Seller Resources
Horse Photo Guide
Great listings start with a great first photo. You do not need a professional photographer. Give us clear, honest photos of your horse and we'll help you create the strongest presentation possible.
Seller Photo Requirements
Use this quick guide when choosing photos for your listing. More detailed tips and examples are included below.
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You don't need perfect photos.
Every horse listed on Black Horse Market must include at least 3 photos.
A good phone photo is completely acceptable. We care much more about being able to clearly see and evaluate the horse than whether the photograph came from a professional photographer.
Most importantly, don't get frustrated. Upload the best photographs you have. If your primary photo does not meet our marketplace standards, our team can help.
Photo #1
Your Primary Marketplace Photo
This is the photograph buyers see while scrolling through search results. It should immediately show them the horse.
The entire horse must be visible.
We should be able to see the horse from ears to hooves and nose to tail.
Show the horse's entire body — ears, nose, legs, hooves and tail should all be visible.
Use a photo that works well in a 4:3 landscape marketplace crop.
Leave a little extra room around the horse so the image can be cropped for desktop and mobile.
Make sure the horse is large enough in the frame to evaluate easily.
Use a clear, well-lit photograph that is in focus.
Choose a reasonably clean or non-distracting background whenever possible.
Make sure the photograph accurately represents the horse today.
Marketplace Format
Leave room around the horse
Black Horse Market uses a consistent landscape presentation for horse preview images. Your primary image should work well inside a 4:3 landscape crop.
You do not have to perfectly crop the photograph yourself. In fact, leaving a little extra room around the horse gives our system more flexibility when displaying the image on phones, tablets and desktop computers.
Primary photo display area
4:3 landscape presentation
Keep the entire horse comfortably inside this area.
What photos should I upload?
Your first photo captures attention. Your additional photos help a buyer evaluate the horse.
Full-body side profile
Opposite-side profile
Front or three-quarter view
Head and expression
Conformation photo
Under-saddle photo
Performance or competition photo
Photo showing the horse doing the discipline advertised
Selling a performance horse?
Show buyers what the horse does. Dressage horses should include photos under saddle. Jumpers should show jumping. Reiners, barrel horses, cutters, rope horses and other performance horses should include photographs that help buyers immediately understand the horse's experience and discipline.
AI-Assisted Presentation
A good horse photo can become a great sales photo.
The original photograph below already gives us the most important thing: a clear and accurate full-body view of the horse. The distracting surroundings can then be cleaned up for a stronger marketplace presentation.
What we may improve
Background cleanup or replacement
Removal of people, poles, equipment or visual clutter
Minor lighting and exposure improvements
Cropping and framing
Image cleanup
Creating a more consistent marketplace presentation
What we will not intentionally alter
Image enhancement should never materially misrepresent the horse. We will not intentionally change characteristics buyers rely on when evaluating a horse, including conformation, markings, color, physical condition or other material characteristics.
Transparency matters.
AI-enhanced images will be identified.
Any primary listing photograph materially modified or AI-enhanced by Black Horse Market will display a Black Horse Market AI-Enhanced watermark.
Original seller photos remain available.
The seller's original, unmodified photographs will remain available within the full horse listing so buyers can also view the photographs as originally submitted.
Great presentation for sellers. Transparency for buyers.
Avoid as your primary image
Photos that don't work well
Some of these photos may still be useful as additional listing photos, but they should not normally be the first image buyers see.
Headshots or close-ups
Photos where part of the horse is cropped out
Horse standing behind a fence
Horse mostly covered by a blanket or sheet
Rider or handler blocking a large part of the horse
Blurry or very dark photographs
Screenshots from Facebook, Instagram or another website
Photo collages
Images with large text, phone numbers or advertisements
Photos where the horse is very small in the frame
Don't get frustrated. We'll help.
Upload your best photographs. If we believe another submitted photo would make a stronger primary image, we may select it. If none of the submitted photos meet the marketplace standard, we may enhance an appropriate image or contact you for another photo.
We want to help you sell your horse.
Copyright & Photo Usage
Sellers are responsible for making sure they have the legal right and permission to upload and display every photograph, video, graphic, or other piece of media submitted to Black Horse Market.
This is especially important for professional horse show photographs, competition photographs, sale photographs, photographer proofs, and images provided by third parties.
By uploading media to Black Horse Market, the seller represents that they own the media or have received the necessary permission or license from the copyright owner to use it in connection with their horse listing.
Professional Photography & Watermarks
- Do not upload photographs marked “PROOF,” “SAMPLE,” or similar wording unless you have purchased the appropriate usage rights or received express permission from the photographer.
- Black Horse Market will not intentionally remove, crop out, obscure, or alter a photographer's visible signature, copyright notice, logo, or watermark for the purpose of avoiding attribution or copyright restrictions.
- Sellers are responsible for obtaining permission from professional photographers, videographers, subjects, owners, or other rights holders when permission is required.
- The fact that a seller possesses a digital or printed copy of a photograph does not necessarily mean the seller owns the copyright or has permission to publish the photograph online.
AI-Enhanced or Edited Images
If Black Horse Market provides or allows AI-enhanced or edited versions of seller photographs, the seller must still have the legal right to use the original photograph.
AI enhancement, background replacement, cropping, color correction, or other editing does not transfer ownership of the original photograph or eliminate the rights of the original photographer.
Any Black Horse Market requirements regarding disclosure, watermarks, or access to original photographs will continue to apply.
Copyright Complaints
Black Horse Market does not authorize users to upload material that infringes the copyright, trademark, intellectual property, publicity, or other legal rights of another person or business.
If Black Horse Market receives a credible complaint concerning an image or other media used in a listing, we may temporarily disable or remove the disputed media while the matter is reviewed. We may remove infringing content without refunding listing fees associated with the listing.
Repeated or serious violations may result in listing removal, account restrictions, suspension, or termination.
If you believe that a photograph or other intellectual property appearing on Black Horse Market infringes your rights, please contact Sales@blackhorse.market.
Please include:
- A description of the copyrighted work or intellectual property you believe has been infringed.
- The horse listing name, listing ID, URL, or other information that identifies where the disputed content appears.
- Your name and, if applicable, business name.
- Your email address and telephone number.
- A statement explaining why you believe the use of the material is unauthorized.
- A statement that the information you have provided is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
- Your physical or electronic signature.
Black Horse Market reserves the right to request additional information before taking action on a copyright complaint.