Buying a horse, trial ,etc

[midgey]

I went to look at a horse last week . Travelled quite a long distance. I liked the horse but saw the owner ride it in a school and in open fields ,rode it my self in the school. Watched the horse graze by a very busy road. I liked the horse . The owner was surprised that I wanted to hack the horse out. Lots of horses are fine at home ,but take them away from their yard and it can be a different story.

In the past I have had a horse on trial at home ,then bought it.Last time was a two week trial but this was years ago.

Do people put a horse out on tiral any more. I bought a horse six years ago after a years loan this worked very well.

Also having trouble getting hold of the mares owner now . So perhaps that says it all.

Ps . I think I am a nice person, not the sort of person who would put an owner off. I am offering a home for life for the right horse,had my last horse for 25 years.

Think it might be easier to buy from a dealer ,as at least I have some come back ,if I buy a horse as a good hack and it does n't leave the yard.

What do you think.

[nich]

I wouldn't put a horse on trial - heard too many horror stories about them coming back ruined/broken. But i would and did let a potential buyer come and ride as many times and in as many situations as they needed to be sure. when I sold, I was on a popular livery yard, and would have lost my place/stable had the horse gone.

If you like the horse, persist - you don't have to have anything to do with the owner once you have bought.

I wonder if many horses for loan are for loan initially before sale, whatever the owner says, is because they are aged and can't be sold, or have some hidden fault that a thorough vetting would find. that certainly happened to me with a horse I loaned, (lameness and sinusitis) so I wouldn't loan again.

[antares]

I would allow a trial but with lots of conditions, one being that the yard the horse went to was approved by myself as suitable and close enough for me or a family member to visit at least twice a week.

Another way would be as the above poster says and that is for the person to come and ride out and/or look after the horse at my place to see how they got on

[orangetails]

My NF will be for sale (was meant to be sold at the end of the summer but I decided to keep him a bit longer as I only had novice people enquire from the little bit of advertising I did so decided to keep him over the winter and sell as a 5yo when he's a bit more established) and I won't allow him to go on trial - he's rising 5, and the chances of someone buggering him up and then handing him back and saying he's not suitable are too great. However I am happy for anyone viewing him to come back as many times as they want, try him in as many situations as they want etc - and I took a load of videos of him out and about, hacking, at a show and so on to show potential buyers too.

Re buying from a dealer - has advantages obviously - but also bear in mind they don't tend to have the horses as long and so won't know them as well as a genuine private seller. And most offer an exchange policy rather than a refund which always makes me wonder what would happen if they didn't have anything suitable to exchange!