Would you take a LWVTB horse without having seen it?

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bellsinheaven

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So, there's a horse I like but it's 400 miles away from me and is impossible to get up there for the next month at least. A friend knows the horse and says it is as the ad is and bought a horse from this person and said all was fine. Because of the distance, the owner has offered me a one month LWVTB on the horse at my yard. It's going to cost me £480 to move it. I am considering having it vetted and then moving it and trying it at mine. I don't know if that is stupid or not? The agreement will be robust, i can return any time in that month which they will pay the fee to do, or I can buy at the end of the month. It seems a no brainer to me - try in your own environment and under no pressure. I guess it feels weird having a horse I have never met, but no different to getting on a riding school horse I guess. I am comfortable the horse is as sane and sound as I can determine. I am a bit worried about moving the poor thing and then not liking it but from the advert, the conversations, the friend knowing it, and the videos, I am sure I won't return it. No money will change hands until the month is up. Would you do it?
 
Yes I would if his price including shipping cost is acceptable, but I'd want some guarantee that the seller will pay for the return if it happens.

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I personally wouldn't do this. What one person says and means can be construed by another as something different in an advert. I spoke at length to someone about a horse, told her my confidence issues, what I was ideally looking for and she was adamant he was right for me. I sat on him and he felt like he was going to bronc off with me, she said "oh yeah he feels like that but doesn't".... he was most definitely NOT the horse for me.

Maybe that was just unlucky but I have seen far too many lame horses, horses that were nothing like their advert and horses that just weren't for me to risk having a horse on a trial that I hadn't sat on.
 
Slightly different in this instance, but..

I took Belle on loan without ever having met her, she was in Ireland, I am in Scotland and I have no regrets what so ever and she has now found her forever home with me and won't be going anywhere else until the day she pops her clogs.

I loaned her from family, initially for a year to see how we got on, we got on well and I ended up with her long term.

My biggest worry with your situation OP would be if the owner is difficult and uncooperative if the horse has to go back. This happened to a friend of mine, albeit not such a long distance but it was a nightmare for her.
 
The Trooper said:
Slightly different in this instance, but..

I took Belle on loan without ever having met her, she was in Ireland, I am in Scotland and I have no regrets what so ever and she has now found her forever home with me and won't be going anywhere else until the day she pops her clogs.

I loaned her from family, initially for a year to see how we got on, we got on well and I ended up with her long term.

My biggest worry with your situation OP would be if the owner is difficult and uncooperative if the horse has to go back. This happened to a friend of mine, albeit not such a long distance but it was a nightmare for her.
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So I would have a loan agreement in place, and I won't be paying any money, so if she is difficult then she could end up with no money for her.
 
I am more surprised that the owner will let it go to someone without seeing them ride it or even meeting them, it is a huge risk for them but I expect they hope that you spending £700 without seeing it may mean you will be reasonably committed even if it is not quite right.
I would at least get someone, your friend? nearby to give it a decent try before getting it vetted, ensure the vet is not the sellers vet and that they know what you want and have a very clear contract in place so you can get rid if it doesn't work out.
Make sure they have a continuation on insurance for the loan period as anything that shows up in that time, apart from an accident, will not be covered by a new policy and that is when things could get tricky to sort out, having a lame horse that is not insured that they dont want back could leave you picking up a bill even if you dont pay the purchase price.
 
No I wouldn't. I don't consider myself experienced enough to deal with all horses so would always want to ride before I decided whether to buy and I'm a reasonably confident rider. Even horses I've had on loan I've tried first.

If you have it vetted before then I think it was about £250 for a 5 stage last time I had it done a few years back, add that to the £480 to move you quoted, that's a lot to pay to decide that you don't get on and presumably have to pay a similar figure to transport it back. I would rather spend the money on a trip to go and try.
 
If the owner is happy to send the horse and you have all agreements in writing to cover the price, return arrangements etc I can’t see any harm in it.
If it was me, I’d hold off for a vetting until I’d had it at home for a while and get it vetted if I knew I was planning on keeping it after the end of the month. That way, you can get to know the horse a bit and have the (presumably trusted) opinion of your own vet. I appreciate the argument for vetting before travel though as well!
 
Melody Grey said:
If the owner is happy to send the horse and you have all agreements in writing to cover the price, return arrangements etc I can’t see any harm in it.
If it was me, I’d hold off for a vetting until I’d had it at home for a while and get it vetted if I knew I was planning on keeping it after the end of the month. That way, you can get to know the horse a bit and have the (presumably trusted) opinion of your own vet. I appreciate the argument for vetting before travel though as well!
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I thought about this. i may just have stage 2 done locally before i pay out the shipping, and then once I have her and like her, pay to up to stage 5 with my vet...
 
No I would not. If I were prepared to travel 400 miles to see a horse (which I'm not but that may depend where you are located) I would wait until I could travel and would view it properly if I was seriously interested and if I could line up some others to see on the trip at the same time then even better. If it was sold before I could get to see it I would consider that it clearly wasn't the one for me. Dealers etc buying unseen is one thing because the exact match of the horse with them is not important, it just needs to be saleable. Buying unseen for personal use is something I would not consider and far too many people are not as honest, trustworthy and solvent as they like to appear when problems arise. Even if all is well but it just is not the horse for you, you will be around a thousand pounds out of pocket in paying for a vetting and return travel costs at £480. I'd be suspicious of someone who would sell in this way also to someone completely unknown to them.
 
bellsinheaven said:
It's gender neutral.... I would like it to make up it's own mind what it wants to be :)
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Leandy said:
No I would not. If I were prepared to travel 400 miles to see a horse (which I'm not but that may depend where you are located) I would wait until I could travel and would view it properly if I was seriously interested and if I could line up some others to see on the trip at the same time then even better. If it was sold before I could get to see it I would consider that it clearly wasn't the one for me. Dealers etc buying unseen is one thing because the exact match of the horse with them is not important, it just needs to be saleable. Buying unseen for personal use is something I would not consider and far too many people are not as honest, trustworthy and solvent as they like to appear when problems arise. Even if all is well but it just is not the horse for you, you will be around a thousand pounds out of pocket in paying for a vetting and return travel costs at £480. I'd be suspicious of someone who would sell in this way also to someone completely unknown to them.
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So not unknown, my friends friend, so she knows where the horse is going and trusts that. And the £480 plus £250 vetting is acceptable to me provided i then get the 1 month to try it properly. I would find out so much more than an hours trial in the school and stable....
 
bellsinheaven said:
But that wouldn't show up if I went and tried it anyway?
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True but I was responding to your comment that made it sound like you thought that a vetting meant you would not be landed with a horse that had an ongoing problem.

I would do both, try the horse and take up the offer of a trial. Even an hour gives you an indication if you are going to get on and sometimes the horse doesn't feel like it's moving right so you don't even get as far as the vet. Plus if you're going that far, make it an overnight and have a longer ride on the second day.
 
twiggy2 said:
I would find the time to go and try it before paying for transport and a 2 stage vetting, then if LWVTB was still an option I would go for that.
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That's the thing, LWVTB only offered because i can't get up. If i go up, it gives all bargaining power away and if there's an issue, it's a £6000 problem, not a £800 one....
 
bellsinheaven said:
So not unknown, my friends friend, so she knows where the horse is going and trusts that. And the £480 plus £250 vetting is acceptable to me provided i then get the 1 month to try it properly. I would find out so much more than an hours trial in the school and stable....
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If the affordability is there then I say do it. Vet the horse at your yard with your vet and just make sure there is a bomb proof agreement in place and as a fall back be prepared to have the horse offloaded on to you (with problems) as others have pointed out is a possibility. Alot of this decision I feel is having realistic expectations, It may be the perfect horse and the perfect arrangement but it could also be a nightmare in the making.

I gambled with Bonnie and (impulse) bought an unbroken 6 yo broodmare and do not regret it a single bit.
 
bellsinheaven said:
That's the thing, LWVTB only offered because i can't get up. If i go up, it gives all bargaining power away and if there's an issue, it's a £6000 problem, not a £800 one....
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Personally I would not spend hundreds on transport and vetting before seeing or sitting on the horse, I don't think 400 miles is too far to travel for a horse you think is right.
Many horses can take a couple of months to settle somewhere new and whilst I would take a risk on a cheap horse and get it right and sell on if not the one for me I would not take the risk with that sort of monet.
Many do though and it sometimes works just fine.
 
criso said:
I would do both, try the horse and take up the offer of a trial. Even an hour gives you an indication if you are going to get on and sometimes the horse doesn't feel like it's moving right so you don't even get as far as the vet. Plus if you're going that far, make it an overnight and have a longer ride on the second day.
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This would be my preference also. A horse for you is a very personal thing. It may be everything it is described as and still not be right for you or you may just not like it. Videos I find can be quite deceptive, they only show the best bits of course even with good honest sellers. See some others on the same trip also and it will be more worthwhile. When I'm horse shopping I often see a number which technically tick all the boxes but they don't make me excited enough to actually buy them. I keep looking until I find the one that ticks the boxes and I am excited about. I can't tell this at a distance. Remember that once you take delivery of the horse it is your risk, anything could happen and the liability and loss will be yours. I wouldn't take that risk personally until I knew I wanted the horse.
 
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