I was in search of a smaller endurance trail horse, and came upon Danna Findlay "Dances with Horses" multiple ads on one of the Equine Search Engines. I also visited her website, which had so many great reviews and thank you notes from prior customers, along with her stated mission as an animal rescue, sanctuary.
She claimed to train horses, know horses very well, ride horses, trail ride horses, and had years of experience in the horse business. This part of her story was probably true.
She had a very cute 15 hand MORAB for sale at $4000. The ad stated the horse was a registed or papered Morab, was an trail or endurance horse, very gentle and sweet, sound, healthy, great with kids, and you could take her anywhere you wanted to (english pleasure, endurance, western barrels, etc). The Morabs age was provided at 7 yrs old.
I purchased the MORAB, and when the MORAB was delivered, she was gentle, very cute, personable. Ms. Findlay had a friend with her who praised Ms. Findaly over and over, stating what a great person she was, etc. Ms. Findlay stated that she had just taken this MORAB out on a 3 day overnight camping trip in a park that is know for very rough terraine and the MORAB had also completed a very long endurance ride across Michigan.
Ms. Findlay handed me a vey nice put together package, and had me sign what appeared to be a rather extensive contract for the purchase of one horse for use on trail. I paid Ms. Finlay in cash, and she promised to send the papers at a later date.
We placed the MORAB in a stall, quarantine as we do with all horses brought to the stable. My barn manager noted that she was a bit ribby or underfed, and suggested grain. As Ms. Finlay's documents of the MORAB did NOT show that the horse had been fully vaccinated to my standard, I called my vet so that he could vaccinate.
Upon arrival, he looked over the Morab. He has been my local vet for my other horses now for 10 years, and asked me if I had a vet examination for the horse. I told him no, I bought the horse from a very reputable horse dealer, as I had done so in the past (with no issues - paying a high premium to be safe).
He asked me if he could peform a quick exam before he gave her vacines as a precaution. He noted that she was extreemely sore in her front legs, wincing when he touched her in certain areas. He also noted that on all 4 legs, the fibers that make up the ligaments and tendons were very rough, not smooth showing evidence of ongoing tearing scarring and tearing.
He finished his exam, and recommend pain (shot first followed by oral) medication as he said this little MORAB is in a lot of pain at this time. He did state that he thought she was around 6-8 yrs of age given her teeth, and proceeded to give her her shots vacinnations AND Pain Medication.
The little horse rested for 3 weeks, and then I started working with her. She was a childs horse, very cute as a button, but in no way whatsoever a trail or endurance horse. She had been abused in her life, and her tendons and ligaments were a mess. Riding rough terrain was out of the question, as was long distance. She was good for a PET, Field Ornament, or small childs riding horse for minimal riding.
I did like her personality and was sad to have my findings confirmed by experts and my vet over the next 5 months.
DancingWithHorses.net Reviews
I was in search of a smaller endurance trail horse, and came upon Danna Findlay "Dances with Horses" multiple ads on one of the Equine Search Engines. I also visited her website, which had so many great reviews and thank you notes from prior customers, along with her stated mission as an animal rescue, sanctuary.
She claimed to train horses, know horses very well, ride horses, trail ride horses, and had years of experience in the horse business. This part of her story was probably true.
She had a very cute 15 hand MORAB for sale at $4000. The ad stated the horse was a registed or papered Morab, was an trail or endurance horse, very gentle and sweet, sound, healthy, great with kids, and you could take her anywhere you wanted to (english pleasure, endurance, western barrels, etc). The Morabs age was provided at 7 yrs old.
I purchased the MORAB, and when the MORAB was delivered, she was gentle, very cute, personable. Ms. Findlay had a friend with her who praised Ms. Findaly over and over, stating what a great person she was, etc. Ms. Findlay stated that she had just taken this MORAB out on a 3 day overnight camping trip in a park that is know for very rough terraine and the MORAB had also completed a very long endurance ride across Michigan.
Ms. Findlay handed me a vey nice put together package, and had me sign what appeared to be a rather extensive contract for the purchase of one horse for use on trail. I paid Ms. Finlay in cash, and she promised to send the papers at a later date.
We placed the MORAB in a stall, quarantine as we do with all horses brought to the stable. My barn manager noted that she was a bit ribby or underfed, and suggested grain. As Ms. Finlay's documents of the MORAB did NOT show that the horse had been fully vaccinated to my standard, I called my vet so that he could vaccinate.
Upon arrival, he looked over the Morab. He has been my local vet for my other horses now for 10 years, and asked me if I had a vet examination for the horse. I told him no, I bought the horse from a very reputable horse dealer, as I had done so in the past (with no issues - paying a high premium to be safe).
He asked me if he could peform a quick exam before he gave her vacines as a precaution. He noted that she was extreemely sore in her front legs, wincing when he touched her in certain areas. He also noted that on all 4 legs, the fibers that make up the ligaments and tendons were very rough, not smooth showing evidence of ongoing tearing scarring and tearing.
He finished his exam, and recommend pain (shot first followed by oral) medication as he said this little MORAB is in a lot of pain at this time. He did state that he thought she was around 6-8 yrs of age given her teeth, and proceeded to give her her shots vacinnations AND Pain Medication.
The little horse rested for 3 weeks, and then I started working with her. She was a childs horse, very cute as a button, but in no way whatsoever a trail or endurance horse. She had been abused in her life, and her tendons and ligaments were a mess. Riding rough terrain was out of the question, as was long distance. She was good for a PET, Field Ornament, or small childs riding horse for minimal riding.
I did like her personality and was sad to have my findings confirmed by experts and my vet over the next 5 months.