10/03/2026
Feels like this was not that long ago… Good old times!
🐴📞 HORSE SHOPPING IN THE 90s WAS NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED.
Forget 47 videos on WhatsApp.
Forget slow-mo trot-ups, full veterinary history, X-rays, drone footage and a professionally edited montage of Dobbin hacking past a tractor.
You got THIS. 😂
A tiny, slightly blurry photo in the back of a magazine and approximately six lines to decide whether you were about to meet your dream horse or spend three hours driving across Britain to view an absolute lunatic.
And the descriptions were magnificent.
“Safe but bold.”
“Outstanding temperament.”
“Would suit novice.”
“Good in traffic etc.”
ETC?! 😭
Then came the big moment…
☎️ RINGING THE LANDLINE.
No Messenger.
No WhatsApp.
No casually sending a text at 11pm asking “Hi hun, is he still available? xx”
You had to actually PHONE A STRANGER.
And if nobody answered?
That was it.
You waited.
Possibly staring at the phone willing them to ring back while simultaneously praying someone else hadn’t bought him.
There was no asking:
“Any more pics?”
“Can you send a video in all three paces?”
“Any jumping videos?”
“Can I see him hacking alone?”
“Can you send one without tack?”
“Can you video him loading?”
😂😂😂
THERE WERE NO MORE PICS.
That grainy 4cm photograph WAS the media package.
And possibly the most exciting bit of all…
Waiting for the next week’s adverts.
You couldn’t refresh the page every 14 seconds looking for newly listed horses.
You waited for the next magazine to physically appear and then flicked straight to the classifieds to see what had arrived.
And just look at the prices in this one… 👀
£2,500.
£3,000.
£3,500.
Although somebody was feeling particularly optimistic with the £6,000 dressage prospect. 😂
Horse shopping required patience, a landline and an extraordinary amount of faith in one tiny photograph.
90s horse people — surely we’re not the only ones who remember studying these adverts like they were the Argos catalogue at Christmas? 🐴☎️❤️
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