I found a horse I wanted to purchase over the internet. I spoke with Kathryn Smith several times on the telephone. I was purchasing a horse that her daughter had lost interest in due to her new interest in boys. I was told that this family only had one horse that was kept at a boarding facility. I felt confident in the purchase at that point. I sent a money order for the price of the horse. We were looking for another well broke horse, so I kept searching the internet. I ran across another horse listed in North Carolina that had nearly the same wording as the horse I had just purchased. This horse was in a different town, listed by a different stable, but, had the same phone number as Kathryn Smith had on my ad. I called Kathryn Smith after I found this ad. I asked to speak to the barn manager where the horse was kept. I was given a phone number to call which I immediately did. The man who answered the phone seemed puzzled when I asked if he had a boarding stable there on his property and disclosed to me that he kept no horses on his property. The phone "beeped" (call waiting) while I was talking to this man. He excused himself and when he came back, is story changed entirely. He had not one but, 3 barns on his property in which he boarded horses. At this point, I knew I had been (or was in the process of) being ripped-off. I started working boldy to attempt to recover my money. I ended up getting my money back on this horse. However, sometime after this incident, I ended up contacting Kathryn Smith again about a horse due to the fact that she lists every horse under a new owner ID number on several horse-for-sale sites, changes the location or city in NC, changes the stable name and her phone number (of lately). I had no idea I was contacting her again until I did. She is sneaky, manipulative and will stop at nothing to get a horse sold. She preys on people wanting well broke horses for children and other beginner type people.
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