Every market has its dialect, and the horse market's is older and more forgiving than most. None of these words are lies, exactly. They are a seller's honest attempt to describe a horse in the best available light — and your job, as the buyer, is simply to know what the light is hiding.
"Forward"
The horse goes. That is the whole claim. Whether it goes with you or despite you is precisely the thing the word declines to say. Ask: "Forward off the leg, or forward past the hand?" A seller with a genuinely nice horse will answer in detail; a seller with a strong one will change the subject.
"Project"
A project is a horse that cannot currently do the job you are buying it for. That can be a wonderful bargain — young, green, and cheap — or it can be a horse someone else has already failed to fix. The question that separates them: "What has been tried so far, and by whom?"
"Husband-safe"
The most charming phrase in the trade, and the one to trust least on its own. It describes a temperament, not a training record. Ask for video of the horse being ridden by the least experienced person who rides it regularly — not the trainer.
Buying soon? The PPE checklist covers what your veterinarian should screen, breed by breed — and if you'd rather have someone on your side of the table, tell us your brief.