How much does a picture tell you?

Miniature Horse Talk Forums

Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

You are purchasing a horse, you receive 20 photos, those photo's are what percentage of your decisio

  • 100%, I will buy from photos.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 80%, Questions may remain, but will buy anyway.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 60%, I like the photos but ask for more, or video

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 40%, Is enough to get my interest and will then go visit

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 20%, A picture I happen to see, inquire, then go visit

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 0%, I will always go visit no matter what, pictures mean nothing.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

Frankie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
Messages
4,430
Reaction score
36
Location
Muncie, Indiana
I would say some of this may depend on how much you trust the farm.

But we are going to say you don't know the farm, you are purchasing pretty much over the internet.

The only real access you have are the photos. How much weight do those photos hold?

Please answer an answer that may be close. I realize other things may come into play.

We all do different things for different reasons, just would like to know how much a web site can work for you, or against you.

Or we could go the opposite,,,,,,you see great photos, and then the horse is blah.

Thanks for your time.

carolyn
 
That all depends....some horses do not photo well period....they look average even if a pro takes their pic......and then there are the pro photo's that can and have made dwarves look like show horses.......

A picture is only as good as the photographer and only as honest as the person sending it to you.........
 
Well, so far I've done all of my long-distance purchasing by photos only, and it's been very accurate for me. I do prefer the "candid" pics, over the professional pics, because then I can really tell what the horse looks like. I've been quite happy with the vast majority of my purchases by photos.
smile.gif
 
I think it really depends. I have purchased 4 of my horses sight unseen except for photos. Three of them were exactly as I expected. One wasn't exactly as I expected, but not because of actual type, and that one is fine now. I do realize what a chance it is to buy soley on picture, so I guess I've been lucky. On the other hand, sometimes when you're buying over a long distance, it's the only way.
 
I have bought off pictures before and was very pleased with the mare I purchased, but in looking at the mare I also checked out the sellers too. They were wonderful ladies and were very honest about everything I asked and if they had a horse I was interested in I would buy from them again with just pictures, but that goes to trusting who you deal with. I am sure there are alot of great farms out there, but with the abundance of great horses within three hours of my house I don't have to buy long distance anymore.
 
I like to see as many pictures as the seller will send or if they will send a video.

Here is what happened to me and my daughter

I bought a stallion... Looked GREAT ( in the pictures ) I asked Q's like: Are his teeth straight, are his legs straight, does he travel in line. How is his temperment?

Any bitting, kicking, how is he to trim, clip, haul , bath ect ect. Well it was late when we met the people half way. We got home at 7am. I unloaded the stallion put him in a stall/turn out . That after noon I checked on him and fed. He seamed ok with us. My daughter( which is VERY horse experanced) Talked to the horse for 10 mins or more . When she got closer he jumped at the fence and had managed to get his muzzel between the bars and bite her soooo bad that see had to have stiches. I later found out that the stallion's teeth were off ( bad teeth) and he was VERY mean. He was soooo crooked leged..... I called the lady back and told her... she refunded the money and she said that she had no idea that he was mean ect ect...

I looked at the pictures again ... and she must have set his feet for the pictures.

So I'm VERY leary from now on
sad.gif
sad.gif
sad.gif


I have bought most of my horses over the intertnet. Which were states away. Just that one was a bad beal !
 
if you are asking how much a website comes into play for selling for me it is a big thing.

I personally look for a few things most important to me is updated pictures i dont care what the horse looked like as a weanling if it is now 5

I sort of get a feel for a person by there website and prefer more of a personal touch for lack of a better term

I like to knwo a bit about the horse and sometimes it takes just a sentance to get a feel of what the owner/seller feels the horse's personality is like I prefer that over an extended pedigree on a site. (again just me)

As far as photos, I have seen great ones of bad horses and bad ones of great horses i know how hard it is to get a good pic of a horse
wacko.gif


When i am buying I 99 perecent of the time ask for a set up photo (or actually that is usually what they are using to sell them) and will ask for photos of the horse just sort of hanging out in his pen or stall so I can see what he looks like not at his best as well.

and actually I ask around about the seller alot and that seems to help - I have had good experiences and been pleased with the sellers representation of the horse all but 2 times.
 
I think that photos are ok if you are reasonably sure that you can trust the seller. I bought Wind Walker from pictures only. And, also 2 mares from Mo. They turned out to be all that I had hoped for! I also bought our very first miniature from a man, not so far away, who I just felt like I could trust...he told me that there was nothing at all wrong with this mare. And, since I only wanted a pet at that time, I took her...no photos at all..just his word...here she is.. do you think he told me the truth? lol!

c9413d92.jpg


yeah, I know she is stretched WAY too much...but she likes to set up like this.
 
I would rather see the horse in person. I cant afford to fly over the country looking at horses so usually have to go on video and photos. Have done this 3 times and have awesome luck. Perfect bites and conformation. They look just like the pictures. They werent professional pictures which in my opinion is a good thing. Im telling ya, Ive seen some horses in the magazines and thought wow and saw them in person and went ugghhh. So good photographers can make nice horses.
 
I voted 80% for me as I have bought 2 horses from just the pictures and what I was told about the horse.

Good luck getting good pictures from most sellers though, thats the real problem, no one knows HOW to take a picture of a horse
rolleyes.gif
 
Buying long distance by pictures only is always a risk but I've had good luck with my 3. However, I did insist on a 30 day full purchase amount return shipping both ways at their expense if the horses were not as advertised or found to be unsound. And,
yes.gif
, I got it in writing. Whether I could have collected on that had something gone wrong is anybodies guess though.
rolleyes.gif
 
Hi,

Well, I am in the process of looking for a shetland filly. 99% of my shopping has been photos. I have been talking with reputable breeders, and tell them what I want. Most shetland people have their horses in the pastures, and so the pictures aren't the best. You have to kind of look at what the horse looks like and then look at the sire and dam. I also listen to the sellers, as they know what they are talking about. So far this has been the best way for me to find a good looking horse. I also ask for maesurements, and what the breeder thinks, (if the horse should be shown or not). After that, it's just a risk for me to take if the horse is what the seller says it is.

Amanda
 
My first two I found photos and then went to look at the horses. I was very pleased with the sell and with the horses. It was QrtRae. The next two I bought off of pictures from a friend of QrtRae, Marnie. I was please with both of those horses as well. So when I went to get a driving horse and Marnie had one for sale I looked at the photos and then she send me a DVD to watch him move. It was enough to show me what I wanted and I bought him. A WONDERFUL little driving horse. For the first four I was looking for pets. With the 5th I had a purpose in mind, so I really wanted to see how he moved. Now I have looked at just pictures and when I asked for more pictures or asked questions I got a bad feeling from the sell I just lost interest.

I don't know what your purpose is but there are people from all over North America on here. You may try to make contact with a member from the same area as where the horse is and see if they would be willing to go take a look for you. If you are looking for a pet, I would go for photos, but if you are looking for a show animal I would be more careful
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Latest posts

Back
Top