I have to sell my horse.
Can anyone point me to some resources to draw up a sales contract? I tried to do a search here and else where but didn’t come up with anything useful.
It could be my google skills are woefully inadequate or maybe I don’t have the patience. This sucks.
What do you think it needs besides a description of the horse and what the payment is? That’s the basics, and the minimum. I’ve seen people just use the registration as as the bill of sale.
There are a few websites that let you make a sale contract if you Google “horse bill of sale.”
Okay I guess that’s good enough. Thanks.
Firstly, I am so sorry you have to sell your horse.
I tracked down and redacted my Bill of Sale for my current horse. It is a lease-to-own (Horsey Layaway!!!) purchase agreement, so the final paragraph will have to be modified. Also, of course, modify gender pronouns appropriately, or change to “Seller” and “Buyer” as appropriate.
What is blank in first paragraph is [Full Name] of [address] for both buyer and seller, for example “Jane Doe of 123 Main Street, Anytown CA 12345”. For the dollar amounts, they are listed as both numbers and words, for example: “$1,000 (One Thousand US Dollars)”. Date at bottom is in the format of “this [date] of [Month], [year].” For example: “this 29th day of April, 2023.”
Hope this helps!
ETA: oopsie, edited to add image.
@erinmeri thank you so much. I’m…… I don’t know. I know I’m doing the right thing but damn it’s hard. So thank you for being willing to spoon feed an internet stranger who is struggling with the idea and tried to find examples through google.
I am sending you a huge hug. As someone who is currently considering leasing out my horse due to finances, I can relate.
Thanks and big hugs to you!
Thank you!!! Best of luck to you and your horse. 
@Mohan - I too am sorry you are in this spot.
Re selling, you don’t have to answer this in this thread / publicly online, but consider the price range you are selling. If it is less than $10k, then probably something very simple will do.
If it is $10k or more, you need some protection in the contract. The buyer is buying “as is, where is”. No promises on your part of suitability or even soundness. Etc. You are forestalling anything an unhappy buyer may do. Most buyers may not take action against you, but it only takes one unlucky hit.
You may hear/read a lot of advice about people who have sold horses for 10 or 30 or 50 years and never needed a real contract. That has nothing to do with you yourself and the present day & age.
You can take a look at online horse sales contracts to get an idea. If your horse is very very expensive, it may be worth a few hundred in selling costs to get an experienced >>horse expert<< attorney to draw one up for you.
This is the kind of thing to do in your own best interests. You really need more qualified advice than the internet provides. And if someone is giving advice, consider how much stake that person has in the outcome, and how much they know about your personal situation. Which you do not have to share on the internet.
Good luck that this turns out well for you and your horse. 
this day and age of ease to insert photographs into documents I would add at least two photographs of the horse into the contract with places for buyer to acknowledge this is the horse I am purchasing
if chipped, add the chip number, manufacturer of chip used and location of where chip was inserted
The reason I suggest this as I did do work for FEMA after disasters when there were hundreds horses collected and few if any one had positive ID of their horse… there are a Lot of horses that look alike.
We have a bunch of Bays for me early on I had to count their white feet and location to know Yes this Foxie or whoever
Thanks everyone! I do apologize for asking for something that’s easily searchable but I’m struggling with this sale.
Thank you for all the ideas.
It’s made harder by my friends who say they will take her if I have to put her down and go on to say well you’ll have no control after the sale.
It’s so frustrating. If you want my horse buy her, if not no kidding I won’t have control over the sale.
I’m sorry just venting at this point. I have 5 people who would buy her but only under duress. 
You know I think about that sometimes – I have photos of my horse, but very few with me in them. I’m the one taking the photo.
In disaster rescue situations I’m told they want a photo they can match to identifying marks, with the owner in the photo with the horse. So they can match the owner as well.
I’m guessing it’s a good idea to get at least one photo where the seller is present and recognizable? That would help trace this horse back to this sales contract – if that ever comes up.
Horses do look alike – especially where dozens, hundreds, are gathered together at a fairgrounds with no distinguishing information on the front of the stalls. My horse is so special to me, but he looks like thousands of TB’s who are dark bay with only a small white star marking.
most covered in mud, all pretty frighten but nearly all were not wild beasts, mostly they were looking for their owner …at the time I was working with FEMA there three types of chips used, each required a scan… unless there was a brand visible which there were few, it was just herd of horses
So we have many detailed photos of all of guys (kind of helps that two of our kids are professional photographers and both grand daughter have keen eye)
Be sure to add “As is”
Make them vet if they vetted the horse
Here is a one that is a bit more thorough that I’ve pulled from the internet and modified to my uses. Make sure you edit #9 to match the state/county you are in.
So sorry and best of luck!
HORSE PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT.pdf (183.6 KB)
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