Sample contract for buying a horse?

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Daisy1905

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I would like to buy a horse from a friend of a friend and was wondering if there is a sample contract I could copy similar to the sample loan agreement that BHS do. Had a look online but couldn't find anything.

What other advice do you have? Is it better to transfer the money or get the seller to pay for receipt of cash etc. The horse has been vetted and everything else is fine. Do tack, like rugs need to be listed?

And how would I change the ownership? In the passport and maybe any other document?
 
You do not need to have a contract.
You agree to buy the horse, give the seller a deposit, if appropriate, get a receipt which details the amount you have given and exactly what it is for e.g 15.2hh bay gelding, known as Fred.
Then when you collect the horse, you hand over the rest of the agreed purchase price get a receipt which details what you have bought, including tack.
You then return the passport to the issuing body and request a change of details. There is no other document. It is much easier to buy a horse than to buy a car. (or at least much less bureaucratic).
 
There isn't usually a contract. You should either pay cash or bankers draft, and be given a reciept - usually saying something like -
"I, ....seller... recieved from ...you... £xxxx for the purchase of "Henry", 16.1h bay 7yr old irish sport gelding. To include saddle, bridle, and turnout rug. Sold as seen and tried." Then signed and dated.

Thats just an example, others may come up with better ones. Cases on here of when things have gone wrong would suggest that you get as much info relating to the horse on the receipt as poss, such as height, colour, type, age...

The passport would then be sent off by you to the agent that issued it (may be able to be done online, and they send you a sticker to put in the passport). There shouldn't be any other documentation - the passport contains all breed paperwork nowadays.
 
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I was about to say you dont need a contract but just a receipt but then saw poster had above. Normal for a seller to write "sold as seen" to cover them if something goes wrong with a horse they sell and then details of the horse so age, name, height (sometimes breed) and obviously amount of money exchanging hands :)
 
Thanks! Maybe I was being too complicated :D

Its my first horse and I have only loaned before which involved very detailed contracts...
 
If tack is included in the sale, just check that the tack is actually the tack you thought you were getting. Not unheard of for tack to be substituted for the tack the horse was viewed with.

Receipts I've had have tended to be written on a piece of scrap paper, but as long as it has the details identifying the horse and amount paid, dated and signed, its good. Its only been in the last few years that I've had a receipt at all, handshake sealed the deal. Times change.
 
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