Forever homes - would you give a discount?

Wagtail

Wagtail

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Just wondering really. Years ago, when I bought my horse of a lifetime I advertised a forever home for the right horse. I went to see many, but none set me alight until I met my mare. Sadly though she was right out of my price range by 25% (they wanted £4k, and I had £3k). She hadn't even been advertised but when I told them my limit they sold her to me at that price because I was offering a 'forever home'. I have been true to my word too and she is now a very pampered and still much adored field ornament. So, my question is, if you were selling a horse, would you significantly drop the price if you were told it would be going to a home for life?

I never sell my horses, but if I did, I think that I would reduce the price, if I could be convinced they were genuine. But how would you know they were genuine?
 
As much as i love the idea of forever homes, i dont think they always truly exist, not because people dont intend to give homes for life, but because things change in their lives, look at the economic climate we live in. I hope my horses have forever homes with me, but you never know. I know i'd do everything in my power to keep them and hope i will always be able to have them with me.
 
A few years ago yes, now no probably not especially as I know how genuine people buying (and not saying) on behalf of dealers cab be! I think the answer is you cant ever prove if genuine or not without copious amounts of references from instructors/yard owners etc. I got this for my old cob and he is still with her and I visit reguarly :)
 
I wouldn't specifically drop the price for a 'forever' home because no-one guarantee one, we can endeavour to try..

Relatiosnhip breakdowns, redundancy, serious/terminal illness, beravement, finacial problems all things that can affect any of us.
 
Yes I would, and I'd always sell with first refusal too. Like you I don't ever want to sell but have got carried away with my hobby breeding and now have 8 with 2 in foal:eek::eek::eek:

I will need to sell some youngsters but will wait till broken and going well. I'd be prepared to lower the price. Sold my 3 year old to a good friend for half what I paid for her as a yearling for exactly that reason - and I didn't even like the horse!
 
good for you! very pleased to hear it, however not all are like you and i am not sure I would trust anyone in offering a forever home, having said that the only ponies I have ever sold are still in the homes I sold them to with one exception Rocky 14.2 grey gelding freezemark 8cp7.... still trying to trace him! and as I am so rubbish at selling anything I guess everthing I now have now has a forever home!! :)
 
I would drop if I felt the person was perfect for my horse/was offering the best of homes. I would not drop just because someone says the home will be a forever home. Too many unscrupulous people would say this to save a buck, and even in the honest ones you never know what's around the corner.
 
Having recently been told about a woman and her daughter who turned up to try an absolute cracker of a pony, daughter rode really well, loved the pony, said they couldn't afford full price but please please please, very plausible etc - and then sold the pony on within two weeks for significantly more than he was originally advertised I am even more sceptical than I was! I have no idea how you check someone is genuine :(
 
Suziq77 said:
Having recently been told about a woman and her daughter who turned up to try an absolute cracker of a pony, daughter rode really well, loved the pony, said they couldn't afford full price but please please please, very plausible etc - and then sold the pony on within two weeks for significantly more than he was originally advertised I am even more sceptical than I was! I have no idea how you check someone is genuine :(
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I think that would have had me in the jail - how awful for her.
 
Mines in a forever home. :)

I got him for free, off project horse, and would never part with him.

Owner knows this, still in regular contact with her each month to let her know how he is getting on.

Forever homes (as much as they are) are out there. It's just hard to find them I guess, all I know is mine won't ever be leave as I don't know where he'd end up.
 
No I wouldn't drop the price for that reason as I don't see how you can believe a total stranger's promise?

It is a well known dealer/trader trick to play the 'forever home' card.
 
scarymare said:
Yes I would, and I'd always sell with first refusal too. Like you I don't ever want to sell but have got carried away with my hobby breeding and now have 8 with 2 in foal:eek::eek::eek:

I will need to sell some youngsters but will wait till broken and going well. I'd be prepared to lower the price. Sold my 3 year old to a good friend for half what I paid for her as a yearling for exactly that reason - and I didn't even like the horse!
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Well I can't say I blame you. If it wasn't for a hubby with a tight hold on the purse strings I would have bred a foal or two from my retired mare, but she's too old now, and probably a good thing too. There are only so many you can keep!
 
Suziq77 said:
Having recently been told about a woman and her daughter who turned up to try an absolute cracker of a pony, daughter rode really well, loved the pony, said they couldn't afford full price but please please please, very plausible etc - and then sold the pony on within two weeks for significantly more than he was originally advertised I am even more sceptical than I was! I have no idea how you check someone is genuine :(
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That is just awful. :mad: I guess there really is no way of knowing. As others have said on this thread, even with genuine people circumstances can change.
 
millitiger said:
No I wouldn't drop the price for that reason as I don't see how you can believe a total stranger's promise?

It is a well known dealer/trader trick to play the 'forever home' card.
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I think of all the tricks, this is probably the worse one. Especially if someone is being forced to part with their much loved horse due to financial problems or relationship breakdown and wants to secure their future. It's just cruel.
 
I have recently sold my daughters pony to the family that have had her on loan for over 2 years, I sold her for alot less than she was worth but they have given her an excellent home, shes now worth more than when they took her on, they have affillated her, the oldest daughter is starting to outgrow her but she will then be handed down to the youngest and after she has finished the mother will then keep her for herself as a hocking pony. I wouldnt have sold her to anyone else and probably would have left her on loan permantly until they offered to buy her. They know they bought her cheaply but at the end of the day a great home was the most importtant thing, Magic was a very nervous, skinny wreck when we bought her and the thought of selling her for more money to someone I didnt know worried me. They now know Magic is theres forever and I know shes happy and well looked after. The only thing I asked when I sold her to them was that they keep in touch and if they ever did sell her I got first refusal. I very much doubt she will ever be sold, they have all the ponies they have ever owned, most of them now well in there twenties. For us it was best solution.
 
Whilst all my horses (12.2 up) have had a home for life, I would not expect a vendor to alter a price. As previously stated, how are they to be expected to know who is genuine.

Nevertheless, many years ago, i did buy a horse from a friend of a neighbour and was basically asked what I could afford. Vendor agreed to price as knew I was financially limited as refused to sell my first pony. I was then told horse had been valued at substantially more.

A year later I heard the vendor had died from cancer. He had been so genorous because he had wanted to get his "girls" into permanent homes.
 
No! When we managed to contact our Knabb's 'proper' owner it turned out she had knocked well over 1k from her original asking price because he was going to a forever home, we bought him at auction for even less 3 weeks later. He was a different horse to the one she sold so god only knows what they did to him in those 3 weeks. The ones I have that belong to me all have forever homes but I would not believe (nor expect to be believed by a vendor) anything that a prospective purchaser said to me.
 
I naively turned down an offer on my first horse for a much lower one to a friend of a friend who said she could offer her a home for life and that I could visit whenever I liked.
I only sold her as I was 21 and leaving my home in the North East to work in London and would not have been able to keep her there.
I returned home 3 weeks later at Christmas to see my parents and couldn't wait to see 'my' mare as I missed her so much.
She had been sold on a week later for twice what I had taken for her. 26 years later I still miss her and kick myself for being taken in :(
 
When I bought M's the old owner put a 'first refusal' clause in the sale contract. I'm not sure how legally binding it was but I'm an honest person and if I did ever sell him I would have honoured the agreement and offered her first. As it was I never sold him, he had a full and happy life with me for 19 years until I had to have him PTS five years ago.
 
on the other side of the coin i bought a horse and the girl was quite upset when we went to collect her and i told her that the horse had a home for life with me.... i absolutely meant this as i have never sold any horse i have owned, but after getting her really fit i lost my nerve on her and did think about selling, but couldnt find the right home as she is a bit quirky and i had become fond of her even though i was scared to ride her.. i ended up keeping her , got over my fears and 9 years on still have her and hack out daily and she is definately not going anywhere as she is now 20... so someone can genuinely think they will give a home for life but the reality can be different.
 
You never know if its genuine. I sold one of my ponies who I'd had for years - was a really special little chap and I was heartbroken selling him (but had outgrown). I wanted a forever home (price wasnt even important) and I was promised this family would give him that. 1 year later I found out he had been sold! I was horrified to say the least but in the end I'm glad that the new owners treated him well and he still remains there, now retired - which is all I wanted for him, a nice retirement home. Even so, I'll never believe anyone who promises a forever home again.
 
An interesting thread.

Undoubtably I would alter the price for the right home however the adjustment should not leave scope for purchasers to make a fast buck!

You never really know if a home is a home for life or if that home is a good one. Indeed sometimes it is better if the horses is sold rather than be neglected when someone loses interest.

Often on this forum people say you have to price your horse at a level to avoid the unscrupulous people but I think you can find unscrupulous people at every price range.
 
No because I do not believe that just because someone has less money they will always offer a better home.

Possibly I might offer a discount if selling to a friend or someone I knew or was a friend of someone I trusted or if I needed to sell fast for unfortunately reasons like the man who had cancer.

I sort of think that is a weird question really I mean it is like saying are you willing to sell your horse to a less good home if they offer you lots of money....
 
SO1 said:
No because I do not believe that just because someone has less money they will always offer a better home.

I sort of think that is a weird question really I mean it is like saying are you willing to sell your horse to a less good home if they offer you lots of money....
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I don't think anyone's suggesting people with less money are always offering better homes. However, if someone came forward who I was pretty sure would be an good forever home (ie someone I knew, or was highly recommended by someone I trusted) then I'd drop the price if they couldn't afford it.

Most of us wouldn't knowingly sell to a less than good home, but given the choice between a higher offer from a stranger (however nice they seemed) and the scenario I've just described, I'd go for the lower money but (probably) forever home and sleep better at night.
 
wowser said:
once you sell its theirs to do what they like with
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Yes of course, but you can still use your judgement to try to find the best home for the horse, and that won't always be the one who's able to pay the most.

Of course, it might not work out, you may have been duped or the new owners' circumstances could change. But surely that's no reason for not trying.
 
no i wouldn't as i don't think that you can ever guarantee that the promised forever home will turn into one...even if the person is genuine (and lets face it they might well not be- just as likely to be a dealer after a bargain)then things might happen which make the home not secure anymore- i'm thinking redundancy, illness etc. When i needed to sell my old TB i honestly would have given him away if i could have found a forever home for him- but i couldn't and so i sold him.

i also wouldn't buy a horse that was sold with a first refusal to buy back- when i buy a horse i don't really want the old owner being too involved if i'm honest- have no problem with regular updates (pics or whatever on facebook) but have no interest in an old owner wanting to know absolutely everything- if i wanted that then i would loan a horse. all of my horses have come from dealers/breeders so i have given them brief updates but nothing too over the top. i know where horses i have sold have ended up and its nice to see updates of them on fbook- but i don't want to know all of the ins and outs- once i'bve sold a horse i honestly think that you should endeavour to cut the ties and allow them to be somebody else's special horse- perhaps thats just me?
 
Absolutely no way! I sold my mare just over two years ago to someone on this forum, who promised me she would have a home for life! She sold her two months later and ignored all my contact! I was and still am mortified and very upset by this!
So in a nutshell, as has been previously said, people can and will say anything but never take their word as gospel!
 
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