New Horse Purchase (trials)

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BigRed

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I want to buy a new horse. Because the last one I bought was such a disaster, my husband is insisting that anything we buy must come to us on trial first. I can completely understand why vendors don't want to do this - but having been on the other end of the stick and basically thrown thousands of pounds down the drain, I don't want to be ripped off again.

Do you think that now things are a bit tighter, that people will be more willing to allow their horses to go on trial ?
 
I've had 2 horses on trial both seemed perfect but failed their vettings. The owners had no problem with me having the horses on trial (we picked up and brought back) viewed the yard their horses would be staying at then left the horses with us :)
 
I would let my horse go on a 2 week trial to give the potential new owner time to get to know her, take her to a show etc but only if i 100% knew they were serious and had the right experience x I'd want my horse to go to a forever home or long term at least and not pass her on to a dealer or something if she wasn't right! x

I currently have a horse on 'trial', well i've had it 3 months cuz its soooo naughty and can't do anything with him...however i can see his potential so will stick through it!! x I have known his owners a long time though so they know he's fine with me and also she can't ride him anyway so he would just be stuck in the field otherwise, even if i don't decide to keep him, he'll be fitter than he would be otherwise x

Anyone reasonable would let you have a trial of a week i'd imagine x Like i said, i'd give 2 weeks and maybe longer if they needed it x
 
I sold my daughters pony a while back and let her go on trial. Worked really well, she's in a great home with a lovely family and they know they've got a good pony.

I agreed if a substantial deposit was left, if someone wanting to trial mine wasn't happy to trust me with a deposit, I sure as hell wouldn't trust them with my horse.
Trust afterall is a two way thing :)
 
No harm in trying although to be honest I would not let my horse go out on trial. I don't know what you are looking for but the problem is that the good ones can be sold 10 times over even in this climate, so if you insist on a trial or even just want to view 3-4 times a good horse will be already gone.

Is there no way you can buy a horse through word of mouth or get your instructor to come with you and help you assess the horse's suitability? I always try to take my instructor with me, it does cost to pay for her time but it has saved me from disasters!
 
The last 2 horses I have sold I have allowed to go on some sort of trial.

I recently sold my horse that I have had for a few years. He had some veterinary history and was keen he went to the right home and not a dealer looking to make a quick buck. So for me the trial was compulsory. I felt very much reassured by the response to my ad I had from the lady who eventually bought him, she offered me a substantial non-refundable deposit and was happy to sign a contract.

The previous horse was a little allrounder I had bought as a project/sell on. Having had some unsuccessful viewings/responses I finally had a mother-daughter share come to try him. I knew instantly they were the right home for him and offered them a day's trial, they took him home and to a PC rally and bought him straight after.

So what I would say, if you want a trial, is to be honest to the seller about what you want from a horse and your own abilities. If you find a horse you like then be willing to offer a non-refundable deposit to take the horse on a short trial if they are in agreement.
 
The good ones do go quick, but, even if they will not let you bring it home and trial it. They may let you come back for several/many rides, a trial at their place if you like. Or they may let you take it out to adult riding club for example, or hunting/hacking, particularly if they come along. So if they normally hunt the horse, ask if you can go out with it. If they normally jump it, ask if you can take it to low key jumping day that they would normally attend, and trial it under supervision.

People are more likely to let you trial it if they know you, or know of you, through another person rather than being a complete stranger.

I have offered horses I sell to others as a trial, (but I think I would get quite stressed if they actually took me up on it) but thankfully, they have been content to come out and try at my place. I always say that they can come out as many times as they need to, to make the decision. (Within reason)
 
I think it is a fair question to ask, when I was looking some people even offered a trial before i asked and others gave me a flat no.

I guess it depends on the seller, offering a deposit sounds like a very good idea
 
I had mine on trial but we did it with a proper contract so it was effectively 1 month loan with a view to buy. The contract included the sale price and stated that at the end of the month we would either buy for the agreed price or return the horse.

We kept her.
 
No way I'd let any of my horses on trial to a stranger, you wouldn't let someone drive off with your car to try it first either. I'd be frightened to death about picking up bugs, bad habits, not coming back and to top it off my saddles and kit is expensive.

However I also insist that people see my horses more than once, and that they do everything with them first. We have nice facilities and I'm surprised at the number of people who only wanted to ride in the school and turned down riding round green fields with cross country!

Most of the time is me deciding the humans are unsuitable to own one of mine!
 
I've bought after a trial period and I once let a horse out on trial. He went out a happy hacker and came home a bucker. The person rejected him for a whole list of other reasons which to be honest were completely unreasonable and didn't have the honesty to say that they'd hurt his back with an ill fitting saddle which had started him off bucking. Not great when you get your horse back then have to fix it before trying to sell it again.
 
To be honest this is the reason I decided to go down the dealer route. I know there's plus and minuses on both sides but having a month trial allowed me to be braver in my choice of horse. If I find after a month that I've over horsed myself then he can go back and I can get something a bit more sensible. Being a first time buyer I just didn't have the confidence to go to a private seller.
 
I should add that we had full contact details for each other the seller delivered her (at our expense) she had vetted the yard and the yard had her details as owner too. Our livery yard is also a riding school and she was to be on part livery which I think gives added security (i.e they knew that certain standards applied at the yard that she would be in the care of competent people and that they could turn up any day to check on her if they wanted).

She also knew someone who knew us so not complete strangers.

It was a benefit to everyone that we had the trial as we had concerns about the suitability of the horse that nearly scuppered the sale. We had viewed several times, and the horse was never going to be an easy sale, or at least not if you wanted a long term home.
 
I wouldn't put one of my out on trial and the only time it was discussed was for a horse I really liked but who could not pass the vet. Vet advised the horse would prob come good back in work for 3 months.

I think its also about which price bracket you are looking at - I doubt very much the more expensive horses would go out on trial.

However as you have had such a really bad experience, I would be more tempted to go down the route of going to an approved dealer (there are some on this board who always get the thumbs up - Emma at Clipclop traders ALWAYS gets good reviews!) so you can a: see a variety b: can take back and change if it doesn't work out c: do have more comeback with a dealer, though I know thats easier said than done!
 
Im thinking of doing this for my next horse, having bought unsuitable horses in the past. However, I can understand why most sellers dont want to do it. Ive bought from dealers in the past but that hasnt been the best option maybe because I chose bad ones.
 
The horse I own came on a 2 week trial. I had visited him 3 times before I took him but if the trial had not been offered I'd have been dithering and may not have bought him.
The first visit I didn't ride him. The 2nd his saddle didn't stay put as his girth was too long so I fell off (!) and the 3rd he did an enormous spook at a Tesco delivery van!!! It seemed sensible to have a trial as I mainly hack. He didn't tick many of my boxes as I was looking for something less hairy, different colour, better in traffic, younger, good at loading, ............ however, after he had been on the yard for a few days I knew he wasn't going anywhere.
I've owned him 3 years in December, he is wonderful.
I raised a letter stating all contact details for both parties, exactly what the deal was and we both signed and kept a copy. I did not know his owner, but i am friends with the farrier she used, who introduced us.
 
I know that there are good and bad 'triallers' just like anything else so this experience wouldn't necessarily put me off if I was ever selling a horse in the future, but my Mum and I did massively regret it the only time we put a pony out on trial.

He was a much loved 12.3hh pony that I had outgrown, lovely nature, very successful allrounder that we had brought on ourselves. He left us without any problems and then was returned abruptly after a week and a half (until which point we understood all was well) and returned to us with mouth ulcers, cut legs and a sudden, unprecedented aversion to jumping. It turned out the mother of the little girl that the pony would have been for had been trying to jump him herself - our pony was a slightly built almost show pony type and the mother was tall and not the lightest either!! Luckily after a week or two he was his old self and sold to a lovely family.

I think that was an extreme case but I would definitely be looking for references in the future!!
 
I think that most genuine sellers would be open to the idea. In fact if they were dead against it I would be seriously concerned that they had sonething to hide. It is a buyers market and you are in tge driving seat!
 
I would never let a horse out on trail to another yard, but would be perfectly happy to let them come to my yard and try it out a number of times in different situations. When i sold my last horse they came and tried her 5 or 6 times, before they brought her.
 
I think its risky for the owner putting a horse on trial.
No matter how tight and how strict you are with the arrangement things can go wrong.
Most owners would let you try their horse lots of times in lots of different situations,take in to shows out xc etc.
Or if the horse isnt kept too far away then do a trial but with the horse based at their normal yard.
 
I wouldn't allow my horse to go out on a short trial. It takes a horse at least 6 months to settle in so wouldnt be a true representation of the horse. I also think it would be too disruptive for the horse to potentially be going back and forth.

Someone on my yard allowed a two week trial & horse went lame towards the end. This affected the sale price. Too risky for a seller in my book!
 
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