After looking on Craigslist for horses for about a week, we found an ad that sounded great. The horse for sale sounded like a great fit for us, so Mom contacted the lady that owned her and asked some questions.
Brandy was a 15 hand Mustang mare that was about 15 years old. The description was that she was great with leg cues, which was what we wanted, and that she had been used for 4-H. They were done with 4-H, so they were getting rid of the horse.
After meeting the owners, we went around and met Brandy. She was very sweet and seemed quite healthy. My sister and I groomed her and got to know her a little better, while my parents asked more questions. Brandy was very comfortable with us all around her and picked up her feet just fine.
The first bad thing that happened was when the owners’ daughter came around the house, dragging a heavy western saddle. Brandy jumped back, very alert. She settled down quickly, but we were all on edge now.
When we went to saddle Brandy, she did great, but when the bridle came, she freaked out. She didn’t like her ears to be touched, so after wrestling with her for a few minutes, the owners got the bridle off. They tried to get it back on, but by then, Brandy was pretty shaken. She wouldn’t have it.
The owners then tried to lunge her to get her to listen. But she wouldn’t lunge; she would only go in one direction for a minute or two. Brandy was tired and was picking up on her owners’ frustration, so in the end we told them we could come back. It was getting dark, and we could tell that Brandy was confused because of her owners’ behavior.
I was a little disappointed after meeting Brandy because we had great expectations for her. I learned the hard way not to get too attached to any horse before you meet them and that many horses may sound great, but that in reality they may be different than what you expect. I also learned to ask a ton of questions, and also ask questions that you already know the answer to, just to make sure that you’ve got your facts straight. My mom asked if the horse had any problems with anything, and by email the answer was no. Of course, when we got there, it was clear that she did have some problems, so I learned to be specific.
We scheduled a day to come back and try again, but after looking at other horses a week later, we decided to keep looking and that Brandy wasn’t the horse for us. She had just a little more fire than we wanted, and we realized that we would know almost right away that the horse that we were looking for was right in front of us.
D_boy says:
Even after checking out a horse, and deciding to purchase, it is always great to make an unannounced visit.
Don’t rush into a purchase because you are afraid the horse will have sold. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
If the horse is meant for you, it will be available for you in your timing. It is always a good idea to take along a trusted friend or better yet a trusted friend of a friend with good horse knowledge and unbiased.
Best of luck to you on finding a trustworth partner.
Kim Hayhurst says:
Brandy lives down the road from me. She is a very nice mare. She has been through some changes and not worked with much lately. You need to visit the horse more then once and ride it more then once cuz they all have their little hang ups. Then decide if you can work through those issues or not. It takes time to build trust and a relationship to be successful in handling that horse. I think it was bad timing for Brandy and you missed out on a great horse!
RJB110212 says:
Do you know if Brandy is still available??? I’ve had my eye on her since they moved in! Can’t find the ad on Craigslist, could you please share the link? Thank you!!!