I’m currently leasing a 5 year old OTTB gelding. He’s been helping me a lot since I recently suffered a fall from a previous horse I was leasing in November and broke my hip resulting in surgery. He’s nice a lazy so he’s helping me get my confidence back and my skill. His owner is crazy nice, she was totally happy for me to lease him out and helped me find a new trainer who would travel to our barn. She mainly works on adopting ex-racehorses, retraining them and selling them to good homes. But when she adopted this one, she decided she wanted to keep him because he was such good mannered. I’m not planning on asking if she would ever sell him soon, but I would definitely like to in the future. Do you think there could be any hope that maybe a year from now or so she may consider selling him to me? And if so, how could I ask/convince her?
How long has this lease gone on?
You could change your mind.
Or not.
In any case, IIWM, I’d just bring up the possibility with the owner.
Let her know if he ever comes up for sale you’d be interested.
If she sees that you two are a great match she may change her mind. There is no shortage of OTTBs needing homes and she will probably encounter another with charming manners that she could keep for herself.
And if so, how could I ask
Directly would be best, just ask …
We had one horse that many people wanted to buy, I kept having to tell them the horse was not for sale as she was our kids’ horse… one person even handed me a blank check as he wanted the mare for his grand daughter … we talked a few minutes and as I handed his check back to him he said he understood then called me a fool.
We kept the mare all of her life
QUOTE
I’m currently leasing a 5 year old OTTB gelding. He’s been helping me a lot since I recently suffered a fall from a previous horse I was leasing in November and broke my hip resulting in surgery. He’s nice a lazy so he’s helping me get my confidence back and my skill. His owner is crazy nice, she was totally happy for me to lease him out and helped me find a new trainer who would travel to our barn. She mainly works on adopting ex-racehorses, retraining them and selling them to good homes. But when she adopted this one, she decided she wanted to keep him because he was such good mannered. I’m not planning on asking if she would ever sell him soon, but I would definitely like to in the future. Do you think there could be any hope that maybe a year from now or so she may consider selling him to me? And if so, how could I ask/convince her?
unquote ( not sure why it didnt work)
absolutely. stick with this nice arrangement. Like any relationship make sure you are not infatuated with him and bide your time. Let the owner know that you feel he is the one for you and if and when she is ready to sell, you would like first consideration.
if she sees this horse for his long term value to her, perhaps she can find and bring forward another equally nice fellow for you to see.
I think we should always be open to possibilities and for now, you sound like you are in a great situation. When you add in a trainer and see how you and this horse progress, the answer might become a bit more clear.
While you are waiting, be the best caretaker of this horse possible. Cultivate him for his owner. You will learn a lot no matter the outcome.
Make an offer she can’t refuse.
One way is to invite her to lunch and ask if she’s interested in selling. If she says “yes” then discuss price. If she says “no” or “maybe” then put a $100 bill on her plate and ask, “how about now?” Keep doing that until she either says “yes” or walks out!!! 
The above is a joke, but only about half way! 
If she is a business then it’s likely she will sell the horse. If she’s not then there’s no way of knowing. You don’t know until you ask and asking politely but clearly is the best way to get a polite and clear answer. Trying to “manage” the situation is likely to be frustrating for you and maybe confusing for her.
You could ask to put an option to purchase or right of first refusal in your lease agreement. I don’t normally favor these in sales contracts (as attempts to control the destiny of the horse after sale) but in an ongoing lease situation where you are spending money to maintain and probably improve one of her horses then it would be a fair and reasonable thing to ask for.
You’ll never know if you don’t ask.
G.
P.S. Here’s a lesson on negotiating with a horse trader, compliments of the remake of “True Grit.” Outstanding flick!!!
Just tell her you really like the horse and would be interested in buying him if she would consider selling. If she gives you a hard No, at least you can move on. If she doesn’t, you can make an offer.
I would just throw out there that if she ever decided to sell him, you would like to be considered as first choice. Good luck!
The owner of horse may want a bit of time to watch YOU and your interactions, care and progress you make with her
horse. In the back of her mind she is wondering if you could be his next owner but only time will tell her.
Nothing wrong with telling her you would be seriously interested in buying horse IF she ever decides to sell.
When my boys were small and showing ponies, at every show we had people come up and inquire about a pony
and ask if they could leave their name and number with us so they could be in line when we decided to sell.
We did end up selling several ponies to someone who had inquired at a show. Good Luck and keep us posted!!
Think, why would she sell him if you are leasing him and paying, I assume, for the horse as an owner would?
That lease money is bringing in more than selling the horse and no more lease income.
The risk, the horse may get sick or become lame and run high vet bills.
Then you may be glad you don’t own him, owner may wish the horse had sold.
We had over the years of training horses some that were for sale and personal horses that were not.
One of those just won at 25 the kid’s all around with our friend’s 9 year old and she was moving on to more horse.
We had some very high offers for him, but had decided to retire him and did just that.
Some horse are not for sale.
We had one grandparent that became a little bit of a pest about it, but finally found another nice horse for his grandkids.
Who knows, life may have other plans for the horse owner and she may decide to sell.
Or your life may change and you need to move on from this horse.
I do find it hard to imagine that someone that is into retraining and selling horses would not, having a good home and interested buyer and the horse leased out, not a personal horse, not to let him go, unless the lease is very profitable in itself, perhaps increasing the value of the horse with further training in good hands, maybe.
I would just keep being the squeaky wheel about being interested if he becomes for sale, without being too forward about it.
^^^^You must not have read post #4 by CLANTER. Not all of us look at each and every horse as a commodity.
OP, I agree with those who suggest just bringing up buying the horse in conversation; if the Owner ever wants to sell the horse to please give you first option to buy it. In the meantime keep leasing the horse and do not bug the owner every time you turn around:)
I would just put it on the table, especially since it sounds like you’re not looking to buy him now, but if he ever goes up for sale.
“Name, I really like Horse. I know that you decided to keep him instead of adopt him out, but if you ever decide to put him up for sale or adoption, please let me know. I would very much appreciate the opportunity to make an offer at that time.”
I think this is a great way to approach it. Obviously, she likes the way you ride/care for him or she wouldn’t be leasing to you, so just let her know that you’d love the opportunity to buy him should she ever consider selling. It might plant the idea in her mind, or she might never sell, but at least she’ll know you’re interested.
I did this, but with a lesson horse. He was not for sale and was very valuable in the lesson program (for all the same reasons he’s been a perfect first horse). The whole place knew I was in love with him. Basically I just begged with an open checkbook. Eventually the owner named a price, and I paid it without countering or negotiating.
I did do a vet check, but it was more of a “baseline” exam, because the only revelatio that would have made me walk away was “This horse is deceased. You’ve been riding a dead horse all this time.”
best decision I ever made.
Thank you all for your replies! It was very helpful!
OP I think you have a better chance getting a trainer with project horses to sell, than you would getting a one horse amateur to sell their beloved pet.
That said, some “rescue” folks have trouble parting with their horses and it becomes a bit of hoarding situation.
Also as others have said trainer may be evaluating you to see if you’re a good match for horse.
I have a leaser that I love and my horse loves. That said, the horse will never leave me. Some horses can never be for sale.
That said, it can’t hurt to ask. You never know until you ask. In the meantime just take amazing care of the horse. I would be more likely to sell a horse to someone I know loves and will take good care of the horse
[quote=“walk
[/quote]
I think @PlanB may be quoting The Godfather I hope so because I definitely read it in Marlon Brando’s voice.
[IMG]https://media.giphy.com/media/CHTnqDxJY9lte/giphy.gif)
But as far as the horse goes, I agree with Edre and JustTheTicket.
A friend of Mr. Atlatl was very interested in buying my retiree at the time who was my first horse that I was able to “rescue” in his golden years.
After being pestered for weeks, Mr. Atlatl just said “look, she’s going to sell me before she sells that horse again!”
