Is it unethical or deceptive to "dress" a horse for ads in a manner that is consistant with intended use?

Is it deceptive to wear makeup for your family photo, because what I look like in the morning, is nothing what I look like in my family pics.

I dont see deception, I don't expect that that if I buy a horse, they naturally have blackened shiny hooves and a flat thick tail.

I don't expect the show sheen to last forever, nor do I expect the face polish to shine well into winter.

I don't see deception, I see promoting your animal to the best they can be promoted. The other person would have the ability to promote it such as that.

Think about it, what catches your eye when you surf the sale ads. The barnyard, out in the pen with lots of distracting fencing background? OR the professional picture with the horse nicely turned out?

Well, I am in an advertising course and preparing for the media planning/buying, but this semester I am studying advertising law and ethics.

If you used an extension on your horse in the photo that you have put up to advertise your horse and a novice/amateur asked you about it and you blantanly denied using one, that would be considered deception and misleading especially if the general impression test was applied. If you did NOT use an extension and told the prospect buyer that you did not use an extension (and it is clear by looking at the horse that an extension was not used) , that would be the truth and therefore not deceptive and misleading.

Overall, everyone knows that show photo's are basically the horse "dolled up" (along with the rider I must add lol). If you do not realize this and expect the horse to look that exact same way when interested in buying that particular horse (or even go to see the horse), then I think that the buyer really doesn't know much about horses generally.

Your friend is not deceiving an amateur/novice. That is the way that she keeps her horses and that is her decision. Once again, if a potential buyer does not understand that that is not how a horse is naturally, then why are they buying a horse in the first place with no general knowledge of horses?

What would be deceiving (and COMPLETELY illegal because it would fall under "bait and switch") however, would be if someone were to use a grey gelding that has shown nicely in 3'6 jumpers on the A circuit in the advertisement, but when someone went to look at the horse, it was really a bay mare that can jump a 2'6 hunter course and has only done schooling shows.

I think people have to look "beyond" the ad especially when dealing with horses. Of course we want to post our most beautiful brilliant picture of the horse because it makes it more attractive to potential buyers. I also think that if a person does not have the basic understanding that a horse does not look all "dolled up" all the time, then they really should not be purchasing a horse in the first place.

Cosmetic is an enhancement to the overall picture, not a deception like bute or Ace that will can cover up lamesness or a horse that is a totally whack job . Who do you look at first? The guy or girl who is dressed nice and well groomed or the one who looks like they have drug thru a knothole backwards? Same with your horses. When I met my team roping hubby, his idea of well groomed was the mud knocked off and a scissor clipped bridle path. Now he will not take one to the vet for routine work without a bath. Why? Because everyone started commenting on how nice his horses looked after I took over "deceptivly enhancing" them (this could be this years new phrase for well groomed). Same with selling one. He had a nice gelding he could not give away. Great horse, but the photos and the groom job he did was awful. Great clip job, whole lot of shampoo, a gallon of showsheen, good pictures and I sold the horse in less than a week for more than he was asking orginally. As a seller, I will tell a buyer of any bad habits or health issues that a buyer would need to be aware of. Will I go out of my way to tell you the win picture shows my horse with a fake tail, show sheen and face grease to make his features stand out better? No. If you need that much hand holding, you do not need a horse. I go out of my way to assist a buyer in anyway that I can, even to the point of offering a month's free training with a trainer of their choice to aid in getting them and the horse matched up sooner and on their way to winning in the show ring. Buyers of the better high end horses usually have either enough horse knowledge to know these things or a trainer that will tell them. I think the whole thing about this being "deceptive trade practices" is coming from the ones who are uneducated about the ways of the show world and how you prep a high end sale horse. If a false tail in a picture is the best excuse you can come up with not to buy a horse, then you are what we call around my barn a "tire kicker". Don't have the money to afford a really nice well trained point earning horse, and when I will not drop my price down to a auction house level, they yell that I am trying to cheat them. JMO

No, I'd expect to see it looking it's best ( bathed, polished plaited or whatever)- who's going to be interested in seeing it in the flesh if the ad photo shows a muddy, bedragged horse with twigs in it's tail - if the owners can't be bothered to pretty it up for sale then there just has to be something wrong.

It's all about promotion at the end of the day.

It's the responsibility of the buyer to examine the goods prior to purchase, if they don't know enough to do so then they should bring someone along with them - it's the same if you buy a car, house or anything.

It would only be deception if the written description did not match the horse - eg it said long flowing tail when really it was a fake one.

My husband puts his teeth in for photos - is that misleading advertising ?

Again...not opposed to them.

But this is where RESEARCH comes in handy. IF this was something new...tail extensions...and I hadn't heard about them before, I would wonder what else the seller might have "enhanced."

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING "NEW!" Like others have said...our eyes are caught by the cleaned up, shiny, and fit horse. Honestly...how many of us "gather" around the dull or dirty horse, if there is a clean, slick and shiny, well muscled one in the same area. [We all know which one we want to look at first.]

An experienced horseperson knows to look past the "embellishments." They are there to tell the buyer..."This is the BEST I can look." Like Mule says...kinda...I'm at least gonna bathe and comb my hair, put on clean clothes, and put on make up, if I'm going to get photographed. Especially if I know more than my family will see the photo. Seems like common sense to me.

If you're buying a horse BECAUSE of the pretty mane and tail...that might be all you get. I know a lady who bought a buckskin for the color...a 4 year old diagnosed with navicular. Now she's upset she can't ride...BUT HEY...she's got her buckskin. Same concept with buying for the tails.

This is not something new. How can it be deceptive, if it is well known to be a part of the equine world. [I've learned that it is...so if it's an issue to me...WHICH IT'S NOT!!...I would ask!" Seems so simple.

HECK...there's a selling point..."Horse has NATURALLY thick, full, and long mane and tail."

whenever i look at photos of horses for sale i will eliminate the tail and mane and look at the conformation of a horse..but people like me who have been around horses for a long time will look at a horse differently than a novice horse buyer.we have all heard of the horse that someone sold to a novice rider as "well broke"then they get it home and find out that it is a tornado and injures or kills the rider.in my mind the only deceptive practice is to drug a horse or use drugs to cover an injury or major problem that an average buyer would not notice.as long as there have been buyers there have been deceptive sellers but as a buyer it is your responsability to educate yourself on the practices used by sellers.everyone wants the "black beauty" or the "hidalgo" horses of the movies sitting in their back yard or barn,the perfectly behaved, perfectly manicured and groomed horse that they can go from the pasture to the show ring and bring home a trophy or blue ribbon just by showing up,but in reality there is so much work that the average non showing people dont know and it is THEIR responsability to educate themselves when buying a horse.in my area i know the ones who use deceptive practices and i keep them at arms length.if i sell a horse(very rare)i will point out every fault with the horse and show them how to treat the problem.i dont have tail or mane extentions because they dont have any use on a stock horse..but for show people to sell a horse on a photo that has extentions on the horse they are trying to show the horse in its best light and most novices that i know will notice if their is an extention when they do the physical inspection, and i dont think of this as a "deceptive"practice.. just polishing the chrome for a sale..

can chaser:that is a cute buckskin,looks like it would make a good stock horse prospect.has good balance for western riding..

I don't find it decpetive. As Mule said it's all about presentation and making the hors elooks it's best. Like her NONE of my family photos show me without makeup (well only the one where I had just given birth to my daughter 4 hours before hand hahahah who would look good then?) Anyway an experienced horseman knows that the horses are likely "enhanced with beauty products" When we clean our horses up for shows , use white n brite shampoos and color enhancing shampoos are we being decpetive? No we are enhancing the horses natural beauty or simply correcting cosmetic flaws (bleached out coat) much like we cover zits! White chalk used for whitening markings... is that deceptive. Take a look at the 2 ads below and tell me which you would rather look at when cruising the net for a horse

http://equine.com/Horses/ad_details.aspx?lid=54574... an all natural state or

http://equine.com/Horses/ad_details.aspx?lid=52063... slicked up and groomed as if he were about to show? I'd look first at the well groomed one and then check ou the ungroomed all natural one. Ads with a well groome dhorse generate mor einterest. When I was selling my old QH mare I had a pic on there taken where she was semi clean (no muid or dirt on her but just not sparkling) and I barely got any hits on it. I took her, shaved her muzzed clippe dher ears and halter path, gave her a bath in a color enhancing shapoo and just really really groomed her and had her shining like a new penny. Within 3 hours of updatiung the photo I had 12 hits!!! She sold in only a week. That rigth there proves cosmetics make a difference in ads

I do sales video. does anyone really thnk i would leave "undesirable" footage on there? i do step by step editing and eliminate any misbehavior, irregular movements, refusals of jumps, kicking biting etc. i package the footage in such a way as to show the horse in its best possible light. it is not my responsibility to inform the buyer, by way of leaving "bad" footage on the tape, about the negative aspects of a prospect. that is between the buyer and the sellor. i am not the sellors agent. in todays competitive market, marketing is one of the most important factors in selling a horse at the price the sellor wants for him. a professional photo (with or without tail extensions...lol) or video is a way to attract customers. it is the buyers responsibilty to try the horse and find any issues (behavioral or physical) that may be a problem. It is the buyers responsibilty to ask the right questions, and the sellors obligation to give honest answers.

John, I agree. I bought a horse that was drugged and I didn't know it. He came out of it and had a limp in his right front foot. It took lots of money and lots of corrective shoeing to get him where he didn't hurt. Would I have bought him without the drugs? probably not but then again I might have because I really liked him. But they didn't give me the chance to have that decision and I didn't go back to them because I knew I could take care of him and didn't want someone that didnt' know how to get a hold of him.

I do feel it is the sellers responsibility to have said buyer ride the horse and make sure they can handle it.

I think that if someone is knowledgable enough about horses to be looking into purchasing one, they ought to know that a show photo is likely to contain some cosmetic additives that one is not too likely to see on a horse that just splashed in from a muddy paddock in March.

Like anything else in life, it's "buyer beware" and all that jazz...it's up the the buyer to ask a gazillion questions, to do lots of research and legwork, and so on and so forth.