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Have you ever purchased a horse that you did not previously measure yourself (i.e., via the internet

  • Yes

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Margo_C-T

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I have never tried this before; so please, bear with me!

OK--I intended to include a couple of other questions, but I *may* have hit a key (unintentionally!) that led to the posting of just this first question--at least it formatted as I wanted it to!

Please note: this is for horses of either registry. I think we all recognize that there are certain serious measurement issues with both.

I will start. When I was purchasing, it was mostly young stock, or,horses I DID measure myself. Of the ONLY two I've bought over time that didn't fall under those parameters, one was 'questionable' once she arrived--a VERY close call--but since I didn't get her to breed OR to breed show, it wasn't a huge issue. The other was YEARS ago; purchased THROUGH(NOT 'from') one of the VERY few people I would buy that way from in the industry--a 2 YO stallion prospect, he was exactly the height I'd been told. SIDEBAR: He did 'come' with a written height and a testicle 'guarantee' from the actual owner(he had an undescended testicle; 'guaranteed' to descend by 36 months of age.)It did, actually, at 32 months, and soon matched the other in size. However, I would NOT now accept a horse of ANY age w/ one or both testes undescended, because I have come to believe and realize that such is most likely an UNDESIRABLE genetic condition, and would not want to pass it along. Nice little horse; but he later sired a dwarf, and that was the END of his breeding career! I gave him to an 'at risk youth' program.

I will be very frank to say that nowadays, there is NO ONE I'd buy from sight unseen/unless I'd measured the horse MYSELF, and under PROPER circumstances---period. Friends included(and my friends have heard me say it!)

Just one of the many reasons why we need to 'overhaul' the measurement process and procedures, across the board, in the miniature industry! MHO.

Edited to clarify: It's not that I don't 'trust' anyone: it's that I do not know their measurement qualificatons or dedication. I feel that many, if not most, folks are not in a position to be accurate, for one cause or another...and I am not interested in taking the risk that they aren't.

Margo
 
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No.

One was a foal, garenteed height under 34", he was.

The other was measured prior to purchase.
 
Yes I have.

My stallion is said to be 28.5" tall, and when I measured him I got 30". >.< Significant enough for me! I will have to measure him again this year on pavement to double check though.
 
NO

stallion owner stated 32" and he IS 32"

mare owner stated 32 and she IS 32

gelding purchased as a weaner to mature under 34" yepper 33 1/2"
 
No. With the VERY rare purchases that I did not measure myself they were with in 1/4-1/2 inch when I measured them (easily explained by hoof length and person measuring differences) and not anything I would consider significant.
 
No, mine have always been the height I expected when they stepped off the trailer.
 
Yes. Was told a colt I bought was 281/2 inches and he turned out to be 30 inches. Long story short...got burned on that one. Trusted the seller (don't know why as I had never met or talked to them). Was a real learning experience as back then I had intentions of starting my breeding program with this little horse. Won't ever do that again...unless different circumstances warrant it.
 


Yes, but I have had it both ways (high and low).

Often they were not trimmed before they were measured and when they arrived and were trimmed, they were shorter than when they were measured at their previous owners location.

I do not count within 1/2 inch as significant as long as they are not over. That much variation requires checking multiple times and making sure they are set up correctly.

I have no problem buying via internet. My life does not allow me the luxury of getting on a plane and flying to see the horse I want to buy.
 
Of all the Minis I've bought I've never measured them myself prior to purchase, nor have I asked to see them measured by the seller. There was one mare that the seller did measure for me--I didn't ask her to but she just went ahead & put a stick on the mare, just because that particular mare was right up there at the 38" mark & she wanted me to know that the horse wasn't actually oversize. The mare measured right on 38"--feet not freshly trimmed and mare standing square--so all was good.

The others I've bought I could pretty much judge that they were within size so there was no need to measure. I do put a stick on them when I get them home and all have been pretty much what they were supposed to be/what their permanent papers said they were.

I do know people that have bought horses from big name farms...horses with AMHA papers that measured 37" or taller when honestly measured...so there are certain farms I definitely would not buy from if I couldn't go & see the horse for myself first. Even if the horse came with a height guarantee, I just don't have the patience nor the money to fight a legal battle over enforcing such a guarantee in the event that the seller didn't want to co-operate.
 
Yes, I've had a couple. One stallion is registered 28.28" whatever that means. Then I come to find out he's 26.5" The owner told me that the registry made that mistake. She hadn't even noticed it. Another mare that was supposed to stay under 34" but she grew to 35.75"

Other than those 2 the rest have measured up fine.
 
Yes, I've had them be very different from what I was expecting. Some have been taller, some shorter, but in either case, it was a problem for me, and the horses no longer fit my plans for them, and ended up being sold because of it.

One time, I bought a 'matched' team. They were supposed to be under 32". In the photo, one looked significantly smaller than the other one, so I questioned the seller. They assured me the horses were within 1/2" of each other. When they arrived, one was over 34" tall, and the other right around 32". These were mature horses, so they had not grown any. These two came from a 'name' farm.

At a different time, I bought two horses from separate places that I wanted to train to be a team. Both were advertised as being almost identical in height. When I got the first one, which had the slightly smaller measurement, it turned out to be around 32" tall... taller, but still not 'too' big. But, then when the next one arrived, he measured under 30" tall, so the two didn't end up matching at all. I already had plenty of 'single' horses, and was needing some for a team, so I ended up selling both of the horses, separately, to other homes.
 
I have one that ended up outgrowing his AMHA papers; I didn't have a guarantee and I'm fine with it as all my others are R only. A little surprised, yes, as his sire is 28.5" and dam 33.5"; so it must be something in the air here.
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Yes, I had one that was oversized for AMHA when I got her home and measured her, and one that ended up quite a bit smaller than she was supposed to be. There was also another issue with this "smaller" purchase that made me decide she didn't need to stay on my property.

As for the oversized mare, I advertised her as only having R papers and told people when they asked that I was selling her because I pulled her A papers. I could have sold her soooo quickly had I been willing to send her papers along with her. So many people requested her A papers, some even trying to argue with me!!! I finally sold her, in foal. Then later I got a phone call from AMHA telling me I couldn't register the mare's foal because the mare's papers had been pulled. I called them back and told them I was the one that pulled her papers, I didn't own the mare anymore and I certainly wasn't trying to get A papers on her foal. Come to find out, the buyer WAS!
 
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