I’ve always been pro horse viewing, I’m sure the horses appreciate the right to be a part of the process and choose the human that suits them too. I’ve always called it matching rather than selling and it truly is rewarding when you get it right. I’m also happy to sell sight unseen, I’ve been doing this long enough to get a very good sense of what is going to work in the real world.

Viewing a horse should be a pleasant experience, mainly because both parties have completed their due diligence before arranging the viewing. Please remember that this is a business, we’re very keen to match you with the correct mount and are more than happy to invest our time in helping you assess a horse, even if it’s straight off the track and green as grass but lately we are understanding more and more why other retrainers are not all offering this service. Some people seem to have very little respect for our time, the horses, the property or our sanity!

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met lots of lovely people who have come to try horses and most of them are fantastic to deal with, many have not purchased and that is absolutely fine but this is not a kids school holiday activity zone nor do I offer free pony rides across 5 different mounts while you decide what you’re looking for. Here’s a wee list to help us all have a positive experience – you, us, the dogs and the horses!

1. Please ask yourself are you ready to purchase? Do you have the money? Do you have grazing? Do you have something you want to sell first? If you are not in a position to purchase, please do not come and view.
2. Have you read and seen all the posts about this horse? Read the information and the advert (if there is one) carefully? To be fair 99% of what you want to ask has probably been publicised wherever they are advertised, check their advert, check their album, and if you are seriously interested and would like to discuss further please give me a call. Answering a phone call (AirPods mean I can keep working) is much easier than messaging or emailing back and forth multiple times. Facebook posts include the good, the bad and the ugly, everything is always fully disclosed to the best of our knowledge. Sending messages like ‘can I have more info’ might seem clear to you but most, if not all, that I know will be on the page, especially if it’s an ottb that’s been here for a number of days and then there’s the fact that everyone wanting ‘more info’ is actually looking for different things. One person is interested in certain behaviours, another in certain physical aspects. It’s absolutely fine to want ‘more info’ but please be specific about what that actually means to you. We can take photos from other angles, we can trot them in a straight line or whatever else you need to see to assist in your decision making, what we can’t do is write a book about each and every horse for each and every person wanting ‘more info’ hoping we’ve miraculously covered what you’re after.
3. Be on time – if you arrive early you run a good chance of having four dogs jumping on your vehicle, if you arrive late you run a good chance of rolling into someone else’s appointment. We are also trying to get 9-10 horses worked around your appointment so please respect the time slot. If you have specific things you want to see, such as you want the horse in the paddock, or you want it tacked up ready to jump on, please let us know prior to your arrival. Generally we allow 30 minutes per viewing, that is a LONG time to see everything you need to see, please be respectful of our time.
4. Be specific about what you want – don’t come and try a 4 yr old and then tell us it’s too young. We can’t change it’s age, colour, sex or level of schooling so know what you want and whether the horse is going to fit your criteria.
5. If you’ve described yourself and your situation to us and we’ve told you it’s not the right fit TRUST US.
6. Say thank you and let us know what you’re thinking. We can’t make you buy a horse you don’t want, nor would we want to, but a little common courtesy goes a long way. A simple ‘thanks for your time, he’s not the one for me’ puts us all on the same page and we can all get on with our lives rather than this ghosting bullshit like it was a dating app!

Happy horse hunting, we will continue to offer viewings for now but the under $1k horse market will be the first to lose the right to view if people can’t abide by a few basic rules and just generally be decent humans about it.