Writing letters to former horse owners

[jethrojumper]

So recently, I've flicked through my horse's passport again and it seems that a lot of information on him is missing- like date of birth. So I thought I would write to his previous owners and see if I can get some information and old pictures of him (hopefully some foal pictures). I was just wondering where to start my letter. All I have at the moment is:

_______________________________________________________________________

Dear ... ,

I am writing this letter regarding a former horse/foal of yours; Rising Star (or Jethro).

_______________________________________________________________________

I'm terrified of saying something wrong and then they don't want to reply :/ Does anyone have any experience in this area, and if so would you be able to shed some light on how to compose it?

Many thanks,
Carys

 

[lme]

I think most private owners would be happy to hear from you.

We have sent pictures to the former owners of both our ponies from time to time. In both cases, they had priced the ponies low so that they would have a large number of potential owners to choose from and took references etc before we were allowed to buy so they were clearly people who cared what happened to their ponies.

We also had to contact the breeder of a little mare we had on loan because we had lost her passport, which was still in the breeders name. She was delighted to hear that the pony was going we'll and helped us get a replacement passport for her.

In your case, I would send a letter with a nice photo or two (I am sure they would want to have some photos of him as he is now) say what you are doing with him and how happy you are to have him and ask the questions (and whether they have photos).