Gold Eyes, Part 3
Within days of posting her ads, Anna was flooded with emails warning her that Bob was a horse trader who lied about everything. Many told their own stories about being cheated by horse traders. One email, dated November 19, was quite telling:
Oh, we know Donald. He’s a horse trader and partner of Bob’s. He owns the auction barn in XXXXX. If he ever owned your horse, it was for 10 hours, not 10 years. Sorry.
Another illiterate but rather frightening email read:
you best watch your back as you are tramoing on peoples toes you don[t want to step on,...not a threat just a postitive warning
And another:
Did you ride the horse when you bought it? Were you satisfied with it the day you bought it? The way I look at it is if you paid for the horse without any information given to you what so ever its your own fault dont post bad things on the internet about people! I have bought a horse off of him and it is the greatest horse I have owned! Why dont you call him and ask him if he has a binky and a bottle because you are acting like a baby!
By then, Anna had redoubled her efforts to discover Cowboy’s history. She began running her ads on every horse-selling site she could find, telling her story and stating that Cowboy was again for sale. She also contacted as many saddle clubs as she could and sent them information about the horse. When blocked-caller phone threats began, often after midnight, Jack beefed up the security system for their home, and installed several perimeter cameras. Fortunately, Anna and Jack lived on a dead-end country road, with an observant retired police officer for a neighbor.
Amongst the many supportive emails Anna received in response to her ads was a query from a new group forming near St. Louis, Missouri. They had been tracking some of the horse traders in the area and collecting stories from people who had been duped into buying horses, many of them unmanageable or lame. They intended to call their informative website horsetradertricks.com. Anna was thrilled to know she wasn’t alone and eagerly began telling her own story.
On December 4, Anna read an email from Lily, the girlfriend and business partner of James. They were the couple Anna had “warned” Bob about; the people who had asked Bob for help with a gaited horse.
I have seen many of your ads about Cowboy looking for his previous
owner, Bob Roberts said the previous owner was Donald Jennings which buys
and sells alot of horses, so you will have little to no chance getting
more information from him and is hard telling where he may of purchased
him and how really long he really owned him. Any way just thought I try to
help you out with a little information that I know about Donald.
I seen you are looking for a true kid broke gelding since Cowboy isnt. I
have a 18 yr old bay grade quarter horse gelding stands 15 hands
tall. He has been shown and trail rode by a youth the past few years. Will
go anywhere and through about anything. I can give you his previous owners
name and phone number. Very nice BROKE gelding. I would be willing to take
Cowboy and some cash in on trade for my gelding, if that would help you
out of your situation.
Anna surmised that Bob and James were, indeed, friends. She assumed they were feeling pretty motivated to help Anna sell Cowboy so she wouldn’t continue to run the ads. Anna had priced Cowboy at $1,500 in her ads, and obviously, neither Bob nor James wanted to buy him back for that price. Anna was also certain that Lily didn’t realize they had met before, when Anna had looked at one of their sale horses.
Anna’s response:
Hi Lily- Thank you for the information. I've been told by a lot of
people that Donald is another horse trader and probably didn't own Cowboy
for more than a few days, if at all. Someone even gave me his cell phone
number but I haven't bothered to call him. I've had so many emails from
people who have had horrible experiences with Bob (and many others) it's
amazing. I've been forwarding them all to a group in St. Louis. This group
has already had multiple complaints about Roberts and is looking into
changing the legislation to make horse traders more accountable for their
lies. Also, they are drafting a letter to the Attorney General's office
concerning some of these traders.
Thank you for the offer, but I'm really looking for something a little smaller. Cowboy is 14.3 and he's even a bit bigger than what I want. I haven't given up with
him yet, though. I would really like to know where he came from. Someone,
sometime, loved him and taught him good things. I'm concentrating on
Illinois now, but will be posting his ad in neighboring states over the
winter, if I don't sell him.
Anyway, thanks again, and good luck with your gelding...Anna
Within 24 hours, Bob had removed all of his ads for horses from the Internet site he used. So had James and Lily. So had another couple of known traders, 45 miles east. The trader grapevine was at work.
In mid December, Anna received a phone call from a man who introduced himself as Patrick Sye. He lived about 30 miles away, said he had seen the ads and liked Cowboy’s looks. He asked Anna if she would consider a trade. He had a small, white, “kid broke” gelding and wanted a larger horse for himself. He sent Anna a link to his own ad, but upon further investigation, Anna realized he was also a horse trader and she declined.
Illinois winter had arrived, and Anna wasn’t riding anymore. Days were short, and the holidays loomed. Anna was downtown shopping when her cell phone buzzed. A breathy voice said she was calling about Cowboy the horse. Anna prepared to launch into her speech that the horse was NOT kid broke or bombproof, conditioned by the dozens of calls she’d had asking those very questions, and despite the clearly written statements in her ad.
“No, I don’t want to buy him…I owned him for 8 years! My name is Whitney. I just saw your ad, and I am HORRIFIED that he was sold to you as “kid broke. He will NEVER be a kid’s horse. And by the way, his name isn’t Cowboy, it’s Ben.”
As the details spilled from Whitney, Anna learned that Cowboy/Ben was not 13 years old. Whitney had bred, raised and trained him. He was born in May 2001, so he was only 8 years old. Whitney still owned Cowboy’s dam and also a half sibling and she had many photographs and some video of Cowboy as a youngster. Whitney had needed to sell a few horses quickly. In September, she sold Cowboy to a man she knew, who immediately took him to an auction 80 miles away. Bob bought Cowboy at that very auction; therefore Bob had only owned the horse for six weeks before selling him to Anna. Anna got Whitney’s contact information and thanked her sincerely for calling.
Anna continued to advertise Cowboy for sale. Instead of looking for facts about Cowboy’s past, she rewrote the text:
I bought this pretty gelding from Bob Roberts, in XXXXXX Illinois in November. I was looking for a gentle horse for my 9-year-old nephew. Bob described him as 13 years old in the ad, and as broke as the horse at Wal-Mart. Bob said he had bought the horse 14 months ago, but had known the horse for 10 years because his friend had owned him and used him to carry the flag in rodeos.
Cowboy seems very happy here. Within a few days, his personality and energy level changed dramatically. Instead of the placid old cow I thought I had purchased, he has turned into the energizer bunny! I do not ride nearly as well as Bob, and unfortunately, he is way too much horse for me. It turns out that Cowboy isn’t a good mount for a child, either.
Imagine my surprise when I got a call from Cowboy’s former owner! (I’m sure Bob just got confused, since he sells so many horses.) She was able to provide information on the horse’s background. She raised, trained and owned him until September (!) of last year, when she sold him at an auction. He is a Paint/QH cross and was born in May of 2001, so he’s only 8 years old. He has never been lame or sick. He is very smart and affectionate. He has been trail ridden extensively, but he requires an experienced rider. His owner has lots of photos and videos of him, and even still owns his dam and a sibling.
So, would anyone like an 8 year old, 14.3 hh, healthy and sound palomino Paint/QH cross? I think he would make a nice endurance horse. He has been ridden western all his life, but I’ve been riding him English and he’s transitioned nicely. He is spirited, but he moves well, is responsive, and stops in a rubber D-ring, even with his clumsy and out-of-shape rider.
In mid January, Patrick Sye called again. When he had called the month before, he had offered to trade a white pony for Cowboy. This time, he told Anna he just couldn’t stop thinking about her pretty palomino. He had always wanted a palomino for his own riding horse, and since he was getting along in years, he wanted a horse just exactly Cowboy’s size. Patrick said he knew of Bob, but had never done business with him. He explained to Anna that he often bought horses on behalf of the Westwood Therapeutic Riding School and sometimes even donated those horses to the program himself. Wouldn’t she reconsider trading Cowboy for one of the gentle horses he had purchased for Westwood?
There was one important little detail that Patrick evidently didn’t know. Anna lived three short miles from Westwood Therapeutic Riding School, and had known the director, Elizabeth, for 20 years. She told Patrick she wanted to think it over, and got his phone number. Anna called Elizabeth and launched into the whole story of Cowboy. Elizabeth was furious. She had received several complaints over the past few years from people telling her about a man named Patrick who offered to buy their horses inexpensively so he could sell them to the riding school. As Anna knew, Elizabeth had never purchased a horse for her program; all her horses were donated. Elizabeth was thrilled to have this scoundrel's full name and number at last. If people were selling horses to Patrick in good faith and expecting them to live pampered and cherished lives at Westwood, yet they ended up at sale barns or worse; well, Elizabeth could hardly fathom such evil.
Several hours later, an investigator from her county’s sheriff department contacted Anna. It turned out that the deputy, Michael Kean, was an old acquaintance from her days doing investigations. He had taken Elizabeth's statement and now wished to speak to Anna. She related the story to Mike and included the threatening emails and phone calls. Mike called both Patrick and Bob and suggested they stop lying to people.
Two days later, another phone call came from Patrick:
Is this Anna? I am returning your call about a horse. This is Patrick.
Hi Patrick. You returned it a few days ago.
Oh, I did? I still have this nice dapple gray to trade.
Patrick, I'm a little concerned about some of the things you told me.
Like what?
That you buy horses for Westwood.
It was a long time ago.
Yes, but I talked to Elizabeth and she's been with them for over 20 years, and no one there has ever heard of you.
I worked with someone named Lacy, I don't remember her last name.
But Westwood has never bought horses.
I leased to them. Do you still have Cowboy?
Yes.
I'm trying to get the money together to buy him. I talked to his original owner.
Patrick, you haven't even ridden him.
No, but you said he rides good. You ride him English, right? That's almost western, isn't it?
You told me that you had talked to his original owner. What was her name and how did you get her number?
I called Bob and he gave me the info.
How could that be? The man who sold him at the auction wasn't the original owner.
Bob gave me her number. She said he was a nice horse.
You don't remember her name?
No, I didn't really want to talk to her.
Then why did you call her?
I wanted to see if he was a nice horse.
Patrick, I'm not interested in trading horses with you.
Well, I'll just try to get the money together, then I'll call you. Have a nice day, nice talking to you.
The whole situation was becoming ludicrous. She called Detective Mike to report Patrick's most recent indiscretion. The ads continued to run. Anna was sure that Bob made one more futile attempt to get Cowboy out of her hands. Anna got a call from someone in a neighboring state. He told Anna he couldn’t find a nice palomino gelding anywhere. He had a Welsh pony cross he would be willing to trade for Cowboy. He sent a short video of the pony to Anna, with a note saying the pony wasn’t really bucking with his rider; the saddle had come loose and that’s why the rider had slipped down the side of the pony. Anna did a quick Internet search for Palominos for sale within 50 miles of his home and found six suitable horses. She phoned him back with one terse sentence.
“Tell Bob I said No dice.”
In July, Anna finally found an adorable and well-trained pony for David. He is very happy. The horse traders have returned to posting ads. Cowboy/Ben still lives with Anna and has been in training since late spring. He was started over fences and seems to love jumping, although he is still very unpredictable. He is still for sale. And Anna still has a 2 lb. package of peppermints.
Postscript- The following spring, a very experienced and capable young woman came out to ride Cowboy, thinking he may be the project horse she'd been looking for. After grooming, some ground work, and tacking up, she stepped lightly onto Cowboy's back and gathered the reins. He went berserk. He reared straight into the air, then leaped forward into a series of massive bucks. The rider came off. As she hit the ground, Cowboy turned and kicked her, hard, in the stomach. She suffered internal bleeding and spent several days in the hospital.
Anna thought briefly about sending Cowboy to the next horse auction. Either another trader would buy him and start the cycle all over again, or the horse would end up on a slaughter truck, destined to spend countless hours without food or water or comfort, only to be inhumanely killed. Anna (and her vet) believed that Cowboy's quirks were not fixable, so he was euthanized the following day.
Oh, we know Donald. He’s a horse trader and partner of Bob’s. He owns the auction barn in XXXXX. If he ever owned your horse, it was for 10 hours, not 10 years. Sorry.
Another illiterate but rather frightening email read:
you best watch your back as you are tramoing on peoples toes you don[t want to step on,...not a threat just a postitive warning
And another:
Did you ride the horse when you bought it? Were you satisfied with it the day you bought it? The way I look at it is if you paid for the horse without any information given to you what so ever its your own fault dont post bad things on the internet about people! I have bought a horse off of him and it is the greatest horse I have owned! Why dont you call him and ask him if he has a binky and a bottle because you are acting like a baby!
By then, Anna had redoubled her efforts to discover Cowboy’s history. She began running her ads on every horse-selling site she could find, telling her story and stating that Cowboy was again for sale. She also contacted as many saddle clubs as she could and sent them information about the horse. When blocked-caller phone threats began, often after midnight, Jack beefed up the security system for their home, and installed several perimeter cameras. Fortunately, Anna and Jack lived on a dead-end country road, with an observant retired police officer for a neighbor.
Amongst the many supportive emails Anna received in response to her ads was a query from a new group forming near St. Louis, Missouri. They had been tracking some of the horse traders in the area and collecting stories from people who had been duped into buying horses, many of them unmanageable or lame. They intended to call their informative website horsetradertricks.com. Anna was thrilled to know she wasn’t alone and eagerly began telling her own story.
On December 4, Anna read an email from Lily, the girlfriend and business partner of James. They were the couple Anna had “warned” Bob about; the people who had asked Bob for help with a gaited horse.
I have seen many of your ads about Cowboy looking for his previous
owner, Bob Roberts said the previous owner was Donald Jennings which buys
and sells alot of horses, so you will have little to no chance getting
more information from him and is hard telling where he may of purchased
him and how really long he really owned him. Any way just thought I try to
help you out with a little information that I know about Donald.
I seen you are looking for a true kid broke gelding since Cowboy isnt. I
have a 18 yr old bay grade quarter horse gelding stands 15 hands
tall. He has been shown and trail rode by a youth the past few years. Will
go anywhere and through about anything. I can give you his previous owners
name and phone number. Very nice BROKE gelding. I would be willing to take
Cowboy and some cash in on trade for my gelding, if that would help you
out of your situation.
Anna surmised that Bob and James were, indeed, friends. She assumed they were feeling pretty motivated to help Anna sell Cowboy so she wouldn’t continue to run the ads. Anna had priced Cowboy at $1,500 in her ads, and obviously, neither Bob nor James wanted to buy him back for that price. Anna was also certain that Lily didn’t realize they had met before, when Anna had looked at one of their sale horses.
Anna’s response:
Hi Lily- Thank you for the information. I've been told by a lot of
people that Donald is another horse trader and probably didn't own Cowboy
for more than a few days, if at all. Someone even gave me his cell phone
number but I haven't bothered to call him. I've had so many emails from
people who have had horrible experiences with Bob (and many others) it's
amazing. I've been forwarding them all to a group in St. Louis. This group
has already had multiple complaints about Roberts and is looking into
changing the legislation to make horse traders more accountable for their
lies. Also, they are drafting a letter to the Attorney General's office
concerning some of these traders.
Thank you for the offer, but I'm really looking for something a little smaller. Cowboy is 14.3 and he's even a bit bigger than what I want. I haven't given up with
him yet, though. I would really like to know where he came from. Someone,
sometime, loved him and taught him good things. I'm concentrating on
Illinois now, but will be posting his ad in neighboring states over the
winter, if I don't sell him.
Anyway, thanks again, and good luck with your gelding...Anna
Within 24 hours, Bob had removed all of his ads for horses from the Internet site he used. So had James and Lily. So had another couple of known traders, 45 miles east. The trader grapevine was at work.
In mid December, Anna received a phone call from a man who introduced himself as Patrick Sye. He lived about 30 miles away, said he had seen the ads and liked Cowboy’s looks. He asked Anna if she would consider a trade. He had a small, white, “kid broke” gelding and wanted a larger horse for himself. He sent Anna a link to his own ad, but upon further investigation, Anna realized he was also a horse trader and she declined.
Illinois winter had arrived, and Anna wasn’t riding anymore. Days were short, and the holidays loomed. Anna was downtown shopping when her cell phone buzzed. A breathy voice said she was calling about Cowboy the horse. Anna prepared to launch into her speech that the horse was NOT kid broke or bombproof, conditioned by the dozens of calls she’d had asking those very questions, and despite the clearly written statements in her ad.
“No, I don’t want to buy him…I owned him for 8 years! My name is Whitney. I just saw your ad, and I am HORRIFIED that he was sold to you as “kid broke. He will NEVER be a kid’s horse. And by the way, his name isn’t Cowboy, it’s Ben.”
As the details spilled from Whitney, Anna learned that Cowboy/Ben was not 13 years old. Whitney had bred, raised and trained him. He was born in May 2001, so he was only 8 years old. Whitney still owned Cowboy’s dam and also a half sibling and she had many photographs and some video of Cowboy as a youngster. Whitney had needed to sell a few horses quickly. In September, she sold Cowboy to a man she knew, who immediately took him to an auction 80 miles away. Bob bought Cowboy at that very auction; therefore Bob had only owned the horse for six weeks before selling him to Anna. Anna got Whitney’s contact information and thanked her sincerely for calling.
Anna continued to advertise Cowboy for sale. Instead of looking for facts about Cowboy’s past, she rewrote the text:
I bought this pretty gelding from Bob Roberts, in XXXXXX Illinois in November. I was looking for a gentle horse for my 9-year-old nephew. Bob described him as 13 years old in the ad, and as broke as the horse at Wal-Mart. Bob said he had bought the horse 14 months ago, but had known the horse for 10 years because his friend had owned him and used him to carry the flag in rodeos.
Cowboy seems very happy here. Within a few days, his personality and energy level changed dramatically. Instead of the placid old cow I thought I had purchased, he has turned into the energizer bunny! I do not ride nearly as well as Bob, and unfortunately, he is way too much horse for me. It turns out that Cowboy isn’t a good mount for a child, either.
Imagine my surprise when I got a call from Cowboy’s former owner! (I’m sure Bob just got confused, since he sells so many horses.) She was able to provide information on the horse’s background. She raised, trained and owned him until September (!) of last year, when she sold him at an auction. He is a Paint/QH cross and was born in May of 2001, so he’s only 8 years old. He has never been lame or sick. He is very smart and affectionate. He has been trail ridden extensively, but he requires an experienced rider. His owner has lots of photos and videos of him, and even still owns his dam and a sibling.
So, would anyone like an 8 year old, 14.3 hh, healthy and sound palomino Paint/QH cross? I think he would make a nice endurance horse. He has been ridden western all his life, but I’ve been riding him English and he’s transitioned nicely. He is spirited, but he moves well, is responsive, and stops in a rubber D-ring, even with his clumsy and out-of-shape rider.
In mid January, Patrick Sye called again. When he had called the month before, he had offered to trade a white pony for Cowboy. This time, he told Anna he just couldn’t stop thinking about her pretty palomino. He had always wanted a palomino for his own riding horse, and since he was getting along in years, he wanted a horse just exactly Cowboy’s size. Patrick said he knew of Bob, but had never done business with him. He explained to Anna that he often bought horses on behalf of the Westwood Therapeutic Riding School and sometimes even donated those horses to the program himself. Wouldn’t she reconsider trading Cowboy for one of the gentle horses he had purchased for Westwood?
There was one important little detail that Patrick evidently didn’t know. Anna lived three short miles from Westwood Therapeutic Riding School, and had known the director, Elizabeth, for 20 years. She told Patrick she wanted to think it over, and got his phone number. Anna called Elizabeth and launched into the whole story of Cowboy. Elizabeth was furious. She had received several complaints over the past few years from people telling her about a man named Patrick who offered to buy their horses inexpensively so he could sell them to the riding school. As Anna knew, Elizabeth had never purchased a horse for her program; all her horses were donated. Elizabeth was thrilled to have this scoundrel's full name and number at last. If people were selling horses to Patrick in good faith and expecting them to live pampered and cherished lives at Westwood, yet they ended up at sale barns or worse; well, Elizabeth could hardly fathom such evil.
Several hours later, an investigator from her county’s sheriff department contacted Anna. It turned out that the deputy, Michael Kean, was an old acquaintance from her days doing investigations. He had taken Elizabeth's statement and now wished to speak to Anna. She related the story to Mike and included the threatening emails and phone calls. Mike called both Patrick and Bob and suggested they stop lying to people.
Two days later, another phone call came from Patrick:
Is this Anna? I am returning your call about a horse. This is Patrick.
Hi Patrick. You returned it a few days ago.
Oh, I did? I still have this nice dapple gray to trade.
Patrick, I'm a little concerned about some of the things you told me.
Like what?
That you buy horses for Westwood.
It was a long time ago.
Yes, but I talked to Elizabeth and she's been with them for over 20 years, and no one there has ever heard of you.
I worked with someone named Lacy, I don't remember her last name.
But Westwood has never bought horses.
I leased to them. Do you still have Cowboy?
Yes.
I'm trying to get the money together to buy him. I talked to his original owner.
Patrick, you haven't even ridden him.
No, but you said he rides good. You ride him English, right? That's almost western, isn't it?
You told me that you had talked to his original owner. What was her name and how did you get her number?
I called Bob and he gave me the info.
How could that be? The man who sold him at the auction wasn't the original owner.
Bob gave me her number. She said he was a nice horse.
You don't remember her name?
No, I didn't really want to talk to her.
Then why did you call her?
I wanted to see if he was a nice horse.
Patrick, I'm not interested in trading horses with you.
Well, I'll just try to get the money together, then I'll call you. Have a nice day, nice talking to you.
The whole situation was becoming ludicrous. She called Detective Mike to report Patrick's most recent indiscretion. The ads continued to run. Anna was sure that Bob made one more futile attempt to get Cowboy out of her hands. Anna got a call from someone in a neighboring state. He told Anna he couldn’t find a nice palomino gelding anywhere. He had a Welsh pony cross he would be willing to trade for Cowboy. He sent a short video of the pony to Anna, with a note saying the pony wasn’t really bucking with his rider; the saddle had come loose and that’s why the rider had slipped down the side of the pony. Anna did a quick Internet search for Palominos for sale within 50 miles of his home and found six suitable horses. She phoned him back with one terse sentence.
“Tell Bob I said No dice.”
In July, Anna finally found an adorable and well-trained pony for David. He is very happy. The horse traders have returned to posting ads. Cowboy/Ben still lives with Anna and has been in training since late spring. He was started over fences and seems to love jumping, although he is still very unpredictable. He is still for sale. And Anna still has a 2 lb. package of peppermints.
Postscript- The following spring, a very experienced and capable young woman came out to ride Cowboy, thinking he may be the project horse she'd been looking for. After grooming, some ground work, and tacking up, she stepped lightly onto Cowboy's back and gathered the reins. He went berserk. He reared straight into the air, then leaped forward into a series of massive bucks. The rider came off. As she hit the ground, Cowboy turned and kicked her, hard, in the stomach. She suffered internal bleeding and spent several days in the hospital.
Anna thought briefly about sending Cowboy to the next horse auction. Either another trader would buy him and start the cycle all over again, or the horse would end up on a slaughter truck, destined to spend countless hours without food or water or comfort, only to be inhumanely killed. Anna (and her vet) believed that Cowboy's quirks were not fixable, so he was euthanized the following day.
This work by horsetradertricks.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.