if you're selling a horse, why would you loan?

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if you're advertising your horse for sale, and you state "no loans"

why do people ring up and ask if you'd loan - or even lwvtb?


I'm not selling, merely curious!
 
It happens nearly every time I advertise one for sale, they are always sold as fit and competing but still get people thinking they can have them free to use as if they are doing me a favour.
I usually just say NO but sometimes ask what they would do with them and find they really only seem to want to do PC camp and little local shows, the chances are they would want to send them back at the end of the summer, just in time for the expenses to start again.
 
I suppose they are the optimists hoping they can find some one that doesnt really want to sell but is in a situation where they need to.
 
I'm selling at the minute and I would say 50% of the enquiries I've had have been asking to loan. Ridiculous, I have now changed the advert to say "sorry this horse is not for loan" as apparently advertising it for sale wasn't clear enough.
 
It's difficult to find a loan (there aren't many ads at all) and I think people just get desperate to find something and end up contacting sellers in the hope that the seller will loan.
I'm sure it's very irritating for sellers, but I know from friends looking for loans that it is irritating when there are no suitable horses up for loan whereas in the selling sections there are plenty!
 
horseyperson said:
It's difficult to find a loan (there aren't many ads at all) and I think people just get desperate to find something and end up contacting sellers in the hope that the seller will loan.
I'm sure it's very irritating for sellers, but I know from friends looking for loans that it is irritating when there are no suitable horses up for loan whereas in the selling sections there are plenty!
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I find it amazing that people get irritated that there are no horses to loan! Why anyone would pay to buy a horse and then allow a stranger to 'borrow' that horse is beyond me. If someone wants a horse, then I suggest that they do what most people do, put their hand in their pocket and buy one.
 
well as irritating as it might be to some sellers it does work! it's how i have my new TB:p i was looking for a loan or lwvtb in the new year but all the loans were getting snapped up real fast, i saw one one for sale who had been reduced and took a chance and emailed the seller saying i know it was a bit cheeky but would they consider a lwvtb, she replied that he was due to go on loan the next week! she emailed me a week later to say it had fell through and was i still interested and 2 weeks later i went and collected him.:D
original agreement was for me to buy in 6 months but that has been brought forward at her request and next weekend he will be mine so it's worked out well for her as she secured a sale!
 
My ex got one like this too. The horse was overpriced and the owner was terrified of it. He is now buying it.
To be honest, when you look through the ads and see the same horses advertised in different places week after week its not a surprise!
Not sure how horses are selling at the mo, but they wweren't shifting at all a while ago!
 
I once had someone spend 15 minutes on the phone trying to convince me that they were doing me a massive favour by taking my horse on a free lease :rolleyes: I tried to point out that a) That left me without a horse and b) without any money for the horse and c) a potentially massive head ache if they stuff it and hand it back!

I understand that it can be worth a shot, but if the add states 'not for lease' then don't waste people's time by ringing, acting like a potential buyer, and then saying 'Oh, but I'm only wanting something on free lease'. Horses are usually advertised for sale with a price on them because the seller needs the money for some purpose. So why would they give the horse away for free?
 
YorksG said:
If someone wants a horse, then I suggest that they do what most people do, put their hand in their pocket and buy one.
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That's a bit harsh. We have 3 wonderful horses here at home with us, and we don't own a single one of them. All of them are on loan, and all of them are wonderful horses who's owners simply don't want to sell them. Two of them we would never have been able to afford, so we are very grateful that their owners have allowed us, and trusted us with them.

Yes I could go out tomorrow and 'buy' a horse - but what's the point when horses of this standard are available to loan?

The shetland will sadly one day go onto the next child to teach, when he finishes his job here, but I sincerely hope the other two will be with us until they take their final breath.
 
I have my lad for sale just now and I put no loans on the ad I however have had 3 people wanting to pay by instalments!! I put him at a price I thought would stop this as he should be cheaper but no still getting them. Although I think at 18.1 it's probably the height that is putting off most people.
 
I can sort of understand asking to loan the old 'you don't know if you don't ask' but what irritates me are the people asking to swap when there is no mention of it in an advert. When I sold my first horse because he needed a huge amount of ground work to keep his manners in check when being lead (big ID cross who my friend who had handled stallions couldn't stop in a chifney!) I said on the advert that I was selling because he was green inhand and I didn't have the time. So why would somebody ring me offering me a swap for a yearling?!

I obviously declined very politely stating that surely a yearling would need even more of my non- existent time!
 
We're looking to buy 1 and we have been to see a few. They are mostly from people that we know of or friends of friends know.
Before I fork out about £5k I want to know that my daughter is going to be able to catch it in the field, that it's gonna stand quietly outside stable, that it's not gonna turn into some pain in the ...... At our yard and it's gonna be the right 1 for us.
All just little things but nobody will give us a lwvtb for 2-3 weeks. I don't understand why not....unless there is something that we will find out and therefore not buy it!:confused:
 
Suzie G said:
We're looking to buy 1 and we have been to see a few. They are mostly from people that we know of or friends of friends know.
Before I fork out about £5k I want to know that my daughter is going to be able to catch it in the field, that it's gonna stand quietly outside stable, that it's not gonna turn into some pain in the ...... At our yard and it's gonna be the right 1 for us.
All just little things but nobody will give us a lwvtb for 2-3 weeks. I don't understand why not....unless there is something that we will find out and therefore not buy it!:confused:
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You need to ask for a trial, not lvtb, there is a big difference in the two imo, the first you should be a committed purchaser that just wants to make 100% sure, lwvtb implies that you are not sure about the pony and want to try at home in your own time at the owners risk .
I will sometimes allow a trial , usually after vetting and with a deposit paid, I would never consider lwvtb as I feel either lack of commitment or the risk of something going wrong and then possibly showing up at vetting if it does get that far.
A 5k pony is a valuable asset to its owners and the possibility of it returning with a problem will be too great a risk for most sellers.
The other thing to do is get the owners to take one to a show or rally if they are good away from home the chances are they will be even better at home, even a new one.
 
Suzie G said:
We're looking to buy 1 and we have been to see a few. They are mostly from people that we know of or friends of friends know.
Before I fork out about £5k I want to know that my daughter is going to be able to catch it in the field, that it's gonna stand quietly outside stable, that it's not gonna turn into some pain in the ...... At our yard and it's gonna be the right 1 for us.
All just little things but nobody will give us a lwvtb for 2-3 weeks. I don't understand why not....unless there is something that we will find out and therefore not buy it!:confused:
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Buying a new horse is always going to be a bit of a gamble and I quite understand that you want to lessen the risk factor, but with LWVTB, the owner risks having an injured horse returned or the buyers, constrained by the trial period, don't give the horse a fair chance to settle.
When the buyer has invested the purchase price, the motivation to make it work and sense of responsibility are quite different.

I would not loan a horse I had decided to sell either. While loanees maybe able to meet the everyday cost of keeping a horse, if they haven't got the resources to meet the purchase price, how would they afford vet treatment not covered by insurance and all those other unexpected expenses ?
 
Equally if I've gone to look at something for sale and say its not suitable (because its lame, not the age or height advertised, bucked its rider off etc...) please don't offer me a loan. If I don't feel I can give it the long term home he/she needs I definitely don't want to pay the vet fees/cope with the box rest/reschool it to then give him/her back!
 
be positive said:
You need to ask for a trial, not lvtb, there is a big difference in the two imo, the first you should be a committed purchaser that just wants to make 100% sure, lwvtb implies that you are not sure about the pony and want to try at home in your own time at the owners risk .
I will sometimes allow a trial , usually after vetting and with a deposit paid, I would never consider lwvtb as I feel either lack of commitment or the risk of something going wrong and then possibly showing up at vetting if it does get that far.
A 5k pony is a valuable asset to its owners and the possibility of it returning with a problem will be too great a risk for most sellers.
The other thing to do is get the owners to take one to a show or rally if they are good away from home the chances are they will be even better at home, even a new one.
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Thanks Be Positive, it is more of a trial we need rather than lwvtb. Will keep looking, we're not in any hurry as my daughter will be competing with her current pony this year.
It's just such a minefield, I see friends that have ponies with issues and we are so lucky to have a great pony at the mo. its been hard work to get him to be what he is now and now we've got the money to buy something bigger I prefer to buy a pony already trained but I would hate to give so much money to get a "project".
 
A lot of sellers are still wary of trials for 2/3 weeks - a lot of horses want have even started to settle into a new home after 2/3 weeks. Tbh I would always expect some difficulties when you first bring a horse home, and it is the dealing with them that kind of starts your bond with the horse.

When I have sold in the past, I have always refused a trial at the sellers home, but have always made myself available for them to visit as many times as they like, to tinker around with the horse, catch, groom, ride - just general stuff - so they can get a feel for the horses nature.
 
have just sold my boy and I had a load of people wanting lwvtb, I categorically told them all where to go. He now has a fantastic new home with a lovely new mum. These timewasters just p*** me off tbh, I wouldn't lend a complete stranger my car, so why would I lend them my horse?

Sorry if thats blunt, but I advertised as strictly no loans and I still got people asking.
 
I've had 3 horses on a short LWVTB and brought them all within a short time. Once I know they are as described then I pay up. I've never injured one and sent them back. I always ask the question even if the horse is for sale only. But I only do this if the horse is local.
 
I'm selling one at the minute and I absolutely refuse to let her go on trial to someone else's yard. There is no benefit in that for me or the horse, the horse won't be settled so its not a true representation of her anyway, she could get injured/ill or just generally hammered then I have her sent back to me? No thanks.

If you want a trial I'd go to a dealer, where I ride/work there's a 14 day trial with every pony/horse and it seems to work very well and give people peace of mind. But I just can't do that as a private seller, its a lot of money to lose for me.
 
If someone is prepared to do a lwvtb, that does say a lot to me about their confidence in their horse and them wanting it to go to a good home with the right buyer.

But I understand why people wouldn't, bearing in mind the risks. Maybe if you knew the person or they were very local perhaps. I wouldn't ask for an outright loan on a horse for sale though, I don't have that much front!

I think a reasonable compromise is a short trial. Agree that having it at a new yard won't be a great trial, although I suppose you would get to see it at it's worse, probably, when it's unsettled.

I currently have one on a short trial but staying at her current yard, so I can get used to her in a settled environment. If it works out, I will feel a lot more confident when I take her back to my yard and hopefully I can work on any teething problems ! That's the plan anyway... :)
 
I knew a horse that was for sale, but I didn't have enough savings to pay the amount the owner wanted, so I asked if she'd be interested in loaning as I would be able to pay for his upkeep.

She agreed, but her husband said "no effing way"

:(
 
I was astonished, when I was selling my absolute star of a schoolmaster mare, to be contacted by people asking for loans. She was one of those horses I had more than one offer for, but the immediate responses to my advert, ie in the first few days, were from people who wanted a loan. My favourite one was the pony club mother who didn't reveal she wanted a 6 month LWVTB in the three lengthy emails she sent me asking about suitability. Only when she actually spoke to me on the phone did she reveal she would be wanting the horse for free, with perhaps payment at the end if her daughter didn't lose interest sorry decided they get on well together. She tried to justify this by saying that as they lived on a lovely farm, the horse would have a great life with them.

So presumably I was meant to sacrifice my riding (as I'd have had no money to buy another one) so they could ride my horse for free, and risk having my horse ruined by a possibly novice rider, and returned 6 months older, or possibly if she went lame or becames sick? You would think if they had no livery bills to pay, they could save up for their own horses!
 
Completely agree with LouS.

I'm also selling a very good competition pony & wouldn't consider a lwvtb or trial unless he stayed at mine.

I've heard too many horror stories of loan ponies being sold on. Yes I know there are far more successful loans but its something I won't risk. I also need to buy the daughter a horse so need the money from the pony sale.

I also think a trial period at another yard would not give him ample time to settle first.
 
If I was selling my ponies, I'd consider loan to the right home. We're lucky in the sense we don't need the money from them, so if mr or mrs perfect came along, who preferred to loan then we could do it :)
 
I had somebody come to look at my boy a few weeks ago, it was purely word of mouth and I dont intend on selling him now really but he went out with a bone spavin at the beginning of Winter and is now sound, fit and ready to go (granted it could cause trouble in the future) I co0mpletely stated that he would not pass the vetting and I wouldnt put him through that, h9owever also stating that he is not LOU and was for sale for £6500 this time last year. They loved him and came back to make me an offer of £3500 (very good for something that could break I thought) anyway they then said that because that was a lot of money I would need to include ALL tack and rugs, they would want a 3 month trial period and that I would have to transport him up there. Well when I sat down and thought about it my tack must have been worth at least £1000, I would have to a pay a retainer of £200 per months so £600 for the duration and diesel there and back easily £100, effectively he was worth more to me than the money they were offering for him once I took the expenses out of it.

I know that I will have to be careful with him, run him on good ground, only jump on good surfaces etc, she was a young girl who I should think would have just taken him out for the Summer, broken him and returned hi at the end of the three months. I was happy to sign something tom say that if he broke I would buy him back, he was going to a good friends Yard, I was completely honest with them abuot what had happened, what he had been treated with etc.

I just thought it was quite cheeky! At no point did I ever even suggest a loan after a pretty awful experience in the past, and to be honmest she shot herself in the foot because she could have snapped herself up a real bargain!

So all in all, as a seller people asking for loans really piss me off!!
 
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