Horse Tradin by Ben K. Green
“Here are the yarns of a true cowboy for those who have in their blood either a touch of larceny, an affection for the Old West, or better yet, both.

 

These twenty tales add up to a true account of Ben K. Green’s experiences around the corrals, livery stables, and wagon yards of the West. Green was a veterinarian who took down his shingle and went into horse trading, in what he imagined would be retirement. No stranger to the saddle, Green claims to have “with these bloodshot eyes and gnarled hands measured over seventy thousand horses.” His tales range from tricks to make an old horse seem young (at least until the poor creature died from the side effects of the scam) to a recipe for making a dapple-gray mule from a bucket of paint and a chicken’s egg. So you want to go into the horse business? You can learn the knavery, skill, salesmanship, and pure con man hokum of horse trading here, in a book every westerner or horse fancier should have on hand.”

 

The Horse Trader by Lyn Hall

“A fatherless teenage girl’s special friendship with Harley Williams, the local horse trader and con man, begins to change after she buys one of his horses.”

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What is it about the horse industry that lends itself to such outright deception? And I especially notice the flattering language used to describe those with extra talent for the con……………
 

 

To be fair, this impressive level of treachery is not unique to the horse biz. I dated a salesman for a couple years and the training manual he brought home from work one day…………….

 

 

would horrify anyone with the slightest bit of a conscience. I read the first page out of curiosity………… and like a good train wreck on COTH…………….

 

 

 

I couldn’t put it down until the end!
 

 

I must have S U C K E R tattooed somewhere on my face because I’ve had a bit more than my share of con jobs in the horse trading arena.

One of my first experiences was selling a horse. She was lovely, sound and safe.

An experienced eventer and fox hunter that was not only affectionate, she would even pass the vet. 

I had decided to sell her for a couple of reasons, one of which was that she was the most marketable horse I had and I was a starving college student. I NEEDED THE MONEY. I had recently acquired another horse from a professional who offered to sell her for me. Let’s call the lovely mare I decided to sell Horse A, and the horse I got from the pro Horse B.

We made the arrangements and I sent Horse A off to be sold.

I placed several ads. She was a highly desirable commodity in those days….. at a fire sale price……. I received several calls about her every week. All of these potential buyers I referred to the trainer to go take a look.

This went on for…………….. MONTHS……..

I’m pretty embarrassed to admit how many months…………….cough…..cough…….sputter…….11 months.

I was a very busy college student who was also working two jobs and the time just got away from me. Of course I was PAYING full training, advertising, long distance calls…… (this was in a time before cell phones and unlimited long distance.)

By the time I “found out”    <wait for it>     I had long since spent more on training than I was asking for the horse.

This went on for so long that I had discovered the horse she had sold me, remember Horse B???………………was a complete JACK A**

and I decided to sell him too. So I added his information to my advert for the mare and I started getting calls about both of them.

A woman and her daughter were looking for 2 horses so they decided to look at Horse A, who was still with the pro, and then come look at Horse B who was at my place.

When they came to try him, after a bit the lady said, “I really need to tell you what happened when we went to look at your mare.”

She looked uncomfortable, but I think as she listened to my honesty about the horse…….. and saw my very humble farm………….

She must have taken some pity on this poor starving college student who was working very hard to make her way with horses.

Here’s what happened,

           “We went to look at your mare, and when we arrived the trainer had 5 horses groomed and ready that she said would “be more suitable for us” to try. When I asked to see your mare anyway she said the mare was not in riding condition, had not had her feet trimmed, or been ridden in months actually, so we couldn’t ride her. I asked to see her anyway and she pointed her out in a stall where she had a blanket on so I couldn’t really see anything about her. I asked her to remove the blanket and she refused insisting on showing us the other horses she had for sale instead.”