Loan deposit query - how much?!

[VictoriaEDT]

Hi all!

I have owned my horse for 11 years and am not taking on a horse for a 2 month pre purchase trial (with contracts drawn up!!). I have never loaned (only owned) a horse before so have a coule of questions:

The owner has just renewed his insurance policy but what happens when I take him on? I will be paying the premium for the 2 month loan period but do I have to stay with his company once ownership is transfered? Will he have the pay the whole years premium if I have him in 2 months time?!

Also, the horse and is tack is £4000. He wants a deposit (which is fair enough for breach on contract or tack and rug problems) of £1000 fully returnable or taken off the price when I buy him? Does this amount sound right?

I am having a contract drawn up (my idea) with photos of horse, tack, rugs and I am having a 5 star vetting before I take him on to rule out and chronic conditions he may already have that he might try and blame me for at a later date.

Any other advice anyone has?

Thanks Guys!

 

[Skhosu]

IMO owner normally takes care of insurance.
A deposit of 1000? I would say 10% of purchase price.
Which is 400..a lot less than 1000.
Mind if I ask why you don't just buy the horse?

 

[VictoriaEDT]

Thats what I thought. He refuses to pay insurance and I cant make him can I!

I wanted a trial because I am moving to a house with land where it will only be my boy and new horsey and possibly a livery in the future. I wanted to make sure he gets on with my horse ok.

 

[GTs]

Deposit for a trail period?? I would not pay anything more then 10%, and only if it is a horse I am really interested in, and a guy that has a good name on the street - otherwise seems too dodgey for me.

 

[clipertyplop]

to be brutally honest i think the seller is being very generous....a lot could hapen in 2 months...if you think the horse is worth 4k have him vetted and pays your money..if your other horse is being kept on its own it will probably be glad of the company.....

 

[MillionDollar]

When i put my pony on loan they paid for everything, vaccinations, insurance, etc. After all they are letting you have a horse for free, well sort of, lol.

 

[Skhosu]

I would probably just take him for a week at most, a couple of days should give you an indication of how they will get on! 2 months seems a long time. I would think he is dodgy too.
I would get him vetted and pay your money personally

 

[VictoriaEDT]

We have not moved yet (2 more weeks) and charlie (my horse) is in livery and has been for the past 11 years. The guy I am buying him from is a private seller, he is very very very novice rider (and knows nothing about horses) and only bought him a year ago and didnt realise how much horses cost! so he is with his trainer at the moment.

 

[VictoriaEDT]

To be fair, I have met the guy and he seems pretty genuine just incredibly novice. Apparently when his trainer bought a horse in to brush and give attention he couldnt understand why she was bringing him in if she wasnt going to ride!!!

 

[Tia]

I agree with whomever suggested a shorter trial period. I wouldn't want to have a horse on trial for as long as 2 months but I guess each to their own. I would be getting him vetted very quickly into the trial period also - you don't want dumped on if something were to be found that had nothing to do with you.

Yes he will have to pay the full years premium I would imagine; if he were to cancel the policy then he wouldn't get a whole load, if anything back? Someone on here will likely know the ins and outs of it though. If he holds the full years insurance then I can't see how you can remain on the same policy as there will have been a change of ownership?? You will have to start your own policy up and he will have to cancel his - it is illegal for more than one person to hold insurance on the same animal as far as I am aware.

I think £1,000 is one HECK of a deposit!! I usually take and offer 10% of the value. Make sure you have that contract WELL drawn up or you could really be taken for a ride!

Oh and most importantly

- hope it all works out perfectly for you.

 

[VictoriaEDT]

Thanks so far guys!

I am having him vetted before I take him on. I can see your point about a shorter loan period and will consider it. I just didnt want the to find out the horse is an evil so and so to ride (have ridden twice and fine so far). Because he is so novice he doesnt explain things very well and knows no technical terms (or not so!) such as flighty and spookey when I ask him questions!

 

[sorona]

I would have thought 10% of the asking price is more usual for a deposit but it is unusual to be ble to get a horse on loan for 2 months. As long as you will actually get your money back after the 2 months if you do decide to buy thent hat is okay but i have heard of some people making out that damage has been done to the horse whilst it has been out on loan and then refusing to pay the deposit back to them and other people scarpering altogether after selling duff horses so just be wary!
As for insurance, if he pays his policy in monthly instalments then i would have thought that he could cancel at any time and not have to pay any further payments.

 

[Thistle]

10% deposit for the horse, fair enough. BUT if I was lending someone my tack and rugs I would expect a deposit of their value against them. Which would come to something more like the £1000 being asked.

And if the horses don't get on? Presumably you will be returning a beaten up traumatised horse. Alot of damage can be done by one horse to another in a couple of hours if they don't get on, letalone 2 months.

 

[4whitesocks]

Most insurance policies have a clause in them which tells you how much you get back if policy is cancelled (if paid in full up front) usually you have to pay the first three months irrespective of when you cancel & there's a sliding scale of refunds....(I only know this cos I cancelled a policy when sold last horse, had about 6 months left on it and got about a third of full cost back)

 

[Maesfen]

The deposit seems way too high for me (but then again, I'm tight!) but I would need a fairsized one to be fair, not only to cover any damage to horse itself but to tack as well, While you've been telling us your side of the story, don't forget, even though he's a novice, he won't want to be left with either damaged horse or tack; he too, only knows you by what he's seen so far if that makes sense. As for length of trial, that too, is excessive to me. If your main concern is it gets on with your horse, then a fortnight at the most should suffice. Having introduced many horses to each other in my time, I have found if they are not getting on within the first week they will not get on as mates whatever; they might tolerate each other but they won't be mates, which is what I presume you are after, so personally I would scrap the two months down to a month at the most with the condition built in that you can return it at any time before that month is up.
As for insurance, I pay mine annually too and if I have sold anything I always get back some of the premium - no company on this planet will refund the full premium, that's cloud cuckoo land! There's also no reason not to insure with the same company if you wish - Twiggy was and still is insured with KBIS even after they paid out for all those vet treatments for her although it is a new policy for her, I didn't just carry on from Tilly; I also don't have any exclusions on her as she is now just insured as a brood mare, not a riding horse.

 

[Tierra]

We bought a horse for me last year and had him on trial for around 4 weeks before paying the full amount. Slightly different reasoning, but the horse was expensive and my OH (sensibly really) wanted to be 100% sure that this was the horse for me prior to paying out the money.

We paid 10% of his market value for the trial and took over all related costs aside from insurance. He was, however, kept at my trainers yard (who was also the old owners trainer), so it was more a mutual location i suppose.

1/4 of the price seems quite high to me but equally, you are removing the horse completly i assume. Make sure everything is drawn up and signed before any cash exchanges hands... particularly since you really dont know if you will keep him (i.e. if that decision solely comes down to whether he gets along with your own horse or not)

 

[VictoriaEDT]

Thanks so much! both horses are very quiet in the field and mine can be put in a field with almost anything and not have a problem. I will be separating with elec fence for a week of so first and then put them in together for a few hours a day whilst im around. Fingers crossed will be fine - just covering myself!!!!