Selling horse to loaner

Aragon56

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I'm thinking about selling my horse who's out on loan to her loaner and would appreciate some advice/opinions.

She's been on loan for nearly 3 years now and with the contract and insurance coming up for renewal, now just seems like a good time to ask if she is interested in purchasing her. Also the horse just doesn't feel like mine any more, she has a great bond with the loaner and when I last rode her a couple of months ago, I just didn't get the same buzz from it that I used to.

I live abroad now as my husband is in the military and won't be back in the UK until 2019 (we still visit 1-2x a year), have another horse on retirement livery that is my main priority, and also a young baby so I can't see myself having the time or finances to properly invest into horse ownership for a few years to come sadly.

I could just leave things as they are and not rock the boat, but I'm conscious that my mare is 11 now, by the time I'm back in the UK her age could be against her if I wanted to sell at that point. I also worry that if the loaner decided to end our agreement at any point I'm in a tricky position as I'm in the USA for the foreseeable future, so it might be better to have a clean break. If the loan suddenly ended I do have the fallback option of putting her into my aunt's riding school for the short term and trying to sell her from there, but I wouldn't go down this route unless I really had to. Same if the horse became injured - that's how my other horse ended up in early retirement after coming out of a loan home with DDFT injuries. It was an unfortunate accident so nobodies fault but I don't think I could cope with two broken horses!

I am worried about the loaner not being interested in buying or it going completely wrong and her deciding to end the loan, so I need to handle this carefully. She has never mentioned buying her and I'm not sure if she has the money to to be honest. I would obviously offer her less than market value because she has put a lot of time and effort into her - we're not talking about a world beater but the horse is a nicely bred, well put together all rounder that you can stick a novice on.

I bought her for £3,800 back in 2009, and having had a quick look online there are similar horses going for around that mark, but I know that a horse is only worth as much as people are prepared to pay for it. If I was to put her on the market tomorrow I'd go for £3,500 or thereabouts expecting to get offers. How much would you offer her to the loaner, bearing in mind the 3 years of time/effort she's put into her? She would have a fantastic home there and that's the main priority but I also couldn't let her go for peanuts.

Feel a bit gutted even writing this as I didn't think I would ever sell her, but I feel like its the right thing to do :(
 

OWLIE185

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If anything did go wrong then you being on the other side of the ocean could be seriously problematic.
If it was me then I would offer the loaner the horse at a 50% discount which I believe would be fair considering the work the loaner has put in and that if the loaner accepted then I would no longer have to worry about the horse or anything going wrong.
 

PorkChop

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Gosh, difficult one. How brilliant that you have had such a good loaner :)

If I was going to offer her to the loaner it would be at a much reduced price.

Have you decided to sell definitely or would you rather continue with the loan if that person is not in the position to buy? Do you think your loaner is in the position to buy?
 

AmyMay

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I would offer the horse for sale at a woefully low price if the loaner were genuinely interested in buying. As in around £500.
 

MrsMozart

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I'm with the low figure.

Selling to the loaner gets you out of all sorts of angst. What if she doesn't have that sort of money, gets upset and ends the loan whilst you're so far away? Many people wouldn't continue a loan if they know the horse is going to be sold.

Unless I was desperate for the money, I'd go with £1 and thank her for all her support over the years.
 

rowan666

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I think it would be a little unreasonable to assume that a loaner would have 3k+ going spare to buy the horse but given your situation it is totally understandable that you should want to sell. Honestly in your position I would gift the horse to the loaner for a nominal sum since you say they have a good bond. If you hold out for a few thousand and loaner hasn't got it and gives up the loan it would really leave you in a potentially very awkward situation where I assume horse would have to go to full livery/sales livery and costs will soon mount up anyway.
 

doodle

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I also think selling her at a much reduced rate would be fairest, echo the £500 price. If loaner didn't want to buy and you had to sell the costs would quickly rack up nevermind the hastle.
 

Pinkvboots

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I would offer the horse for sale at a woefully low price if the loaner were genuinely interested in buying. As in around £500.

agree with this it sounds like the horse is in a lovely home I wouldn't want that to change that and to be honest that would be enough of a reason to let the horse stay put for me.
 

HashRouge

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We gifted a horse to a loaner (well, sold him for £1). I do think sometimes it is worth it if staying with the loaner is in the horse's best interests. However, perhaps OP you could ask the loaner if she is interested in buying then ask what she could afford? If she can pay a bit more, fair enough, if not, drop the price to meet her. At the end of the day it is in your and the horse's interests to ensure she stays with the loaner.
 

honetpot

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I also think selling her at a much reduced rate would be fairest, echo the £500 price. If loaner didn't want to buy and you had to sell the costs would quickly rack up nevermind the hastle.
Unfortunately horses are not like cars and because they do not have a book value you really do not know how much its worth and if your loaners not looking for a horse to buy, its coming up to winter when they are harder to sell I would not rock the boat. If you are going to mention it to her have plan B in place, because if she says no I can not afford it, starts to think you may sell to someone else they could get that sinking feeling and think, hang on I am not looking after it over the winter only for you to sell it in spring.
If you own the tack sell her the tack,I would gift her the horse as I would not want to sell from the USA
 

Jericho

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agree with this it sounds like the horse is in a lovely home I wouldn't want that to change that and to be honest that would be enough of a reason to let the horse stay put for me.
Agree and Yes I would say £500. If she decides to take you up on your offer great, if she ends the agreement, you could easily lose several thousand pounds in sale livery. If you do continue with the loan as it is I would at least get something in writing that the loaner would be responsible for the sale/subsequent loan if she decided to end the loan agreement whenever.
 

Aragon56

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Cool, thanks for replies.

I do have a plan b if it was to go seriously wrong whilst I'm in the states in that I could trust my family at the riding school to find a buyer for her.

Originally my plan was to have her back once I'm back in the uk but now I've had a baby I just don't know how I'd find the time for it. We also don't know where we'll be living when we do move back and it would take a few months to get a job and livery yard sorted etc. Also having ridden her recently I'm so rusty I know I can't ride her as well as the loaner can. It's quite unnecessary for me to own two horses given the current circumstances unfortunately and my oldie who I've had for 13 years is really my priority now and making sure she has a nice retirement.

I'm not sure the loaner is in a position to buy either, she got married last year and if she starts a family any time soon I don't know if she'd keep her on.

Added to that, the lady I originally bought her from (a fellow forum user) has first refusal on her and my parents paid for her so technically the money belongs to them. I know they wouldn't ask for it back but i doubt they would accept only 50% of the value if we could sell her elsewhere.

A lot to think about! Thank you
 

Flora

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Im in the same position only I am the loaner. I have had him on loan for nearly 3 years now and when my loan agreement was up in May I was given the option to continue loaning or to buy. I opted to buy but as it was several thousand pounds that I didnt have, we continued the loan agreement but I paid so much a month until the horse is mine. Always another option
 

Aragon56

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Im in the same position only I am the loaner. I have had him on loan for nearly 3 years now and when my loan agreement was up in May I was given the option to continue loaning or to buy. I opted to buy but as it was several thousand pounds that I didnt have, we continued the loan agreement but I paid so much a month until the horse is mine. Always another option

If you don't mind me asking did the owner give you a discounted price? I was wondering about doing an instalment option but have read some stories on here about it not going to plan and being a bit of a legal minefield.
 

Flora

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She had him up for sale or loan ,so I loaned him but as it was a couple of years into the loan she decided to reduce the price by £1k. We just wrote it into the new loan agreement that it would be paid off by a certain date
 

Mongoose11

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I'd be horrified if anyone tried to sell me a horse that I had been loaning for three years for anywhere near market value. If I were in your shoes I'd be asking for whatever she could afford or gifting her for £1. I'd just be so pleased that the horse was in the right place.
 

MrsMozart

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OP it sounds like a conversation to be had with your parents. I've paid for D1's horses, but they were gifts to her so if any were sold (unlikely for two of them as they're retired), then the money (or lack of it) would be hers. She'd probably choose to talk to me first and for me to have any proceeds, but I wouldn't take it. Obviously I don't know your parents situation or view on these things.
 

splashgirl45

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if the loaner had £3500 laying around i would imagine she would have bought her own horse or may have approached you to see if you would sell. i am about to take a horse on loan for the reason that i dont have the capital to purchase one as my mare cost me all of my savings and has made a big dent in my credit card and there is no way i could afford to buy but cant face life without a horse...why not talk to your loaner and say what your situation is going to be and casually ask her advice...she may ask if there is a chance she could buy and then you could say what a good idea and then discuss....the option of paying by instalments as someone else suggested may be an option. as a potential loaner i would consider that to be a good option. it would be a shame to take the horse away from her as she has looked after her so well and you are happy. good luck
 

Flora

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I'd be horrified if anyone tried to sell me a horse that I had been loaning for three years for anywhere near market value. If I were in your shoes I'd be asking for whatever she could afford or gifting her for £1. I'd just be so pleased that the horse was in the right place.

I am happy to pay because I would be devastated if she at any time during the loan decided to take him back and I then had to go and look for a horse like him which I would probably have to pay more than what I am paying. At least I know he is now mine and cant be taken back at anytime.
 

Spottyappy

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We currently own a pony whom has been on loan to a lovely family for 3 years. We offered them the chance to buy her at a reduced price to her value, and they are paying monthly for her.
To be honest, once they have paid some of the money,will will likely gift her, but the reduced price did include tack which is probably worth £300 or so and I would like that covered.
 

ossy

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I'd be horrified if anyone tried to sell me a horse that I had been loaning for three years for anywhere near market value. If I were in your shoes I'd be asking for whatever she could afford or gifting her for £1. I'd just be so pleased that the horse was in the right place.

Really seems a little unrealistic, just because you have loaned a horse for 3 years shouldn't give you a right to buy it for next to nothing or be gifted it, the OP has said the intention was to have the horse back when she moved back to UK so I'm assuming the loaner doesn't expect to have the horse forever so if she now decides to sell its no different to her having it back. Yes I'd take maybe 40% off to know it had a good home but I wouldn't be giving the horse away.
 

AShetlandBitMeOnce

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I was sold a horse for much more than his market worth at first (probably about £800, he'd been turned out for a couple years and a wobblers diagnosis as a 2yo). I bought him 8 months after I took him on loan, once I had muscled him up and brought him back into work and paid £2000.

I paid that much because I love him, he has a good temperament, he is gorgeous imo, and he has the potential to be a nice all rounder horse. However he does have a buck in him, he doesn't stand at the mounting block, and he can spook. Did I over pay? I'd say he is worth £2k now, with all of my hard work. Do I mind? nope.
 

Abacus

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I agree with Ossy. Loaners get the benefit of a horse without initial investment and with that take the risk that the horse might be taken back or sold elsewhere. The owner (or her parents) made that initial investment and chose to loan her out, thinking they wanted the horse back, but when that has now altered, it doesn't necessarily mean that the loaner should get something of value for nothing. Like many on here I would make a goodwill discount (and a reasonably substantial one) to say thank you for their kindness over the years, and to encourage them to give the horse that home long term.

It's not unreasonable to want some money back from the horse either for family reasons or to buy another horse in the future. Not everyone can lose £3500 for the sake of a good home.

Of course there is a risk that the loaner says no, in which case you have to decide whether or not to sell elsewhere (and how to manage that at a distance).
 

GirlFriday

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On the flip side if the loaner doesn’t have the money then does she have the money for anything the horse might need (once any insurance is used up)?

I'd be more concerned that she might simply not want the horse. If she is soon likely to be in a similar situation as yourself with starting a family it might suit her very well to keep the horse for now on loan only and return if her life moves on.

In your circs I'd have a quiet word with the previous owner and sell to them if they want her. If not then you could say something like 'let me know if you'd ever like to buy horse, the home is so good ' to loaner and see where the conversation goes. Just be sure to have a figure in mind and if it gets to a point of discussing numbers try to get loaner to make an offer for you to compare your thoughts to.
 

Bernster

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I sold one of mine to his sharer/loaner. Was a great outcome all round as I knew that he wasn't the long term horse for me, she loved him and I knew he would be well loved. To recognise that I sold him at the bottom end of his price range, not peanuts but def not his true value on the open market.
 
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tankgirl1

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I'd be horrified if anyone tried to sell me a horse that I had been loaning for three years for anywhere near market value. If I were in your shoes I'd be asking for whatever she could afford or gifting her for £1. I'd just be so pleased that the horse was in the right place.

This TBH, the owner of my loan pony offered to sell him to me which I couldn't afford, she ended up having to rehome him on Horses4Homes
 

FfionWinnie

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I offered my horse to the loaner and said I would accept an offer to include tack. They offered me 1k which was 999 quid more than the minimum I would have accepted (she was worth that perhaps more but I didn't want her back especially when she was old as she wouldn't suit my set up now, I just wanted a good home).
 

mytwofriends

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Your loaner sounds ideal OP, but the fact she's never expressed interest in buying your horse before would make me wary. You're right, you don't want to rock the boat.

If the horse's secure future and your own peace of mind are more important than price, I'd be tempted to suggest a low price, or even gift the horse for £1. Either that, or say you were thinking of selling - give her first refusal and let her make an offer.
 

melbiswas

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I think you just need to have a very frank chat with her and see where she stands OP.

I have been gifted loan horses but they are old with various issues.

Your horse sounds a nice sort and is still relatively young. You could sell to your loaner, only to see the horse sold on if she starts a family or decides to sell to fund a different horse.
 
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