Advice and opinions please..

Cathey

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2 May 2004
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right, so my predicament is that im off to university at the end of September and so will be needing to sell Sienna in a few months. A man my mum knows has given us details of a girl who he thinks would be interested in buying her from us. Now these people would like my horse on a loan trial period for the next 3 months. The main reason behind this being that they seriously had their hands burnt with their last horse which turned out to be completely unsuitable and unsaleable, resulting in them literally giving it away for nothing. Im torn now. Do i have 3 more months of fun with my horse? Or do i take the safe option of knowing i have someone who wants her? Im not keen on the trail period as imo 3 months is a VERY long trial and i have no guarentee of them actually raising the money to buy her from me in the future. And iv heard way too many stories of horses disappearing never to be seen again.

They've asked me what id be asking for her...but again selling her seemed so far away i havnt given it any thought at all! help? Shes roan, 13yr, 15.1 mare. Complete confidence giver, built mine back up from the ground. as bombproof as they come, really nice little mare easy to do. light and responsive well schooled ride but could still be ridden by complete novice (often is). Done BSJA on a ticket, never lower than 68% dressage, XC schooled, local showing with success. Actually cant fault her lol but then again i may be slightly biased
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only thing i can think of is shes got little legs and a long body lol.

Im seriously at a loss what to do. I love her to pieces but would like to know i have a nice home sorted for her. Help!

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I don't do trial periods at all. You should have no problems selling your horse if she is as nice as you say so I wouldn't risk a 3 month trial.
 
If you aren't going for 3 months what about the girl doing a share with you for 3 months? That way she'll see if she likes your girl and you'll see if you like her and whether you think she's the right person for your horse
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I agree, three months is a very long time, what if something goes wrong (not the horse's fault, or the loanees fault, what if she just gets injured and needs time off?). Offering her a share over the summer would be idea. You get to ride her, the other girl gets to try her, she can then decide to buy her or, if not, you can advertise her - she sounds really nice should be easy to sell (I would say around £3,000 as 13 is a bit older, but maybe a bit more if she does all these things nicely then people are willing to pay a decent price for a safe hack/allrounder).
 
I was going to say the same a Tiffany. Also do you need to sell because that might work as a loan and share arrangement so you can still ride in the holidays.
 
she lives some way away otherwise a share would be perfect (and is what im looking for atm hint hint
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) i would love to just loan her but unfortunatly i need to pay back the money i borrowed for my gap year travels and selling her is how i plan on doing it
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You need to sell her as soon as possible so as not to leave it to the last minute and find that you still have her when you are going off to university. Remember there are a lot of time-wasters out there. Under no circumstances loan her out as at the last minute they may back out. Also as you get closer to the new university term there are loads of horses being dumped on the market by others going to university.

Put her on the market now so that you have plenty of time to sell her without being pushed in to a corner.
 
3 months is a long time..... I wouldn't do that as it could stop you from selling her to someone else if they back out.
I had my horse on a week's trial and that was plenty. I tried him out 3 times at the seller's yard then had him on one weeks trial, and you just know whether they're right for you or not ... I would say 3 weeks trial max!
 
3 months would give them the summer with a horse which they could then hand back when school starts and winter is looming. Don't do it.
 
If they want the horse - let them buy it.

Of course, you could always keep it. I've never understood why people sell because they're going to university......
 
Three months is a long trial. What happens if she goes lame during that time? It's a risk I wouldn't take.

AmyMay - I never understood why people sold their horses because they were going to uni until now. Having just completed a three year degree whilst keeping my horse on DIY I now understand. I didn't devote myself to my studies enough because I was constantly at the yard or work. I couldn't afford livery and didn't go out much because always had to be home to turn the horse out! I'm glad I kept him because I love him dearly but it was such hard work I'm not sure I'd have the energy to do it again! That and I had to work part time to help pay for the horse on top of uni and I think my studies suffered.
 
It's no more hard work keeping your horse whilst at uni than when you work full time.

I appreciate the money side of things totally though if parents withdraw funding for naggy.
 
on the contrary Amymay! I think keeping a horse while trying to study for three or four years was very hard, especially if like i was, you are going to be living away from home. rent and livery don't go together unless your parents can afford to pay, it was one or the other for me so the horse stayed at home which meant only seeing him at the weekend and he was basically left off for the last 2 years as my workload increased and study and exams took priority on my weekends. given the time again, I'd have sold him. it wasn't fair on him really.I'm facing the same dilemma again this year, going back for a 2yr masters and I'm selling him. I'm going to do my best to have a good summer and get him ready to be sold around august I htink.

I think you've made the right decision about selling her and from the sounds of it, you shouldn't have a problen finding a home for her.

sooooo...my advice is to have fun for the summer with your mare, you won't be able to have a horse for again for at least the duration of your course, and don't give her out for a three month trial-its way too long!
 
3 months is way to long. I would say a couple of weeks max. Enjoy her and she'll sell anyway if shes as good as you say she is.
 
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