A horse on trial .......

[Hughie]

Has anybody had a horse on trial. I've found a horse I quite like and have been offered it on trial. I can see a number of pitfalls! Accidents, injuries and illnesses being the foremost. Any advice most welcome!

 

[be positive]

You are very lucky to be offered a trial but it may be in the hope that you take the horse, fall for it and buy without asking too many questions or getting it vetted, it may be genuine and everything you want just like buying any horse with a reduced risk as you have a short period to get to know it.
First thing is do you really like, it would you consider buying without the trial?
does it fit your criteria?
Have you asked all the relevant questions and got the correct answers?
Do you have everything set up to take it on?

If yes to all the above then you need a contract, it works both ways the owners are taking a huge risk letting you have it before totally committing so you need to be 99% certain, don't take it to see if you like it, take it to make sure it is still what you expect once you are in control and that there are no nasty surprises.
You need to either insure it yourself or make absolutely certain the owners have it insured, if it has an accident you will be covered for vets bills or worse.
You need to arrange for it to be vetted, I prefer this to be done before they go on trial as there is less risk of it getting a minor injury in the new home and subsequently failing and also no confusion over whether it was fit for purpose when it left the owner so no chance of the person taking it doing too much with it then sending back a lame horse, it also shows commitment from the buyer, there is lass chance of them having a few weeks of fun then returning it when the weather gets bad.

A deposit would usually be left with the balance paid at the end of a set period of time.

If you take it don't expect it to be perfect but equally don't overlook things thinking that it will improve, if the horse is not suitable or you think it may not be get some professional advice just as you should if it was your own, some things can be overcome but do not compromise just because it is the easy option, if in doubt walk away and look elsewhere.

 

[Hughie]

You are very lucky to be offered a trial but it may be in the hope that you take the horse, fall for it and buy without asking too many questions or getting it vetted, it may be genuine and everything you want just like buying any horse with a reduced risk as you have a short period to get to know it.
First thing is do you really like, it would you consider buying without the trial?
does it fit your criteria?
Have you asked all the relevant questions and got the correct answers?
Do you have everything set up to take it on?

If yes to all the above then you need a contract, it works both ways the owners are taking a huge risk letting you have it before totally committing so you need to be 99% certain, don't take it to see if you like it, take it to make sure it is still what you expect once you are in control and that there are no nasty surprises.
You need to either insure it yourself or make absolutely certain the owners have it insured, if it has an accident you will be covered for vets bills or worse.
You need to arrange for it to be vetted, I prefer this to be done before they go on trial as there is less risk of it getting a minor injury in the new home and subsequently failing and also no confusion over whether it was fit for purpose when it left the owner so no chance of the person taking it doing too much with it then sending back a lame horse, it also shows commitment from the buyer, there is lass chance of them having a few weeks of fun then returning it when the weather gets bad.

A deposit would usually be left with the balance paid at the end of a set period of time.

If you take it don't expect it to be perfect but equally don't overlook things thinking that it will improve, if the horse is not suitable or you think it may not be get some professional advice just as you should if it was your own, some things can be overcome but do not compromise just because it is the easy option, if in doubt walk away and look elsewhere.

Thank you, that is really very helpful. Do you know if there is a template for a contract anywhere or do I need to find a solicitor - and any ideas how I can get a short term insurance policy?

 

[be positive]

I think you can modify the BHS loan one easily enough, there should be no need for a solicitor unless the sellers want to go down that route.
The insurance can be a bit more tricky, you would have to say you were loaning, easily updated once you buy, you will only be covered for accidents, death relating to accidents for the first 14 days, any illness will not be covered as it could be pre-existing so it is far better that the owners keep theirs going, you cannot have 2 policies on one horse so if they are insured it makes sense that they keep it running until you actually buy otherwise if you return the horse they have to take out a new policy which will probably cost more than just holding on for a few weeks.

 

[Elsbells]

Somebody has just had taken a nice gelding of mine on LWVTB. If there's anything wrong with him(which there isn't) or even if she doesn't get on with him which would be first for him, he comes straight back to me no question. Where's the risk for her in that?

You can have a horse vetted, pay ££££'s for it, get it home, have it a couple of months and something can still go wrong or you just don't gel as they are living beings after all, that's more of a risk IMO.

We used the BHS loan agreement.

 

[be positive]

Somebody has just had taken a nice gelding of mine on LWVTB. If there's anything wrong with him(which there isn't) or even if she doesn't get on with him which would be first for him, he comes straight back to me no question. Where's the risk for her in that?

You can have a horse vetted, pay ££££'s for it, get it home, have it a couple of months and something can still go wrong or you just don't gel as they are living beings after all, that's more of a risk IMO.

We used the BHS loan agreement.

No real risk but insurance must be in place, friends of mine had a LWVTB didn't get it insured for some reason, it got badly kicked, broken leg, pts and they paid the owners its value so were well out of pocket, it was their risk they could afford to pay but not everyone could do so and still be able to buy a horse afterwards.
These things need to be sorted before it all goes wrong and the OP is right to make sure everything is done to cover themselves as well as the owners.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I had H on LWVTB for 6 months as he'd done very little before I got him and was unfit so I wanted to make sure I didn't have a lunatic on my hands once he was fitter.

We used the BHS template, I paid a non-refundable deposit and had to organise my own insurance to include LOU.

It worked for us but I have heard a lot of horror stories.