"Sloppy" Selling, and a Pricey Buckskin

I'm a huge Jay Leno fan. If I could catch his 'Jaywalking' segments I considered myself lucky. Not only were the segments downright hilarious with the stupid answers, it was also a huge eye opener for how horribly uneducated some people really are. 


Unfortunately though, being stupid by choice seems to be a popular thing lately. I see it in the schools the kids in my direct and extended family attend. Its especially prevalent in the high schools... where being stupid gets you popularity points. I know that the nerds have traditionally never been popular, but nowadays, it goes farther and deeper than that. Its actually cool to not have a clue about 'things'! Its cool not to know how to write and talk proper English! 


I bring this up because of the ad below. I've seen bad grammar, bad spelling, and atrocious or simply missing punctuation. This one however caught my attention in particular. 


The poster didn't attach any pictures of the horse he's selling though. So after a moments thought, I emailed him for the pictures. Sure enough, about an hour later, I get two. 


He at that point, made the blog.




Ad Text: hey i have a morgan/qh guilding, he is a good horse, but due to my dads health and my going away to college i must sell him or trade him for a gaming horse for my little cousins that is fast. i am open to offers on him. but please dont hesitate to email me rockingcountry-boi@xxxx.com or call me 360-978-xxxx or 360-628-xxxx Sarge is ridable, just needs more time under saddle, and ianything. He has been to one s willing to do gaming show. if you email me i will send a picture 


This kid graduated high school! How the hell did he manage to make it through four years of english classes and come out writing and spelling like that? I forgive typos... we are all guilty of those. But... "guilding" for gelding? Did he not even read what he wrote before he hit the submit button? 


As bad as the text is, I wasn't sure if I wanted to post it just off of the text alone. 


The pictures that he sent though?  I was lucky I wasn't drinking anything when I opened up my email to see if he responded. My keyboard will live to see another day, dry and functioning. 










Now, I have absolutely no issues with the kid's weight. The horse is certainly large enough to handle him - to a point. 


Its the mud! OMG! Its not even .... well I guess there's not really a thing as 'good mud' but its total slop! The standing puddles in the second picture... one bad step on the horse's part and down they BOTH go - twisted legs and broken backs here we come!


Then, I looked past the mud into the background of the picture. And shuddered. Shuddered again when I looked at the geldings face. Head wayyyyy up in the air. Is that a tipped over bicycle in front of a trailer in the background? 


I just don't get this. He puts the horse's tail up, braided and covered...yet rides in the slop 'arena' with the horrible junky background? These are the pictures he's using to sell his $200 'guilding'. 


Do I even need to say; Get the horse out of that arena, get him so his head isn't nose to the clouds, and get a decent conformation shot of just him, and send THOSE out to people?


This is our future folks. He's going to college cause some how he managed to get through High School. Lets all hope that he meets an English Professor that introduces him to something called a DICTIONARY and proper grammar.


_____________________________________________________________________________


I also have to ask this question. This is another ad I came across tonight, and while it is a great example of doing all the right things to sell your horse, I kept thinking about it. 


See, in the next few months (though hopefully sooner) I will be looking to either lease or purchase a gelding somewhat similar to this guy. I'm not interested in the color, rather his build, age, training, and overall personality. 


My question for you all....is he outrageously overpriced? Just slightly? Or is he priced 'right' even in this down market? I actually spent some time looking for geldings similar to him in training, age, and personality, and they seem to average between $2500 and $3500. Seller hasn't listed any sort of show record, so that is unknown. 


Geldings like this can be hot commodities if marketed right. There are a large number of people looking to purchase trail ready, sound, and level headed geldings like this one. 





Ad Text: Offered for sale is a Register AQHA True Buttermilk buckskin gelding. (NOT A DUN) He is a Buckskin. VERY SOUND AND HEALTHY! A wonderful horse great for all around trails anything that you want to do. 
He is located in Penngrove , Ca. Has been started in reining training. Supper gentle kind sweet heart.
He has a video.
(edited to list video link further down)

More pictures are available serious buyers only please no kids calls 









I am definitely interested in what everyone has to say about his $10,000 price tag. Especially since the video has him priced at $12,000! 


Here's the link to his video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSK9pvJU-W4 

Wait, WHO is this horse registered with?

I read a lot of ads daily. So many that sometimes I actually don't read the ad fully, just skim it for possible blog fodder. However, I came across this one a week or so ago, and have had it waiting in the background for a day like today where my 'to-do' list is a mile long, and only have a limited time to get things accomplished. 


The text is rather innocent, nothing much stands out horribly... except one thing. 





Ad Text: Eleven year old gaited pant gelding, He is registered (PGHR). Spanish mustang/Missouri fox trot mix.

High spirited and fast. needs some one who will ride often and is experienced!
Loves a 20-50 mile ride, thunder lightning dogs traffic no problem. Loads &
stands for farrier. This is an all out endurance horse with a short back stands at 15 one, more sure footed than a mule!!! This horse wants to go. He has a recent coggins test. Teeth floated one month ago. Feet are perfect. No injuries ever this is a solid animal!!!! Needs some one with more time than I have.

Sounds like a decent horse - once you overlook the fact that the horse is more MUTT than horse... a Mustang / Trotter cross? To me that sounds like the neighbors half broke mustang stud managed to get out and "oops" breed a Trotter mare... and then the owners of the Trotter mare didn't ovbiously WANT the mixed foal... cause really, who would BREED that combination? Theres NOTHING about either of those breeds that scream "cross me" with the other. Nothing. 

Yea, and looking at the picture of the poor unfortunate unwanted baby all grown up.... he's um... special? Not what I'd certainly call magazine cover material here. Head is just huge, the neck just looks weird, though it may be the way he's colored, and what the hell is up with his withers? Either he's wayyy swaybacked at 11 (wayy too young for that)?  OR... yea. Special. At least his legs look pretty solid. For an endurance horse, thats important. Looks, not so much, thankfully.

So we have our ooops foal, he grows up (at least someone had the brains to geld the beast), and he made a living for a while as a decent endurance horse. This is good, because endurance horses really don't have to be purebred, and it gives these types of 'mutt' horses a decent job. Which it sure looks like he does, judging by the giant saddle sweat mark on the picture. Just. Lovely. (At least we know he takes a saddle!)

Which is wonderful. But thats not ALL the ad said... "He is registered (PGHR)." 

HUH? 

What is the PGHR?

Sooo.... google being our friend, turns out the PGHR, (oh, yea, you know its coming...) is its own registry! The Painted Gaited Horse Registry!

O. M. G. 

"The Painted Gaited Horse Registry’s purpose is two fold. One, to promote this beautiful and unique horse and secondly, to provide an affordable Certificate of Registration depicting a Horse of Quality, Beauty, and Smoothness of Gait that the owner can be proud to own."
Um, yea - don't the NORMAL gaited horse registries do the same thing? We have to have another?

"The Painted Gaited Horse Registry (PGHR) was formed by a group of Gaited horse enthusiasts that liked a lot of color.  Many felt alienated by the existing Registries and Associations.  They wanted a Registry that would welcome any Gaited horse of unusual markings or color other than the typical solid horse and that all Gaited breeds be accepted equally with no preference given to any one gait, color or markings."

Seriously?!? I worked with Paso Fino horses for nearly 6 years. "Purebreds" that were showed at some of the highest levels in the breed shows, both state and national, and who won some pretty heavy breed titles even! Their registry allows pretty much any color - including pinto colored horses. As does Fox Trotters, Walkers, and nearly ALL the others. The one off the top of my head that I can think of that doesn't already allow pinto type markings is Peruvian Pasos - and I'm not even 100% sure that they don't. I can't really ever remember ever seeing a pinto Peruvian Paso - but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Saying you feel alienated because you can't register your horse thats allowed to be registered is nonsense. 

Even in the all gaited breed shows, its only in the fun type classes that the different breeds compete against each other. The gaits are simply too different to try to judge as one class, unless its a best of breed type class where each horse is STILL judged against the standards of their breed and judged as to which horse represents their breed the best. 

This also irks me because once again, we have 'color breeders' trying to distance or separate themselves from 'regular breeders' who don't focus just on color alone. There is nothing anywhere that proves a solid color horse is better or worse performance wise than a colored horse. This is a ridiculous notion.

"The name Painted Gaited Horse Registry (PGHR) was chosen to depict a unique horse since you will never see two Painted Gaited Horses exactly alike.  There are Paints, Spots, Walking Horses, Racking Horses, Foxtrotters, etc. and the Painted Gaited Horse can be a combination of any or all of these."

Why oh Why is it ok to breed a fugly horse that no one wants cause its "COLORED"? You bet you'll never see two horses alike ever! So why do we have to specify that you'll never see any two painted horses alike? All these "breeders" are doing here is giving themselves an excuse to breed fugly unwanted mutt breed horses and feel 'good' about what they are doing. By slapping this "PGHR" label on their horses they think the horse will be valued more. Well sorry, that just isn't gonna happen. 

Seriously - if they are allowing horses that look like the gelding above to stay stallions for 'the studbook' and 'foundation stock'... OMG OMG OMG! And its not like we don't already have an overpopulation of unwanted horses to begin with that have been registered with half way decent organizations such as Paint, Jockey Club, and AQHA!!!

"Our Registry is very cost conscious,  computerized and with the aid of the Web, able to reach horse lovers all over the world with fast and efficient service.  Upon Registration, the horse owner will receive a professionally printed Certificate of Registration that he or she can be proud to own and display."
OOO goody! They figured out how to use technology! WOW. Sooo impressed here! Its not like any idiot with photoshop and 3 brain cells can figure out how to make a certificate of registration. Pay someone $500 bucks or so that has some computer graphics training and you can get a pretty logo too! The real kicker... the website is  hosted by tripod...its a free site, which is fine... but not the most professional way to go. 

The website - nope sorry... its just webPAGE - just gets more annoying from there... thats just the first few paragraphs off their home page. The webpage is just that... there are no breeder lists, no pictures of registered horses, nothing but the one page, and the forms to download and send in your $20! They put those up there just fine! 

Oh here you all go... the gem of the website... their REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. This entire paragraph is it. 

"The horse must show evidence of being Painted and Gaited. The ideal horse possesses a smooth ride with unique markings. The term Painted refers to any unusual markings that can be distinguished from the typical solid colored horse. Such as markings above the knee or hock, extended facial markings, or exhibiting contrasting colors on the tail or skin. The application must be accompanied by 4 color photos, one of each side, one front, and one back. Good photos are important since one of these photos will be used on the Registration Certificate.

The term Gaited refers to a horse that exhibits a gait other than a standard Trot. The application must also be accompanied by a short video to pass inspection for Gaited along with the appropriate fee.

The Registration fee is $20.00.

Due to numerous requests and deliberate consideration we now provide 3 Classes for Registration.

1. Painted and Gaited Class - Must show evidence of being Painted and Gaited.  Must provide pictures and a short video for gait or may submit a signed video waiver form in place of the video  along with the application.
2. Painted Class - Must show evidence of being Painted.  Must provide pictures along with the application.
3. Gaited Class - Must show evidence of being Gaited.  Must provide pictures and a short video for gait or may submit a signed video waiver form in place of the video along with the application.
We use the same application for all 3 classes."
Oh yes, cause conformation requirements don't matter, the way the horse moves doesn't matter (cause there is a right and wrong way for most of these horses to move), heck THE HORSE ITSELF DOESN'T MATTER. As long as its "Gaited and Painted" they'll take it! And the horses they take in now, simply because its a NEW registry, will become 'foundation stock', and breed more f'ked up cross bred, fugly ass horses that can't decide whether to  corto or foxtrot... heck some might corto in front and foxtrot in back. Wouldn't THAT be something to see? 


Yet its the arrogance of groups of 'breeders' like this that is behind something like this. You get a bunch of people that simply want to make up their own rules, create their own shows/awards, just so that parrot mouthed Betsy in the back pasture that's got spots and a front end that looks like a bulldog can become a "World Champion Breeding Mare!"


Time to go throw up now.

The First Friday Featured FUGLY Stallion!

Thank you for our reader submitted ad for today!

This week I started the new WTF Wed, and today is the first Friday Featured Fugly Stallion. AAAANNNDDDD.... its a doozy.

Read it and weep.

Yes, it actually says: "hi i have a nise saddlebred stallion at stud $250 he is not for sale hes foal saddlebred/fillie". 

Oh, wait - it gets so much better!

Cause who just DOESN'T want to breed to a filthy, fugly, mud surrounded meat market level stallion surrounded by the luxurious trailer accommodations! 

I can totally understand the ground being muddy. Heck, its been raining the last 3 out of 5 days here in PHOENIX, AZ this week - but OMG. Is it really that difficult to find a decently clean spot, CLEAN THE HORSE UP A BIT, and take a half way decent picture? 

Also, studying the picture where the horse is facing left, while it is very difficult to see, it does at first glance look like the lead rope is wrapped around the horses front right leg, then trails off on the ground. I put the picture into paint shop and zoomed in a bit, and I actually think there is someone standing behind the horse holding the rope and allowing the end to trail under the horse for several feet. If you look very closely just next to the horses' front legs, you can see what looks like a human pant leg. This just adds to the stupidity in my book. These people obviously have NO FREAKIN CLUE what they are doing with a horse, much less with a 'breeding' stallyion! 

The sick part ... they ARE ACTUALLY GETTING MARES! Whether from their own herd, or outside its impossible to tell because they don't list a website (OH THE FUN THAT WOULD BE...) but look...

A "fillie". Did I mention that I wanted to slap these people already?

I quote the wonderful reader, Cheryl, when she sent it to me: "Why oh why would anyone in their right mind want to take their mare to this place to be bred to this stallion?  Junky trailer, crappy fencing, nothing but mud & stallion tied to a tree.  Ummm yea - I really want my mare bred in such pristine sanitary conditions.  All that for a $250 breeding to your fugly stallion.  I don't think so.  I do think that they should be nominated for poster child of BYB's."

EXACTLY Cheryl. This is why we have the over surplus of horses that we have. This is why we have the debate surrounding whether to have horses slaughtered within the US Borders. THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT JUST CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROBLEM, THEY ARE THE PROBLEM. I currently have in my ad possibilities list three other ads from IL, every ad has at least 5 horses that have all been bred together and not a single one of any of them has done anything other than wear a halter... and in one ad in particular, I have doubts about even that! (Check back monday for those.)

This poor guy needs a serious upgrade, to someone that will actually understand that he needs to put on about 150-200 pounds, needs WORMED, groomed, and just well.... he's in serious need of a small little surgery called 'GELDING'. His eyes are screaming "Save me!" He obviously deserves sooo much more than he's been giving in life. 

I have a serious feeling that once his owners are past the novelty of breeding horses, this guy won't find a great 'forever' home. He's in Fresno, and there are plenty of unscrupulous horse traders that wouldn't think twice about sending this guy up to Washington to the Eunemclaw Auction. For those of you that don't shudder with disgust at that name.... well start reading the fuglyblog.com and you'll understand.

Its these types of ads that make me want to scream, throw things against the wall, and smack the owners upside the head! This is why I started this blog... because otherwise my blood pressure would be 200/150 day in and day out, and quite frankly, my health is pretty important to me. 


**************************************************
OT: Off to the side of the blog you will see a new ad for EquineOneStop.com. I found them digging around on facebook I think, and discovered that they offer free directory listings for equine related websites and businesses. After a few minor stumbles in the submit page I managed to get myself listed. Please click on the ad or the link above and check them out. 


All right folks, have a good weekend, and I'll see you back here on monday! Keep searching those ads, and send em in. You just might find yourself quoted!

Wait....What did I just read?

Todays post took me a bit off guard. I was scanning through the Wyoming CL ads 
figuring with as many horses there are in WY, I should be able to find some good blog worthy ads. 
I was surprised as most of them were pretty decent sale ads. It was about 2:30 am when
I came across this one. 


I read it through once, nearly closed it out, and then went, wha...? 
Did I just read what I thought I just read? 





Ad Text: 

Pretty cremello gelding, 2 1/2 years old, registered with AQHA by a Doc's Hickory grandson. He was startet last summer with some rides in the roundpen and a ride outside - he was very easy to work with. He has some more growing to do and his training under saddle is put on hold until spring. He is handled every day, though, and his ground manners are great. He will probably mature to 14.1 or 14.2 hands. He will be great for trail, ranch or arena with a laid back personality and very willing attitude. Exceptional cow horse bloodlines; this guy should stand out in the pen. We have more young horses for sale, please check them out at  http://www.coloredhorseranch.com Pedigree at  http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/plentyofitgolden Located 60 miles east of Gillette, WY, 100 miles west of Rapid City, SD What I nearly missed was the ad stating that the horse had been ridden at the tender age of a year and a half! Now, if this were a race horse, that would be the norm as they do break and start training yearlings. However, study after study, and horse after horse has started to prove that this method causes horses to break   down years before horses that aren't ridden as yearlings do. As a growing horse, the knee bones do not fuse together until somewhere between two and four years old on average, and in some breeds not until five or six. Riding a horse at such a young age puts an incredible amount of stress on the horses legs - basically its like a toddler weight lifting his/her own body weight. Not only is the child NOT able to do the work for any length of time, his/her body will start to show major signs of stress, injury, and possibly things like fractures and other bone issues. Its the same in horses - yet for some reason its more accepted to be able to ride a  horse that young. I couldn't believe that I had just read that ... and had to go back and read it two to three more times to make sure I was seeing it correctly. Then I scrolled down to the picture of the horse in question... .... and groaned loudly. (My cat even got disturbed. She stopped purring for a minute.) Obligatory click on the link to the website, and quickly found the page for this same horse. Funny that they have so many BETTER pictures of this same animal on the website, yet they can't pick one of THOSE to show the horse off with. They have to pick the one where the horse is covered in mud and looks like it hasn't seen a body brush in weeks. What about this one? In that one he looks great! (Actually, most of the pics are of him covered in mud. Yes, I understand there's snow on the ground. Its still not that hard to pick up a curry and take 5 minutes to get the dried mud off of him. YOU claim he's easy to handle, so there is NO excuse for showing pictures of a muddy horse! There are plenty of people that can and DO groom their horses in winter.) Now granted they do say they turned the horse back out to .... "finish growing". My question is why did they feel the need to get on his back if they knew he wasn't done growing? Again, we wouldn't ask our Kindergardners to do a full days hard labor, why is it ok to ask our young / baby horses to do the same as their fully grown cousins? This ranch has the slick website, the 'right words', and seem very professional otherwise. However, I just cannot stomach the notion that they condoned the practice of riding a yealing. What they think helps 'break' the horse in, just causes more issues for that horse long term. If you really want to play trainer with your yearling WITHOUT riding it, this is the way to do it. Ad Text: 2008 APHA Dunalino Filly reg#955923 http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/roulenas+drifter Only selling her because she needs to be started and with two kids, a full time job, and her being boarded over 30min away she is not getting the time she really needs. She has loaded in the trailer, Feet are trimmed regularly, Vaccinations are current, ties, started lunging (walk/trot only). She is turned out on 5ac with sandy washes, trees, other horses, and a burro. Nice calm level headed horse. Nothing has bothered her from day one. 100% sound no previous baby injuries, no bad habits. UPDATE: I PUT THE BAREBACK PAD ON HER ONE DAY AND NOTHING, TWO DAYS LATER SADDLED HER WITH BRIDLE AND LUNGED HER. STILL NOTHING. THIS LITTLE GIRL WAS BORN BROKE! She is only about 14h right now. Prospect: Team Roping, Cow Horse, Competative Trail, Western Riding asking $2500obo The pics are all of her...the top two are from the other day, bottom is the day she was born showing her dun stripe, the other is her a 4mos. Ok, so for those that don't see why this ad is better... both ads are for yearling horses. Both ads have owners that say how broke their horses are/will be because they worked with them as yearlings. The major major difference is the top ad... the trainer rode the horse way before the horse was ready for it. The bottom ad, all the owner did was throw a bareback pad on the filly's back to get her used to the feel of something saddle shaped being there. This owner also threw a saddle on her and lunged her a bit... something, if done in moderation, won't hurt the yearling very much at all. This palomino is a little bit cuter anyways I think... at least this one isn't covered in MUD!

New Way To Eat Horse Meat... Breading!

For my second post, I searched high and low, and while I found a few ads that were okay to use... nothing really struck me as GREAT. 

Until I saw this one listed in todays Las Vegas list. 





Ok Here's the Text: 


"Horse For Sale.

10 yr Red Chestnut Horse (Um, this is like saying "its wet rain". Chestnut IS red. Pick one color word or the other, but not both. Its redundant and annoying.)
Stocky, broad chested breed with well-muscled hindquarters and a compact body. (Grrr, can't help myself here. this describes him as a stock horse. If he's a stock horse, than chances are he's either a quarter horse, OR a breeding stock paint. If he's not registered, he's grade. Your breed description, frankly, sucks.)


Great for Riding, Strong and Handsome! (So what has he accomplished under saddle? Is he trained? How much training? Inquiring minds want to know!)


Sound and healthy. 


(Are you ready for it?)


Great for breading!!! "


Oh 'cause I know we all just LOVE horse meat with some BREADING on it! Better grab a chunk of it, get it rolled in some herbs, a little flour, salt and pepper, oh - can't forget the breading - and fry it up southern style! 


Ok, I think the word we are wanting here is "BreEding". B-r-e-E-d-i-n-g. ITS CALLED SPELL CHECK FOLKS! ITS ON YOUR COMPUTER ALREADY. IF YOU CAN'T USE A SPELL CHECK PROGRAM, USE GOOGLE! 


Rant aside, I know perfectly well that 'breading' is spelled correctly. But come on here. If it just doesn't look right to you, then look it up! There are online dictionaries that can help. Or get someone ELSE to proofread. Authors do it, journalists do it, and these are people that eat, breathe, and live the English language.


What really concerns me here is even though they can't get the correct word for it, the current owners obviously have him as a stud. And they've probably been creating MORE of him. However, unless you were able to translate Breading into Breeding, most non-horsey folk wouldn't realize that just by the ad. NOT ONCE does it say this is a stallion. Which brings me to another point: the possibility exists that some unknowing person might just go see him not realizing he's got boy bits. Said possible buyer tries him out, and he decides to have a 'stallion moment' and tries to bite said possible buyer. Possible buyer then freaks out, and sues owner for not telling her he's a stud. There are a million variations on this possible scenario. A Child. An older person. Etc. This is not just annoying, its possibly dangerous. 


OR How bout this: Possible buyer goes to see him realizes that he IS a stallion and wishes to breed to a mare. All fine and good until she actually goes to have him do the deed live cover, he decides to go berzerk and ravish the mare. Mare goes insane having squealing, biting, angry stallion hovering over her, and she can't get away, so she does what any self respecting mare does and kicks him .... or rather tries to kick and gets the inexperienced new owner right in the legs, causing serious damage as well as a trip to the er. 


These may seem like 'what if' situations and some might say they'll never happen. Really? Ok. And keep searching for the end of the rainbow folks...


Doesn't seem like just a simple typo anymore, does it?


Here he is: 





Overall, not a bad horse. He's actually rather cute. IMO though, the ONLY picture that was worth the trouble of posting was the one taken of his profile, commonly known as a conformation shot. (For those non-horsey folk, its a picture taken from of the side to show how he/she is put together, their build, their conformation.) His isn't that bad, though some would say his backs a bit long, and his neck is thick as well as his throat latch. He appears to be cow-hocked, but as he's a quarter horse or quarter horse type, this is pretty common. I'd love a better shot of his front legs, as in the one picture from the front he's standing weird, and its hard to see if he's straight legged or not. 


I will credit the owner this: you can see very easily that he had been bathed before these pictures were taken, you can still see the water on the mats. One point for the owner.


Overall, I'm sure he's a very sweet, kind, and wonderful horse. Aside from the bath, this owner is just NOT really putting his 'best hoof forward' here. Leave out the three pictures that don't do him justice, leave in the one side shot, and for goodness sakes, please make sure your text is correct! 


Oh on a side note, and a personal pet peeve of mine.... WHY OH WHY is he still a stallion? We don't need anymore foals from stallions and mares that have accomplished NOTHING but eat hay and poop! As a stallion what has he done? Is he broke? Is he cowwy? Does he do well on trails? Does he do ANYTHING except be a testosterone ridden pasture puff that makes more unwanted horses to feed into the slaughter industry? The ad sure doesn't tell us, so we, as potential buyers, are left guessing. 


Geld him, THEN try and sell him. Bet someone would just fall head over heels with him, or at least give him half a chance to live long enough to be trained decently by someone that's willing to give him some miles and give this guy a job. Without his boy bits, whatever wonderful qualities he has as a stallion will just get that much better as a gelding. 


Note to owner/seller: This is a classic case of 1) Not nearly enough information about the horse and 2) Not having someone else look over the ad for stupid errors like this.


Lets compare.


This ad, from the Dallas area is a wonderful example of how to do it right. There is actually so much information on the horse being offered for sale that I honestly could not think of a single question I'd not already had answered. They, quite simply, covered everything.

(Psst, by the way, remember CL doesn't charge anything. You can type in a freaking novel and they don't care!)





Ad Text: 


2007 AQHA sorrel filly with a beautiful flaxen mane and tail - she is super flashy. This girl is well bred - she has over $677,000 NCHA money earners on her papers! Freckles Playboy, Doc's Oak, Justa Swinging Peppy, Lynx Star Lady, & Tenino Badger just to name a few. 10 of the 14 horses on her papers have won money at NCHA, and likely with other programs, but this is the only one I have checked. You can see her pedigree at:http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/peppys+stylish+jewel

She is green broke, but she has never bucked, kicked, and she has no vices... the only reason she is green is because she does not know a whole lot. She does not neck rein, but she stops and turns on a dime. She will do anything you ask her to, she will cross a muddy creek full of water, she will go into a tank, she will load into a trailer, stand quietly tied up, etc. She has been ridden in the pasture, in the round pen, and near the street and has never spooked. My 16 year old nephew is currently riding her to put some miles on her, and she will be ridden daily until sold.

She is just a three year old, but I would trust my 4 year old son on her she is so sweet. These pictures were from last fall, but the only difference is her winter coat.

We are asking $800 for her, please call Cecil at xxx or email with any questions.


This is how you sell a horse folks. See the difference?








This little mare, while having somewhat of a thinner neck and more upright shoulder, SHOULD sell for what they are asking for. She's cute, well fed, shiny, obviously rides fine on trails, goes through water, etc, etc. What more could you ask for? Kudos to the owner for taking the time to think out how best to present her for sale. It really only takes a few minutes, swear!

Welcome to the blog!

Howdy everyone! Thanks for 'tuning in'. I am creating this blog for very selfish reasons - I continually and obsessively read Craigslist for their ads. Its entertainment, and while one can find some great deals on things like cars, furniture, and odd items, what really irks me is when I delve into the horses for sale ads.

I have a lifetime working with horses. I have honestly never sold a horse. However, I have spent my entire life watching those that buy and sell horses, and it never ceases to amaze me how often the truth and or just plain common sense gets lost in the process.

So, while CL is entertaining for sure, I'm going to highlight some of the best and worst of the ads I've come across - as well as commentary on the ad itself. The ads that will be showcased on here will be chosen for several reasons. Obvious stupidity, Lack of simple common sense, wording/spelling/grammar to make any good english teacher run screaming down the street in horror, and well, whatever darn reason I feel like posting it for. I don't plan to censor myself or anyone else, so feel free to comment as you wish.

My goal here is to evaluate these ads from a prospective buyers perspective. I know I will not manage to make a dent in the hundreds of ads that get posted daily, but If I can help out even just a few people manage to sell their horses and NOT have them go to the KB across the border, then ON TO THE SHOW!

For our very first post, lets play "Whats WRONG with this picture?"

She's a very nice AQHA mare, good weight, well groomed, lovely legs.. wait.. what is that on her hind leg? A cast? Nope, it's just a bandage for whatever reason...yet the owners decided it obviously wasn't WORTH MENTIONING in the text of the ad.. yet its ok to post the picture of the horse standing there with its leg bandaged.

Ad Text:

Nice well broke mare that is started on barrels and needs someone to finish her out. Just have too many to ride and don't have time to finish her out.

Ey Yi Yi.

Ok folks, A) its generally not a good idea to post pictures of your horse standing with their LEGS BANDAGED UP! Rather ruins the whole vet check idea, eh? B) Simply saying you don't have the time to 'finish her out' is NOT enough for me to even consider emailing you, much less dragging my butt out, wasting gas, and finding out that the horse is some no name wild 2 year old becuase, well, C) YOU didn't give enough information such as Age, Parents, Registry Info, Personality Info, Etc. Guess what folks, most normal everyday horse owners don't have the time to finish her out either!

Note to seller: Beyond the obvious horrible FAIL of trying to sell your mare that is obviously injured, you might also want to consider ... nah. I can't get past that enough to care who the mare is or want to know anything about her.

Now to compare, here is a lovely ad for a chestnut Saddlebred Gelding. While Saddlebreds aren't always my favorite breed, I do like to admire them from afar. This particular horse is presented well, in a safe looking pasture/pen with a buddy. Theres several different pictures, including a nice one from the side. I can't see his feet though, which concerns me somewhat as this breed is one that can be subjected to some nightmare shoeing issues. She's got some great information on him, bloodlines, what he's ok with doing, and a little bit about his personality. Just enough to entice ME into looking at him for sure.

Ad Text:

This is a great Registered American Saddlebred! Extremely nice 3 year old gelding /16.2 hands tall, red chestnut, very blond mane/tail, just gorgeous! He is trained to RIDE and DRIVE. Extremely gentle and easy to work with! Just So Worthy---118848 . His Dam is by CH Foxfire’s Prophet! $16,000.00 We will consider all offers! He is very sound with no problems! Please keep this outstanding colt in mind! Thank you.

Ok, so now that we've got the first post out of the way, hope you enjoyed it, comments are always welcome, and by all means, send me those ads!

If at all possible, take a screen shot of the ad, as it is very common for the ad to be taken down by CL if its particularly horrendous. My blog email is clhorseads@gmail.com.