A new free horse sales marketplace has been launched by a husband-and-wife team from Gloucestershire with the aim of helping buyers more easily find the right horse.
Paddock Sales is the brainchild of Natalie King-Howdle and her husband Ben, who is a software developer.
Natalie came up with the idea after experiencing a frustrating search to find a horse following the early retirement of her horse Benji due to kissing spines.
“When Benji retired, I was scrolling frustrating sales sites and trawling through hundreds of ‘for sale’ Facebook groups, with no prices or filters, unclear descriptions, and horses that were never going to suit me,” said Natalie.
“Meanwhile, the best match we ever made was Pumpkin, a field companion for my heart horse Domino, because someone at the Blue Cross took the time to understand what we needed.
“I wanted to build something that does that for everyone, which is honest when a horse might not be the one. I found looking for my next riding horse to be all consuming, and very emotional.”
How it works
Paddock Sales works by asking buyers to answer 10 questions about their riding experience, plans and budget before providing them with potential horses.
Information about each horse comes with reasons why they are suitable and highlights where they might not. Any horses that are out of the buyers’ budget are shown but clearly flagged.
Every listing has a three tap check before a buyer can make an enquiry with the seller. Listing a horse is free and sellers can paste details from an existing advert to be pulled through onto the website. Honest listings are encouraged and there’s a section for the horse’s health and history.
Sellers can view a list of buyer requests before they post so they can see what demand exists for the type of horse they are selling. There is also a checker that allows sellers to find out how many current buyers their horse matches.
Rehoming options
The website works with rehoming charities such as Blue Cross, so loan and adoption horses are also available.
“Selling a horse is often heartbreaking. People part with them because of health, money or life changes, and they want to know their horse is going somewhere right,” said Natalie.
“Buying a horse is equally as emotional; you’re looking for a partner. We want Paddock Sales to be the place where sellers feel looked after, buyers find a horse that genuinely suits them, and it never costs anyone a penny to list.”
Matchmakers
Natalie met Ben on the dating app, Tinder, and Paddock Sales works on a similar idea: matching people to the right horse, not every horse.
“I’m the non-horsey half, so I built it the way Natalie thinks about horses,” said Ben.
“The matching is based on what riders tell us really matters, like hacking alone and being good in traffic, and it explains its reasons in plain English.
“Every advert is checked before it goes live, and we keep it free because a seller’s horse shouldn’t be a revenue opportunity.”
To visit Paddock Sales, click here.
Image © Shutterstock.
