Would my yard put you off buying?

SNORKEY

SNORKEY

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Il be selling my boy soon, but I'm wondering if my yard will put people off buying him.
I havn't got a school, just a flat area in the field coned off with a jump in the middle. Hopefully the weather will get better then it won't be muddy.
Hacking out is ok but there's no where to go for a canter/gallop whilst out. I can't move him as he's at home, and I can't afford livery whilst he's for sale as I'm on maternity leave.
Would this put you off buying if you didn't have nice facility's to test a horse out in, and would you expect to pay less even for a lovely horse because he's not on a posh yard?
Just interested in people's options as Il feel a bit embarrassed when people come to look.
 
I recently sold a pony from similar situation, the people understood but had already seen her out & about in the summer.
they tried her in the field then went a hack, all worked out fine.
Not everyone has great facilities.
 
I bought my showjumper I had from a field with a jump in the middle. There was no hacking and field was slippery. X
 
Wouldn't bother me, but if I wanted it to do a specific job, I would expect to be able to box it to a school to try it properly.
 
I don't think it would :)

I have just been to try out a horse and the field was horrendous and there is no hacking but it didn't put me off :) I've been twice to see her :rolleyes:
 
No but for a second viewing I would want to travel him to a school with jumps to see how he reacted. Would happily pay school rental if I was interested.
 
What price range are you roughly selling him in? For something below 5k ish it wouldn't bother me TBH, but if I am spending a hell of a lot of money I expect a decent trail, especially for a decent competition horse.
Could you not rent facilities for someone who is really keen? (like others have said- for a 2nd viewing)
 
Do you have an arena locally you could hire out for an hour? Shows the horse will load, travel and they get to try out your horse.
It wouldn't put me off if I was looking for a pet, happy hacker or something I just wanted to mooch around on but if I was paying good money for a horse which was advertised as being able to do one thing which I couldn't try before I buy then im afriad it would put me off.
 
Vodkagirly said:
No but for a second viewing I would want to travel him to a school with jumps to see how he reacted. Would happily pay school rental if I was interested.
Click to expand...

This. I think you need somewhere you could hire as backup if need be.

I've sold both our ponies without an arena. I would actually prefer to see something can be sensible and work on grass than something like my mare when I bought her, who had barely been out of an arena and was Miss Manege!
 
Depends what your selling, if it is a XC, SJ or dressage horse I would want to see it in a School, XC course, SJ course. If your selling a happy hack or basic all rounder, I would want to see him/her on a 2nd viewing at a school.

Don't worry to much, always ways to get round things.
 
Not at all, I spent a lot (for me!) on an potential eventer that was caught and tacked up then ridden in the one field in which he was turned out (with his mum!)
When I asked if there was a jump we could try him over they offered to take the barbed wire off the post and rail fence !!
We instead agreed to take him to a local yard with a school and a set of jumps (that allowed a little warm up!)
 
If I was paying like 5k+ then yes I'd want to try in a ménage as well as in all sorts of other places.
I bought my girl after a ride around a field and a walk up and down the lane. Didn't bother me at all. I've only ridden her in a ménage a handful of times even now!
I've also sold a pony from here and the girl just had a walk and a trot around the field, followed by a 15/20 minute hack with me on foot.
 
Think if anyone is going to see a horse then they have to deal with the yard the horse is actually at in its "home" situation.

Personally though, yes I would want to have a good canter somewhere, preferably with other horses, to see if it hotted up - also to hack out with others to see if its polite as well as seeing how it deals with traffic which would be a No.1 priority for me.

We've got two hireable arena's in the immediate vicinity of where I live, so if in OP's position could easily arrange to hire somewhere so someone could try a horse out. Think the situation could be got around if OP were to have an arena on stand-by locally. If the horse needs to be boxed to it, so much the better - it would provide an opportunity to see how horse reacts to being travelled.

OR perhaps offer to box horse to a local show/hunt/PC rally?? for buyer to see there and maybe hop on if they're happy?? That's the sort of thing I'd want to know about if I was buying!!! :)
 
I guess it would depend on what people are used to. I bought my boy from a field with a jump in it (not even a coned off area). I was lucky they let me have a two week trial in which I took him to a jump cross clinic and hacked him out and about including the beach and galloping.
So, no, it wouldn't put me off but people may want a trial if they want to try out other situations.
 
no wouldn't put me off, I've brought twice from similar type situations.

One where I just rode in the field and jumped a fallen log.

The other where their 'arena' was actually provided by the local council an marked out in the park down the road as a painted white rectangle on the grass (& did actually have a sign labelling it as a horse area!) :D ... with that one they then took it to a local show a few days later so I went round the clear round.

When I was buying last year I tried a couple in similar circumstances too and it never caused me any problems.:)
 
If trial facilities wernt good then yes it could affect price.
How would buyer know horse can really do what you say?

Can't you hire and arena for better trail after buyer has done the initial meeting and still keen?
 
I brought my lad from a similar set up to yours. He was brought just for hacking - if I wanted a Horse to compete on then the facilities would be much more of an issue.

Xxx
 
Thanks, I'd be selling for less than 5k, he's been shown at county level and I'd be happy for someone to take him to a nearby school if they paid for it.
He's never done any galloping in groups apart from in the ring, or done any cross country but i wouldn't be advertising him like that anyway.
I've brought horses from just riding in fields but I was wondering if that was just me :)
 
Personally I wouldn't let it put me off, my retired old boy would switch off totally in the school and be an angel, however on grass he was a different kettle of fish. I think for that reason if I ever went to try a horse I'd want to either ride it or see it ridden in the field before I worried about taking it into an arena in case it turned out to be like my Bailey lol :) Wont make that mistake twice!

So long as there's adequate space to do a bit of schooling and you've got a jump so people can see how he jumps I'd say that's plenty for the buyer to establish if they're really interested and want to see him ridden in a school etc :)
 
I took one horse I sold to a friends outdoor school one saturday and had the first 3 people that called to try him meet me there, we were there for 2 hours, he behaved like a star with each of them, then all 3 called me back and came to see him at my place, rode him again in the field had a jump also. All 3 offered the full asking price and I had my choice of great purchasers.
Its not the regular way to do horse viewings but it worked for me.

Do you have anywhere local where you can take him or hack too?
 
When I bought my current boy, there wasn't even a single jump! I rode him round a field and went out for a hack on roads only. I actually snatched him out from under another viewer who was coming back another day to meet the sellers at a hired school with jumps somewhere. I also got £500 off the asking price as I was happy to have him there and then without the sellers having to go to the trouble of hiring somewhere, taking him there in the trailer and still not being gauranteed a sale at the end of it! In fairness, I had seen lots of pics of him competing (he's a PC schoolmaster) who whilst not cheap wasn't expensive either.

So it is possible to sell from limited facilities but it does depend partly on what you're selling and who comes to view. Some will be put off and want you to go to more trouble, others won't.

ETA my boy was a fantastic buy, I'm still delighted with him after nearly three years.
 
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It wouldn't put me off, I've bought with far less of a chance to try than you can offer. But, same as with any horse, I'd only make an offer based on what you'd been able to prove he's capable of. Which is fine if you can show what he can do with those facilities. If not, then you could end up selling for less than he's worth just because your facilities don't do him justice.
As ideas, you can actually make cheap jumps from stuff lying around. If a horse will happily pop a fence made from random crap I've pulled from my car, I'd be fairly confident it would jump proper fillers etc. Things like how it behaves in company etc you could get several friends to hack over & randomly ride during a second trial if someone was unsure. Depending on the market you are aiming at, I'd want to canter it on open ground other than its home turf. But even if there isn't a decent bridleway near by to do that on, you might find a local field owner (farmer or horsey) who would let you have a one off blast if the ground is dry for the cost of a bottle of spirits. Basically if people have a few doubts after a first viewing because of facilities, there's usually a way round it.
 
Some horses can't be ridden in an open field so I would say your yard probably has plus points for a buyer. Most horses go well in a school but it falls apart when you get them out in the open!
 
We've viewed some lovely horses like this. As long as I can see it caught, tack it up, walk trot canter jump in a school or field and see it out of confined area ideally with traffic then that's all I need to know.
 
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