[theloneappy]

Originally Posted by SWRerider

Sorry, but I am with the trainer on this. Since the horse was trained for a previous owner, it must have been a while ago. How long was it in trianing- 30 days, 6 mos, a year, several years?
The trainer has no idea how the horse has been ridden, trained, or handled since that time- and the horse probably is not just the same as when the horse left him. The horse could have become miserable, acquired bad habits, been mishandled in a way that could reflect badly on the trainer. He doesn't know you.
Why not sell the horse on its merits? The buyer wants to know how the horse performs NOW- and that is what matters.
Sounds like you are needing to "talk him up", and I'd be suspicious of you.

See I am going to disagree with you. Saying a horse has professional training isn't talking the horse up to me. That is pointing out what training the animal does have and what not.

[JazzyJockey]

Originally Posted by SWRerider

Sorry, but I am with the trainer on this. Since the horse was trained for a previous owner, it must have been a while ago. How long was it in trianing- 30 days, 6 mos, a year, several years?
The trainer has no idea how the horse has been ridden, trained, or handled since that time- and the horse probably is not just the same as when the horse left him. The horse could have become miserable, acquired bad habits, been mishandled in a way that could reflect badly on the trainer. He doesn't know you.
Why not sell the horse on its merits? The buyer wants to know how the horse performs NOW- and that is what matters.
Sounds like you are needing to "talk him up", and I'd be suspicious of you.

i agree...sorta...anything could have happened between when she came back from training and when you got her....i am not saying anything did...but the trainer doesn't know that....

[AlKhamsa]

well...the horse with was the trainer for 2 years and she came back in janurary or feburary. then i bought it in...um...august i think. the previous owner just took her on trail rides (she says). that doesn't seem like enough time to undo 2 years of WP training,right? but...i don't know the whole story. i don't agree,but i do see your point....anything could have happened between those months. this is so annoying!

[Alliekk]

Um, I would NOT have bought a horse solely from WALKING! BAAAAAD idea. I sure hope this horse isn't part of anything fishy. I recently trained a gelding that I would be PROUD to be connected to. If you aren't PROUD to train the horse, then yes, fishy fishy, stinky fish sh*t. This trainer is covering something up. The previous owners are covering something up.

How I would word the ad:
____ is a wonderful ______ horse. He/She has been professionally trained in Western Pleasure in the past. I have attached a current video of her/him.

and then go on to explain the specifics. Breed, gender, age, height, weight, temperament, color, pedigree.

I wouldn't be fishy of you, but with a horse with such a shady background I'd be asking MANY questions and going to see the horse numerous times before actually making an offer.

[Jenje!]

I understand where a trainer might be concerned that a now-rank horse could tarnish their reputation... but there's nothing saying that, once contacted, that trainer can't reply with, "I had x-horse x-year (or month(s)), and (details about horse's character and progression), but I haven't seen him/her in x-time, so I can't vouch for him/her now,"

It's what I'd do, if I were a trainer.

And this may be a bit naive of me, but IME most horse people understand that a horse's training needs to be kept up past the point that it leaves the trainer. If I were looking at a horse who had been professionally trained at some point and it was a wreck, I'd be more apt to blame the passage of time and the owner for not keeping the horse up than I would the trainer.

[S_Toast]

You can always state that she was trained and to call you for the details. Then you'll mostly get serious buyers calling and you can give them the name of the barn and the website over the phone. Just be sure to tell them the barn has asked to no be contacted since they no longer own the horse. Good luck!

[Alliekk]

If I were to read the ad that said *please do not contact trainer* I would be skeptical that the seller is just trying to SAY the horse was trained, but it really wasn't. I'm not saying this is the case, but that's how I would perceive an ad with that type of wording.

If you do want to prove that the horse was trained there without putting a please do not contact note on the ad, say call for more information on training.

[doublebarr]

Originally Posted by SWRerider

Sorry, but I am with the trainer on this. Since the horse was trained for a previous owner, it must have been a while ago. How long was it in trianing- 30 days, 6 mos, a year, several years?
The trainer has no idea how the horse has been ridden, trained, or handled since that time- and the horse probably is not just the same as when the horse left him. The horse could have become miserable, acquired bad habits, been mishandled in a way that could reflect badly on the trainer. He doesn't know you.
Why not sell the horse on its merits? The buyer wants to know how the horse performs NOW- and that is what matters.
Sounds like you are needing to "talk him up", and I'd be suspicious of you.

I recently sold an older, NICE WP horse and one of the points I put in his ad was that he was bred, raised and shown to Open AQHA WP points by Tommy Manion. Of course I had proof from his AQHA show records, but it was another marketing plus to use in his ads as a novice horse. How it performs now is important, but depending on what market you are aiming the horse toward, who trained it and what that training entailed IS just as important for those looking long distance to open the door. He ended up selling on word of mouth alone, but his value was substantiated by his past history INCLUDING his early training.

For the back yard market, not so much, but once you get to the competative market, it does and can make a HUGE difference. Just as I can be turned off of a horse by who the trainer was before even looking at the horse.

[robison19]

could you just say in the ad that "horse was trained by so and so in 2000 whatever for western pleasure for how ever many days"?? That way buyers know that at that point in time the hores was there, but has since been other places and had other riders?

Good luck what ever you do!!!

[SWRerider]

Now that you say the horse was with the trainer for TWO YEARS- that is a long time and his stamp should be on the horses with his pride. It also makes me wonder if there is a red flag of some sort. He should know the horse well?
But if people are contacting him, and you expect a recommendation from him I can understand his wanting a cut. I would mention training not in the ad, but later when discussing prospective buyers.
As a professional this would be his opportunity to offer the new buyer a "refresher" ($for remuneration$) if it hasn't really worked in the area he is being sold as skilled in.
I think it is a tricky situation.