Trial Periods

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I was just wondering what peoples opinions are on letting horses going out on a trial period to see if they are suitable before they're bought? You hear so many horror stories and so I just wanted some opinions.

Thanks.
 
No never never never!

They would be welcome to come a try at my yard, but unless they gave a deposit I would keep showing other buyers.
 
You see these are my feelings..we have a fab yard where we are with a full set of show jumps, a menage and cross country jumps. The only thing we don't have is hacking but I'm a member of TROT and more than willing to take my horse to areas where I know there's nice hacking etc. I think this is quite reasonable and am willing for someone interested in my mare to come and try as much as they like.
But people seem to really want trial periods and I don't know how to get around this without putting them off her.
Any suggestions?
 
I've done so, it's just tough because there are so many horses for sale at the moment it's hard trying to not put people off. Hearing that other people have the same opinion as me has made me feel I can stand by my decision of saying no to trials though. Thanks guys.
 
I have had a bad experience with a dealer in the other direction. I took a horse on loan following a vetting that left more questions than it answered and the horse went lame during the trial period. The dealer tried to refuse to have the horse back. I would never consider taking a horse on a trial again - it caused a lot of upset.
 
If I was selling after hearing lots of horror stories I would say no....However I am looking to buy and I would love to have a trial period (whether I take away or go to the owners yard) to make sure I have bought the right horse for me. The horror stories ruin it for genuine buyers like myself.
 
Would never consider letting a horse go on a trial period. Serious buyers welcome to come and try the the horse as often as they need to (within reason), but would absolutely not let it leave my yard until sold. Too risky.
 
LJ has got a pony on a 2 week trial at the moment, we wouldn't consider getting one without a trial TBH.

Not sure if there's a difference between horses and ponies though!
 
heather_bambi said:
The horror stories ruin it for genuine buyers like myself.
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It's a shame isn't it, I would love to just let someone have her on a trial loan to be sure they definitely get on with her but things can so easily happen.

When I was looking for my first horse I had a mare on trial and unfortunately she managed to escape from the field she was in and onto the road (long story, field was completely safe but she ran through a solid fence, through a garden and out of a gate) and I mean that was with us being as careful as we could. So these things do happen, even with people being the most careful they can.

I really don't like selling horses, it's so tough!
 
3Beasties said:
LJ has got a pony on a 2 week trial at the moment, we wouldn't consider getting one without a trial TBH.

Not sure if there's a difference between horses and ponies though!
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I think it's very different for ponies as more often than not, with ponies you are selling to a child so it's quite common to have trial periods with ponies. I certainly never would sell to a child without a trial period as I think the child's safety is a much more serious issue than an adult's. However, I have never found a horse seller that would give a trial period, and I wouldn't give one myself.
 
PAHAHA someone wanted my pony on trial for 2 months...I was like, dream on, I wanted to sell him not loan him. Needless to say, he's not going to her...
 
Not willing to give trial or loan unless it is on my own yard. And no, there's nothing wrong with my horses, but I get very attached to them and it is always a difficult decision to sell. I couldn't bear any of them to come back different to how they went out, a lot of time and effort has gone into them over the years and you cannot be sure that someone else won't spoil them. It has happened to me before.
 
Read my thread entitled "OMFG"...my boy is currently on LWVTB/3mth trial period. I would NEVER consider it again :(
 
heather_bambi said:
If I was selling after hearing lots of horror stories I would say no....However I am looking to buy and I would love to have a trial period (whether I take away or go to the owners yard) to make sure I have bought the right horse for me. The horror stories ruin it for genuine buyers like myself.
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i couldnt agree more. i have been so burnt twice before with no trial and this time i hopefully am not so stupid :D x i just think it would be nice to be able to see if you can gel with a new partner- wouldnt that make sense?
dont shoot me down in flames- there are actually some of us genuine people still out here x
 
ceiron said:
i always have a weeks trial when buying, if owner isnt willing then imo there is something wrong with horse so its a no go.
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The thing is I'm sure your perfectly sensible and trust worthy, as are the majority of people. However it's the odd ones who ruin it for everyone else. There's nothing wrong with my mare at all, I just simply don't wish for her to go somewhere and then something happen and I be handed back a horse I can no longer sell on. Or even worse if someone managed to sell her on in the trial period and your left with nothing.
Unfortunately things are never just simple.
 
ceiron said:
i always have a weeks trial when buying, if owner isnt willing then imo there is something wrong with horse so its a no go.
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Thats a massive generalisation! I wouldn't ever let a horse go away from our yard on trial and it wouldn't be because I would be trying to hide something.

What's to say that your horse doesn't get kicked when they turn it out in the field with a new herd for the first time? Horses aren't machines either. I wouldn't want them ragging my horse round jumps and then deciding to give them back if they hadn't performed perfectly. It can take along time to build a partnership, I don't really know what a week is going to show you.

Lily reared and bronked for the first two weeks that I got her, if I'd had her on trial I would have probably sent her back but thats not fair on her. Her last owner hadn't lied to me when i bought her, I just genuinely think that she was very very stressed about leaving the only home she'd known since she was a foal.
 
No I wouldn't let a horse go out on trial although, now I'm looking for one I'm sort of like Heather_Bambi and wish I could have one on trial :rolleyes: Having said that, I'd be so worried in case the horse got injured or went lame while it was with me.

I went to view a horse recently and I really liked his personality but he wasn't for me so I explained to owner. They asked if I'd like to take him on trial for a couple of weeks to see if he grew on me. I declined because even though I liked him, I just knew he wasn't for me and didn't want to waste owners time or mine. Hope he finds a loving home.
 
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