When we asked you what the strangest questions you had been asked when selling your horse, we were inundated with replies — from the lady who wanted a horse to match her wedding dress, to the buyer who was after a discount because of a winter coat
1. “Can we buy it for £1,000 less because it has a winter coat?” — Rachel Stock
2. “‘Is it ready to go out affiliated jumping?’ asked of an 11.1hh beginners’ lead rein pony who had been a lady of leisure for the previous two years. Unless they were planning on buying her a trampoline they were on a hiding to nothing.” — Joanna Broughton
3. “‘How is he going to understand me, I don’t speak Dutch?’. I answered ‘not to worry, neither does he’…” — Astrid Bolton
4. “I was selling a cream mare once and the lady brought a photo of her wedding dress to see if the mare would match her wedding dress (champagne coloured!)” — Christina Mulqueen
5. “Is the grey faster than the bay because he wears shoes?” — Cheryl Cundall
6. “What does it eat?” — Julia Chaplin
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7. “I was selling a set of showjumps, and a woman rang and asked if they would fit in her car” — Linda Jenkins
8. “‘But I wanted a spotty one’. Then why have you come to try my chestnut gelding for sale, advertised with pictures?!” — Abi Hitchcock
9. “When I was looking to buy a few years ago, I became very confused with the for sale ads I was seeing online in Ireland. People were asking for £1000s for horses advertised as 16.2 ISH. I could not understand why people would ask for so much money when they couldn’t be bothered to put a measuring stick to their horses rather than just rounding their height off. To my complete embarrassment I asked just that question when prospecting and was bluntly told ISH meant an Irish Sports Horse for sale… I bought a cob in the end!” — Elaine Lynch
10. “While advertising a yearling for sale I was asked ‘Is it broken in?’, ‘Is she spooky to ride?’ and ‘Would she be suitable for my nine-year-old?'” — Daisy Dukes
11. “Selling a £10,000 horse lorry I was asked ‘Would you take £1,000 cash?’ Me: ‘Did you miss off a zero?’ Lady: ‘No, but it’s for cash’!” — Emily Wilton
12. “Would you keep him for three weeks so we can try him after our holiday?” — Charlotte Knight
13. “While looking for sharers, the ad stated ‘she’s a plod who loves hacking’. I was asked: ‘How high does she jump? Has she done dressage? Can I take her to PC camp?’ Answers: logs, no and absolutely no.”
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A graduate from Durham University, Madeleine joined H&H in 2011 and became Features Editor — producing content across the magazine and website, including the popular inside back cover article ‘The horse that made me’ and the weekly ‘The best of my fun…’ interview. She has written on topics as diverse as hay making and headcams, to hot totty in the horse world and circus horses. Madeleine now works as a freelance feature writer for Country Life, The Telegraph, Horse & Hound, cntraveller.com, The Spectator and The Field, as well as writing obituaries for The Times.
