On February 6, 2014, I paid Samantha Kvalo $2200 for 2 horses, $1425 for a 12 year old sorrel QH gelding by the name of Taz and $775 for a 9 year old quarter Arab mare by the name of Maggie.
(All messages in quotes are quoted word for word, from the text messages from Samantha, so sorry for all the typos. These are from between 1/28/14 and 2/6/14. Phone # 6086095739)
Samantha said, in a text message to me on 1/28/14 at 7:55am, "They both are deffanitly bomb proof rides and great for kids." She also said "Both are great confidence builders and very quiet." and "I do have a tub of all the bridles bits girths. Extra haters. That go along with them. They know their stuff and are very bro" and "If your truly looking for two dead broke horses that u can trust 100% with your kids on alone. These two are deffanitaly it." "My 5 year old son can ride them and my 7-13 nieces and nephews ride them in summer alot". One of the texts that Samantha sent me said "I will gather up what I have for then. The tote of bridles and stuff then ill write down wat they had done so far and when they are do. Sizes of what they ware etc" "I'm so happy they will find a home where they get to have kids play and ride them. They will love that" "Their favorite is trail riding. They love swimming too. They do ride alone. And are not buddy sour" "They are both very sound. No lameness issues. Very healthy feet."
On 1/28/2014 at 12:44pm she said "I'll get videos to you by tonight hopefully".
I explained to her that we have our cows and horses together and I wondered if they would be ok with the cows or if they should be separate.. Sam said :They will be fine either way. We have 600 head if cattle here and they are with them on the big pasture in the summer. They are content with anything. Not picky horses. I can't wait for them. They will love it"
On 1/31/14 at 12:40pm Sam wrote "Hey so my brood mare found a home in argyle. And I'm taking her there wednesday. Would u rather I bring them to you free haul? I will get videos to u" "I can come in morning around 10"
When I still didn't get the videos, she said "Really? I sent them they show up on my sent list. Ill try again :)"
I tried contacting her several times from 1/31 to 2/4 and finally on 2/4/14, she said "Sorry just got my phone charged. Would Thursday afternoon work better? Because the woman I am hauling to in argyle wants me to come Thursday instead of tomorrow because she was called into work. Also I figured out he video issues and they WILL be uploaded." At 9:40am that same day she said "Ok it will be after 3"
On 2/6/14 at 11:35am she finally sent me some very low quality videos. I was hardly able to see much, and the camera didn't move, so the horses were going in and out of view. I still question the horses in the videos because they don't even look like the horses I purchased.
At 12:37pm she texted "It will. Be about 545 6" "Woman will not be home until 430 5" At 5:13pm she texted "Running a bit behind changing plug on trailer" At 8:48pm she texted "We are 15 mild away"
She arrived at my home on Thursday, 2/6/14 at 9:07pm at night. Now, it was like 0 degrees out, we had been waiting for hours and my kids and I were just so excited to get these horses that were supposed to be just so wonderful.
It was dark and freezing out, and my 7 and 5 year old kids were outside also, so we unloaded the horses and quickly put them into the pasture. I paid her and she asked me to sign something that just showed that she provided videos of the horses as proof that I saw the horses beforehand. When I asked for a copy, she said she didn't have a copy but that she would make a copy and send it to me. I was able to read her name on the form that I signed because she never once told me her name. That right there should have been a red flag. I noticed right away that the horses were not well cared for. They were both underweight, and when my vet was out in March, he said that Taz needed a good 200 lbs. put on him before we could ride him in the spring, and that his limp was probably just some arthritis. Maggie had so much winter hair hon her that we couldn't even see how skinny she was.
After a month of caring for these horses, I came to the conclusion that Samantha lied to me. First, the tote that she sent along was not of their current items. It was filled with old scrap leather and a rusty old bit. None of the items in that tub were items that have been used by any horse in a very long time. The day she brought Taz and Maggie, the first thing they did when we let them loose was began kicking and whaling on each other. I dismissed it as they are probably just used to being stalled and having their own food. Since then, I noticed Taz has had a limp in his right front leg. I believe the video that Samantha sent of Taz was not current, nor were the pictures, so I wouldn't have been able to see this beforehand. I contacted her on 3/16/14 and explained what was going on and told her I wanted my money back. She never responded, so I sent a certified letter to her on 3/20/14. It was delivered and signed for by Curt Kvalo on 3/21/14. On 3/29/14 I received a copy of a letter in the mail, from Samantha, and this letter states that after the sale, the seller becomes free of all business having to do with these horses. I sent a text to Samantha stating that that wasn't the document I signed, and I received a response from her stating that it was, and that her uncle saw me give it to her and sign it. So, she refused to give me my money back. In May, we had a horse chiropractor out to work on Taz because we thought his limp was due to a shoulder problem. After a couple weeks, he wasn't better, so we had the vet out. The vet could tell right away that he had a foot injury so she did x-rays. She found that Taz has severe ring bone, which is a type of arthritis that surrounds the coffin bone in the foot. This is due to an injury that he had had a long time ago. On a scale of 1 - 4, with 4 being the worst, he is a stage 4. Due to the severity of his injury, he is not curable nor is he even treatable. Maggie has been a terrible bully to my other horses from day 1. My kids cannot ride her because whenever the other horses are around, she kicks, bucks, bites and chases them. When I look at Maggie, I can see that she has some deformities in her knees and ankles, like for instance her hooves aren't aligned completely and she walks on the outside of her feet. Her hooves are pointed inward as if she's pigeon toed a bit and her legs seem to be twisted at the knee. These issues didn't seem to bother her until her first trimming, where her knee swelled up and she's had a limp now for over three weeks. Our vet believes she has a severe carpal injury in her knee, and the trimming has only exposed it. I'm sad and disappointed because I've really come to like these horses even though they are lame. I was hopeful that we could doctor them back to health, but now that we have the x-ray results, we are forced to live with the fact that Taz can't be fixed. When we can afford it, we will get Maggie x-rayed. Our vet suspects that she has a sever carpal lameness in her knee, which is a very unfortunate injury also.
Samantha lied about having a 5 year old that rode the horses all last year because she only has 1 child that just turned 2 in February. Who knows about the nieces and nephews that she said she had. She lied about their teeth and their feet and about them not being lame. They are both lame and we are out that money. I'm hoping something can be done so that we can get our money back and afford to buy our kids the horses that they were promised.
I'm just sick over all this, and I'm beating myself up for being such a fool to believer a word this girl said. I am now reluctant to purchase anything from Craigslist or any other online media, and I'm still searching for a good horse for my kids. Where do I go now?
Sam Kvalo Reviews
On February 6, 2014, I paid Samantha Kvalo $2200 for 2 horses, $1425 for a 12 year old sorrel QH gelding by the name of Taz and $775 for a 9 year old quarter Arab mare by the name of Maggie.
(All messages in quotes are quoted word for word, from the text messages from Samantha, so sorry for all the typos. These are from between 1/28/14 and 2/6/14. Phone # 6086095739)
Samantha said, in a text message to me on 1/28/14 at 7:55am, "They both are deffanitly bomb proof rides and great for kids." She also said "Both are great confidence builders and very quiet." and "I do have a tub of all the bridles bits girths. Extra haters. That go along with them. They know their stuff and are very bro" and "If your truly looking for two dead broke horses that u can trust 100% with your kids on alone. These two are deffanitaly it." "My 5 year old son can ride them and my 7-13 nieces and nephews ride them in summer alot". One of the texts that Samantha sent me said "I will gather up what I have for then. The tote of bridles and stuff then ill write down wat they had done so far and when they are do. Sizes of what they ware etc" "I'm so happy they will find a home where they get to have kids play and ride them. They will love that" "Their favorite is trail riding. They love swimming too. They do ride alone. And are not buddy sour" "They are both very sound. No lameness issues. Very healthy feet."
On 1/28/2014 at 12:44pm she said "I'll get videos to you by tonight hopefully".
I explained to her that we have our cows and horses together and I wondered if they would be ok with the cows or if they should be separate.. Sam said :They will be fine either way. We have 600 head if cattle here and they are with them on the big pasture in the summer. They are content with anything. Not picky horses. I can't wait for them. They will love it"
On 1/31/14 at 12:40pm Sam wrote "Hey so my brood mare found a home in argyle. And I'm taking her there wednesday. Would u rather I bring them to you free haul? I will get videos to u" "I can come in morning around 10"
When I still didn't get the videos, she said "Really? I sent them they show up on my sent list. Ill try again :)"
I tried contacting her several times from 1/31 to 2/4 and finally on 2/4/14, she said "Sorry just got my phone charged. Would Thursday afternoon work better? Because the woman I am hauling to in argyle wants me to come Thursday instead of tomorrow because she was called into work. Also I figured out he video issues and they WILL be uploaded." At 9:40am that same day she said "Ok it will be after 3"
On 2/6/14 at 11:35am she finally sent me some very low quality videos. I was hardly able to see much, and the camera didn't move, so the horses were going in and out of view. I still question the horses in the videos because they don't even look like the horses I purchased.
At 12:37pm she texted "It will. Be about 545 6" "Woman will not be home until 430 5" At 5:13pm she texted "Running a bit behind changing plug on trailer" At 8:48pm she texted "We are 15 mild away"
She arrived at my home on Thursday, 2/6/14 at 9:07pm at night. Now, it was like 0 degrees out, we had been waiting for hours and my kids and I were just so excited to get these horses that were supposed to be just so wonderful.
It was dark and freezing out, and my 7 and 5 year old kids were outside also, so we unloaded the horses and quickly put them into the pasture. I paid her and she asked me to sign something that just showed that she provided videos of the horses as proof that I saw the horses beforehand. When I asked for a copy, she said she didn't have a copy but that she would make a copy and send it to me. I was able to read her name on the form that I signed because she never once told me her name. That right there should have been a red flag. I noticed right away that the horses were not well cared for. They were both underweight, and when my vet was out in March, he said that Taz needed a good 200 lbs. put on him before we could ride him in the spring, and that his limp was probably just some arthritis. Maggie had so much winter hair hon her that we couldn't even see how skinny she was.
After a month of caring for these horses, I came to the conclusion that Samantha lied to me. First, the tote that she sent along was not of their current items. It was filled with old scrap leather and a rusty old bit. None of the items in that tub were items that have been used by any horse in a very long time. The day she brought Taz and Maggie, the first thing they did when we let them loose was began kicking and whaling on each other. I dismissed it as they are probably just used to being stalled and having their own food. Since then, I noticed Taz has had a limp in his right front leg. I believe the video that Samantha sent of Taz was not current, nor were the pictures, so I wouldn't have been able to see this beforehand. I contacted her on 3/16/14 and explained what was going on and told her I wanted my money back. She never responded, so I sent a certified letter to her on 3/20/14. It was delivered and signed for by Curt Kvalo on 3/21/14. On 3/29/14 I received a copy of a letter in the mail, from Samantha, and this letter states that after the sale, the seller becomes free of all business having to do with these horses. I sent a text to Samantha stating that that wasn't the document I signed, and I received a response from her stating that it was, and that her uncle saw me give it to her and sign it. So, she refused to give me my money back. In May, we had a horse chiropractor out to work on Taz because we thought his limp was due to a shoulder problem. After a couple weeks, he wasn't better, so we had the vet out. The vet could tell right away that he had a foot injury so she did x-rays. She found that Taz has severe ring bone, which is a type of arthritis that surrounds the coffin bone in the foot. This is due to an injury that he had had a long time ago. On a scale of 1 - 4, with 4 being the worst, he is a stage 4. Due to the severity of his injury, he is not curable nor is he even treatable. Maggie has been a terrible bully to my other horses from day 1. My kids cannot ride her because whenever the other horses are around, she kicks, bucks, bites and chases them. When I look at Maggie, I can see that she has some deformities in her knees and ankles, like for instance her hooves aren't aligned completely and she walks on the outside of her feet. Her hooves are pointed inward as if she's pigeon toed a bit and her legs seem to be twisted at the knee. These issues didn't seem to bother her until her first trimming, where her knee swelled up and she's had a limp now for over three weeks. Our vet believes she has a severe carpal injury in her knee, and the trimming has only exposed it. I'm sad and disappointed because I've really come to like these horses even though they are lame. I was hopeful that we could doctor them back to health, but now that we have the x-ray results, we are forced to live with the fact that Taz can't be fixed. When we can afford it, we will get Maggie x-rayed. Our vet suspects that she has a sever carpal lameness in her knee, which is a very unfortunate injury also.
Samantha lied about having a 5 year old that rode the horses all last year because she only has 1 child that just turned 2 in February. Who knows about the nieces and nephews that she said she had. She lied about their teeth and their feet and about them not being lame. They are both lame and we are out that money. I'm hoping something can be done so that we can get our money back and afford to buy our kids the horses that they were promised.
I'm just sick over all this, and I'm beating myself up for being such a fool to believer a word this girl said. I am now reluctant to purchase anything from Craigslist or any other online media, and I'm still searching for a good horse for my kids. Where do I go now?