The exam you skip
That is what a pre-purchase exam costs. The soundness problem you inherit by skipping it can run thousands a year, for years.
The Personalized Horse Evaluation Checklist
One missed red flag can cost you $10,000.
This makes sure you don't miss it.
A finished horse, a green project, and a kid-safe packer all hide their problems in different places. This walks you through every one, in the order you will actually see them, and tells you plainly whether to buy him or walk away.
Get the Checklist · $47
Unlocked instantly. Use it on every horse, not just one.
- Works on your phone, or print it for the barn
- Built by Sarah Bennett, 25 years matching horses
Live example
and $8,500
Evaluating
"the bay gelding"
Red flag meter
Serious concerns
- Won't allow your own vet
- Rears when pushed
- Buddy sour on the trail
Would Sarah walk away? Yes. Walk away.
saved you a Saturdayand $8,500
Why it matters
The cheapest part of buying a horse is the horse.
Everything after the sale is where the money goes, and where a rushed decision quietly turns expensive.
The wrong match
A horse who does not fit gets resold at a loss inside a year, on top of the board, farrier, and vet you already paid while you owned him.
Every single month
Board and upkeep, whether you ride him or not. It is the number nobody adds up before they fall in love at the barn.
This checklist is $47. It is built to stop exactly one of these before it happens.
Exactly what you get
Nothing vague. Here is the whole thing.
Eight parts, all included, all yours the moment you buy.
Personalized to your horse
Tell us what you are shopping for and the whole checklist rewrites itself. A green project is not judged like a kid's pony.
The full evaluation, in order
The phone call, the barn visit, the test ride, the vet and closing. You know what to ask before you drive, and what to check once you are there.
The vice checklist
Every vice, named one at a time, the way a pro asks it so the seller cannot quietly slide past the word that matters.
The Red Flag Decoder
What sellers say, and what it usually means. "He just needs consistency" translated into plain English, with the question to ask next.
The red flag meter
Score him as you go. It tells you the moment he crosses from "worth a look" to "do not put money down today."
"Would Sarah walk away?"
Her actual verdict, in her voice, based on the answers you gave. The one thing you cannot get from a Google search.
The printable barn sheet
One page, made for your horse, with room to write. Your hands are full at the barn and your phone stays in your pocket.
Your next-step blueprint
Not a repeat of the checklist. A plain list: resolve these, ask your vet that, walk away from this one.
How it works
Print it. Take it. Trust it.
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1
Tell us what you are buying
Pick from six kinds of horse, then a few quick questions about you: how much risk you can take, how long you want him, whether he needs to haul.
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2
Take it to the barn
Print the one-page sheet built for your horse. Tick as you go and write things down while you are standing in front of him.
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3
Get your verdict and blueprint
Enter what you found. The meter scores him, Sarah gives her verdict, and you walk away with a clear list of what to do next.
See it for a family horse
The list changes with the horse.
This is the flag list a family buyer prints. A trail buyer, a project buyer, a competitor: every one gets their own, in Sarah's words.
The goal: safe, predictable, forgiving.
Red flags
- Bucking
- Aggressive behavior
- Spooky or unpredictable
- Needs a confident rider
- Hard for a child to handle
Yellow flags
- Herd bound
- Some maintenance
- Fresh after time off
- Trailer loading issues
Green flags
- Stands quietly to be tacked
- Nothing bothers him
- Forgives rider mistakes
- Same horse every ride
- A child can catch him
Built for the horse you are actually buying
Six kinds of buyer. Six different checklists.
The Confidence Builder
The Family Safe Horse
The Adventure Trail Rider
The Competitive Partner
The Project Horse Buyer
The All-Around Ranch Horse
Not sure which one you are? The free Confident Horse Buyer Quiz tells you in two minutes.
One time. Yours to keep.
The Personalized Horse Evaluation Checklist
$47once, not a subscription
- A checklist that rewrites itself for your kind of horse
- The phone, barn, ride, and closing walkthrough
- The full vice checklist and the Red Flag Decoder
- The red flag meter and Sarah's walk-away verdict
- A printable one-page barn sheet
- Your personalized next-step blueprint
- Use it on every horse you go see, forever
Unlocked instantly. One clear-eyed "walk away" and it has paid for itself many times over.
Before you ask
Fair questions.
I already have a trainer. Do I need this?
Your trainer cannot be at every barn on every day off. This is what you carry when you go alone, and it asks the questions in the same order a good trainer would. Bring the finished sheet to your trainer and the conversation gets a lot shorter.
Is this a subscription?
No. It is $47 once. You own it, and you can run it on the next horse, and the one after that, for as long as you are shopping.
What if the horse isn't started under saddle yet?
Tell the checklist that, and the test ride turns into a groundwork evaluation instead. A project horse gets judged like a project, not like a finished one.
I'm not a beginner. Is it too basic?
It adjusts to you. Tell it you are experienced and it stops treating normal green-horse behavior as a crisis. Tell it a fall would be serious and it tightens right up. The same horse can be a "maybe" for one buyer and a "walk away" for another.
Can I use it on a horse I'm buying online?
Yes, and the very first thing it tells you is the rule that saves the most people: never send a deposit before you have seen the horse in person, and never skip a pre-purchase exam by a vet you chose.
Go see the next one with your eyes open.
The right horse is out there. This makes sure you actually recognize him, and walk away from the one who only looks right on a good day.
Get the Checklist · $47Prefer to find your buyer type first? Take the free quiz.