Defending Yourself By far the best way to protect yourself, though, is to have an honest advisor. Whether you buy privately or at public auction, you should carefully examine any horse that you're considering purchasing. Check it out. The catalog pages at auctions are supposed to be accurate, and a significant error can be grounds for canceling a purchase. So you should assume that sale-catalog pages are accurate.
Private purchases are something else altogether.
You should never buy a horse privately without independently verifying all the seller's representations. Again, most sellers are legitimate, but until you learn which ones they are, be wary.