At wits end selling a horse...

iconique

iconique

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 January 2008
Messages
1,188
Location
Essex
Visit site
I'm not sure what to do and before someone button pushes, this is not an advert, I'm simply after advice. Friend has given me horse to sell, she's in a bad place and can't manage. She thought after a few years of riding school that with some other friends advice to buy a horse. The horse has turned out not to be for a novice - surprised? no, I'm not either, anyway this horse needs a firm experienced rider as it can throw in a spook to unseat the rider if not established and regular work. I've advertised cheaply it in most of the usual places with no joy, funds are running out as its on full livery and its got to a sell or have nothing stage. Now she's loosing '000's anyway, I can't afford it as have my own to pay for, I know its quiet - the snow down here means nothing is moving, dealers seem to be paying meat money..... So what do I do with this horse? And before you all say put down, he's healthy, sweet to handle, has a soft personality and can be ridden.

btw giving away is not an option.
 
Last edited:
If it has to go, take it to an Auction. It won't make much, but at least your expenses will stop. Horses do find good homes at sales. Has it been hunted? You might need some help with the wording in the catalogue, it has to be true but there are ways and ways to describe a horse.

I know it is a risk as you don't know where it will end up.
 
Agree with Orangehorse. If things are that desperate, sell it at auction.

But it can't be THAT desperate if it's on Full livery surely?? Stick it on DIY or grass livery even if it means not riding it for a couple of months.

Horses sell much better once the clocks change and and the weather gets better.
 
i had my mare advertised for ages and had nothing, then 3 weeks ago someone called up to come and see her and fell in love and bought her on first viewing, luckily just before i was about to spend a load putting her in h&h! the new owner found her in the trade it magazine! there are buyers out there, but cheap horses seem to put people off because they think something is wrong with it, but in the same breathe, people havnt got lots of money to spend on buying! its a tricky one, i would also maybe sugest a local auction, they can find really nice homes, but you wont get much at all.
 
Desperate yes, a dealer will give peanuts, full livery because it is a warmblood that hasn't got a fat score and I don't have room, he has a full clip and even with lots of rugs living out isn't going to help. Auction - we're in Essex and I'm not even sure the Cambridge ones run anymore? She's lost her job and can't cope.
He's lovely thats whats making it so hard.... I'm up for a divorce if I even suggest, plus haven't enough land or stables. We also have 6 inches of snow here, which is making it even harder.
 
If things are that bad why isn't giving it away an option? I don't mean to be rude, but the horse could find a lovely home through word of mouth, the livery bills would stop and since it sounds like it's going cheaply anyway if you continue to try to sell it with it on full livery you'll be taking a hit for a few hundred a month anyway. I don't know when the local auctions run where you are but a lot of them stop over the winter and don't pick up again til April or thereabouts, so at full livery rates surely that would well and truly cut into the value you want to sell the horse for?

I ask because a friend of mine is looking for a horse but has no funds to buy since insurance refused to pay out on her horse after she pts rather than putting a 20 year old horse through colic surgery again. It's a fabulous home on her own land and if there's one out there then there must be others.

BTW I'm not saying this because my friend wants a horse, she needs a mare and you're further out than she could go, it's just an example.

Maybe you could consider a loan to an experienced home too to take the pressure off of her financially?
 
sorry your friend is in this situation. I know its hard but if going to auction isn't a choice then dealer is the only option, either that or very soon the full livery will eat away at any difference between the two and before she knows it she will have spent more on livery than she will get for the horse
 
TBH, I think you have to be more than desperate to sell at auction atm. The last few times I've been (we're nowhere near you admittedly), more horses have been taken home again because they haven't met the low reserve than have actually been sold. You might as well give the horse away, at least then you would have some say over the home it was going to. I'm not actually suggesting that the owner does this, by the way.

How about lwvtb? At least that way the owner wouldn't have any more bills to pay, you would have the chance to vet the home and suitability of new owner and might attract some knowledgeable people. Maybe offer staged payments, then the owner will have some money before too long.
 
We've reached the tipping point, hence why it has to go now, if it doesn't then its a minus financially above and beyond what she paid.

Giving away, well when he was advertised at decent money we got people turn up who tried to blag a free horse then and to be honest I'll shoot it myself first. There seems to be a lot of joy riders who are trying to get their-selves something for free and yes he does have a value even with the meat man, whilst not nice the owner took a loan to buy him and because of her situation the emergency fund has been eaten into - he is insured though so if something happened he could be cared for on that side.

By the time I've driven him (I do have transport) to an auction it probably because of distance erodes the few pounds he's worth.

Thanks for your input, it looks like the few hundred pounds that a dealer will give or the meat man is the option. Sad but why I asked, just in case I missed something. :-(
 
I forgot to add, loan........
I've seen so many posts on here where its gone wrong and when I loaned myself, so sell or its is the only clear cut option. :-(
 
what about lwvb that's how I first got my current horse, and he is not going anywhere and has nothing to want for! Not all loan homes go wrong!
Another suggestion its diy livery, much cheaper than full and still get stable and field etc as you would with full, just work level for owner and expense change?!
Try project horses website if you haven't already!
 
Although I am at the other end of the country I find it very hard to believe that a nice warmblood cant be sold for any more than meat money.

I am up north and even here sensibly priced horses are selling I buy and sell a few myself and would never consider sending one to the meat that had nothing wrong with it in fact I dont send any to the meat but thats beside the point.

You say people are turning up and trying to blag the horse for free in that case you must be advertising it wrongly this sounds very strange.

If you like pm me the ad and maybe I could give you a few pointers, you sound very fed up with the whole situation and actually I feel sorry for the horse its not his fault your friend overhorsed herself then got herself in a financial mess.
 
Just out of interest If the horse had turned out to be a quiet plod that she wanted to keep she would still have had to pay for its upkeep so why cant she do this until it is sold.
 
Have you put him on all the free websites? advertised in your local shops etc Has he got good breeding? bizarre that people were turning up and by the sounds of it offering silly money which leads me to think he may not look that great at the mo,maybe under weight and not looking his best? I have known a few people to pay quite a bit still for ones 'sold from the field' personally something i'd rather not do but people love a bargain so maybe advertise him as a decent warmblood sold from the field hence price? or something similar so it's very obvious he has done no wrong and that's why he's a bargain. When their v cheap i think either A) health issue/lameness/illness? B) mental in the head or C) not a good stamp of horse,if you try and really push and mention 'redundancy forces sale' it makes it clear to a potential buyer it isn't anything to do with the actual horse the price. sorry rambling!
 
Thank you for your comments. He has been advertised as what he is, an experienced ride not suitable for a novice. I've been honest about him and also that he needs building up. He isn't a college horse as he likes to go straight into work and if you loose concentration or contact for even a second he spooks badly enough to have someone off. All the normal checks have been done- back etc

tbh he's worth considerably more and I myself can't believe he hasn't found someone. He's on all the normal sites and thats cost a fortune in its self. I also have a friend selling a horse and she's having a similar experience with buyers in this area. The trouble is the meat money is so close to the dealer money, I was thinking that the world is overloaded with horses and it might be kinder than risk him going to the wrong home.

If he was safe, yes she'd try and keep him and probably wouldn't be in this predicament as this has accelerated her illness. And as a safe horse would be something to keep a sharer or working livery would have been an option. DIY is a no as there are no vacancies in the immediate vicinity - I have my own stables (I have nothing I can kick out) into my already muddy fields, plus if I have to think of my own first and have a job to do on top - by the time you add fuel etc it would soon add up, he's on ad lib everything and its reasonable for what he gets where he is.
 
I'm seeing this situation every day. I'm an agent, I help people find suitable horses and also help people to sell thier horses. (I usually get them sold from the owners home / livery / field etc.)
For my buying clients I have found a few good horses this winter, but I'm generally telling them to hang on and wait. The choice on the market right now is very poor, although it's very much a buyers market but most people with good horses to sell know they should wait until spring is well established.
As for my selling clients, I am working very hard to get horses sold but again I am generally telling them to wait. Horses are cheap right now, unless you have something really special it will sit on the market until you drop the price low enough for someone to take a punt. Horses that sell for any decent money right now are a) proven in what they are sold as b) quality enough to attract attention c) uncomplicated and generally easy to do / ride / keep. If your horse is not all of those, then your really swimming against the tide if your trying to sell for decent money. Buyers aren't daft (Ok well some are,) and they know it's an open market if you have the cash right now. So they can take the p$ss, because you won't see it sold easily!
You haven't said anything about the horses age or experience so I can't advise specifically but if were you I would firstly consider putting the horse into sales livery. If full livery is being paid anyway, sales livery will be about the same but the horse will at least be getting some work and schooling. Perhaps even get out to a comp or do a bit of hunting which will increase his chances greatly. If thats not an option, then i would only echo what everyone else has said. Loan or turn away or give away.
If the thougt of giving him away makes you choke on the money thats been lost, bear in mind that I have people calling me everyday asking me to help re home tricky horses that they paid plenty of money for but the horse has turned out unsuitable. I have to dig a bit to find out which ones have a chance, the ones who are just in the wrong home and still hold some value as animals of some use. The rest of them are usually thoroughbreds, or poorly bred warmblood types who are too old, too tricky, too dangerous, too unsound, too troublesome stressy quirky too established in severe behaviour that re training will cost 10 x the value of the horse IF it sells and I'm afraid in these cases I either recommend giving the horse away with full history disclosed or often I will recommend euthanasia. Rather that than see these poor creatures dragged from s@it hole to s@it hole for years to come. Your horse doesn't sound like a pts case, but if he's quirky you will struggle unless he's proven in a job and you can sell him for that job to someone who doesn't mind the quirks. Feel free to gimme a call for further advise. I belive there is a home waiting for every sound and useful horse but you might not like the hard facts! www.theequineagent.co.uk
NOT an advertising post, as i just said...... I'll probably turn you away!!!
 
I may be wrong, but as you've described the horse it sounds like it would have to be quite talented and possibly a professionals ride to sell. Your average Joe isn't going to want an unsafe spooky horse that you can't walk on a long rein.
 
Im not sure but I think I might have found your advert. If so, he looks nice but his age will count against him, and consistent with Paris' comment above, he is advertised as needing someone experienced but doesnt appear to have the kind of track record that someone more experienced would look for in horse of that type and age and needing a more experienced rider.

Can you make a bit more of what he is able to do so as to make him more attractive?

I also think that if he is being sold because she cannot afford him as well as having lost confidence you can say the price reflects the financial reasons for sale, as otherwise people can be deeply suspicious of cheapness.
 
Just an update for anyone interested- I'm on my way from 'oop north now to collect this boy tomorrow! I wasn't supposed to be buying another one but he's won me over- he best pack his thermals!! :D

Thanks to iconique for all her help and putting me and dad up for the night!
 
katastrophykat said:
Just an update for anyone interested- I'm on my way from 'oop north now to collect this boy tomorrow! I wasn't supposed to be buying another one but he's won me over- he best pack his thermals!! :D

Thanks to iconique for all her help and putting me and dad up for the night!
Click to expand...

THats great news I hope you have loads of fun with him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top