How many

[Grumpbum123]

Of you have been stung whilst buying a horse? I’ve been scammed well and truly and will be going to court over it. It just seems harder now than 15-20 years ago to find an honest seller

Sorry to hear you’ve been scammed

I haven’t been scammed, but I’ve only bought locally from people I know/know of

Have you checked out the FB dodgy dealer pages? Just check which one you join though as some seem to be run by the dodgy dealers themselves

I can’t name and shame until we’ve been through court. She thinks I’m just going to go away

Not majorly scammed, but definitely bought or viewed ponies where they've not been completely honest. Passported pony which was meant to be 7, was 3, 4 at most according to my vet, ponies with undeclared illnesses despite asking about health (didn't buy that one), exaggerated abilities, BUT I have also bought some cracking ponies who have been brilliant from some awesome people - both dealers and privately.

There are a lot of fantastic people out there, there are a few who spoil it for the majority. Such a shame you've had to deal with this, but don't despair. xxx
On the flip side, when selling I've had people come out saying they are looking for a jumping / competition pony, who can barely rise to the trot, then get upset when you gently try to say that you think they would be overhorsed.
What happened in your case?

Hopelessly over-horsed myself with first horse. But it was my fault - the signs were there and I chose to ignore them because there was just something about the mare that I liked. 13 years on and she's still with us and is an absolute diamond - once we learned which buttons to press!

Otherwise - I bought one via word of mouth locally and another as a foal.

If I was to buy again I would ONLY buy via word of mouth through the local horsey community - but it can take time to get inside that community.

Advertised as a forward going safe horse for a novice. Is anything but takes 4 people to get it to stand still to mount then it bolts, dead mouth, advertised as a safe hack except he spins and bolts At anything bigger than a bike. I have multiple statements from previous owners saying they told the seller this. He was sold as a companion for 700 and sold to me for 3.5k

Did you have it vetted and if so did they take blood samples? Worth seeing if it was sedated for viewing. It sounds to me as if the horse is in pain. Any horse that requires pinning down to be ridden is desperately saying it doesn't want to be ridden. They are also generally more reactive and easily spooked when in pain because they rely on their ability to flee, and know that when in pain this is impeded and they have to react as quickly as they can.

How much investigating did the previous owners do? Sorry you're in this situation. I do feel sorry for the horse though. On the whole they want to co-operate with us so if they stop doing so, it's up to us to ask why.

If we buy from any one we don't personally know we always do a two stage vetting. With bloods. Make sure vetting is very shortly after you have tried the pony and within the time frame for any personality or health changing chemicals to have worn off.

I have to agree with Vanhi - this sounds like a pain issue and I suspect the previous owners didn't bother investigating and just sold the horse on to be someone else's problems,

FWIW - one of mine started behaving very out of character including dramatic spinning , spooking etc etc to the point of becoming dangerous. Turned out to be both hind suspensories. Treatment and rehab later and he is back to being a lovely well mannered safe enjoyable ride.

In your shoes I wouldn't even attempt to ride until a vet had looked at the horse. Could be any one of a number of ailments that cause the horse to not want to be ridden.

My oldest friend turned up (very) early for a second viewing for a schoolmaster for her 6yo and the pony hadn't been doped yet the girl that was meant to demo him was crying with fear and refused to get on him if he hadn't been sedated. They could be responsible for someone being seriously hurt or killed.

I had a few attempt to scam me especially when looking for my first horse when I was 18, luckily I was a lot wiser then they thought I was and told them to do one

I immediately thought there was some sort of pain issue too. Have you had a vet to look at the horse? It doesn't excuse the seller but might help the horse secure a better future.

I’m looking at the minute and haven’t managed to buy anything yet.

Fed up of people lying on the phone about them and then I turn up and they are two hands smaller, filthy as they haven’t been groomed in weeks or completely wild to even handle.

Sympathies OP, what a nightmare. While I agree with the posters saying the behaviour is probably routed in pain, before the OP gets into doing expensive investigations/treatments, I would recommend taking legal advice asap and do not even attempt to ride the horse in the meantime.

If the person you bought the horse from is operating as a professional dealer there is a good chance you are entitled to a return/refund within 30 days under the Sale of Goods act, particularly if the horse was not as described. I would consult a solicitor specialising in equine law or the BHS gold members advice line before doing anything else.

I've never been personally stung but it does seem a minefield out there with lots of incompetent, negligent or downright malicious sellers, I have heard anecdotally of some of the more responsible dealers I know of shutting up shop or cutting back to only dealing at the higher-end levels as it just isn't profitable selling safe easy amateurs horses any more with the amount of investment you need to make into producing a horse that can truly do the job, leaving that end of the market ripe for exploitation by people just trying to make a quick buck.

Do let us know if there's any update?