and strap. Is this incorrect?
I was always taught it should be snug, but not tight. Snug enough to keep the saddle from pitching forward down a steep hill, lend a little extra support to the girth and prevent anything from slipping between it and the horse but not so tight that it is putting pressure on the horse’s belly and causing them discomfort. They will certianly let you know if you have it too tight.
How tight should the back cinch be? I was taught that the your hand held flat should easily slide between the horses body and the cinch strap. Is this wrong and if so how do you tell when it is tightened correctly?
Tighter than that.
I’m betting the reason that guy’s mare kept bucking him off was because the loose back cinch was drifting back and turning into a bucking strap…
Re: Mr. Nice Little Bay Gelding, not only is the photo nicely done, but I appreciate the seller’s written description of him, too–it comes across as, well, honest and *true*. Of course I would still take all standard horse-buying precautions, but how refreshing! There are some of us out here who would treasure “a nice average horse” who’s quiet, friendly and done everything they’ve ever asked him to do. If he weren’t on the opposite edge of the continent I’d go look at him, too.
There’s plenty to like in that ad. He’s in FANTASTIC condition–look at how his coat just shines–and he’s clearly been in work, as opposed to being a pasture puff they just pulled out and prettied up. He’s standing on a flat, level surface, so that you can see his feet and see that they’ve been kept up well. His mane has been pulled, his tail is brushed,
But the biggest thing that got me is the price. He’s listed at $999–which means he’ll show up in the “under $1000″ category, potentially getting in the buyers who want a nice, average horse, but not at bargain bin prices, nor are they asking for a trade for something. It’s a reasonable price for a nice horse, and they’ll probably get it.
Something the ad doesn’t explicitly say, but was easy to find out with an absolute minimum of research, is that this guy was raced and won 5 times, meaning a vet check is definitely in order. I suspect that given the rest of the package that he’ll check out with flying colours and somebody will have a Super Nice Horse at a bargain price.
Hrm. I was always taught never to clip the whiskers. Or do you mean if a horse seems to have a moustache?
I don’t clip the ‘nose’ whiskers on my trail horses. I’ve learned that they often use them to determine how far away walls and gates are, so I leave them on. I also leave on the eye guard hairs, for the same reason, as long as they aren’t getting in the horse’s eyes.
However, it’s helpful to trim back the whiskers under the chin and next to the corners of your horse’s lips. The bit or halter can otherwise catch and pull at the whiskers, which isn’t very comfortable. It also makes a horse look much nicer and ready for public if you clip from the ‘curb strap’ area back to the throat– removing those long winter guard hairs and showing off your horse’s nice jaw and throatlatch. As for bridle paths… that’s really preference. Some of my horses have them, some don’t.
I think the point FHOTD is trying to make (correct me if I’m wrong) is that if you are selling your horse as a potential show horse, then it aught to look like one. A potential driving horse aught to be fitted for driving. A potential child’s hunter aught to be advertised with a child on its back, braided mane and tail and looking like it could actually do something.
After all, if you wanted to send off pictures to a modeling agency, wouldn’t you fix your hair and take a shower before having someone with SOME photography knowledge snap your picture?
I always handled horses growing up that were turned out at night.
Bridle paths, to me, are okay as long as they aren’t like six inches long…I think that looks ridiculous. Especially on the average Quarter Horse that barely grows anything worth calling a mane to start with. (No offense to Quarter Horses, but they DO tend towards the fine in mane and tail growth).
It depends on the type of horse. If you are selling and Arabian, Saddlebred, or Morgan in the English or Western divisions then you better have a significant bridlepath. If you have a hunter with a pulled mane, then a one inch bridlepath is appropriate.
It depends on what type of horse you are marketing. If you are trying to sell a gaming/ranch type horse, then maybe no need to clip the whiskers. If you have any sort of show horse, the then the whiskers are the bare minimum for clipping. Don’t worry, the horse can still find the feed tub and won’t bump into walls or anything without his “feelers”. Arabian show horses get a #50 blade and then a bic razor and do just fine.
Only $12,000 and according to the advertisement he “knows how to pose for pictures”.
http://austin.craigslist.org/grd/1673370466.html
LMAO
And I’m willing to bet all of those “high school movements’ were taught incorrectly, so not only are you buying an overpriced ‘grey spotted stallion’ of mysterious breeding, but you are also going to have to pay out the ass to retrain it.
Who cares if you have to retrain him from Spanish Walking/Pawing or striking at you? A stallion with a Long White Mane is priceless!
Also, apparently they’ve never heard of “Fleabitten Gray.”
That horse looks to be trained the Buckinbo Way…..
Huhuh!
Nice-appearing horse, but they never mentioned if he can WTC under saddle??
A stallion who has been taught to strike and rear. What’s not to like?
Oh dear.
Also helps to know how to spell your horse’s breed
“andulusian horse for sale – $12000 (Pflugerville,TX)”
Should be Andalusian.
I believe this fine seller (from today’s Dayton CL) has taken all of your hints to heart:
I do believe I could write a dissertation on today’s topic just from Dayton CL alone.
And my #1 pet peeve about horse sale ads – no picture! If you’re serious about selling the horse, put a darn picture in the ad, preferably a good one.
However, what is truly ironic about that pet peeve is that I bought my horse from an ad without a picture! Ha!
oh my GOD…
That’s a Feature Creature from People of Walmart!
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Now see… THAT horse I would buy. It clearly says, “Please… I’m a good horse. I’ll put up with ANYTHING. No really… ANYTHING!”
Be still my heart.
Maybe they are hoping someone will buy the poor horse out of pity. Have you checked out Cincy CL? There is a wonderful ad for a Jack someone is selling that covers mares with a pic to prove it! Click with caution if you find it, you will be treated to some pony porn. Not that I would ever be shopping for a stud, but if I were I think live foals on the ground would be enough proof, no one wants to see pics of your Jack/stud mounting a mare, round bale, farm equipment or anything else in the pasture (Unless you are Sterling Rachwel or Doug “Fausty” Spink). Tacky!
OMG. I live not far from Dayton & CIncy, and yeah….around here we have a saying… “That is SOOOO Preble County.”
That dude might even be SOOOO Darke County, which is slightly worse.
OMG.
I swear that I-70 is the Mason-Dixon Line.
I think we should have a contest between Clark and Darke and see who wins! Pretty weird over here too!
Ooo, that would be a close race…..
Really, there ARE scary rednecks nationwide, and in Canada, etc., but we have our own local flavor, don’t we?
Re: Oprah I wonder if the owner/trainer ever had a vet/ dentist or chiropractor check the horse. When my husband and I were given our mare, we were told she would probably need dental work soon. I took that to mean she had had dental work in her past because she was 4 1/2 years old, but apparently not. She still had her wolf teeth in and one was broken off. Thankfully I had only ridden her in a bit three times and ride more from seat and leg than hand and my husband was only riding her in a hackamore. She did however have a tendency to go up the three times I had a bit (mild eggbutt snaffle) in her.
I thought the blogger was accurate with all of the comments. I would wonder why the horse started flipping, too. Back pain? Mouth pain? Brain fried from not-so-great training methods? What?
I’ve been riding for over 30 years now and, nope, never had a perfectly fine horse just start flipping at some point in their training.
I had a cute little arab cross come to me last year for training who had developed the habit of occassionally flipping over backwards. Poor kid also had a dent behind her ears from pulling back with a rope halter on. She had been at a bigger name trainer before too. About 1/3 of the horses I get for training are “failures” from another training program.
I sometimes wonder if some of the bigger trainers have a system, and have trouble varying from that system if a horse doesn’t respond as they expect? I doubt at the bigger barns that the main trainer can watch and customize the training, and the assistants may not have the same depth of knowledge. It is also probably harder for a BNT to step back and rethink a training system for one horse. I also find I learn a lot just catching and brushing a horse (check for tension/sore muscles), and I am thinking most BNTs don’t do that part of the training.
As an aside; finally read one of your HI artcles; good stuff!
I think I fell asleep there half way through my post. What I meant to finish saying was that because of her behavior in the snaffle, I had a dentist out and that’s how we found out about the broken wolf teeth and that she’d never had dental before in her life. I ALWAYS look to eliminate any possible physical causes when a horse starts acting up. Once I know they’re not in pain, then I will address the problem as a training issue. The first thing I thought of with this horse is that she must be in pain. Anyway, now I’m babbling and I apologize; haven’t been sleeping very well lately.
Wait… I thought only boy horses had wolf teeth??
Anyway, good on you.
Wolf teeth are possessed by approximately 75% of stallions and geldings and about 25% of mares.
It is possible the reason that mare still had them was because of somebody assuming that ‘only boy horses have them’ instead of checking.
Wow! I never, ever knew that. I’ve never owned a young horse so it’s never been an issue for me. Poor mare!!!!
As for the dreaded yearling warts, I’m under the impression that it’s a colt thing, too, but again, I really don’t know…..
Regarding wolf teeth:
It is actually the canines that are present in 75% of males and 25% of females. The canines are the sharp teeth that can be found on the bars of the mouth, sitting by themselves between the incisors and the cheek teeth.
The wolf teeth are very small premolars, located just in front of the first cheek teeth. They are more common in some breeds, but can be found in any breed. There is no sex correlation that I am aware of or have found in the literature. A horse can have from 1 to 4 wolf teeth and in most cases they are small and do not cause problems. However, wolf teeth can cause problems, particularly those that aren’t erupted (blind or impacted) or those that are on the bottom arcades. They can also interfere with placing bit seats when floating the mouth. Some people elect to leave the wolf teeth in the upper arcade because they are unlikely to cause problems, so their presence doesn’t necessarily mean that the horse has never had dental care. Similarly, absence of wolf teeth does not mean the horse has had dental care – they may have never formed, may not be fully erupted, or could have fallen out.
Hope this helps!
My super-awesome works every time trick for white socks/paints/greys/stained tails? Freakin’ Oxy-Clean! It even takes the deep stains out of a white tail (and is non-toxic to the horse BTW). That stuff is awesome! I just mix it in a bucket with warm water and scrub it into the stains or soak the tail and mane in it. It also doesn’t break the bank like some of those purple shampoos will.
Forgot to add- I have also used it on horses with sensitive skin and skin allergies without a single problem.
Our Pusher mare has a blaze and four high stockings. Advice noted– I’ll try it out once she sheds!
A coincidence – they were talking about this on Arabian Breeders Network today. Supposedly betadine scrub or iodine shampoo also works like a charm to get stained white parts clean again. Also mentioned – Orvus and Dawn dish soap. Since I have a gray Arab sabino with 4 high whites and a white part of his tail, these hints are all very timely. I’m going to try them one at a time and see what works.
Also, little old lady gray hair shampoo in the drug store works even better than Quick Silver and other horse products and is cheaper. I was really impressed by the ultra white sox I got by using it, but it doesn’t work as well on the white tail.
“old lady shampoo”
Fanciful “White Minx” rinse…can be left in, gets the yellow out of gray tails.
I’ve used bluing on white pets for years – cats, dogs, horses. Bluing is a liquid product that your grandparents (great-grandparents?) used instead of bleach to whiten clothes. Little old ladies also used it on their hair to get the yellow out of gray.
The stuff is cheap and can sometimes be found in the supermarket, or wallmart type places. You use just a tiny amount diluted in a bucket of water and use it as a rinse. Good stuff.
http://www.mrsstewart.com/
http://www.mrsstewart.com/pdf/pethair.pdf
Orvus! Mix a little in a bucket, and you get SUDS, even with rock-hard well water. And it takes even longer to use up a jar than it does for a Lutheran to use up a bottle of Tabasco.
I’d think that Dawn would be counterproductive since it’s famous for dissolving grease & oil?
My grandma used to use Silver Fox. TOok the nicotine yellow RIGHT OUT.
I doubled up yesterday. Washed first with the Dawn and followed up with the gray hair shampoo. Tail looks pretty good, but not perfect. I’m going to try to betadine scrub next in a week or so. I’ll try the bluing after that.
I like Orvus too, but it only comes in those huge tubs and if it doesn’t work, I’m stuck with it. Altho I’m sure I could find a 4H cow showin’ kid to pass it on to.
Dawn is great for when you NEED to get grease out. We have “tar weed” where I am, and it is well-named! So nasty.
Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo is also great for washing face white.
Cool! I have a horse with socks now….. will def. try this out
And here is one from today’s Seattle craigslist. It isn’t as bad as the photo above, but the title reads “Gaming horse $4500″ I was expecting to see some decent photos.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/1673831177.html
Yeah, he could be worth $4500 if he is all that. The picture shows a decent $1000 horse, so if they want $4500 they should show pictures of him gaming, working cows, high-lining while camping on trails, etc.
Off topic, but:
http://clhorseads.blogspot.com/2010/03/sad-state-of-affairs-today.html#comments
The last horse featured /really/ needs an upgrade. I honestly didn’t even realize it was a horse at first glance. I believe this horse is in Ohio, although I don’t have a link to the original ad. He’s $50.
This one makes the picture of the warmblood you posted look fantastic.
http://cnj.craigslist.org/grd/1638751704.html
She originally had him priced at $10k too. I think she would have done better to have not put up a picture at all.
There’s just no excuse for that. And to think there are teenagers and young adults out there who would KILL to have mid-level schoolmaster warmblood to learn on but can’t afford it. And then here’s someone who has one, but they’re just so busy with their life they can’t even be bothered to take a decent picture of the horse…. TACKY!
“due to school i no longer have the time to ride”
Good, maybe she will learn to spell and punctuate.
UGH.
Um, what kind of genius advertises a 3rd – 4th level horse on Craigslist anyway?!??!
It’s like selling a Rolex at a garage sale.
Great minds think alike! My best friend and I were at the Shipshewanna Good Friday horse auction today. The majority of the horse where nicely groom/well cared for but some were a little furry from winter and others looked like a cross between a yak and a camel! A few looked like they had just walked out of a mosh pit! Come on!!! Brush the dang horse out the night before and keep them in the cleanest pen/stall you dang back wood hicks have (ps that doesn’t mean putting all the horses going to auction in the same pen so they can poop on each other while standing in knee deep mud!) Then when morning comes do a little clean up/brushing. Load them up and head out. Then when you get the auction get your horses into there stalls do another quick brushing, then take some baby wipes (un-sentenced) and give them a good wipe down. AND BAM!!! there ya go! Your horse will look so good you might want keep them instead of dumping them! Oh and about the halter, buy a nice one! A good black rope halter looks nice on any breed/color and won’t take attention away from your horse. Once the horse has been through the auction put the crappy one back on. Considering most horses going through the auction have bad looking feet the owners are probably to lazy/doesn’t care/ doesn’t have a job to buy halter… Did you know there is a “For Dummies” book about horses?! Yup there is “Horses For Dummies”, “Horse Care For Dummies” and “Horse Health and Nutrition For Dummies”. Oh and my favorite “Identifying Horse Parts and Markings For Dummies” I bet they don’t have a walk-aloosa-roan-tri-colored-pinto-brindled-arab (Yup she is one of a kind…hopefully it stays that way!)…uh is that a breed or color?! Who knows…but I think it is categorized under Fugly… by the way all the clean/groomed horses went for well over $800 and the mud covered/super furry went to the kill buyer/back yard breeders for under $400.
Sounds like prices are up then. I’m about 30 minutes from Shipshe, but I’m banned from the sale (family won’t let me go. They swear it’s for my own good. I think they just get tired of me bringing home ‘another one’). Last time I went, horses weren’t selling for much over 400, even ridden through the ring and clean. There are always a couple that sell high, but mostly it’s a dumping ground on their way to some other sale (or slaughter house)
Didn’t know there were so many people on here from my area!
I’ve actually banned myself from going to shipshy Auction…lol
Last time I went I came home with Kimerah, my 6 yr old Arabian mare, who now is going to be sent to a trainer. Paid 35.00 for her…so I’m sure th the money I put into her training will be worth it. I heard the horses
did go alot higher than normal good friday..makes me hopeful that the horse market is making a turn for the better…I hope anyways.
Oh and how about the bailing twine that that some of the horses are led in with or used as a halter? That kills me!! One auction I went to had a larger amish boy around 12 or 13 riding a (almost) 2 yr old arabian colt…I was about sick.
Urgh! don’t even get me started on the bailing twine!!! Its useful but not as a dang halter! and as for those kids they have unloading/sorting/leading the horses all got payback on Friday! I always see them hitting/kicking the horses, well many of them got kicked/bit/bucked/dumped. My friend and I were rolling when one was being rough with one of the horses and got shoulder checked into the fencing. He had the wind knocked out of him and hand the horse to another kid. But what really blew me away is I seen many older teenage girls jerking/hitting/kicking their own horses! What a bunch of brats! They didn’t deserve those horses one bit. I believe that Fugly posted on this one time but another thing that ticked me off was all the kids/teenagers were cranking their horses head around with their parents watching who were all smiles. WTF?
Well it was the Good Friday auction and there were a LOT of horses that came from ranches that had been proven in barrel racing/cutting/bulldogging/roping with photos pasted on poster board to prove it. But on the normal auction horses in the auction ring go for about $300 or 400. The kill pen horses never get above $100 unless a draft comes through, a lot just barely make $10 or 20 profit after subtracting the $30 head charge. There was a barn fire that burned down the cattle barn but didn’t reach the horse barn. It almost got to where they keep the kill pen horses but unfortunately it didn’t. Glad to here form some other people in the area
My other mare angel came from the kill pen. I still don’t understand why she was put there. I contacted the old amish man, about 90 years old or so. I could barely understand him and he was having issues hear me on the phone as well. All he could tell me was that she was a buggy horse that shyed away from slow moving objects. Didn’t know how old she was or what breed she was. (my best guess as well as others, think she’s standardbred/Arab cross, which is turning out well…very good endurance type trail horses! lol) Found out on my own that she does ride and neck rein very well, she’s a sweet mare, that didn’t understand love and affection. Were working on that one. But we did acheive something very big in the past week. She now will walk right into the lake!(something that I believe all good trail horses should be able to do) That im excited about!! We fought forever the first time we went to the lake. After a few times riding down there, now she just walks right in…I love it! She is such a smart horse and still can’t understand why she was in the “kill pen”.
There’s a blog out there called Horsepeddlers that i wish were updated more often. It’s along these lines, though.
Rule of thumb: horsepeople want to pay 200 for your groomed, trained and well mannered horse and expect 2,000 for their wormy ill mannered yak. My brushes migrate in the winter and never return!
It’s amazing the difference a clean body, trimmed face, trimmed fetlocks, and banged tail can do to a horse’s presentation. Total transformation. Even if the horse is untrained or has some physical imperfections, it will show a brighter image to the buyers on what kind of potential the horse might have after they spend a year working with him. Grooming for a decent pictures is such a simple task, I just don’t understand why people are THAT lazy not to do it.
*optional preparation: showsheen mane and tail so it can absorb while you groom the rest of the horse.
*step 1- rubber curry to break up any mud patches plastered to the coat. cost: about $5 and about 5 minutes of your time (little longer if your horse is super filthy, if you have wimpy weak arms, and if you are going to be all “prima donna” about digging in and making dirt fly back on you).
*step 2- metal scraper to scrape off all the little mud balls still clinging on after the rubber curry. cost: about $5 and about 5-10 minutes of your time.
*step 3- body brush. cost: about $10 and about 2 minutes of your time if you’re just flicking off the remaining dust left after the currying and scraping.
*step 4- clippers or scissors for the nose, under the jawline, and fetlocks. cost: clippers can be found for under $20, scissors can be found at the dollar store. Either way it will only take about 5 minutes if your horse is well behaved (which it better be if you’re pricing it more than a thousand, at least for scissors).
*step 5- hairbrush for the mane and tail. grab the hair, run your hands almost to the bottom, brush out the ends and then slowly creep your way up, brushing out all the knots. I got my horse’s hairbrush at big lots. Takes me about 60 seconds, but I keep my horse’s mane short and the tail gets showsheened about once a week.
*step 6- grab your scissors again, run your hand down to the bottom of your horse’s tail again, and nip the bottom off straight across- adds twice as much body to the tail.
*step 7- have someone hold your horse and keep his head up from the ground, walk about 30 paces perpendicular from his shoulder, turn around, take as many pictures as you can.
So, skip starbucks this week and spend [at most, if you're a good shopper] $40-$50 bucks and dedicate JUST ONE HOUR to grooming and taking pictures of your horse, and you could turn your $1000 into a $5000 horse? Who would NOT see the logic in this??? Not to mention the horse will have a better chance of attracting a good quality home rather than yet another owner who will put zero effort into his well being.
perpendicular is particularly good advice. I’d add:
step 8: zoom your camera all the way out if possible to avoid the sausage body/spindly leg/long head look.
step 9: on your KNEES if it’s a small horse or pony particularly, don’t shoot horses from above for sales purposes.
step 10: take LOTS of photos, it might look perfect in your LCD but that small you can’t tell if the horse’s eyes are closed.
Here is a GOOD example that I was impressed with when I saw it. Glad I was able to find it still on craigslist to share with you guys.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/grd/1655534668.html
Doesn’t look like he’s about to ride into a show ring, a litle dusty on the legs like maybe they tried to curry off some mud and couldn’t get all the dust off afterward, but overall the horse looks clean and well kept. Not to mention they actually took a photo where potential buyers can see what they are buying. If they’d taken a pre-groomed photo of this horse eating hay in the corner of his turnout, we’d have no idea he is so cute!
BTW in case anyone is wondering, I think the reason for the cheap price has something to do with a previous injury which has healed but will probably have to be maintained and not stressed. It was explained in an older ad that’s not there anymore.
Yeah, decent ad, decent pictures of a nice horse. They are advertising him as a “trail-pleasure” horse, the $800 price they are asking fits appropriately with what they describe, plus the pictures and description hint to experienced people that this horse has a ton of potential–a nice trail-riding family would not be disappointed, but someone looking for their next green potential eventer/dressage partner might be getting an awesome deal!
Geez–just took a second look, and if I were in the market for a prospect and lived in the area, I would definitely go and take a test ride. I hope somebody nice buys him.
I wouldn’t have guessed the chestnut was a warmblood. Maybe with a pulled mane…
Up here, the “big thing” seems to be photos with someone standing on the horse’s back…what is with that? Usually it is a dejected looking 2 or 3 year old with a 6 foot tall equally dejected looking cowboy on top…is there a standing on your horse class at shows that i missed? Or the tarp pulled over the horse’s head….
I wouldn’t have guessed Warmblood either. He certianly doesn’t look like an Arab; his head is huge! I would have said QH with something else mixed in like mustang or welsh. From the angle he seems to have short legs (for a WB), a thick neck and pony-sized head.
Im not sure where your at, but in Mi and In, i see ads about once or twice a week with people standing on their horses. That is one of beggest pet peeves! Plus that can’t be good for the horses back.
So ironic! I just got four of our six out today and did a full body scrub down on them. Of course within minutes of putting them out they found the last muddy spot in the pasture to roll. The other two got brushed and combed out but thank goodness they didn’t roll.
But does this mean that this isn’t a good picture to market my 20 year old mare? ROTFL! At least it hides how bad her sway back is.
I just had to charm her afterwards by prancing her through the yard. She assumes a bath means a show and struts her stuff all over the place afterwards.
Does anyone know of a reputable rescue within an hour or two of Portland, OR that could use some decent photos of their horses? I’m no pro but my photos aren’t terrible and I want to contribute. E-mail susaninseoul@gmail.com.
Okay, this is way OT but I’m dying to know:
I was perusing the website of a certian non-denominational preacher in my area who breeds/trades/sells an obscene amount of QHs in my area (for giggles of course, the pics and ads are funny, especially with no price posted on any horse and I know what he hocks them for- about quadruple what they are worth). Morgan Horse Queen, you should know exactly who this is- think Touchdown Jesus on 75.
Anyway, this is what he has listed as an award he won on his sight (actual quote): Received A.Q.H.A.’s award for breeding thirty quarter horses a year for thirty-five years.
Does the AQHA seriously do this? Do they really not give a shit what you breed, as long as you can pop out 30 a year for 30 years? Talk about pushing the BYBers to reach for the stars!
Link to sight: http://www.lbranch.com/index.php
You can see his “awards” by clicking on awards.
Oh, and here is what the locals have nicknamed “Touchdown Jesus” if you want to see it- no lie, 62 feet of inspiration scaring the crap out of unsuspecting motorists travelling between Cincy and Dayton. I apologize in advance if anyone here is a Solid Rocker, but that thing scares the bejeebus out of me!
http://www.solidrockchurch.org/king_ofkings.php
Yes ma’am I know exactly who you mean. He has quite the reputation, and it’s not for getting awards from AQHA. Seems like he used to (?) engage in some illegal activities with his horses. Never got charged as far as I know, but the rumors still fly.
To make matters even more exciting, my brother belongs to that church. The fur really flew at a family get together once when my sister and I had the nerve to mention the above activities. Whew! Fundamentalists get their knickers in a knot at the drop of a hat! We have good friends from Germany who couldn’t believe it when we mentioned Touchdown Jaysus so of course we had to take a field trip and check it out. They were impressed. The only way we could have improved the day would have been to go to the Creationist Museum afterwards, but we went to Ikea instead. We had had all the religiousness we could stand for the day. (And before anyone gets all bent out of shape, I am a committed Christian but objective enough to see that some thing are over the top!)
People think flyover country is so boring. No, it’s weird!
Oh I am well aware of his reputation in the horse world, right up to all the stranges that was coming out of his barn a few years back. A good friend of mine actually wound up with one of the sick horses, not finding out until it was too late and he had her money. For a long time our BO wouldn’t let anything with the LB brand in her barn. I’m also well aware of the goings-on of his family, as I lived and worked in Maineville for a long time. His family owns the town pretty much, his brother, who also owns the oil company bearing the family name, is a Township Trustee. Another of the three trustees is married into the family (they own the big gravel company). My old boss was active in local politics and “in” with the local police departments so we got all the scuttlebutt that happened. They are no saints, especially the younger ones and a certain brother of his, who I coincidentally had to bar out of the bar I worked at for some very inappropriate behavior. It’s a biker bar, pretty hard to get kicked out let alone barred. Quite familiar with the family indeed, I could tell stories about them all day. Gotta love small town politics.
hahahahaha that statue!!! wow…
It looks like Jesus is literally throwing his hands in the air saying “I’m sorry, dad, I just can’t get them to stop breeding their fuglies!” =)
What I don’t get, is what a picture of Poseidon coming out of a lake has to do with a church….
We’ve always affectionately referred to it as “Big Butter Jesus” because it looks like it was carved out of butter…
YES! BIG BUTTER JESUS. It’s on the way to IKEA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq01UYiMyHg
UGH. I’ve driven by that farm many times and thought taaaaacky, since I figured that the owner was somehow connected to the Megachurch across the freeway, and the HORSES FOR SALE on the barn roof: priceless.
Oh, man, I know who this guy is, too. A friend of mine actually dragged me to an event at the church, a concert or something. I remember as a kid being impressed with the place when we’d go by (I lived in Michigan and we’d go by on our way to Florida, and I was like 10), but it really is in a state of disrepair. Remember when the horse used to stand on the silo, and now it’s tumbling down inside of it? For all the money the guy has, you think he’d at least keep up with things….his church matches his barn, for Pete’s sake. Not only is he breeding Qhorses of questionable quality, but they’re not even in a safe environment. The guy is sad.
Hmmm… I wonder if he also owns Traders World flea market down the road a piece…..
Slightly OT, but definitely noteworthy. On my travels through facebook today, I found this
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=2574126&id=609266037&ref=mf
I don’t care if it was 1950-something, this was just as wrong back then as it is now! Why on earth are people PROUD of this kind of crap?!
My personal favorites are the pictures with some buck-tooth yay-hoo standing on top of the beast that is being marketed. I mean, really, what is it with that anyway? I think it is the stupidest thing ever. The poor horses in these damn pictures always look completely embarrassed and humiliated. Stop that.
It’s a perfect marketing ploy.
It says very clearly, “I am so broke, even this totally stupid person can get on my back.”
I thought I would ad some UK based good/bads to this thread!
GOOD:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/marketplace/classified/4-details-horses-for-sale_226486.htm
BAD, distant grey horse, ZOOM PEOPLE!
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/marketplace/classified/200-details-horses-for-sale-3000-to-5000_226331.htm
GOOD:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/marketplace/classified/200-details-horses-for-sale-3000-to-5000_226444.htm
BAD, YAK!
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/marketplace/classified/180-details-horses-for-sale-under-3000_226355.htm
GOOD:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/marketplace/classified/199-details-horses-for-sale-over-5000_224659.htm
BAD, if I was thinking of shelling £16k on a stallion, a body shot would be nice!
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/marketplace/classified/199-details-horses-for-sale-over-5000_225667.htm
I thought the picture with horse with fly mask was especially effective! Ha!
OMG the picture of the horse in that last ad makes his legs look hideous!!
I have to laugh at today’s topic. I did not body clip my horse last fall for several reasons. I lost one of the large screws that holds the bottom blade on the body clippers (and can only find a replacement in ENGLAND, for heaven’s sake) and then had my shoulder surgery. My guy is taking his time shedding (the weather has been goofy here, too), and he was just looking TERRIBLE.
I got the small clippers, zizzed his whiskers, under his chin, around his ears and neatened up the bridle path (not only the mane hair but the fuzzers that waft out on either side), clipped his curly fetlock hairs (he’s an OTTB but I bet if left on his own, he’d have real feathers ;o), and neatened up the top of his tail. Also banged the bottom.
From a short distance, he looks quite spiffy — you don’t even have to squint much. Fugs is right. A little bit of elbow grease and deft use of the clippers makes all the difference in the world.
And this would be daddy of our featured horse Ad. He has produced some very nice horses.
http://www.magpiefarm.com/stallions.htm
It appears Angelica is having a fireside sale. She’s managed to sell all the free to $500 horses. And you wonder to whom (kb).
http://tinyurl.com/yfk8wn4
I’m not paying $20,000 for a 19yo WB that’s: “been on trails and done arena work.” Poor creature, what’s she been doing for 19 years?
http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_horse.php?form_horse_id=1520859
Yep.. As I suspected. A brood mare for other WBs. It’s all in the pedigrees. Poor creature. She’s probably spent most her life in foal.
RE: the racism thing
Years ago I went spelunking down in Southern Indiana with these guys, and you have to trek for awhile to get to the caves.
On the way back, we were all soaking wet, exhausted and a bit sore, and here comes a group of trail riders, one of whom was African-American. Not a common sight around here.
Well, his horse was apparently green or at least restless, so he galloped her up the hill & trotted back, and shouted out “Massah! Massah! Injuns on de nex’ hill!”
There were so many layers of WRONG that I about peed my pants laughing, and drank deeply of the whiskey they were passing around.
That’s actually pretty funny. I’d go trail riding with that guy.
OMG That sounds exactly like a guy my step-dad rides with. Older black guy, just got into horses about ten years ago. He rides a huge, flashy black Ebony’s Masterpiece horse. When he tells the story about how he bought the horse he says this: “It was just like a black man walking into a Cadillac dealer, I says to myself I gots to have that horse!” I know he rides Brown Co., IN alot. Sweet guy too. Once in Hocking Hills we came across a litter of Jack Russel mix pups dumped on the trail. He helped us round them up and we put them in our saddlebags and took them back to camp. He went out the next day and made sure we got them all, and made the rounds in camp hocking those puppies until every one of them had a home (minus the one he kept, runt of course). Named him coon, and yes, he always has an oh-so-wrong race comment.
Brown Co. is Heaven On Earth for trail riding as far as I’m concerned.
That guy sounds like a hoot!
I know an African-American professor (Sociology/Anthropology) who collects racist antiques, like old Cream of Wheat ads (MM MM That Sho’ Am Good!) and mammy cookie jars. He’s a super smart guy with a heart of gold who never hesitates to call BULLSHIT. I adore him.
I guess I might’ve been a little wrong when I named my cat Fat Carlos, but he is a gorgeous shiny hairy black beast who stumps around the house like an officious caballero…..
Oh, and on grooming/presentation…
I just got done making a brochure for our campus’ equestrian program. One of the horses in the photo shoot is this gorgeous, GORGEOUS light gray/white horse with spectacular manure stains.
Sooooo…. I got out the Photoshop and created a snowy white steed. And, um, “painted” the jump poles and fenceposts a bit.
The thing about Photoshop on sale horses – I have no problem using it to clean up manure stains a bit, or cloning out some poop on the ground or maybe even a hanging-out pee-pee or something, but…. please don’t do anything structural. It will reflect poorly on you when a potential buyer actually shows up.
Oh, and about grooming implements: I keep them locked up now. My 3 different-colored hoofpicks and synthetic mane brushes overfill my grooming tote, but my high-tech mane puller, and my favorite body brush with natural bristles, wood frame and leather handle, that I’d used to groom various horses and loved for 30 years, disappeared at the same time a disgruntled boarder moved out.
Thus the padlock. I still think about that brush and miss it terribly.
Yeah, I board at a place where the BO has a communal bucket of grooming stuffs, and have found a couple of my things from my own tote stuck in the bucket.
I tolerate it because it’s just part of the culture there, has been for 25 years…..
Hey Fugs- I dont mean to use your blog as a sale page, but I am looking for a new home for my mare and trust the people on here to be responsible horse owners much more than I trust the people on Craigslist, and I know there are a lot of trainers on here who might be keeping their eyes out for horses for their clients.
I am a college student who has sadly come to the realization that I am not in the place to own a horse anymore. I just simply do not have the time or money for a horse, and my horse does not deserve to rot in the pasture for 4 years. It breaks my heart, but its for the best.
“Sweet Zippin Chip†aka “Sweetie†is a 2002 15.2hh AQHA Incentive Fund mare sired by Superior WP stallion “Dont Skip This Chip†and out of a Zippo Pine Bar daughter. She is 100% sound and very well-broke. She has pro training in both WP and HUS, but really seems to excell at English and would make an amazing Pony Clubber. She moves very nicely for a QH, and really could be a fantastic Dressage horse. She also loooves to jump. She is excellent at showmanship (does halterless). Sweetie is a great trail horse as well- very levelheaded and loves to cross water. Bathes, clips, leads, ties, loads. UTD on everything. Very easy keeper. Has had one foal, a buttermilk buckskin colt, who will be debuing in the ABRA/AQHA show pen this summer. Sweetie would be ideal for a 4-H/Pony Clubber looking for a step-up horse. She would be fine with a beginner (with trainer supervision), but is best suited for an intermediate rider. I am asking $5000 Please email me at lovemyaqha26@yahoo.com. Thank you!
Oh, forgot to add..she is located in Coeur d’Alene, ID.
Whoops! Forgot to add…I am helping my neighbor find a home for her 24 year old Arab gelding. No, she is not an asshat. Her daughters (who used to ride/show him) grew up and moved out so he just sits in the pasture by himself. He is absolutely gorgeous and does not look/act a day past 14. No soundness issues, just hasn’t been ridden in years. He is not in any danger of being dumped (once again, not an asshat). She just wants to see him have a job and someone to pay attention to him, but if she cant find that he has a forever home with her (just would be nicer to see him live out his years doing something). UTD on everything. He is free to the right home, and I am sure that would be including all his tack. Please email lovemyaqha26@yahoo.com . Also located in northern Idaho.
Question: How do I market a horse that is not working out for us but may be just what someone else is looking for? She is not “green” but not “finished” either, very pretty but we do not breed or do heavy showing. I am not even sure how to price her? My daughter would like a horse to use for WAHSET –especially roping–and one that is more affectionate (the kind you can tell your secrets too and love on). This is a pic from facebook, hope you can give us ideas.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=73932&op=3&o=global&view=global&subj=100000113987857&id=100000113987857
Hi All totally agree a lot of people put a lack of care in it all which is quite sad as if you want to sell somthing you got to put the effort in i am from australia and here some from our websites
heres a ideal ad a nice picture one that he can do somthing seem like a nice horse
http://cavalletti.com.au/viewad_horses.php?id=91054
ideal ad status hes a show jumper and well yup hes show jumping
http://cavalletti.com.au/viewad_horses.php?id=88543
this add claims he can do this and that and he just standing there hmm
http://cavalletti.com.au/viewad_horses.php?id=80244
he looks like a nice type but hes eating it really dosen’t say much
http://cavalletti.com.au/viewad_horses.php?id=78020
ok these to *head desk* kids and a stallion yes hes small yes hes a shetland but what the no matter how quiet hes still a stallion oh and notice the no helment
http://cavalletti.com.au/viewad_horses.php?id=91123
as above but thank gwd for the helment
http://cavalletti.com.au/viewad_horses.php?id=91123
ok this one gets me they have the idea but wheres the light
http://cavalletti.com.au/viewad_horses.php?id=90015
i am sorry but what the yuck
http://cavalletti.com.au/viewad_horses.php?id=89718
she sounds nice but a better picture is a must
http://cavalletti.com.au/viewad_horses.php?id=88857
I agree with everything you have said and have nothing of value to add. As per usual.
Also, if I see one more black horse named Oprah, Shaq, Latifah or similar, I am seriously going to lose my shit. Although I must say, that sort of naming convention can give you a good insight into the people around you and which of them you need to steer clear of.
I must say as well, having been around so many mustang people, that I’m growing quite annoyed with all the people giving their horses “Indian” names. If you don’t speak the language and don’t know anyone who does? It’s probably not a great idea to use it to name your horse, and I doubt it’s real respectful to the peoples in question. It’s sort of like getting a tattoo in Chinese that you yourself cannot read…