I think a majority of these comments are incredibly generalised.
I presume a lot of the people who would NEVER EVER EVER buy from a dealer would buy from a reputable, well-known, local event rider?
Well, that's what my friend did and the horse didn't exactly turn out as described.
You can get burnt by anyone, private sellers or dealers alike. You just need your common sense and your wits about you in general when buying any horse.
Go to any reputable, well-known dealer and I'd say you have more of a guarantee that you're going to end up with a suitable horse than if you went to a private seller. Private sellers have nothing to do with Trading Standards, and you have no comeback whatsoever if you buy from a private seller. As my friend unfortnately found out.
I bought my young lad from a dealer. He's an absolute angel 90% of the time (the other 10% he's just being a baby) but I was warned he needed bringing on and could be a bit green and fresh sometimes. I knowingly took that on and the dealer wouldn't have sold him to me if she didn't think he was going to be suitable.
I'm still in contact with her, she likes to hear what he's been up to and how we're getting on, and if it hadn't of worked out then I've no doubts that she would have done her very best to sort it out and help us out.
So, personally I think people are being very close-minded by automatically cancelling out any dealers. They're not all out to get you you know. Sme are just trying to make a decent living and know that to do that and gain a good client base you need to be honest. I'm not talking go off to some random yard in the middle of nowhere where they may just up sticks and leave at any point and no one ha heard of them etc. But try going to a reputable, proper set up next time you're looking for a horse. I can think of several I'd go back to in a flash if I happened to be looking for a new horse. You may just be pleasantly surprised.