[asterix]

to just have a 1 or 2 minute video of said horse doing whatever it is that you say it does?
You know, walk, trot, canter...maybe jump a jump....

I am shopping, and I am really tired of sellers telling me they "haven't had time" or "haven't gotten around to" ....

It only takes 5 minutes and someone with a decent cell phone.

And if you don't have decent video? Please don't send me the "cross country schooling" which shows a tiny moving dot in the distance, maybe jumping some brown thing.
Please don't send me 7 seconds of trot poles from 2 years ago.
Please don't send me 10 seconds of cantering, no walk, no trot.
And please don't send me video of your young horse warming up in the mud, on a slope. The horse looks lame. It probably isn't, but it isn't inspiring a visit. Where did the person with the video camera go when you did an actual dressage test in a flat ring 5 minutes later?

When I politely inquire about seeing all 3 gaits, or a video in which you can actually identify the color of the horse because it is within 50 yards of the camera, I either get a "sorry, that's all I have" or "Oh, I'll work on that"....and never hear back.

I am obviously under the MISimpression that I am the customer and that the seller actually wants to sell the horse....

Rant over. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

[Carried Away]

this is exactly why I prefer to work with my trainer or an agent! I definitely feel your pain though. Many sellers are clueless and asking WAY too much $$$ for what they actually have.

It's worth paying commission IMHO...

[asterix]

Hmmm. Have gotten vids from "trainers" in which the horse is SO small I'd be hard put to identify its markings, videos 2 years old, and videos bearing no relationship to what the horse is purportedly doing now. My favorite trainer video was shot IN THE DARK. Dark bay horse. It is intermittently visible for one stride as it passes the camera. Sigh.

And to be fair, I've gotten some lovely useful videos from private sellers.

[scubed]

I honestly think that a lot of these people aren't that interested in selling the horse. I have I think, bought all of my horses for the past 10 years from professionals. I've decided I don't mind paying a little more to deal with a professional.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Bummer girl...are you still shopping??? I've seen some nice ones lately.....and bought one

[asterix]

It's not for lack of trying...vetted two in last three weeks....
1 left vetting to head to surgery for OCD chip about to wreck fetlock....other had a pretty good spur on one ankle and changes all around... Both young, well bred, and sound ....for now....sigh.....

[judybigredpony]

I am a Seller..and I hate being asked for video...it is not always a true representation of the horse, depending on the device and then speed of computer potential customer loads onto...video's can break a sale if not just perfect....if you like what you see in the photo GO LOOKN IN PERSON!!!!!!!!!!! I can spend all day making video's editing uploading and sending off to people who are tire kickers don't have the full asking price or who have no intentions of actually buying....And cell phone video is the absolute worst!!!

[justhoofit]

I do like a quick video from an owner/seller. I tend to trust the professionals more and might look without one. I understand that they may move better and look better in person, but it seems that a lot of people try to sell horses that are slightly off and I can pick that up in a video. A slight hitch in the hind end, dragging a toe, short strided up front - and the sellers believe they are sound. I blame it on ignorance most of the time. But it saves me lots of time and gas money to see the video first.

[gumtree]

I am a seller and a buyer it's how we make our living. I think your rant is fully justified. My motto is and has been; “No one needs a horse”. I repeat this to my suppliers, vets, farriers, and all the other “service providers” who make a living off of those of us who have huge overhead by owning a farm and work 7 days a week pretty much 365 days a year trying to make the experience of owning a horse fun and worth the money.
When buying I have run into the same nonsense. I don’t get what sellers don’t understand about the above. They are not doing anyone any favors. That being said I don’t totally disagree with Judybigredpony’s post # 7. I have found over the years that a bad or moderate picture let alone video ends the conversation before it even gets going. But I don’t think it is that difficult these days nor expensive to put a good video and pictures together on a website. U Tube makes it pretty darn easy. Sure it takes time, sometimes a lot. Sure there are a lot of tire kickers but IMO that’s just the cost of doing business. Here’s an example of one of our videos feel free to critique.
http://gumtreestables.com/sportthoroughbred4sale.html
There is one thing that drives me nuts as a seller and that is when a buyer calls and asks if we will take less having never even looked at the horse let alone get on it’s back. I don’t like playing games, can’t stand haggling. I feel and have been told many times that we price our horses very fairly. I also tell people that the horse may or may not be the one they are looking for but they will not be wasting their time making the trip. If there are any “holes” we are upfront. But buyers need to be realistic also. About their skills, riding abilities, and what kind of horse X amount of dollars will buy.
Working with an agent cost additional money but we have the ways and means to put a very good “short list” together. We have developed relationships that have taken years and our call is always returned. We can find the “goods” because sellers know we have “vetted” our clients and we are not just kicking tires. I don’t work without a reasonable nonrefundable retainer depending on the client.
I don’t like wasting my time and I certainly don’t like wasting a potential buyer’s or client‘s.

[fine*and*dandy]

It's really not that difficult to upload videos to YouTube, and then requires no extra effort on the part of the seller. Many people are looking from quite a distance away - who would buy a plane ticket to go see a horse without seeing video first? I even ask to see videos for horses that are local. Why waste my time and the seller's time if I can tell from the video that I'm not interested? I feel the same way when selling. There's no point in making the process more difficult than it needs to be.

[Gayla]

I love videos that are pictures of the horse put to music.

[Event4Life]

JBRP- Actually, Iphone/Android/whatever other smartphone videos are decent enough quality that you'd get a general idea of the horses way of going, jump, etc - which is what people want.

No one is expecting perfection in a 3 minute video, but I can totally see the value of it to sellers. This is especially true if seller is going to make a long drive then find out the horse is obviously not what you're looking for. The basics (movement, jump) are better shown in a video than a photo, which is just a millisecond of of time.

[LookmaNohands]

So I am the tech challenged seller who has stepped up, got a new camera, had someone take the video, finally figured out imovie, went to the library to upload (I'm on dial-up) GOT THE G-DAMN VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE AND . . .

(sound of crickets).

They are not really that bad are they?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VUJG...ature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUatS_oZS8k&feature=plcp

Legitimate horse, I guess people are all looking for olympic mounts?

I don't understand.

[NoDQhere]

I don't think your request is unreasonable at all. We try to put up a decent video of each horse so the potential buyer can get a general idea. Then we will do a video of whatever someone wants to see if they want to see more. We have a decent camera and easy to use software and really, it isn't all that difficult.

[retreadeventer]

It's very easy to stand at ringside and video a horse performing and that is where video is best shot, in my opinion. They are pretty, well groomed, braided, the rider is wearing decent clothing and boots and tack shiny and clean...hard to beat the presentation value of a SHOW. And it shows that the horse can actually go to a show and perform, too. Not just hack around at home.

[Gestalt]

So I am the tech challenged seller who has stepped up, got a new camera, had someone take the video, finally figured out imovie, went to the library to upload (I'm on dial-up) GOT THE G-DAMN VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE AND . . .

(sound of crickets).

They are not really that bad are they?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VUJG...ature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUatS_oZS8k&feature=plcp

Legitimate horse, I guess people are all looking for olympic mounts?

I don't understand.

I liked your videos. They showed me an honest horse working in conditions that I would ride in (open field, uneven ground). I can't guess why people aren't interested, she's not the tallest horse but she has a full body. If I was looking for a horse, I would give her a try. She looks well cared for.

[Event4Life]

It's very easy to stand at ringside and video a horse performing and that is where video is best shot, in my opinion. They are pretty, well groomed, braided, the rider is wearing decent clothing and boots and tack shiny and clean...hard to beat the presentation value of a SHOW. And it shows that the horse can actually go to a show and perform, too. Not just hack around at home.

I think this is true, especially if you are selling the horse priced as competing at a specific level - prove that the horse can do what you say, which is even more important if you don't have show records to do so.

However, more important is a clean, non distracting presentation of both horse and rider - making the horse the focus.

And for heavens sake if you are advertising it as a kids horse/pony PLEASE have a kid riding it, even if you blur out their faces for child protection purposes or whatever. Sorry, personal pet peeve...it drives me CRAZY seeing sales vids of 6' tall adults riding 13hh ponies.

[Cindyg]

I just bought a horse. I shopped from February until October. I was shopping for a certain breed in a part of the country where that breed isn't popular, so almost every horse I was interested in was 1000+ miles away. So videos were crucial.

I found most sellers did not have a good video and weren't interested in making one. Oh, most had some video. But, yes, I'm sorry; I did want to see specific things before traveling.

The horse I ended up buying was the one whose seller was the most cooperative about making me videos. This horse was nearly 2000 miles away from me. If there seller had not been willing to accommodate me on the videos, there's no way I would have chosen this horse.

You just can't go see them all. You've got to have something to convince you that that this one is special and worth making the trip for.

[JER]

A couple of years ago, I bought a horse after seeing a video of him standing in a muddy paddock, banging his head against a milk jug hung from the roof of his shelter.

So yes, I agree that video can be very important.

[TheJenners]

Um. I have oodles of video shot with my cell phone (NOT sideways...ugh), thy loads right up to YouTube OR I plug the phone into the computer to edit with whatever the free Windows program is already installed.

It isn't hard. However, whoever does the videoing absolutely has to know how to video. Not all horse people can do this, or take a photo. My DH takes pictures of me, and I am always tiny, weird looking and the horse looks bored. And he is a wonderful horse person.