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Descriptions
Depending on the constraints of your ad space, you may be limited anywhere from very few words to several paragraphs of text to describe your horse. Writing a good description is a fine line between giving enough information for a buyer to be interested enough contact you, and boring them with superfluous details.

• Show Records - If the horse has a show record, stick to the highlights and biggest wins. If the horse has no show record, but has parents or siblings with a show record, let the buyers know your horse is from (or related to) competitive stock and don't hesitate to use the registered names of these horses, if space allows, so a buyer can verify the facts for themselves.


• Potential - If the horse has no show record, you're remanded to the oldest trick in the horse selling manual: potential. What would this horse probably be best suited for? And, more importantly, why? Many sellers will say their horse is suited for everything from halter to harness, but discriminating buyers want to know what makes that seem likely?


• Spelling and Grammar - If you are a horse person, remember "confirmation" and "conformation" are two different words with two different meanings. Foals are not "out of" stallions, they're by stallions and out of mares. Use the correct terminology in your descriptions and have a dictionary handy, for just in case. Does it really matter? You bet it does. Some people will email only to bring mistakes to your attention. Apparently, they find grammar and spelling important in ads, and wait for any opportunity to expose your inadequacies as a horseman. Worse, some of these people are actual buyers, so it's really just good business sense to avoid offending them if at all possible.


• TURN OFF THE ALL CAPS KEY - In case no one has told you, using ALL CAPS is the online equivalent of shouting. It's rude, it's lazy, it's ugly, and it makes you appear oblivious. If you didn't know better before, now you do.

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