False advertising WWYD?

[Toadie's mom]

Wow, this year is really starting off weird regarding my "ex-horses".

I was looking at a website of a farm that I'd sold one of my TB mares to. They have her picture on there (which BTW they didn't have permission to use), and have her listed as a Trakehner. Oh and also as a hunter. She was a green broke 13yr old OTTB broodmare when I sold her. Anyway, I thought since they do their own website (after looking at posts here that must be very difficult) they must have meant that she was approved by the ATA and it just didn't come out right?!

Then tonight I was looking at ads to get comparisons for a filly I'm advertising (she's out of above mare) and I see an ad for a gelding from the aforementioned farm. Lo and behold, he's out of a "Trakehner" mare by the same name as the one I sold them. Hmmmmmmmm, I was quite taken aback :lol: There is no way in hell this gelding is out of "my" mare.

I did email them and jokingly ask if they have 2 mares with the same name. Anything's possible I suppose! I hope they respond with a simple explanation, but if not how would you pursue this? Or, would you?

[alexandra]

just forget about it. they will not change it anyways. I know e.g. about a person advertising warmbloods from germany with wrong showrecords. Telling this person and putting real results on the internet did not really stop this person from that kind of advertising.

And if it is a gelding they sell, well who cares about the breeding will realise from seing the papers and who does not care about the breeding will not care so it does not matter. Want to spend your time on looking after other people's life and safe the from doing mistakes (buyers) ?

[spacely]

It's unlikely they will do anything about it. I know of someone who is advertising a mare by the Dutch stallion Rubinstein (by Lorenz) as being by THE Rubinstein. He's been called on it a few times by different people & refuses to change his ad. This is also the same person who advertises his TB stallion as being approved by multiple WB registries when in fact he's not approved for anything. :rolleyes:

[aurum]

Many advertise with wrong statements. There is a woman in Germany also breeding Palominos and she advertises her Palomino stallion as Premium awarded but he wasn't premium awarded. She was told so by the Association itself but does not change things. It will hopefully kick their butts one day!

[camohn]

If it is a farm website........not much you can do. If it is an online sales site like DreamHorse or Equine.com they do care. There was one farm that was adveritsing youngsters as eligible for WB registry X on her website and that they WERE registered with registy X on the online ad sites. They were out of non WB mares (Saddlebreds and drafts) and the stallions were not approved either. Thinking the woman maybe was just misinformed about registry rules I emailed and politely informed her the info on her website was incorrect for reason x. Hooo weee did I get a nasty email back!! Apparently she was not merely uninformed..........just dishonest. Since she had ads on DH and Equine for the same horses I informed those sites that she had them listed as registered with breed X when they were NOT and not eligible either. I told them that I had already contacted the seller privately (I am not all about getting folks in trouble for being merely uninformed) but this particular woman is not uninformed/just dishonest and IS aware of what she is doing. They pulled the ads.

[WBLover]

Well, the truth will come out if someone looks at her lips and sees the tattoo! Last time I checked, they do not tatoo Trakehners on their lips!

[Iron Horse Farm]

I sold my big TB hunter for a substantial discount when a PPE revealed some pretty significant hock arthritis from racing and jumping. Imagine my surprise when just a few months after he was sold I found him advertised on a major sales website "with clean x rays" :eek::eek::eek:........oh yea, and the price had doubled!

[Daventry]

It's unlikely they will do anything about it.

...not unless the OP posts about it on here, lots of people read this and venture to the person's website and then start bombarding the owner with "how dare you " emails! :lol::yes: (happens quite a bit on here with good results - the COTH crew doesn't seem to take kindly to scammers :confused::lol:)

[TouchstoneAcres]

You can make her take down your picture for copyright infringement. The only other thing you can do is launch your own mini site and get it to come up on Google with the right info. But it is not worth your time probably.

[Toadie's mom]

You guys are right, it's not worth losing sleep over. I should just take the attitude that "what goes around, comes around", and "let the buyer be ware".

I guess the main disappointment to me is because...WHAT'S THE POINT! She's a lovely mare that IS approved by the ATA and produced 2 beautiful fillies for me that the buyer was able to see. Why would you try to make her something else :confused:

The gelding in the ad is not registered, so I have no recourse to go to Dreamhorse. The photo on the website is from a professional and I had permission in writing from her to reproduce wherever I wanted. I suppose I could contact the photographer and make her aware of it.

Anyway, just beware if you're looking at unregistered horses for sale in TX that are out of a chestnut Trakehner mare ;)

[caddym]

this reminds me of a funny story.

YEARS ago, a super nice family (think home made xmass cookies, daily sit down dinners, church on sunday) asked me if I would ride their sale horse. The horse was a very useful QH that a friend from TX had donated to a school in the NE and the school had subsequently sold to the family (they totaly knew it was a QH from TX)

I did a bit of riding for prospective buyers at the time for ZERO money as it was fun to show off and jump a bunch of jumps.

So as we are waiting for the trainer to come to the barn, the daughter warned me that they told the trainer the horse was a "warmblood from Europe". I was HORRIFIED. And even more so as no one could understand why I would have ANY problem with this as "warmbloods sold for more than QH's".

Just as I was heatedly insisting that I would not ride the horse - an excited voice "its superman"!!!!. Yeah, Christopher Reeves (sans tights) on a buying trip.

I was so star-struck. i may very well have rode the horse. But the horse jogged out lame and the trainer was no dummy, they left in about 10 minutes.

[misita]

It's unlikely they will do anything about it. I know of someone who is advertising a mare by the Dutch stallion Rubinstein (by Lorenz) as being by THE Rubinstein. He's been called on it a few times by different people & refuses to change his ad. This is also the same person who advertises his TB stallion as being approved by multiple WB registries when in fact he's not approved for anything. :rolleyes:

I think I know exactly the person your talking about. They also had 2 weanlings advertised for sale but the photos of the weanlings advertised WERE NOT the actual foals he had for sale. He stole those photos and I have no clue who the foals really are, but I sure know who they're not.

[STF]

I guess the main disappointment to me is because...WHAT'S THE POINT! She's a lovely mare that IS approved by the ATA and produced 2 beautiful fillies for me that the buyer was able to see. Why would you try to make her something else

I know someone who did that too. She took her TB mare to the GOV grading and the mare got some approval and the next thing I knew she had her listed on Dreamhorse or one of those as an "Oldenburg Mare For Sale".... maybe they think it changes their idenity in full? Heck, I dunno.

As for your issues, Id just let it go. Its not worth it and most any knowledgeable person will figure it out once they see the papers.

[spacely]

She took her TB mare to the GOV grading and the mare got some approval and the next thing I knew she had her listed on Dreamhorse or one of those as an "Oldenburg Mare For Sale"

I see this all the time in sale ads.

I think I know exactly the person your talking about. They also had 2 weanlings advertised for sale but the photos of the weanlings advertised WERE NOT the actual foals he had for sale. He stole those photos and I have no clue who the foals really are, but I sure know who they're not.

I knew you'd know who I was talking about. ;) I did see the photos of the foals he had for sale & they looked quite nice. Too bad they weren't his. :eek:

[alexandra]

Well sometimes it is relly just being uneducated.
A breeder also often posting here on Coth "advertised" a known stalion beeing the father of a foal as being a horse of registry x where it was in registry y and only breeding approved in x.
This person in the first place did not really understand what is the difference and why it matters. I guess now the person has understood and I believe has changed her homepage.

[Rancho del Marr]

That is something I see a lot. The sire is a registered Hanoverian, but not approved Hanoverian. The seller advertises the foal as Hanoverian, even though the foal is registered with another registry, such as RPSI.

[TrueColours]

Or the ones that magically G-R-O-W in height ... :rolleyes: ... from the advertised and stated 15.1-15.2hh, to 15.3 1/2hh at the new owners when asked publically and to finally 16.1hh on the farm website ... :lol:

Or I especially like the S-H-R-I-N-K-I-N-G ones even better ... ;)

Sold as 17hh, arrive at the new home and show up on the new owners website as 16.1hh, the next years correction shows 16hh and someone who actually stood beside him said 15.2-15.3hh - tops ...

Things that make you go "hmmmmmmmmm ..." for sure

[horserider12]

there's one advertising her mare as usef hunter breeding 2 year old champion 2008 zone 2. Funny since we have that ribbon hanging in our barn!

[spacely]

Or the ones that magically G-R-O-W in height ... :rolleyes: ... from the advertised and stated 15.1-15.2hh, to 15.3 1/2hh at the new owners when asked publically and to finally 16.1hh on the farm website ... :lol:


:lol: I know exactly who that is. Funny how that horse grew a hand on it's way to the new owner. :rolleyes:

The sire is a registered Hanoverian, but not approved Hanoverian. The seller advertises the foal as Hanoverian, even though the foal is registered with another registry, such as RPSI.

Or even better, he is advertised as an Elite Hanoverian stallion when in fact he's registered but NOT approved Hanoverian.:no:

[JWB]

Don't know who you're talking about but I loved it when I was searching for Holsteiner mares and I found TONS that were listed for sale as Holsteiners but were either 1) AHHA approved TBs or 2) RPSI/AWR/AWS registered but from a Holsteiner parent and thus being advertised as a Holsteiner.

[Toadie's mom]

Come to think of it, I don't know why all if this is surpising to me. I was relating my mare story to a friend yesterday, and she reminded me of the woman we boarded with 24 yrs. ago. The woman raised paints and whenever she'd get a solid foal they'd miraculously turn into QH's and be sold with AQHA papers.

[ThirdCharm]

I sold a TB mare in foal to my TB stallion, some hunter people bought the resulting foal from the owners of the TB mare, had him advertised for big bucks as a Warmblood hunter. I emailed them to let them know I was glad to see one of "my" colts doing so well, and just FYI he was a TB and both his parents had successful show careers. Yeah, ad didn't change......

Jennifer

[baysngreys]

Changing the breed is wrong but changing the horse's age can really hurt them.

Several years ago I sold an older TB mare, approved Old, to a young girl. She had saved her allowance and wanted something "to hack around her family's farm".
Within months she sold Daizy. I saw an ad and the mare was now 16, not 20. I tried to contact the girl but by then the mare had sold.

I found Daizy once more the following summer. She was advertised on a private website as a 15 year old jumper. I contacted the farm and told them the mare's real age.
They didn't want to know.
I said I'd buy her back.
They said she was sold.
I still had the original Old papers and asked for the new, new, new, owner's name to forward them. Never heard back from the people or farm again.

Poor mare, after 6 babies, 20+ years old, put back into hard work because someone lied about her age.
I can only hope a vet looked at her teeth and told the new owner the truth.

I blame myself for getting into a situation where I had to sell an older mare :(
I still look for her in ads.

[okggo]

Happens A LOT in sales ads (re TB mares with WB approvals). I'll list both JC AND xxx approved, but most just forget to mention the TB part - fortunately I know TB pedigrees pretty well.

Seems more common with Oldenburg, although I don't know why. I've been looking for a broodmare, and stumbled across this quite a lot. I also know of one listed for sale as proven, but I know she has a serious reproductive problem and after 6 years of breeding has only produced one healthy foal (others either aborted, died at birth/put down, and one had delayed neurological symptoms and was put down a little older).

I just hope buyers have enough common sense to really do their homework before biting the line.

[judybigredpony]

Well how would you handle someone not only using your personal photo of the horse you sold them...same one from your webb site...With out your permission on their Webb site....And then Asking you to remove the price from your Ad which is marked sold on your sight.

Because they don't want anyone to know what they paid for horse, since they plan to resell him???????????

[S A McKee]

Great thread !!!

And there is someone who posts on here who insists on saying her WB stallion is out of a mare that is his maternal grandam, not his dam.

That same person also has a showing horse and lists stallion X as his sire. Not likely as stallion X is a gelding and would have been 11 months old at the time the horse was conceived.( the sire is likely the sire of the horse she claims is the sire).

Same person has a mare that she called xx. However the mare has a different name with the JC and she keeps insisting it's a different horse. Not possible as they would have to have been twins.JC doesn't allow embryo transfer and it's a TB.

And oh look, that person posted on this thread complaining about somebody else. LMAO

[can't re-]

I guess that is why the saying is, unfortunately, buyer beware.

I vetted a mare and she had a small blemish. She appeared sound, but the bumped bother me, which upon further inspection had a clip mark for a joint injection. Radiographs showed a mess. The vet said she would be hard to keep pasture sound. Another person bought her, I called and told her about the injury. She then sold the horse to a friend! When I saw the mare advertised by the friend I told her as well. The mare was still sold as a hunter prospect and was being jumped on a really bad ankle.

I recently ran across a website advertising a broodmare who's career was cut short in the ring because of injury. The wording implies the mare showed to an impressive level, when in fact she has no show record. She was a prospect and was injured before showing.

[dmalbone]

Well how would you handle someone not only using your personal photo of the horse you sold them...same one from your webb site...With out your permission on their Webb site....And then Asking you to remove the price from your Ad which is marked sold on your sight.

Because they don't want anyone to know what they paid for horse, since they plan to resell him???????????

Picture issue aside, it is often common courtesy to remove prices on sold horses. Not a big deal and not obviously required, but I more often than not see prices removed on sold horses.

[Dressage_Diva333]

Misita and Spacely, I also know who you are talking about.

We went and looked at a mare with a friend of mine a couple years ago... mare was NOT the mare in the picture, no way no how. I still have the photos I took of said mare, absolutely completely different horse.

I agree about the Rubinstein mare, I looked at that mare, I was suspicious before I even went due to the previous experience mentioned above, I saw the papers, and that was that.

I saw a couple foals said person had at the facility, and I agree that they don't look like the ones I've seen advertised...

[spacely]

Misita and Spacely, I also know who you are talking about.

We went and looked at a mare with a friend of mine a couple years ago... mare was NOT the mare in the picture, no way no how. I still have the photos I took of said mare, absolutely completely different horse.

I agree about the Rubinstein mare, I looked at that mare, I was suspicious before I even went due to the previous experience mentioned above, I saw the papers, and that was that.

I saw a couple foals said person had at the facility, and I agree that they don't look like the ones I've seen advertised...

Now the mare's price has jumped from $1500 to $4500. :lol::rolleyes::uhoh:

[misita]

DD-333, Did you happen to save the ad regarding the two weanlings? I've looked for it since and they've been deleted. I did save the foal photos but not the ads.