We purchased a paint mare back in November from "Diane Coffey/Coffman" and William after seeing an ad on HorseTopia. This particular horse was described as child safe, a lesson horse, very sweet, loving, wants to be with people instead of other horses, was abused by the previous owner because she was just a stupid horse and did not like to trot would just walk at a very slow pace. I was told the previous owner was a girl who wanted a faster horse for barrel racing and no trade was listed on HorseTopia.
I also had around 50 or more videos on Photobucket to view of the horse which basically sold her to me. I wanted a horse for my son who was 7 then and myself just for pleasure riding. I should have known it was a scam when she told me the next person who rode the horse would be her owner as the previous person who looked at her had spurred her so badly she "shut down" and she had to have a stable-hand talk to her and walk her around to settle her down for hours... Red flag... What a liar!
When given directions to where she was located it was Glimmering Sands Lane in Conover, NC; the listing on HorseTopia was in Gastonia, NC. We met her in a parking lot to purchase the horse as we told her it was just too far for us to trailer a horse back to SC so she said she was on her way to deliver another horse and would meet us in Gastonia... Another red flag... She was so paranoid of my oldest son asking who he was as she was adamant that we have no trainer with us when picking up the horse... Another red flag...
The next day obviously my horse had been drugged... I realized I had a horse that was maybe at the most green broke. I could not even get near her with a lead rope, brush or saddle pad. Thank God I was smart enough not to put my child on her.
After about a week I found another ad on HorseTopia similar to the one I fell for (a black gelding). I called "Cynthia Sheppard" at 828.228.6115 and the woman told me she just trailered 10-14 horses to the vet for Cynthia Sheppard and that she was just the driver. She also said the previous owner abused the horse, did not pay board, owed Cynthia Sheppard a lot of money, and she had taken a lot of crap from this person. She told me Cynthia Sheppard or Dianne Coffman/Coffey (I don't know) was at a "horse show" with all of her highfalutin clients and she would have her call me. I never heard from her.
I still to this day have not ridden my horse. I took her to a trainer who informed me she was an "Endurance Horse" and that she was not good for me nor my child... She bowed her tendon the first week, had to stall board for 3 months and did not receive any training. I have learned my lesson but have fallen in love with this horse... I feel so badly for her as we don't anything about her or where she came from. What we do know is that she was abused and hopefully she can sense she is loved now.
Please beware of these people. If I can stop one more person from being scammed by these people it will be worth all we have been through.
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