Would you be interested in a 'Horse-Match' service?

[Little_Miss_1]

Hey guys,

My friend is thinking about starting a horse-match service. She has always been good at 'sourcing' horses for other people (including me - she found me the best horse i have ever owned!) and I jokingly told her the other day that she should do it as a pro! But would anyone be interested in someone doing all of the trawling around for you? She thinks she could even go and try horses before the client goes to view them to ensure they would be a suitable match. But is there a market for this?

Just want your opinions!


Thanks in advance!

 

[HollyB66]

Sounds interesting, I think it could work. It could potentially take the drudgery and heartbreak out of horse shopping.

I've only ever bought the one horse, I've had her for 2 weeks now and she is perfect. But.... I viewed lots of unsuitable ones, a few I nearly bought....

I did learn alot from the experience, but could have made so many mistakes.

How would you charge? % of purchase price? fixed fee?

 

[JoJo_]

Sounds like a good idea but i'm not sure how much money you could make doing it. You could take a fee when a right match has been found but I dont think anyone would be paying travelling expenses to all the viewings that arent the right match. So how much profit could you make in the end?

A lot of dealers say they will source the right horse which is about the same thing.

 

[stencilface]

A lady that I bought my second pony off used to run a thing called matchmakers, matching horses and riders - she might still do it as far as I know.

But she is a dealer, so has lots of horses to match people with

Very good though, my pony was a cracker, and she always has good solid horses

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

dont think it would be financialy viable as a business!! i have a lot of wants and for sales in the back of my diary and try to put people in touch! but unfortunately it is rare to find a sellar or buyer who is strictly honest, and in these current climate with litigation cases i find it best to stay out of it financially! then no one can come for you for mis representation!!!!!

 

[HollyB66]

Good point - I didn't think about the travelling expenses, they would certainly mount up. I must have spent more than £100 in petrol and goodness knows how many hours travelling and trying out. Not sure if I would have wanted to pay anything until a suitable match was found - and it's really not easy to find the 'perfect pony'.

 

[diggerbez]

i think this is something that a lot of people already do really? i know my trainer finds horses for her clients....

 

[helloamys]

I'd pay someone to find me horse! Been looking for about 3 weeks, (see later post 'anyone in north east'

)

 

[katie402]

Rachel Wakefield does this in the eventing field - see http://www.uptowneventing.co.uk/about-us-c5.html

 

[m150502]

There is also the issue of how would your friend know the true abilities of the clients she was matching a horse to if she didn't already know them? Only way would be to spend time watching them ride and that would add to her overheads and therefore charges. Its a shame because I for one would have been grateful!

Regards

 

[Tinypony]

I think she'd need to be well insured.

 

[xspiralx]

I think you'd have to be very very well connected. The only way to make it pay I think would be if you had lots and lots of clients [locally] with horses to sell who would pay you a commission on the sale, and lots of buying clients who'd pay you a fee for finding them their perfect match. It may also be complicated legally - if the horse wasn't as described, had a hidden problem that didn't show up when trying, who would take the fall for that?

In some ways she'd be better off becoming a dealer, lots of them do offer to find horses for people and then of course they get all the cash from the sale.