I am filing this complaint against Keith Ranches (((REDACTED))), San Antonio, TX (((REDACTED))) in an effort to prevent other consumers from getting ripped off by an unethical (who claims to be religious and pray over every deal) horse consignment operation. Some background information on my unfortunate horse purchase experience:
-On 29 July, 2019, I paid $2,500 for a horse (Easy Rider) that turned out to be un-rideable by most people, especially beginners (which makes up many of my clients/riders). Main issues with horse: horse would not just “walk” with a rider and acted skittish, which was a liability for the Military Vets and special-needs population I work with. Full disclosure, I did have a couple kids ride the horse (in a round pen only) at Keith Ranches prior to purchase, but the horse acted much differently than when I brought him to my place. Note: I have owned another horse (and still own it) for over three years with no issues.
-On 23 September, 2019, I reached out to Keith Ranches to raise my concern and Jackie agreed to swap out the horse for another.
-Jackie informed me the horse he was willing to swap had a bad (swollen) ankle, but Jackie assured me it was not a Vet Bill and the swelling would go down and the horse did Not limp. (this was a flat out lie).
-On 25 September, 2019, Jackie lined up swapping of horses in a gas station parking lot in Lampassas, TX (saved me a little travel time, but very bad idea). When I saw the horse (Cinnamon) in person, I would not have taken the horse, but Jackie appeared to be in a rush and it was basically a “take it or leave it” feel to the deal. Full disclosure, the horse I originally got from Jackie had an extremely matted tail when I purchased the horse and we unfortunately had to trim/cut the tail as it was impossible to comb. I informed Jackie of this prior to the swap, but this severely upset Jackie and his wife at time of swap.
-I noticed new horse (Cinnamon) had a limp as soon as I began working horse in round pen. On 7 October, 2019, I informed Jackie and he said he was Not willing to pay a vet bill to have the horse checked. I took horse to Vet and ends up back right ankle swelling was from an “old” injury and was not going to get any better. Jackie claimed the horse did Not have this swelling (or previous injury) when he purchased the horse. (This is a lie).
-On 9 October, 2019, I reached out to Jackie to get a replacement horse for Cinnamon following the Vet visit, and this is where Jackie became very upset with me, but agreed he would eventually find a horse to swap with Cinnamon, just not at the time as it was going into the 2019 holiday season.
-I waited until 25 February, 2020 to reach out to Jackie to swap out Cinnamon. He refused to answer multiple text messages and phone calls. I eventually called from another phone number and sure enough, he answered. It ended up being a very short phone call where he said he was not willing to work with me and he “hung up” on me. This is the last I heard from Jackie.
-I am very disappointed with how this worked out and am out $2,500 as Cinnamon limps nearly every time I use him (even for basic riding). I strongly encourage people avoid this unethical business as I am not the first person to have a negative experience with Keith Ranches.
Stacey
United States#2Consumer Comment
Wed, March 25, 2020
So you take several horses without doing a vet check or even riding them because as you say "Jackie appeared to be in a rush and it was basically a “take it or leave it” feel to the deal".
I have been riding and buying horses more years than I can count and have never, EVER bought any horse before riding and having the horse vet checked. Buying a horse (for therapy no less) without working with the horse first is YOUR fault. Therefore you are at fault here not this individuals and NO I have not a clue who this person is.