Having a horse on trial - advice please?

[Happytohack]

Am going to look at a horse tomorrow - have recently had a bad experience and am feeling very low confidence-wise, but this chap sounds perfect for me. Am taking a friend with me and the owner has already said that she will be happy for me to have the horse on trial. Now I've never had one on trial before, so how does it work - how long is a normal trial, what about insurance, vetting, payment for horse if it works out etc. Hope you can help

 

[AmyMay]

The horse must be fully insured by the owner.
You pay a deposit.
You have it vetted PRIOR to it leaving the owners yard.
A month is the norm.
You must be very careful what you turn it out with.

 

[helly86]

get everything in writing as you would a loan agreement

x

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

Agree with everything above (just make sure you are both clear on your obligations etc) and would also add to try and ride everyday you have it on trial - book lessons etc so you can get a good picture of how he will behave doing what you normally do - even if you wouldn't normally ride every day. Do not leave him sitting in a field for week to 'settle in' - make the most of the time you have.

Good luck