T Bar M Horse Sales

We often get asked by customers, "what do I look for when I go to buy a horse", so here are some horse buying tips and I hope they will help.

11/O9 I feel obligated to pass on another tip on horse buying. If you go and look at a horse and the seller says, "I need to know if you want the horse, because I have another person coming that does want it".........................The response that needs to be given is..........WELL THEN I GUESS YOU BETTER GO AHEAD AND SELL IT!   Horses are large investments of money and don't be pressured into buying one because your afraid someone else will before you are sure it's the right horse for you. If it's meant to be it will and if not, then it wasn't the horse for you!!

A. If the seller has the horse saddled before you arrive, then for me, I would wonder why? Possible cinch issues, won't stand still for saddling. I generally make an appt to see the horse another day, or not at all, if I asked them not to before I came out to ride.

B. Horse is saddled, been rode and sweating. Horse has been rode down, so that they don't act up when being shown. Request to see the horse fresh without being rode prior to your going out to look at the horse, if they do anyway, then it's not a horse I would buy.

TIP: Let the seller ride the horse first! Never get up on a horse you don't know, no matter how dead broke the seller Say's it is, if the horse is that calm and gentle, then the seller should have no problem riding it first. Now that being said, sometimes we go and look at horse, owned by someone with medical issues or is unable to ride, then we use our own judgment, as to whether it's worth the risk, but we always lunge it first under saddle to see how it will act.

C. Have the seller pick up all four feet, don't assume that just because the horse picks up the front feet that it will also pick up the back feet.

There is more, but just thought I'd answer the most asked questions.

1.   WHAT ARE WE CURRENTLY FEEDING? WE ARE FEEDING HORSEMAN'S CHOICE, IT IS A 14% PROTEIN FEED (PELLET). DURING THE COLD MONTHS WE GIVE THEM LBS IN THE EVENING, BUT WITH THE WEATHER WARMING UP WE ARE GIVING THEM 1.5 LBS OF HORSES MANS CHOICE AND 1.5 LBS OF OATS AND AS IT CONTINUES TO WARM WE WILL ONLY BE GIVING THEM OATS AND COASTAL. PENNED HORSES GET COASTAL TWICE A DAY 2 FLAKES IF YOUR FEEDING SQUARE BALES. WE FEED OFF OF ROUND BALES, SO THATS AN ESTIMATE.
Note: Horses that are used regular and for hard riding are not fed on the above schedule, as they need extra feed to keep them fit.

2. WHY DON'T YOU FEED THE 14% AND SWEET FEED (HORSE AND MULE) IN THE WARM MONTHS? BOTH OF THESE FEEDS WILL MAKE A HORSE HOT AND CAN MAKE THEM ACT UP AND DO THINGS THEY WOULDN'T BE DOING IF THEY WERE NOT ON "HOT" FEED.

3. TRAILERING A HORSE: WHEN MY DESCRIPTIONS SAY, "TRAILERS GOOD" THAT MEANS A LIVESTOCK TRAILER. WE DO NOT OWN A 1 OR 2 HORSE TRAILER AND SO RARELY DO I KNOW IF A HORSE WILL GET IN ONE. CAN WE GET THEM IN ONE? WE WILL DO OUR VERY BEST! SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO CALL SOMEONE TO COME AND HELP US.

4. WHAT VACCINATIONS DO YOU GIVE? WE ONLY VACCINATE OUR PERSONAL RIDING HORSES. THE HORSES THAT WE BUY AND SELL ARE VACCINATED ONLY IF THE PRIOR OWNER HAS GIVEN THEM.

5. WHAT VACCINATIONS DO YOU GIVE YOUR HORSES? WE GIVE OUR HORSES A 3 WAY TO COVER SLEEPING SICKNESS AND THEN WE ALSO GIVE A WEST NILE, AND RABIES.

6. IS THE COGGINS A VACCINATION? NO, IT IS A BLOOD DRAW TO CHECK FOR A SPECIFIC DISEASE PROCESS.

7. DO I NEED A COGGINS FOR MY HORSE? IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE TRANSPORTING YOUR HORSE TO ANY PUBLIC AREAS YOU WILL NEED A COGGINS AS REQUIRED BY LAW.

8. HAVING A HORSES TEETH FLOATED AND DO I NEED TO HAVE IT DONE? HORSES SHOULD HAVE THERE TEETH FLOATED ONCE A YEAR, IF YOUR HORSES STARTS DROPPING GRAIN AND LOSING WEIGHT THEN IT MIGHT NEED TO HAVE HIS TEETH FLOATED. HORSES WILL SOMETIMES START THROWING THERE HEAD AROUND WHEN RIDING IF HE NEEDS TO HAVE HIS TEETH FLOATED, THEY MIGHT BECOME RESISTANT TO HAVING THE BIT PUT IN THERE MOUTH. MANY TIMES BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS CAN BE RESOLVED JUST BY HAVING THERE TEETH FLOATED (FILED).

9. WORMING: HORSES SHOULD BE WORMED EVERY THREE MONTHS WITH A DIFFERENT WORMER TO COVER ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PARASITES THAT A HORSE CAN HAVE. WE WORM THE HORSES THAT WE SALE WITH IVERMECTRIN. IT DOES NOT GET EVERYTHING, SO YES, THEY MAY STILL HAVE A DIFFERENT TYPE OF WORM THAT YOU MAY SEE IN THE MANURE. WE RECOMMEND THAT EVERYONE WORM THEM AGAIN, WHEN THEY GET THEM HOME. IT WILL NOT HURT THEM. THEN IN 2 OR 3 MONTHS, USE ANOTHER TYPE OF WORMER AND SO ON AND SO ON. THAT WAY YOU COVER ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF WORMS THEY CAN HAVE.

10. VET CHECKS: WE HAVE TWO VET CLINICS HERE IN TOWN AND BOTH STAY VERY BUSY, IF YOU WANT TO GET A LOCAL VET CHECK THEN YOU SHOULD CALL AND SEE WHAT THERE SCHEDULE IS LIKE. ONE IS OPEN A HALF A DAY ON SATURDAY AND THE OTHER IS OPEN MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. CLINIC'S CLOSE, BUT OUT OF TOWN, YOU WOULD HAVE TO CHECK WITH THEM FOR AN APPT FOR A HEALTH CHECK. IF YOU WANT THE VET TO COME HERE AND DO THE VET CHECK THEY CHARGE A FARM CALL, PLUS THERE SERVICES.
Note:   We no longer live in Comanche, so you would need to get a Vet in the surrounding areas. Sweetwater, Merkel, Abilene.

11. HOW COME YOU DON'T VACCINATE OR HAVE HEALTH CHECKS ON THE HORSES YOU SALE? WE WOULD HAVE TO CHARGE HIGHER PRICES THAN WE DO AND BECAUSE OF TIME. IN THE LAST 3 YEARS, WE HAVE SOLD CLOSE TO 650 HEAD OF HORSES. WE DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO TAKE EACH ONE FOR A SCHEDULED VISIT AT THE VETS. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU HAVE A VET CHECK THE HORSES YOU ARE CONSIDERING PURCHASING AND THAT YOU HAVE YOUR OWN VET GIVE THEM THE VACCINATIONS THAT HE'LL RECOMMEND TO YOU.

12. TRAINING: WE HAVE 3 PEOPLE THAT WE RECOMMEND FOR TRAINING. OCCASIONALLY WE GET IN A HORSE THAT NEEDS FURTHER TRAINING, BUT OTHERWISE ARE 100% SOUND AND HEALTHY. WE SELL THAT HORSE FOR A LOWER PRICE THAN WE WOULD IF IT WAS ALREADY TRAINED. WE WILL TELL YOU IF WE THINK THE HORSE NEEDS FURTHER TRAINING. SOMETIMES IT'S A MATTER OF JUST RIDING AND PUTTING MILES ON A HORSE, OR IT COULD BE MORE. WE WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TELL YOU WHO WE USE FOR THOSE SERVICES, BUT ANY TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN YOU AND THE TRAINERS "IS BETWEEN YOU AND THEM" AND NOT PART OF T BAR M. WE CAN DELIVER OCCASIONALLY TO A TRAINER FOR YOU, BUT THAT IS AN EXTRA AND NOT SOMETHING WE DO FREE OF CHARGE.

13. WE WOULD LIKE TO BUY A HORSE, BUT WE DO NOT OWN A TRAILER HOW CAN WE GET OUR NEW HORSE HOME? WE HAVE A BUMPER PULL LIVESTOCK TRAILER YOU CAN RENT. COST TO RENT IS 50.00 FOR 1/2 DAY USE THAT COVERS THE WEAR AND TEAR ON THE TRAILER AND TIRES. TO KEEP IT OVER NIGHT IS 100.00, BUT THE TRAILER HAS TO BE RETURNED NO LATER THAN 11:00 AM THE FOLLOWING DAY, BECAUSE WE USE IT AND OTHERS RENT IT TO TAKE THERE HORSE HOME. PLEASE HAVE A COPY OF YOUR CURRENT DRIVERS LICENSE AND INSURANCE, YOU MUST HAVE IT TO RENT OUR TRAILER.   OUR TRAILER IS NOT RENTED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC, ONLY TO THOSE WHO HAVE PURCHASED A HORSE FROM US.

14.  Horses feet are important that is what carries the weight, we keep our horses barefoot most of the time and trim about 4 - 6 weeks, costs depends on who you have doing it for you $20.00 to $35.00. For shoes $60.00 or more.

15. Where do we buy our horses? We try and buy from private parties, but with fuel prices we are doing less of that and more buying at auctions.

16. Sometimes we only have a horse for a few days, before someone wants to buy them. It is very difficult to know everything that a horse might do and how they will react in situations when they are here for a very short period of time. We do tell you everything we know and how long we have had the horse.

17. Aging a horse, basically I am terrible at it. Usually our Farrier or a Vet tech will age our horses for us, if they happen to be out here. If not, we rely on the coggins, or previous owner for the information. Unless a horse is registered you have no way of knowing 100% for sure, as to the exact age. I have had one vet tell me 11 years old, the owner tell me 8 years old, get the registration papers and they were really 15 years old. It is not an exact science, but we do try had to be as accurate as possible.

18. Can we take a horse home and try him before we pay for him? We do not allow anyone to take a horse without first paying.

19. We reinvest payment on our horses on more horses. Please give the horse you've purchased time to get used to it's new environment and to you, sometimes it takes a while for a horse to adapt to it's new home and family. Then if you are unable to handle the horse we can help you sell it.  I will post the horse for you, take pictures and list them on our web site. I do not always have room to board a horse while it is up for sale for someone else. If I do have space, then the cost of feed comes out of the sale price of the horse. Why do we do it like this? Because it takes time to re advertise a horse and time to show it to other potential buyers, basically we are starting the whole selling process over again. Many times we tell someone that "we do not think this is the horse for them", but they want it because it is flashy and exactly what they have always wanted, but that doesn't mean it's the right horse for a persons riding ability. We will sell you ANY horse that you want, but that does not mean it's the right horse for you. ARE THERE EXCEPTIONS?????? Yes, there is always exceptions, contact us and we'll see if there is something we can work out, if you just cannot handle the horse you have purchased.

WE DO NOT X-RAY, DO COMPLETE BLOOD WORK UP, BRONCHOSCOPY, OR ANY OTHER VET TYPE, EXAMS, TREATMENTS, TESTING OR DIAGNOSING. WE TELL YOU EXACTLY WHAT WE KNOW AND GIVE YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THE HORSE FOR A COMPLETE CHECK, PRIOR TO FULL PAYMENT. 2/5/08 Update: Please read our Bill of Sale/Risks page for current updates on our bill of sale, wanting to return a horse and vet checks.