The question for the day is, who do you trust more, a used car salesman in a polyester shirt or someone with a horse to sell? The answer is that you cannot trust either one. Their goal is to sell you something and make a profit, not to look out for your best interests. You are the only one who will look out for your best interests in buying a horse. What if you need help in determining which horse is right for you? Can you rely on your trainer? At the risk of alienating the ethical trainers out there (I really do not care about the unethical trainers), my answer is no. You can listen to your trainer's opinion, but you are the one who will be stuck with the horse if it is not the right horse for you and more than likely your trainer will walk away from the deal with a commission. Do not be surprised if the trainer subsequently finds you a buyer for that horse, and you can be sure that the resale price will be less than what you paid for it. The original seller may even buy it back from you - of course for less money. When horses were the chief mode of transportation and main farm equipment, horse traders traveled the country with their strings of horses for trade or for sale and that tactic of buying back horses was known as "backtrading."
Backtrading was the most profitable form of horsetrading for horsetraders. Sometimes the most valuable horses the horse traders had for sale, were the horses nobody in their right mind would want. The horse trader disguised the horse's defects and gave the prospective buyer an opportunity to inspect the animal. The negotiations then began and the buyer walked away believing he got the best of the bargain. When the horse's true nature surfaced, the horsetrader was curiously available and dumbfounded at how the horse could have changed so quickly. The buyer was so anxious to rid himself of the problem and get a horse he could use, that he either sold the horse back to the horsetrader at a reduced price or traded him for an obviously broken down animal, but one that could at least do the job needed by the buyer. The horse trader then continued on his way and that defective horse was sold and returned many times over along the trail.
For balky or slow horses, pebbles were dropped into the horse's ears immediately before the trade began. The horse appeared full of energy and propulsion as it pranced around shaking its head.
For hot horses, wads of cotton were soaked in chloroform and jammed up the horse's nostrils shortly before negotiations began so the horse appeared calm and ready to pull the school marm's cart.
For lame horses, cocaine was injected over the nerves on each side of the lame leg to prevent pain and mask the lameness.
For old and emaciated horses, the skin was punctured and air blown into a tube to puff up the wasted area and give the appearance of being normal or younger.
To make the horse carry his tail higher and act more lively, a piece of ginger root or an irritating medicine of some kind was inserted in the lower bowel.
For horses with heaves, bulky food was kept from them, their food was dampened with lime water, and they were drugged with arsenic, lobelia, chloral hydrate, opium, etc. to hide the symptoms.
For horses with breathing problems such as roaring or whistling, sponges with threads were attached and stuffed into the horse's nostril. After the sale, it was pulled out.
To mask spavins, ringbones, and sidebones, the unscrupulous horse dealers frequently made wounds or skin abrasions over a spavin, ringbone or sidebone, or they bruised the parts to produce local swelling. This was done to mislead the buyer into believing that the horse was suffering a recent and trivial injury.
To make a horse appear as if it was used to hard work in the harness, burn sores were put on the shoulders and the hair disarranged on top of the horse's neck as though caused by a collar. The horse may never have pulled anything before.
To conceal a cribber, the horse traders would saw between the incisor teeth or drive small wedges between them to make the mouth sore so the horse would temporarily discontinue cribbing.
To make an old horse appear young, the cups of the teeth were cut in the table surface and stained with silver nitrate.
Imagine the modern day horse traders with the myriad of drugs available to them to mask symptoms and make a deranged animal into a temporary packer.
The law now provides some protection for obvious acts that are meant to hide defects and induce a buyer to buy that which is not real, however in most instances, it is still buyer beware. Except where express warranties are given by the seller in writing, the buyer is stuck with what they bought. At auctions, the buyer is notified in writing that the buyer is responsible to inspect the horse fully before the purchase because "all sales are final."