I purchased a bred paint mare from Jill Johnston-Yoder (Nov. Of 2006) that I feel was grossly misrepresented. She stated the horse was a well-broke riding horse that "neckreins, backs up, she will lope little circles, has a really nice slow jog, etc. That anyone that can sit in the saddle can ride". I reasoned she must be reputable as she advertises as selling 4-H and family horses.
Jill delivered this horse to my residence with a swollen leg caused from a terrible hoof crack and infection, (I have her admission of the swollen leg in an email) She was totally unrideable and now that the hoof has healed she is still at best broodmare sound, but not riding horse sound.
I traced her "travels" back and discovered that Jill purchased her at an auction in Iowa earlier last fall (represented as a broodmare only for $400.) She inflated both her description and her price and sold her to me for $2500 plus $300 to deliver.
When I contacted Jill for any help in defraying medical expense for the hoof injury, she was totally uncooperative. She even refused to give me the name of her vet so that I could check for medicine allergies. I had to inject her with massive doses of penecillin (30cc) both morning and night, and keep this hoof totally wrapped and clean at all times. My vet tried to prepare me for the strong possibility that I would have to nurse her through her pregnancy long enough to deliver her foal and then put her down should the infection reach the bone.
I attempted to take her to court but she succeeded in getting the venue changed, then falsely accused me of threatening phone calls and emails and swayed the judge against me at our status conference. I could see no point in proceeding with a trial as he had all ready formed his opinion.
I see that since my transaction she may now use a contract. I had no written contract and had to request she write me a crude bill of sale with a live-foal guarantee. Also on her website she has now added a disclaimer that was not there previous to my unfortunate dealing with her.
I am sure Jill sells a lot of good, accurately represented horses. I wasn't one of the lucky ones. Use caution and don't do as I did and rely soley on her description. And a pre-purchase vet exam would definitely be a good idea.
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