Is a 6 month trial too long?

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Fiona clark

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If you were selling a horse do you think you would let someone take your horse for 6 months first? The nicest person to come and view my mare wants to do this but am I mad to agree? :confused:
 
I wouldn't even give them a day! They buy the horse outright before it leaves the yard.

Seen WAY to many trials/loans go horrifically wrong to even consider it. You have the HUGE risk you will get a broken/ruined horse back.
 
100% yes. 6 months means you can't relax, loads can go wrong and 6 months is taking the pee!. I take it she has no intention of paying you until the free ride - whoops sorry TRIAL! is over?

Walk away. Never mind the concern over your mare going AWOL while away for that time.
 
Yes it is too long and yes you would be mad. In effect they are getting a free loan.
I would be reluctant to allow any trial at all away from my yard. Someone could come and try in lots of circumstances and even take in a lorry to a lesson somewhere if I was selling a high priced competition horse (fat chance LOL). I would not allow any horse to go away though, too much chance of something going wrong.
 
Fiona clark said:
If you were selling a horse do you think you would let someone take your horse for 6 months first? The nicest person to come and view my mare wants to do this but am I mad to agree? :confused:
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Goodness, no.

Let them come and trial it at your yard for a week if their that interested.
 
Much too long and very unreasonable! Give them the opportunity to try your horse any time with your supervision but make it clear that the horse is still on the market and the first person to make a genuine offer will get the horse. Sound like they want a loan horse and after six months you will get your neddy back. :o
 
That is more a loan with a view to buy than a trial.

It is 100% up to you what you do and depends upon your circumstances and how easy it is to find your horse a suitable home.

If you do decide to go for it then make sure you have watertight contracts, have proof of her identity and know where the horse will be kept.

It is swings and roundabouts, as a buyer I can understand how difficult it can be to make a decision. The last one I went to see my instructor said that we should ask about a trial because she was concerned that it might hot up with a change of scenery (it was on a competition yard with a walker, two schools and a round pen and had daily turnout). But at the same time she acknowledged that she would never let one of hers go on trial.

You don't have to agree to their suggestion, I think the best thing is to talk to the potential buyer and see what their concerns are and why they want the trial. If it is finding the cash could you agree payment in installments? If they aren't 100% sure of the horse could you arrange a shorter trial from your yard or for extra viewings?
 
6 months! What do they want, a free hunter for the season?:mad:

You can be sure you'd get a broken horse back at the end.

As Galaxy says, cash in hand before a horse leaves the yard.

I am curious to know as to what reasons you were given for such a long trial.
 
the only trail to ever offer is for the horse to stay on your yard and her to care/ride under your supervision and she pays half he costs, and even then i'd say for a max of a month. trails are a bad idea for so many reasons.
 
Agree that is more of a loan with a view to buy by the sounds of it. I have had horses on loan for less than 6 months!

If I were to buy I would love to be able to have a trial first. Rather make sure me and the horse work well together rather than buying outright and ending up not getting along and having to sell. However I know sometimes this is not possible.

Someone I know let the potential buyer have a 2 month trial through the winter which worked out well, however she was good friends with the YO so could find out how the mare was and it worked out very well.

If I were I would say no, perhaps make the trial period ALOT shorter. Good horses can be ruined in only a short space of time. Or let her trial the horse from your yard so you can oversee things.
 
Well we actually did this before buying our horse (many-a-year ago). However, the circumstances were exceptional. The owner knew us beforehand, if not especially well, for one. For another, the horse would have been VERY difficult to sell for various reasons, and she needed him to go ASAP.

In the normal course of things I think I would say no, though.
 
No no no !

I wouldn't let a horse out of my care to numpties (er buyers) without paying in full

I would consider letting them properly trial the horse at my facilities and even take them to competitions. If they wanted me to "hold" the horse, they would need to pay.
 
Are you sure she hasn't already got a horse that needs Six months off? :rolleyes:

Saying that though I had my horse for a year before I bought him, I was looking for Loan with view to buy, phoned up about a horse to see if it was for loan or sale, owner wanted to sell it but had another horse he didn't know what to do with so he said if I liked him I could have him on loan for a year (so I had time to save up to buy him) and then buy him at an agreed price, 8 years later he is still with me :)
 
I wouldn't let any horse go out on trial at all simply because you always risk it being injured, getting ill, developing vices and bad habits, coming back unrideable, etc and you then have to spend loads of time nursing it back to health, overcoming problems and bad habits it developed whilst out on trial before being able to put it up for sale again. Worst case scenario would be getting your horse back that will never come back into riding due to some serious injury sustained whilst on trial, that you won't ever be able to sell.

With 6 months - if they turn round then and say they don't want it, you'll be getting the horse back and have to go through finding someone else to buy it, have it on trial all over again.

If they want the horse, then they should buy it - if they don't then wish them the best of luck (because they'll need it if they want to find any seller that will let them have a horse on 6 months trial) and let someone else but it.
 
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not a chance in hell. They could try him as many times as they want at my yard!

Great if you just want her to take her over the winter, and then you could have her back in the spring - but again, that is a loan!!
 
;) Thank you all. It looks like it should be a resounding no!!! The only reason I was considering this is that the girl really seems to know what she is doing and my horse likes her :rolleyes: x
 
Fiona clark said:
;) Thank you all. It looks like it should be a resounding no!!! The only reason I was considering this is that the girl really seems to know what she is doing and my horse likes her :rolleyes: x
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anyone could come accross as 'knowing' what they are doing..... dealers are good at that :rolleyes:



not sayin gshe is but you get my point!!!!....

no trails, just sell - thats what id do if it were my horse i was selling.
 
Just don't cut your nose off to spite your face.

Speak to the buyer and see if you can come up with something, if she seems the best buyer then see if you can agree something that you are both comfortable with.

But if you've got other interest don't put them off.
 
In my opinion no. It gives the purchaser the opportunity to really bond with the horse under all circumstances and find out if it is the horse for them. I have done it with both a horse that I wanted to buy - and with one I wanted to sell. Airtight contracts both ways protecting both parties. All costs paid by the person in possession of the horse.
 
As has already been said, 6 months for a trial - no way, far too long!

If the buyer seems "right" and you think they would be a good match for your horse, I'd encourage them to come as many times as they like to try but would be very uncomfortable about it leaving my yard, and if they weren't sure after a month if it was the right horse for them, then I would be saying look elsewhere.

Best of luck! :)
 
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