What would you have done?

[braid]

Went to view a horse. Owner asked it to canter and was promptly put on the ground. I decided not to get on as I wasn't going to take it. It was advertised as a bombproof confidence giver but not a plod, so I was surprised by this little show of freshness. In the past I might have responded differently but only back in the saddle for past couple of years and need to consider children. How would you have reacted?

Politely walk away, after checking the owner was ok! which I think you have done.
Lol if you posted in two months, went to view a horse and at the viewing the owner came off; Brought it anyway. What do you think you/we would say?
And so what if the owner calls you a time waster behind you back.
Was it a private sale or a dealer?

You did the right thing!!! Walk away when the problem isn't yours.

I don't think there was much else you could have done really. It would be pointless to get on, knowing that you didn't want it. I did similar when I was last looking for a horse. I went to see a beautiful horse, but the owner couldn't persuade it into the stable after getting it from the field. As soon as she got it in, it barged out again. I decided against riding it, for the same reason as you. I hope you have better luck next time!

Well it wasn't as advertised, was it? You did the right thing, and it probably saved you a lot of time and possible injury.

I think I would have checked the owner was ok, then said "sorry, but I really am looking for a bombproof confidence giver, so I am just not the right match for this horse."

I hope you didn't have to travel too far.

You did absolutely the right thing. It's a question of trust (between you and vendor as well as between you and horse of course).

Have recently just had to walk away from a nearly-concluded sale. DD had two beautiful viewings/try-outs; lovely in all three paces. Wonderful temperament as far as we could see. But vets report revealed three things wrong that hadn't been mentioned (two of which involved feet); and quite large age disparity.

PS we'd travelled 700 and had an overnight stay!

Sorry it didn't work out, but I think you did the right thing. It clearly wasn't exactly as described (or at least chosing not to behave that way on the day). It sounds like a little more than just freshness if it managed to unseat the owner?

If I was told it was out of character for the horse, tbh I would be less likely to get on, as it could indicate the horse was in pain or something on that particular day had upset it and I wouldn't want to get on in case there was an unprecedented explosion.

This is also why I would always ask to see a horse ridden first by someone else at a viewing.

Of course you did the right thing! You are looking to buy a horse, not break a bone! It's also a good example why you should never get on a horse if the owner refuses to - I don't care what excuses they come up with, if they can't find a rider to show it for 20 minutes I am not getting on it either!

I once saw a horse suitable for a beginner for DP. The horse seemed calm in the school with the owner and me so DP got on in the school, all OK so we went for a small hack down the lane. I asked DP to go down the lane, turn back towards the stable and turn again to go back out - I know that is a bit winding up the horse but a bombproof horse should have been able to do this. This cob got nappy and would not walk out again with DP, so I popped back on to have a feel and see how nappy the horse was being. I had to give it a good boot to get it going and then it came to a puddle and put in a mahoosive buck straight away. The owner wanted me to school it throught the puddle but that was not my job. The horse clearly was not for us, so he could get back on and teach it to walk through puddles - not my problem.

Absolutely right to walk away. We went to view a horse, at a dealers several years ago. The dealer put a girl on to ride first and the moment the horse was asked for canter it bucked her off. Girl got back off and the horse repeated again. Poor girl was shaken and tearful and the dealer crossly insisted she got back on again. He was quite angry that we terminated the viewing there and then. If its not right, it's not right.

We travelled 4 hours to see a pony for dd after a few long phone conversations and emails. Pony was lovely but bucked every time it went into canter. Cross bucks. We walked away but it was hard as dd loved her and she was a very talented mare. Glad we did as found another just as talented with no potential back/temperament issues!

We've driven across the country and within 5 minutes of seeing a pony said no thank you. We'd never ride a horse/pony we weren't still planning to buy after initial inspection. I don't see this as time wasting. Time wasters are people who say they will buy your pony - you cancel future viewings - and then they pull out..

Many thanks everyone. The experience left me disappointed but I knew I did the right thing. I just told the owner it was too much horse for me. I think all was very genuine but this horse buying thing is tricky for sure. I've only bought from a friend previously.

If the horse/pony is far (ish) away we ask them to put a video up on Youtube and send photos as well as any previous form, history, quirks etc.

Of course they will show it off to its best advantage but if you don't like the way it moves, jumps etc you could at least save yourself some mileage.

After you've seen it been ridden ask if you can not only ride it but go on a short hack (they must know a quick route round the village) just to see how it feels. Again this will knock a few out of contention.

Are you planning to buy from an individual or a dealer? The latter may give you a guarantee (of return) and if they are well known will have a reputation to uphold.

Definitely taken an experienced friend with you. They will help cut through the jargon and bull and will take off your rose coloured spectacles...

Walk away straight away. I've had to look at a lot of horses over the years (work in the business) and if I was prepared to work with a horse, then fine- but if the owner hasn't been truthful, like in this case, that's a big warning sign that there may be other issues with either the sale or horse.