trials for sale horses

[okggo]

What are your thoughts about letting an experienced hunter go on trial? I’m getting a lot of requests like “could I bring the horse to our barn and try a week, month, whatever.”

My knee jerk reaction leaves me very hesitent. So much can go wrong, esp with a sport like hunting. Suppose the horse steps on something, slips, falls, and suddenly they send a lame horse back.

Have any of you let a total stranger take you horse out hunting or “borrow” it a week or two to see if they “bond”? I have this fear of my horse being shipped all over the place and not being the “right match” and stressing the poor horse for no reason.

What ever happened to going to the owners farm and riding it there several times and making a decision from that (that is how I used to buy, but maybe culturally things have changed?)

[asb_own_me]

http://chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=228311

[SteeleRdr]

Our hunters don’t usually ever go out on trial. They will occasionally, if it is local, there is full insurance on the horse for the asking price, and there is a non-refundable deposit.

Usually, if it’s a foxhunter, and people really want to try the horse. I will take them out with my hunt, and I/someone else will ride with them on another horse so that we can make sure nothing happens and advise the potential buyer.

[beanie_boomer]

I will likewise give folks the opportunity to hunt the horse with me, and even more than once. If they are not far, I will even bring the horse to their hunt. If there is a particular concern, then I will sometimes sell the horse with a specific right of return. I usually like the horse to be vetted first, though, and insurance is a great idea. I will also send it with very specific instructions on how it is to be fed, kept, turned out, etc. just to limit the number of things that can (and usually do) go wrong…

[okggo]

Unfortunately these people are not local. They want to ship the horse 3+ hours and keep it there for a week to a month depending on the person asking. This is the third person now to make this request and they all get very huffy when I express reservation (aka we have done this before and it’s never been an issue - which just tells me they routinely bring horses home try and send back).

Anyway - I have a horse person-lawyer friend that just gave me a great contract for someone who may be an exception I’d allow it for…I’d still be worried about the horse the whole time though

[Lkramer]

I personally don’t let them hunt or show. I’ve seen people treat leases and trials the way they would treat a rental car. Fact of the matter is, if anything happens, they are not liable. I have done at home trials where they pay 1/3 the cost of the horse to lease for one week, which is non-refundable. That can be applied to the purchase price. It will really tell you who is serious about buying, and who is wasting your time.

[lesbrill54]

I have let made horses go out on trial, but they need to write a check(which I deposit) for the full amount of the purchase, which I will return if the horse when returned is the same to MY satisfaction. If you are unwilling to let the horse go, offer them a trial hunting and get them to have a vet meet them to draw blood for a drug test- this is often why people really want a trial at home.

[Bogie]

I can understand wanting to hunt a horse before buying it because it’s not something you can assess in a ring or even out on a xc course.

If I were to do this, and it would only be to someone I thought was an excellent match for the horse I would:

• Expect full payment up front
• Expect them to fully insure the horse with me as the beneficiary of the policy
• Have a full PPE before the horse left my barn
• Offer a return policy for specific issues
• Make clear that you have a “break it/buy it” policy
• Limit the trial to 1 week. That should be plenty of time to assess the horse and even to hunt it once.

I prefer your solution of having the prospective buyer go out with your hunt but it’s not always possible. Having someone pay up front gives them more of an incentive to take care of the horse. Having the PPE up front insures that you both know the horse’s state of soundness when it leaves your barn.

Good luck!

[system]

This is intersting…I would not buy a hunt horse with out hunting him first, so quid pro quo---- I let them hunt, at my hunt, under either my or my mans supervision.

even then dicy thing…last week a fellow tried one of my horses, lovely 1st field horse who has been flawless. I wanted him to go for 45 minutes, get in some good jumps, then come in, as he is trying the horse…not hunting him

all good, took a 4’ post and rail , in traffic, with aplomb…

at 50 munutes, galloped through a rocky stream, to a two stride panel. Horse twisted shoe in stream bed, clip went into sole, horse quit fence { I would have too} tossed rider over the panel. Horse absecssing as we speak. sale does not look promising, to him anyway. In reality…no ones fault.

Messy and risky business…but it is exactly what it is. I am starting to feel about buyibg/selling horses like I do about cars. to much non-sense.

DS

[kt-rose]

I can see where someone could reasonably expect to hunt the horse. But, under your supervision!! You only have to have the whole trial thing go wrong once to learn that they leave your custody only after they have vetted and the cash is in the bank. They want their vet, bring him to you. They want to hunt him, come to you. The down side for you is just too significant. Trials are only of value to the seller when you have a horse with something compromising about them and you are going to have a tough time selling unless the buyer gets a chance to find out if whatgever is compromising is something they can live with. Legitimate horse, no reason for a trial, you can only lose.

[judybigredpony]

I have hunted the horse myself as a guest of prospective buyers hunt for them to see horse go, and don’t mind buyer hound walking or cubbing.
But for the very reason posted above. No way Jose do I allow trials off my farm not out of my eye sight until the vettings done to everyones satisfaction and money in the bank. And I respect the buyers position but aside from the emotional feeling, a good hunt horse is a valuable commodity and obviously has been seen out hunting w/ provinance.f they want to gallope/jump cross countyr in a group setting fine on good footing.

[FairWeather]

I think the problem with hunt horses is that anybody can say a horse “hunts”, but the fact is lots of time they’ve been out once, if at all. As any experienced person will tell you, One time foxhunting does not a hunter make.
So, you have to prove that they’ll hunt, and do it well enough to justify the price.
With eventers, jumpers and hunters, you have videos, pictures, show results, records to show that yes, indeed, the the horse has evented/shown.
Foxhunters don’t have that luxury, and so rely on many word-of-mouths or trials to sell as foxhunters.
I personally would never buy a horse without either seeing it hunted, or hunting it myself.