This is so frustrating

[SnowShredder]

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!

Yes it is a Friesian.
My girlfriend isn't very internet savvy and had never even heard of the dog scams, and to her this ad was a dream come true (her dream horse). She didn't recognize the broken english was a bad sign, and that they are in a different state. After laying out the facts she became upset with me but I think that stems from the fact that she got her hopes up.
These scammers aren't very smart though, they always use well known photos, I've seen some even with copyrights on them! I think they have you fill out an "application" because it will a lot of people feel that the ad is legit, that the person genuinely cares about the well being of their animal. But that's all fake.
Some of the ads with this picture listed it as an Arabian or even a Quarter horse. Horse reeds are as distinct as any other type of animal breeds/morphs.