having a horse on trial before buying

debsflo

debsflo

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assuming i can find horse to buy whats the best way to organise a trial period at home.do most people put deposit down subject to passing the vet and then if passes this draw up written agreement for the trial period. am trying to anticipate all situations in advance
 
Not many people would let you have a trial.

I let my horse go on trial about 3 yrs ago and ended up paying someone to help me get my horse back.


I wrote up a loan agreement using the BHS agreement and i would have the vetting done before the horse leaves my yard

BUT I would never do it again
 
I agree with Lou that most sellers probably wouldn't let a horse out on trial these days, especially at your own yard. There are just too many things that can go wrong.
If they did, I suppose a variation of the loan agreement on the BHS website would be a good place to start though.
 
I would never let a horse go for a trial...if it breaks its leg or causes damage to a third party, who is responsible?.....and, what if the prospective owner stole the horse?....

I really can't see what all the fuss is about re buying a horse.you go to see it, you try it.you like it or you don't....you ask a friend to go with you to see( someone who knows what they are doing)......and if you are interested, then maybe get a vet for a vetting....

People buy cars all the time and even houses for much much more money than they are spending on a horse and yet fuss so much over the horse.....they buy a house.probably the largest investment they will ever make and get a survey done by someone they never even saw before.and they make a mortgage committment for 25 years or so.....

they buy a horse and want visiting rights for a couple of months before they make their minds up...then bring a friend, then ask a vet..then think about it.then eventually ring you up and make an offer and are dumbstruck when you tell them they missed the boat and somebody else already got a super new horse.
 
I bought my horse from a dealer and she suggested I had him on trial for a few weeks.
Of course it only took me a few days to fall in love with him so by the time the trial period was up I was sure I wanted him and so had him vetted within the trial period.
 
I let my horse go on trial a couple of weeks ago. I had all the money up front and they didn't want to vet him. I only let him go on trial though as he went and stayed at my friends yard on full livery who teaches my sister and we know her really well.

If the lady had been a complete stranger I would not have let him go.
 
I only allow a horse/pony out on trial if I know the person & I spell out exactly who is responsible for what. Any other prosepctive purchaser is welcome to come & try as many times as they like.
 
I certainly wouldn't let my horse go out on trial. Potential buyer could trial her with me by schooling her, hacking her, jumping her, loading her, catching her a few times and they could see her with farrier etc but no way would I offer a trial.
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Neither would I expect someone to let me have their horse on trial
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My first horse came on trial to me for a week. This was because the woman was moving back to Ireland in 2 days time (which I was uninformed of when I first went to see her) and I absoloutly refused to take the horse without having my instructor see it. We also couldn't have had it vetted in the short period we were given.

But owner was desperate to sell and horse and I clicked very quickly. In the end for that owner it was take a chance on this seller or wait and see what came up when she took the horse to Ireland. She chose to trial and I paid not even 10% deposit at her request.

It all turned out well. In saying that it was a particular senario. I'd never ask for a trial outside of it nor would I let a horse go on one.
 
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I had mine on trial before buying him and we just had the BHS loan agreement written up.
No deposit put down, no vetting done.

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same here, in fact ive had him on loan for a month and I am paying for him next week.!! His owner is lovely and wants a good home for him and I can offer him that so a win win situation. Its the ones that mess people around give us all a bad reputation.

Definately have a contract drawn, agreed price, pay by what date or return to owner etc etc
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Just recently my friend loaned her horse out on trial for 1 month. It didn't pass vetting on flexion tests but woman still wanted to try it and have another vetting in a few weeks. She paid £1500 for remedial shoeing and having back done, took him to local dressage show and came 2nd out of 40 people. Had another vetting done on the Wednesday and he passed. 2 days later and a day before money was supposed to be paid she rang and said she didn't want him! No explanations nothing. Went to yard and picked him up and she has never been in touch since! Weird but what a waste of time.
 
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same here, in fact ive had him on loan for a month and I am paying for him next week.!! His owner is lovely and wants a good home for him and I can offer him that so a win win situation. Its the ones that mess people around give us all a bad reputation.

Definately have a contract drawn, agreed price, pay by what date or return to owner etc etc
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Could not agree more! I had him on loan for a month and took him down to my Uni (an hour and a half) away and they were fine about it. They are lovely people and they were hoping for a trail period before sale because they wanted to make sure that he was looked after well and I got on with him and could actually ride him (he was advertised as needing an experienced rider).
Worked out well for the both of us, neither of us wanted me to be left with a horse I didn't like and wanted to sell on a month down the line.
Very greatful the his owner was so trusting about it, I have loaned so many horses out (some without a contract when I was little) and I have never treated them badly, given the owners cause of concern, or a bad experience so I am always gutted when trying to find another one or loan or with a trail that no-one trusts anyone at all.
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I would never let a horse go on trial, unless it was a very hard to sell horse with a low value (and I don't have one like that). Too much could go wrong and its perfectly possible to allow the potential buyer to do enough to make up their mind at your place. If they can't make up their mind after trying multiple times, bringing friends and experts, vetting, etc, then the chances they are a timewaster are too high. Or they don't know what they are looking for. Like somone above said, if you are buying a house, its a much bigger purchase but you don't expect to live in it for a few weeks first in case you don't like it!

When buying my last horse, I arranged for the sellers to take her to a show for me where I jumped her in a class (we finished third). This was perfect because I was looking for a jumping horse, wanted to see if she would perform away from home, and she did, yet the sellers remained in control.
 
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