That ad is ridiculous. Asking for an adoption/sale fee IS how people protect horses they can't keep. Free horses end up getting sold by the pound for their meat; asking for more than that ensures the flippers can't make a profit that way. Also, I didn't spend much time looking at the pictures (I got too angry about the scam), but isn't that a Friesian? That's not exactly a backyard horse breed. A quarter horse or cross I could understand, but this breed isn't common enough that people wouldn't be able to sell it for decent money. I'm always skeptical of too good of a deal and sob story driven provenances. A good product (appliance, horse, snake) should be able to be sold on its own merit, not value assigned to it through emotional manipulation.

I'm sorry your girlfriend has to deal with this sort of thing. I can't imagine how many people think they're about to get their dream horse and end up heartbroken and without some money that could've gone to a real horse. Meanwhile, there are good horses that end up as dog food because of the seller's misguided intentions (free to a good home!) or lack of visibility because people get caught up by the scams. 😣 It's so frustrating!