Sale Barn Ethics? (Are they supposed to have any?)

[city girl]

Hi there,
I'm a newbie to owning horses. We got broken in with a couple free-lease ponies who turned out to be lovely, and then last winter we bought a sweet old cow pony as a family horse. She's 15, dead broke, a former Western Pleasure champ, and a total sweetheart. My seven-year-old can lead her around by her chin. But we probably made a mistake in buying her.

She was only $1500, and we knew that was because she 'some arthritis'. The sale barn we bought her from said you could still show her, you could ride her a lot, and she just might be stiff afterwards. "Take her out to gymkana, have a great time, just give her some Bute at the end of the day," were I believe the exact words.

That was fine. We tried her out, and felt really comfortable and safe on her. We didn't get a vet check (stupid, I know), because we felt like unless we got a full xray exam, the vet was just going to tell us what the sale barn was already telling us -- that she had some mild arthritis.

When we got her home she was so unsound that you couldn't ride her. She would toss her head and buck (mildly), and when we had some friends who are horse professionals take a look at her, they said she was too lame to ride. When we contacted the sale barn, they were like, oh she must have gotten injured on the ride over, too bad for you. "We're not a horse rescue," they said.

In the long run it worked out okay... About $1500 worth of xrays, Lyme tests, vet visits, and corrective shoeing later, she is sound enough (at least for now) that we can ride her lightly. And I get where I went wrong. (Always get the vet check, even just to establish the baseline that you can compare to later!!!)

But my question is -- several horse friends were disgusted that the barn wouldn't take her back. They said a good sale barn would have taken her back, and that they would never do business with these people.

I'm wondering what you all think. Do sale barns have a responsibility to take back horses that you're not happy with?

 

[OtterCreekRanch]

I am not sure how horse sales work. Are you meaning sale barn as in auction house, or does it have a different meaning among horse people?

I know cattle sale barns usually clearly state that all guareentees are between the buyer and the seller and that they are not reasonsible for any of it. I would imagine horse sales are the same way. They are likely just passing on the information given to them by the seller (unless horse sales are different or you mean a horse broker...someone who buys horses from various places and then resells them).

 

[city girl]

I guess I mean a sale broker. One of my horse friends keeps calling them a sale barn. They do lessons and summer camps, but are always selling horses. They have a website with all the horses listed, and they turn over at a really remarkable pace.

 

[goodhors]

We call those folks "Horse Dealers". They have lots of horses going thru their hands. May have a training program for the main source of income, with selling of customer horses, prospect (name your discipline) animals for shoppers.

Ethics of the facility are totally by the individual running the place. Some are willing to let you come ride as much as you like trying animals. However, as you found out, horse off the property is yours.

I can't really blame them, it is SO EASY for beginners, self-trained experts, to mess up an animal in a hurry. They don't want to have to deal with problems created by ignorant buyers. And a LOT of animals go thru their hands because their owners can't manage them or have worn them out. Unfortunately there are a lot of bult-in problems when a horse earns ribbons and is a big winner at shows, in Western Pleasure or doing the varioius games, barrels, poles, etc. that damage the animals.

For a low $1500 price, it is TOO EASY to spend lots of money on Vet checks. You can quickly spend more than horse is worth, getting X-rays. Then if you pass on the horse, you are still out the Vet money.

It would not have mattered if you HAD gotten mare checked, they STILL would not have taken her back. That is their way of doing business.

I don't take horses back when they get sold. I am totally honest, horse is as presented. Never sold a lame or hurting animal. Person has plenty of time ahead to come ride, see if they get along together, have horse Vet checked, to make their decision. If I finally sell a horse, it is because he needs to go, doesn't work in our program here. I don't want him back with possible issues that buyer has created while they had him. Just watching the prospective buyers trying horse out gives me the willies! Buyers all seem to think they are such great riders, when 99% have no business on a sensitive horse, need the dead-broke model. Horse is ALWAYS advertised as "Not for beginner riders" and still the buyers call asking for talented horse capable of doing skilled riding activities!! They CAN'T RIDE such a horse!!! I have stopped the rides more than once, pulled the riders off to say "Sorry, this horse is NOT for you. You need to keep looking for your new horse elsewhere." I don't NEED my horse messed up, learning bad tricks from unskilled riders.

Do you have any skilled horse folks in your circle of family or friends? It usually is worthwhile to take them along when you go look at animals. They probably will spot problems you never notice. One could be lameness or sore animal issues. Personally, I probably wouldn't touch a horse who "needed some Bute after the weekend" at the show. Might depend on if I thought horse was lame from poor hoofcare. However husband is VERY good at fixing all sorts of lameness issues, so maybe he could fix the horse and get him back back to sound. You probably would not want to pay for that kind of farrier help, it is NOT cheap. And sometimes when he does fix the horses at the Vet Clinic, has them moving sound with shoes that fit, horse gets exuberant, bucks the owners off! They WANT the horse back the old way, even if horse is lame and sore in every foot! So they go back to their old farrier, get his old shoes back on, lame him up again. They DON'T CARE, will ride and show him that way, since he is not limping lame with EVERY HOOF so sore, going PERFECT for Western Pleasure.

 

[city girl]

Yeah, I wasn't really sure if I blamed them either. I mean, I get it that anything can happen after they get home. But I do think they misrepresented her (and hardsold me on her, which burns me up, that I took it). What else is new in the world of horse dealers, I guess. And I let my guard down because of their talk about honest and soulful they were about finding the right match for us.

Sigh. Shoulda coulda woulda....


Anyway, we did get her back to riding, and we do love her. Sweet, sweet horse.