Last year I decided to start a horse-drawn carriage business. Although I was a beginner at driving, I was planning on getting my carriage certificate. I started looking for a horse in fall of 2007. That is when I stumbled upon the Mules and Moore website. It stated (which has now been changed, but I have the printed page), that all horses are 100% guaranteed. It also stated that this operation supplied commercial carriage companies with everything from horses to carriages to harnesses. Anything you would need to get started.
I immediately noticed a horse named Waylon on the site. It stated that Waylon was completely traffic safe and voice commanded. When I called to inquire about him, that was when I first encountered Jack Moore. He told me Waylon had been a commercial carriage horse in New York City, and that he had been in a movie. Wow, I was impressed. I asked him why he was for sale, and he said they rotate the horses all the time. Hmm... Made sense to me. I have later learned that when you have a great carriage horse, you never sell them! I also noticed at the same time another horse on the site named Willie. Looked much like mine, and said the same thing. I also inquired about him, and I was told that he could be a little touchy now and then, and that Waylon would be the horse for me. He also told me that if I couldn't drive Waylon, I might as well get out of horses, and get a golf cart. I made it very clear to Jack that I needed a beginner horse, as I was a beginner driver. I was guaranteed, and told if he did work, I could send him back. Even told me if I didn't like his color he would take him back. It never worked out for me to go see the horse, because when I was free, Jack never was. I decided to go ahead and purchase him. What did I have to lose? He was guaranteed. Jack also talked me into a forecart, carriage, and harness. I spent well over $14,000, buy the time I paid for transport for the horse and the carriage.
I finally got my Waylon, who by all accounts is a gentle giant. He seemed to be perfect in everyway. Until I hooked him up for our first drive, about a week after I got him. He would not walk, or listen to his commands. I immediately called Jack, and was told I was feeding him to hot. Well, I knew at that point, that I didn't want to take him out again until after I had my professional training. Also, the harness I paid $650.00 for, and told was in excellent condition, was a piece of crap. It was cobbled together between nylon and leather, and seemed unsafe. When the carriage arrived, it had improper shafts, and no single tree. I also called him about this, and he basically denied it, and would not help me out. I had to order new shafts and a single tree on my own. I also paid to have carriage lights and blinkers installed. That never happened either. I was promised the carriage lights for months. I am still waiting.
Waylon and I went to training in February, and low and behold, my suspicions of the harness and him proved correct. The harness was completely unsafe. When we harnessed Waylon with a proper harness, and tried to ground drive him, he went nuts. He started to spin to the left and fly straight backwards. Not ever something a carriage horse should do. He would not listen to his voice commands at all. Two other carriage driver/trainers were contacted to come and work with him, and they had the same experience.
All three trainers and myself, immediately contacted Jack. He argued with us, told them they didn't know what they were doing, told them the horse had worked in NYC, told them I must have wrecked the horse, and on, and on, and on. All three drivers/trainers gave me a written statement about Waylon, and I had the horse metally evaluated while at my training. I was told that type of behavior happened years before, not recently. I was told the horse was completely unsafe, as he fly backwards, and will not listen. I was told that if I would hitch him, he would end up killing me.
We finally got Jack to agree to take the horse back in a week. I was going to leave training and drive to his place, since I was only about 400 miles away. The closer it got to taking the horse back, the more difficult he became. He said he wasn't going to be home, so I found another day, he then said the horse he wanted me to look at was at another farm. Fine I'll meet you there. He would not do that. Then he wouldn't answer emails or phone calls. Needless to say, I had to bring Waylon home.
After returning home, I started my own investigation on Jack Moore. First found out that the other horse was Waylon's brother, and teammate. No wonder he won't drive single. I also found out that he never worked in NYC. Then I found out that Jack just buys horses at auction, and turns around and sells them as commerical carriage horses, or whatever you might be looking for.
I have tried for months to get my money back. I also asked Jack for the name of the prior carriage company that owned Waylon. He refuses to give that to me. Wonder why? He told me for weeks that he would have another horse for me, but never comes through with that either. He has hung the phone up on me several times, and will never return email.
I would like to try to find out who purchased Waylon's brother. I'm sure they are experiencing the same problems. It would also be nice to try and put these boys back together, as they are very unique looking.
I put an ad on draftsforsale.com, about Jack Moore, and you can't imagine how many people responded to it (I have kept all of the emails that were generated by that ad). All with the same experience. He evens says the same things to people, even though the horses are different. He has his office girls trained very well too. I had asked where Waylon had come from, and the gal told me the lease was up with the carriage company he worked for.
After all this, I still have Waylon, who I love more than anything. He is a good boy, and does listen to voice commands when on a lead. Jack told me he was also broke to ride, which I am going to pursue with a trainer.in the interim, I spent $4500 on him, and have no commercial carriage horse. I have contacted an attorney, but everything has to be filed in SC, and I live in Iowa. I have considered calling the Attorney General in SC, but don't know if that will get me anywhere.
Hope this helps anyone considering a horse from this trader. BEWARE is all I can say!!!
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