We are in the process of vetting a horse from half way across the country. My question is when do most people pay the old owner for the horse if the horse isn’t being picked up for transport for another week or two. Do I pay after pre-purchase exam and blood test results come back or day before it gets loaded on the trailer to come to us?
You haven’t bought the horse until you have paid for it. So unless you have a very explicit agreement with the seller, I would pay for (AND insure) the horse as soon as you are ready to take ownership- that is, if the PPE and bloodwork are to your satisfaction, I would pay for and insure the horse and provide specific instructions about care - how much ridden and by who, turnout, farrier.
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Thank you so much!
The seller is likely to expect you to pay after the PPE and blood work come back, so you need to discuss with them if you are expecting the horse not to be picked up for another week or two. Some sellers charge you board, some don’t (often it depends on how long the gap will be - a couple days, probably not going to charge you, a couple weeks, I’d probably expect to pay), but you should expect to pay the purchase amount and have the horse insured before it is picked up. The seller will want to know the deal is done, and will not want to assume the risk for the interim timing once you have said you want the horse. I put in my insurance application as soon as I know we are vetting one, so that coverage is in place immediately upon ownership transfer, and just keep my agent informed on the results and timing of everything.
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I bought a yearling without seeing him in person last year. Here’s my process:
- Notify seller that you want to purchase, and if the vet check is okay, the sale will be final after the insurance is bound.
- Offer a non-refundable deposit to compensate for horse being off the market
- talk to insurance company and get forms filled out
- have the horse vetted, if all is well, then…
- email pre-filled and scanned insurance application and get vet to send exam report to insurance company
- when I get the insurance binder, sign the purchase contract and transfer the funds.
- Horse now belongs to me. Offer to pay board while arranging for shipping.
Sounds like you might have a delay between 4 and 5 if you want to wait for blood test results. That’s where 2 is helpful, otherwise the seller may just decide to sell it to someone else who is less trouble. I’m fine with that, there are other horses. This is how I’m comfortable doing things.
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Pay as soon as you are satisfied with the vetting/results. If shipping will be more than a few days, find out if you will owe board to the seller for the interim.
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Agree with everyone elses timeline. I have heard that some sale barns and/or trainers will opt to not ride/exercise the horse once payment is received to avoid injury. Just something to consider discussing with them if the horse is going to sit for an extended period of time waiting for pickup.
As an added note something I recommend now is that if you’re buying a Colt that is to be gelded, that it be gelded (on your dime, direct to vet) and recovered over the first couple days BEFORE you send the money to pay for the horse.
In the last 6 years I know of 2 horses that both died from gelding complications. The same complication in fact. The intestines came through the ring and out through the incision hole and horse loses blood supply, and in one case actually enough intestines came out that the horse stood on the intestines, caused himself to colic and died.
Em
Um, no, sorry. I cannot imagine a seller that would allow a colt to be gelded before being paid for. You pay for the horse THEN you can do whatever you want with it (geld, etc.)
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Um…no. Hard no. If you want me to geld a sales horse, you need to pay for the horse FIRST. No seller would (or should) ever agree to that. Also, we’ve gelded many, many over the years and complications are very rare. Buy the horse. Insure the horse. Geld the horse (if you’re worried)
Like Alterrain and nycjumper, I would never allow someone to geld a colt before paying for it. No way. I have never had any issues with gelding.
My late trainer brought many imports over for many years. It’s customary for the sales yards/barns to offer the better quality males intact to international buyers to give them the option of gelding or leaving it whole. Most buyers opt to geld and the procedure is only done after funds have cleared and ownership transferred. It’s done over there because import costs are more and customs requirements more involved for studs then geldings.
That was continental Europe and a few from Argentina. Can’t speak to other countries norms. When I have bought intact males here stateside, which was only a couple of times, had the procedure done after I had possession and brought it home. My sellers wanted it gone within a week of purchase and I paid pro rated board for all horses of ants ex I bought if there was a gap of more then 24 hours from ownership transfer to transport.
But, everything is negotiable and it never hurts to ask.
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Just an FYI - not any more expensive from Argentina to import a stallion unlike Europe. Same price, stallion mare or gelding - it’s one of the good things 
That being said, our clients pretty much always gelded in Argentina though b/c a) jrs can’t show stallions and b) lots of places in the US won’t allow them so they just got it done there so could start showing right away when horse arrived in the US
Although funny enough - I actually wound up gelding one in the US last year as it was pretty much the same price as in Argentina and better facilities in the US in the event that there were complications (this was an 11 YO so a bit more complicated than normal).
