Top 10 Things We Would Like You To Know:

1) We sell quiet, well broke geldings year-round at our farm, by appointment - with a written 2 week guarantee, new halter and current coggins.

2) We are not a big fancy equestrian facility - we are a family-run horse dealership, on a family farm, with a very strong sales record.

3) We sell quiet, well broke geldings, 5 and older. Mostly Quarter Horses, Paints and Apps, a few Walkers and Trotters. Our prices usually fall between $1500 and $2000 and we are required to add 5.5% sales tax. Most of our geldings are used for trail riding, pleasure riding, 4-H or fun shows, and general family use.

4) We guarantee in writing, on our bill of sale, that you can trade your horse in on another horse, for any reason, within 2 weeks, as long as the horse is in the same condition as when sold. If you decide to trade within 2 weeks, this option remains open for up to 2 months or 2 trades (you may trade for a 2nd horse and 3rd horse) . Although our guarantee covers anything and everything the first 2 weeks, we cannot guarantee anything else beyond that time, including how the horse will ride months later. That depends on how a horse is rode and handled, and is out of our control.

5) We can deliver a horse for a flat $1.00 per mile, one way,, using milage from MapQuest.

6) Jo Joslin buys, sells and rides our horses. Call her for info or appointments at 608-981-2120. Better to call for an appointment rather than email - best times to call are 7-9 am, or 7-9 pm, otherwise our machine is always on, and we return most calls the same day.

7) We sell first-come, first serve. On the day of an appointment, we may hold a horse for whoever called first to schedule an appointment for that horse (so they dont drive for hours and end up with nothing to look at), but we may sell it to anyone anytime before that day.

8) If you buy a horse from us, please do not make any physical changes, or give any vaccinations or medications, without our permission, until you are sure you will keep it. Even though you own the horse, and can do what you like, we may not take it back if changed or adversely affected by something you did to it.

9) We welcome vet checks if wanted. Vet is selected by buyer, scheduled by buyer and paid by buyer. We prefer pre-purchase vet checks, to save time, energy, money, and stress on the horse. We can provide a list of vets in a 50 mile area for you to choose from, or you may choose your own. Of course, nothing prevents you from taking a horse home and having it vet-checked there either.

10) If you cannot make an appointment, please let us know ASAP - we spend time getting horses caught from different pastures, cleaned up, and ready.

FAQs, listed under Horse Questions and How We Do Things.

Horse Questions

Where do you get your horses? From private parties, farms, trade-ins, friends, dealers, traders and sales - mostly from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, North and South Dakota.

Do you own the horses you sell? Yes, we own everything we sell. We do not sell on consignment.

Why do you just sell geldings? Because they are more in demand, hold their value better, and our geldings fight less on pasture with no mares around.

Why do you sell Quarter Horses, Paints and Appaloosas? We know these best - nothing against other breeds. We also deal in Tennessee Walkers, Missouri Fox Trotters, Morgans and Ponies once in awhile.

Why dont you have more horses to choose from? We are selective and many of our horses sell quickly. Quiet, well broke geldings are harder than ever to find, and we can only keep up riding so many at a time anyway. We usually have 3-4 registered horses and around 10 grades on our website, with new horses being test-rode each week, while others come in and some get sold.

Do you know the history of the horses you sell? It varies from horse to horse. Whatever history we get, we pass along. Registered horses show past owners of record on their papers, who can often be reached for info. Grade horses might come with some history, but many do not. We understand people wanting to know backgrounds, to filter out problem horses, or learn past achievments. We think backgrounds can be useful, but often they can distort the true picture of the horse, especially if the background info pertains to a much younger horse or a bad owner.

What do you mean by trail and traffic safe? By trail safe, we mean the horse is not spooky on trail - he might look real hard at certain things, but does not jump, rear, swerve, buck or take off, etc, when confronted by normal objects along the trail. It does not mean the horse will not jump at a deer or turkey popping up right in front of him - not all our horses have had that test. We ride our geldings all over our 175 acre farm, thru woods, fields, along the highway and past many different obstacles.

By traffic safe, we mean that the horse will ride in the ditch, right next to the shoulder, along a major highway, with car and truck traffic going by. The horse might pin his ears, but does not get scared, or prancey, and will not jump, rear, swerve or take off. It does not mean that we ride the horse right on the highway or right in traffic.

What do you mean by: OK for kids about 8, 10 or 12 and older? We mean that we believe an average child of that age, with some prior riding experience, can easily manage and ride the horse. We do not mean a child that has never rode before, nor one that has been riding their entire life - we just mean the typical kid who knows the basics of steering and stopping and is comfortable sitting and riding a horse. An extreme novice kid or very timid adult rider may not get along with horses we suggest are OK for kids. Kids horses are typically not very responsive to the legs, neck rein, turn easily, and above all have a quiet and gentle disposition.

Why does it seem like every horse you list gets the same description? We buy the same type of horse whenever we can: a gelding that is 5 or older, neck reins, smooth gaited, quiet, trail and traffic safe. This is what we look for, what we are known for and what we sell the most of.

Why dont you write a longer story about the horses? We stick to the basics, and point out the highlights, instead of writing up a long drawn-out story. We would rather go into details (good or bad) over the phone, or in person, because we think it results in a better understanding, with much less chance of confusion.

How do you handle vaccinations and worming? We do not routinely do vaccinations, including West Nile, or regular yearly shots - we leave them for the buyer to handle. If we have a vaccination record for a horse, we always pass it along to the buyer. If a horse obviously needs to be wormed, we worm it with liquid ivermectrin. Otherwise, we leave routine worming for the buyer to handle also. One reason for this, aside from the cost, is that we know most new horse owners will put the horse on a vaccination and worming schedule of their own, usually right after the purchase. We do not always know what a horse was given before we bought it, and we have no control over what it is given after we sell it, so we leave routine vaccinations and worming for the buyer to handle as they wish.

Have you ever had strangles at your farm? Yes, we have new horses coming in every week, and new horses can come to us already exposed, but with no symptoms. By operating under strict guidelines for testing, quarantining, and treatment, our numbers have been very low.

What is the risk of one of your horses being a carrier of strangles? We dont know the exact answer, and probably no seller does, but here are some points to consider: 1) The odds are greater at a market like ours (just like at a sale), than they would be if you bought a horse privately, just because we have more horses coming and going. 2) Over the years, and through well over 1000 horses, we know of about 25 cases where a horse got sick after we sold it, and usually we keep those here under quarantine until they clear up. 3) Any horse can be a carrier, even if they do not have any symptoms, and some stay carriers for life, so any horse from anywhere (even privately bought) can spread the bacteria to other horses.

If I buy a horse from you that ends up getting strangles within 2 weeks, what will happen? You have choices to make, first of all we could bring the horse back here for free, quarantine it and treat it until the infection runs its course. Or you could keep the horse at your place and let the infection run its course. However if you decide to treat the horse yourself, we will not pay for any treatment or vet costs for the horse you bought or for any other horse.

How do you handle vet checks? Buyers choice - if you want to vet check a horse, you can either do it here, before buying the horse (preferred), or at your place, after buying the horse, but within our 14 day guaranteed trade-in period. Either way would be with a vet independently picked by you, and at your expense. We welcome vet checks, whichever way you do them, but we prefer to have them done before you buy the horse, because it saves time, money and energy, and prevents alot of stress to the horse. It would also save you the $1.00 per mile to have the horse delivered and then picked up if it failed the vet check, and you would avoid having to trade for another horse. We can provide a list of vets within 50 miles for you to choose from.

Do you shoe your horses? We shoe many in the front, because we ride on gravel, paved roads and hard ground, and we take our horses on outside trail rides quite often. We are fortunate to have a good farrier come to our place once a week.

Do you take trade-ins? We trade for quiet, well broke Quarter Horse, Paint, App or gaited geldings, 5 and older, that are OK for kids or beginners. We just do not have time to take in anything else on trade.

I am skeptical - your horses sound too good for the price. We think skeptical is the right way to be when buying a horse, and we also think there are many overpriced horses out there (we consider our prices average). The best answer to this is our good reputation, which we have worked very hard on. We are confident that just about anybody you ask that has dealt with us, will give us a good report. Of course, not every horse we sold over the years has worked out, and we have even gotten into some disputes, but very, very few.

The key to our whole business is our written trade-in guarantee. The guarantee makes us more selective when buying and more up front when selling, because we know we will get a horse back if they dont work out. The guarantee increases our customers confidence in our horses and increases our sales.

Also, our website horse descriptions are not where we list the faults on a horse. We do that on the phone, or in person. Our website desription is a short list of each horses main selling points.

How We Do Things Questions

What exactly do you guarantee? We guarantee that you can trade in your horse for another horse, within 2 weeks, as long as your horse is in the same condition as when you bought it. If a suitable horse is not available to trade within 2 weeks, the trade option remains open for up to 2 months, or 2 trades (so you may trade for a 2nd and even a 3rd horse). Our guarantee is good for any reason. If we must pick up the horse or deliver a 2nd or 3rd horse (traded), we will charge $1.00 per mile for trucking (one way).

What is not guaranteed? We do not guarantee anything else - only that you can trade in your horse for another horse within 2 weeks. We cannot guarantee that a horse will ride the same months later - that depends on how the horse is handled, how often the horse is rode, and many other factors beyond our control.

Why did you switch from a 1 week money-back guarantee to a 2 week trade-in guarantee? After operating 3 years with a 1 week money-back guarantee, too many people began taking unfair advantage of it, in our opinion. We found that extending our guarantee from 1 week to 2 weeks helps serious buyers better evaluate their horse, and replacing the money-back with the trade-in weeds out buyers that were not that serious in the first place.

Why does your bill of sale say I cannot make any changes to the horse during the 2 week guarantee period, even though I own it?You do own it and you can make changes, but if anything about the horse is changed that we do not like, we may not be willing to take it back. This includes trimming, shoeing, removing shoes, clipping, vaccinating by yourself, vitamins, supplements, etc but does NOT include emergency medical care, routine worming or vet-administered vaccinations.

Am I liable for sickness, injury or death during the 2 week trade-in period? Yes you are - a buyer takes ownership, along with all risks, when they sign our bill of sale and take delivery of the horse. We agree in writing to trade the horse for another if you decide not to keep it, as long as the horse is in the same condition as when sold. If an illness is pre-existing (before delivery), then we are responsible, but we must decide the course of treatment (if any), and we may prefer to take the horse back, treat it here, and give you first chance to take it back when better, rather than you treating it in an expensive manner, and expecting us to pay the vet bill. WE WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR VET BILLS OR TREATMENT COSTS WHICH WE DID NOT AGREE TO PAY PRIOR TO EXAMINATION OR TREATMENT.

If you buy a horse and it gets cut or injured at your place during the guarantee period, we will likely tell you we will not take the horse back until the cut or injury heals to our satisfaction.

If you buy a horse and discover something that you want to treat within our 2 week guarantee period, you must first check with us before spending any money, especially if it is something you feel we may be responsible for. The main point here: If we end up with any responsibility to help pay for something, we want to decide the course of treatment and the place of treatment - and we may prefer to take the horse back here and handle it ourselves. Our bill of sale addresses this too.

How many horses do you get returned? Of well over 1000 horses sold, we used to get about 1 out of 10 returned for various reasons, some due to how the horse rides, some due to different buyer issues, like how the horse gets along with their other horses, how the horse bonds with the buyer, etc. Since switching to a 2 week trade-in guarantee, we get about 1 out of 20 returned, probably because less-serious buyers are weeded out. We get some returned horses that we do not agree with, and we might tell you that, but we are always willing to take them back. Roughly half the returned horses are resold here privately, and half are sold elsewhere.

Why do we have to call and make an appointment to see a horse? We sell first-come, first-serve, but require appointments so we can have them caught and ready to ride and so you will not be bothered by somebody else showing up at the same time, and to make sure we are even here. We may hold a horse for someone on the day of their appointment, but we may sell it up until that day. By talking on the phone, we can let you know whether we think the horse will work for your intended purpose and riding level. We allow 2 hours for each appointment, even though most take about 1 hour. We really appreciate advance notice if you must cancel an appointment - it saves us alot of wasted time, and opens a spot for someone else to look too.

If I make an appointment to see a certain horse, can it be sold before I get there? Not on the day of your appointment if you were the first person to schedule something for that horse,but it could be sold to someone coming that same day who scheduled a look before you did, or it could be sold to anyone anytime up until that day.

How can I buy a horse from you when they sell so fast? This can be a problem with certain horses or certain times of year (usually spring and summer), and we know people can get frustrated or disappointed when a horse they were interested in gets sold. Best bet is get on our email update list, and if something catches your eye, call rather than write - we prefer to set up appointments by phone. Also, some horses tend to get overlooked if they do not sell right away on our site. People often assume something is wrong with them because they did not sell earlier - many of these overlooked horses go on to bring more money later at sales than we had them listed for on our website.

Here are a few tips for contacting us: It is faster to call than to email, if a horse really interests you. We usually check our email once in the morning and once at night, but that can vary. During the time that you email back and forth with us, many different calls might have come in on the same horse, scheduling appointments, etc. The best time to reach Jo on the phone is 7-9 am or 7-9 pm, but feel free to call anytime between 7 am and 9pm. Otherwise our answering machine is always on, and we usually return our calls the same day. We normally update our website once a week or so (maybe less during the winter), and we send out our new horse update emails right away - they all get sent out within an hour after updating the website, unless we have technical difficuties.

Consider coming during the week, day or night, rather than waiting for the weekend (we have a lighted indoor).

We usually get in 2 or 3 new horses each week, so if one you liked gets by you, maybe something even better will be coming along soon. Many nice horses have been bought here by people who made an appointment to see whatever is available that day, not just one specific horse.

How long do you keep your horses for sale? Usually we give them a couple months, especially if we really like them. Every couple months or so we take a few to a sale, to clear out inventory and make room for new horses. Some common reasons horses do not sell include getting overlooked, being too ranchy or responsive, being plain looking (either their photo, real life, or both), being too young or old, being too big, or just because Jo does not like them as well and does not push them.

How firm are your prices? Quite firm at first, and then as time goes on (like a couple weeks or more), we are more apt to dicker, lower the price on our website or take less than asked. We do not set our price with the idea that we will get something less - we price horses where we expect to sell them. Of course, you can always make an offer - we will not be offended by any offer made on a horse.

Why do you add sales tax to the horse price? We have to - Wisconsin requires that any horses sold, beyond just an occasional horse or two each year, must include 5.5% sales tax, unless the horse is being bought for resale, and the buyer has a tax number, or if the buyer is tax exempt. So, if a private party sells an occasional horse, there is no need to collect sales tax, but if someone sells horses regularly, tax must be collected. In Wisconsin, anybody that sells horses regularly must collect sales tax - whether a small dealer, a large dealer, a lesson barn, or a public auction. This varies from state to state - Minnesota and Illinois do not require sales tax on horses, for example.

What if I want to sell a horse back to you after quite awhile?If we want to buy the horse back, we will probably offer you somewhere around half what you originally paid, depending on which horse and how it is doing. This may seem like too little at first, but we incur various real expenses to get a horse sold, which you will come to realize when you try it for yourself. There are also substantial risks involved with each horse, they may not ride as well as they did when sold, they may become injured or sick, etc. Think of it somewhat like the blue book value for selling a car privately vs trading it in to a dealer.

I sent you an email and never got a reply, or I never got your new horse email updates - why not? We do answer all our email, usually within a couple days, but we are not constantly online. If you need to contact us quickly, its better to call. There are at least 2 ways emails can get lost - one is if our internet service providers spam filter mistakes your email for spam and holds it, another is if your internet service providers spam filter does the same thing with our reply. If our spam filter blocks your email, we might not see your email for a week or so. If your spam filter blocks our email, it depends on how often you check such things, and you will have to adjust your filter settings to allow email from us to come through. If you do not get a reply to an email you send within a couple days, feel free to call us and ask about it anytime.

Again, if you do not receive our new horse updates, or any other email from us, you probably have to adjust your junk mail filter, to allow email from info@bigspringshorsemarket.com - we email our updates right from our home computer, with mailing software that keeps your email address private. If you continue to have problems, please give us a call!

Do you have a big fancy facility? No, on our 145 acre farm we have a typical dairy barn, a 60 x 90 indoor arena, and a 60 ft. outdoor roundpen. We added some white vinyl fence for looks and safety. Most of our geldings are kept on pasture year round. Most horses are grained daily and all have access to either pasture or free-hay. We have no employees, just family run.

Why dont you lease horses anymore? When we first started, our leasing program was so popular, we almost leased ourselves right out of business, it just tied up too much of our limited funds. Soon after we got the money end straightened out, our liability insurance company told us they would no longer insure horse leasing, even though we never had a claim. We could not find anyone else to insure leasing for a reasonable price either, so we dropped our leasing program.

How do you take the pictures of your horses? When we saddle a horse for the first time, we stand him wherever the light is decent and take several pictures from each side. Then we pick one from each side, crop it tight, delete the background and resize it to fit our website. Horse photo sizes can be misleading because we make a small pony fit into the same space as a large horse. Not being professional photographers, some pictures turn out OK, and some do not. Also, pictures sometimes get taken before we get a new horses feet trimmed.

Why do you take your pictures with the saddle on? We want people to realize that these are well broke riding horses, and not just pasture pets. The picture shows them like we sell them - ready to ride.

Why do you delete the background in the pictures? Because we want to take away any distractions from the horse, and we like the way it looks.

What credit cards do you accept? We take Visa, Master Card and Discover, which means anyone can make time payments on a horse, only you make them to your card.

Why should we buy a horse from you? You should buy the right horse for YOU, wherever it comes from. We just hope you will consider us one good source to check out, among others. We believe our written guarantee, free 50 mile delivery, credit card acceptance and good reputation represent real value. Ask anyone else you are considering buying a horse from whether they will guarantee it for 2 weeks in writing - you might be surprised.

We will add more as we go along!