No Go For Magneto

Here is one of the videos I took of Joe riding Magneto.

We found out today we were not good enough for Magneto.   This will be a rant, so be prepared.  Here is the ad description.

To good home only. No dealers. Vet references required. Will be picky about where he goes. Extraordinary 6 year old, 14.1 hands quarter horse arab cross. Magneto the Magnificent. Beautiful mover. Excellent trail horse. Goes through water and over bridges. Rides out well in company and alone. Three fluid and athletic gates. Stands for saddling, vet care, teeth floating, mounting and trimming. Very good with other horses. Turned out currently in a mixed herd of mares and geldings. Gets along great with mules and dogs. Does not mind cows. Trailers fine in a stock trailer or two horse. Sweet natured and likes people. He will walk right up to you in the pasture. No problems to catch. Does not crib. Lives out in a pasture with run-in shed year round. Goes barefoot or in hoofboots. Four beautiful black hoofs. He requires an advanced intermediate rider. Snaffle mouthed. Goes on a very light rein. Naturally balanced with good transitions. This sport pony has the potential for many different disciplines western dressage, English dressage, hunter pony, endurance, trail riding, eventing. Fit, in work and up to date on hoof trimming, worming and shots. Only selling because he won’t make a pack horse. He’s too ticklish for the britchin and sliding loads. Special, loving home a must. Horse is in Lenoir, North Carolina

On a scale from 1 to 10, calm to spirited, she rated him a 7.

 I messaged her on the Dream Horse site and this was our first contact with the owner.  She messaged me back on Dream Horse  but said it didn’t provide enough room for all she wanted to say.  She then asked to be my friend on Facebook so she could write more.  

Hi Joe and Kay Magneto is a lovely, little horse with a lot of athleticism and talent. He is a lovely mover and looks like he could just lift right up in to the wind when you ride him. His gates are very soft and comfortable. As I stated in the ad he does need a good and confident rider. He is still a bit green and has only been under saddle for a little over 2 years. Sometimes he can get a little halty and looky on the trails when he’s out alone but nothing bad. If you are confident he just requires a moment and off he will go again. He can also be quite reactive to things touching him like bushes. He requires that you go slow when putting a saddle or a blanket on him. I have been working on trying to make him less reactive, partly I think it might be due to the Arab in him and some due, perhaps to rushed training when he was started. He has come a long way in the year that we have had him but we decided to find him another home because he still will not be ready for a pack saddle and a year long riding and camping trip out every night. A sliding load would not be good with him. A long riding horse that goes along a lot of roads takes a very staid animal and Magneto is not staid enough for that yet. He has melted down twice once when he was stung by wasps. He stepped in a hive bucked down a field and I baled off. The other time something spooked all our horses and mules in the bushes, I was ponying another horse and had the rope under my leg. The rope from the other horse pulling tight lifted me half out of the saddle and put my weight way over on the side of Magnetos saddle and he bucked me off. There was too much weight in the wrong place and the commotion of the other spooking horses and mules panicked him. That all said he almost always goes like you saw in the video we made, on a loose rein with a happy expression. I have no doubt in my own mind that he will make someone the most amazing partner. He has so much talent and is sweet natured. If we were not going to go on our trip for the entire year next year I’d be keeping him. Both me and my husband are in love with him. We both grew up on horse farms and both feel Magneto is one of the most special young horses we’ve ever gotten to work with. I want to be upfront and honest as I want the home to be just right for Magneto. I want to find someone that will see how special he is and love him as much as we do. If you are still interested after hearing more about him, my name is Xxx I would love for you to come and meet him if he sounds like what you are looking for and you could offer him the type of home I’d like him to have. p.s. I will not let Magneto go to a place where he will be the only horse. He really loves having another horse to play with. He requires a kind owner, a quiet rider and a good living situation with good vet care for me to deem it the “right match”.

After this scary description, we still wanted to see him because he looked pretty normal in the video.  I told someone it is like when a client calls the clinic and says their dog is bleeding.  It could be anything from some lipstick from the last time they kissed it, to a severed leg with an artery spirting blood everywhere.  So we wanted to see for ourselves how jumpy he was and if it was something we could deal with.  On the trail ride a limb brushed against his side and he scooted two steps sideways then walked on. She said, “see, that’s what he does.” I am going with lipstick level of concern. 

After lots of discussion on the way home and watching the videos that I took, Joe decided to call and make an offer.  Here is the message we got back.

Hi Kay and Joe. I got your phone message late last night. The price on Magneto is firm at $5,500. The Woman that saw him last Sat is coming back this Sat and is very serious about buying him. We will let you know if he is still available. Nice to meet you we had a fun time trail riding with you guys. All the best in finding your next great partner for Joe.

I replied,

Hi J, thank you for the opportunity to check out Magneto. We really did like him and feel he would fit in well with our remuda. Are you committed to Saturday’s prospect or would you be willing to accept a full offer from us today?

We were shocked at the reply,

Hi Kay and Joe, Thank you for your continued interest in Magneto. Bernie and I both enjoyed your visit to our farm. The woman trainer, who was coming back to try him again, as a personal riding horse (hunter/jumper) background, has bowed out this morning for financial reasons. Bernie and I have talked over selling him to you and both have concluded it may not be the best match. We both really liked you guys and the look from photos and the description you paint of your farm. Bernie and I frankly feel that Magneto might be too much horse for what you are looking for. We don’t feel comfortable selling him to you as he really does, right now, require a quiet, soft, experienced rider in all gates. For this reason we have decided to up his price and focus more on selling him in the sport horse community rather than the pleasure horse community. We wish Joe all the luck in finding just the right mount. Sincerely,

I have never been more insulted.  At no point did she every ask what I did.  She made some references to pictures on my Facebook page, but we all know, I am very private on Facebook and there isn’t so much you can learn there.  I really feel like tearing into her.  Between the two of us, Joe and I have over 100 years of riding and equine experience. I worked as an equine vet at a breeding farm collecting stallions for AI, was an ambulatory veterinarian at the vet school,  and an equine relief vet before going into small animal full time.  And a 14.1 hand 750 pound horse is too much for us. (I will admit that Draper, a 15.2 hand 1200 pound horse, may be too much for me but more on that later.)  And we were wanting to endurance ride so how is he too much horse for that.  Endurance riding is what Arabians are for.  They didn’t ask about our facilities, we have in indoor arena, an outdoor arena, plenty of panels for a round pen when needed, and hundreds of miles of trails 5 minutes from our house.  

This is what gives horse people a bad name.  You advertise something, you get a full price offer, you turn it down and raise the price. I feel like she used us as leverage to get the “trainer” more interested, then when she backed out and we offered full price decided they wanted more.  He was originally advertised at $8500 because she didn’t want him going to a dealer.  She got at least two people interested when she dropped the price to $5500.  Now he his advertised at $7500.  If it was about the “special home” why does the price matter so much?  

She has a blog. Here is a very interesting post. wheelbarrow-meditation

Why do horse people have to be so crazy?  

Rant over for now.