Letting a horse go on trial

madhector

madhector

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Well my friend has managed to sell her lovely cob already, subject to vetting etc.. sold to the first people to try her, but they have decided to have her on a weeks trial, which my friend is very happy about, as she really wants the right home, and this way she knows that things are OK, but was wondering how it works, they are going to have her vetted while she is with them, and they have put a deposit down, but what happens next?

Do they lose the deposit if for some reason they don't have her? what sort of agreement should she sign before they take her on trial, and whose responsibility is it to bring her back if they don't want her?

Any advice appreciated as never let a horse go on trial before
 
when i brought my first horse it was the trialee and in this situation i was given nothing to sign, they took no deposit just brought the horse, tack and all her rugs and left.

but my advice would be not everyone is so trustworthy and to have a contract signed stating the times of the trial period and also accept a deposit which is none refundable should the horse be brought back most dealers do this as people could just go around trialing horses having a week of riding and then returning the horse free off cost.

hope this helps good luck with the sale
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Not sure about the deposit. But she must make sure she writes out a really good agreement which is signed by BOTH parties and BOTH have a copy. I allowed one horse to go out on trial a few years ago (would NEVER do it again!), there's standard agreements on the internet if you look around. But also make sure everything that is going with the horse is listed as well because you do not want the horse being given back without the tack it went with and them claiming they never got it! I had this problem - horse came back to me with completely the wrong bridle and no stirrups or leathers on his saddle. Luckily the woman eventually sent them back but it was bloody irritating.

Who brings the horse back - well when I did it, I dropped the horse off (3 hours drive away.....) with the agreement that they would bring the horse back if need be. However personally its probably better if the owner takes the horse back to. In my case, the woman hired some weirdo old man who knew nothing about horses to drive my horse back in her lorry. What should have been a 3 hour journey ended up taking 7 hours!! I was frantic trying to find out where my horse was! (the guy took time out for lunch......!) Eventually my horse turned up with no travel gear on at all so had rubbed his tail and sweating like hell (never sweats normally). Once people decide to send a horse back, since its not theirs they usually couldnt care!!
 
Is your friend definitely sure she wants to allow a trial, is it possible for the potential buyers to have the trial at your friends place, or are they too far away?

My worry is if they dont like her, or dont know what they are doing, they could ruin her.
 
They are about 2 hours away, so bit far really. They are very wary after a very bad experience with a dealer, so I can understand why they want a trial, I am a little anxious about it, but tbh think all she will do is amble around the lanes on her, as she isnt confident to do much more, and the cob is so quiet that this will be fine
 
Yes I can understand their reluctance, I got beau on loan before I bought him, also because of bad experiences, and heartache after being missold a horse.

I they seem genuine then I would perhaps amend the BHS loan agreement?

That way you can put in who is responsible for vets bills, what comes with her, and under what circumstances the deposit will be refunded.

Some sellers even demand most of the purcashe price, or at least half, kind of like a security thing.
 
I have one on trial atm. We weren't intending to buy her but she is more suitable for us than we thought at the initial visit. I have to say that if we were told 'make your mind up now as we have a buyer taking her tomorrow' we would have happily walked away.
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We offered to see what we could do with her as she was out of work and owner couldn't cope and we have fallen head over heels with her!

I was more cautious about taking her than her owner was about bringing her - and we have no agreements or anything. However, I am too honest for my own good and already had her teeth, feet, worming and jabs all brought up to speed and wouldn't dream of short-changing either horse or owner. Whether we were keeping her or not.

You can get terrible people who do awful things and leave very nasty tastes. The best you can do is get references galore and hope you are a good judge of character. I, on the other hand, wouldn't trust anyone with any of mine
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and before realising we might keep this mare, I warned the owner that I wouldn't be letting her go to the first person with the right money unless I thought they'd be a perfect home! And her owner STILL let us have her.
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When she is officially ours, I will post pics.
 
Trials can be a nightmare. As the buyers are 2 hours away and obviously not people you or your friend know, I would insist that they pay for the mare in full and have a written agreement stating that if she is not suitable for them within a week, that the money will be returned in full, providing she is in the same condition as at the time of sale. Transport costs should be paid by the purchaser. This is how dealers work and seems very fair. If your friend does not insist on the full purchase price, she could end up with no horse at the end of a week. Even the nicest people can turn out to be slime balls in the horse world - and after 30+ years of owning horses I am a cynic.
 
Non refundable trial at your premises, otherwise they pay in full with a view to a refund (minus an amount for deposit) if wanting to move her.
 
When buying, I've always asked for a trial, but when selling I would never give one! There are just too many scum bags in the horse world and many of them seem like really nice people when they are not ripping someone off! Then there are the idiots - good hearted, but could cause problems with a horse due to stupidity.

Think of the cases we've all heard about and read about in H&H of people 'disapearing' horses that they have taken on loan
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I sold one with a trial as when he was vetted, which took three hours, even though he passed the vet had some reservations. I was sure he would be fine, so doctored a loan agreement and demanded a non refundable deposit upfront and then they had to transfer the rest be direct bank transfer on the last day of the trial. I let him go to theirs and they had to organise transport both ways if they returned him. I had faith in him so it was not a problem. Was very annoyed with vet. Three hours to vet an ex racehorse who admittedly did have a slight dodgy front leg and I suspected needed some physio to free him off, but a basically sound nice horse.
 
well,i think you have to think of all the awful things that Could happen(accidents etc)and try to cover yourself for them.do a list of `what if`s `.
 
When my last horse went on trial I set it up similar to a loan agreement with the same contract signed agreeing that x amount will be paid at the end or the horse will be returned. As for deposit I agreed an amount for this and agreed that if he failed vetting they could have him back but if they decided that they just didn't like him then I would keep it to cover the expense of readvertising etc. It worked really well and I sold him to the same people.

ETS keep hold of horses passport until trial is complete and final money has chnaged hands.
 
I'd never give a horse on trial but have had my last 2 horses on trial. The first horse we took for a couple of weeks but when we went back to collect some of his tack a few days after we'd taken him and the owners had planted apple trees in his paddock, pulled down the fencing and had filled his stable with junk! I don't know what would have happened if we hadn't wanted him or he didn't pass the vet, because they definitely weren't taking him back!
The other horse I went to see, she was in the middle of a bog and there was nowhere to really try her so owners said I could have her on trial for as long as I wanted. They didn't want references or even to know where we lived so I collected her the next day and the only contact they had for me was a mobile number! There was no contract or anything drawn up in either trial, having said that I was paying very little for both horses.
 
I'd also never let a horse go on trial

however if absolutely forced to, I would want full payment for the horse, which would be refundable if they brough them back

Anything less than that is opening yourself up to fraud.
 
I let a horse go on trial and they gave me a post-dated cheque for the full amount. They didn't buy him so I gave the cheque back when they brought him back. They were farmers though, and my son knew of them from market, so I thought they would be trustworthy.

I have also had one on trial and I paid for insurance, collected it and had it home and it failed the vetting! So I took it back, feeling pretty bad about it (leg trouble). I had another on trial from a dealer, which had come from another person who thought the pony was too much for the daughters. It was a fabulous pony, but failed the vetting on heart trouble! So I took that back in floods of tears.
 
Well I have printed out the loan agreement and altered it to suit, so hopefully that covers everything, but I still don't feel happy about it tbh, but it isn't my horse. I am worried that at 12, passing a 5 stage is not a very likely thing, and don't want this to cause problems


edited to correct typo
 
Your friend can't keep the passport by the way, as it's illegal to travel a horse without one, and in case of medical problems the new owners may need it for the vet. A passport is not proof of ownership anyway.
 
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