would you allow a trial

monflat

This is a thought following on from another post
If you are selling a horse would you let it on trial ?
If so what's your reasons if not what's your reasons

I will be selling a mare after competing her as much as I can this summer

Personally the potential buyer can come to me do as many trials as they want
Go hacking
School over xc see it being loaded and I'll even take out clippers to show she is quiet but no way would I let the horse out of my sight.

I see some people will not even consider a horse if it's not allowed on trial


My friend recently was selling his kings master hunter he allowed a girl ride him out hunting this girl had 4 ponies already so you would think she is well used to caring for horses
He agreed to let her take home the horse on a " trial" she did she took him half way up country
This gelding had been home bred and was never away from home so would take a while to settle in like any animal would
However immediatly she got the vet out to do a vetting and sure the horse being with strange people and a vet did not take too kindly to this

They then transported tgey horse back to its owner leaving the heavyweight outdoor rug on the horse about 75 miles of a journey
The owner says he could hear them comin a mile away and he drove in the gate with horsebox on tow at such speed that he does not know how they made it through

When then unloaded horse he was in a lather of sweat and was cut on his leg from.standing.on himself in the box

Now these were people who " were horse owners "
And had 5* facilities
.however that means nothing to me

I for sure won't be letting horse out of my sight until money handed over for the above and various other reasons


Anyone else feel the same ?

marley123

I for one wouldnt allow a trial period unless at own yard or someone I directly knew & even in that case would ask for a hefty deposit!
Ive heard too many nightmare stories about horses being returned dog lame, in the space of a couple of weeks and developing napping probs etc...

monflat

marley123 wrote: »

I for one wouldnt allow a trial period unless at own yard or someone I directly knew & even in that case would ask for a hefty deposit!
Ive heard too many nightmare stories about horses being returned dog lame, in the space of a couple of weeks and developing napping probs etc...

Yes that would be a nightmare a previous fine horse turning into a napper
When the horse is not your own some people don't treat it that way
Terrible really

convert

There have been quite a few discussions on this forum here, with many users saying point blank that they would never buy a horse if they couldn't take it away on trial. And while many people are probably careful of the horses they take on trial, I have heard, witnessed and experienced so many problems of supposed 'experienced' and 'kind/gentle' 'horsey' people taking horses and ponies on trial, only for them to return underweight, cut, with saddle sores and sore mouths, or, worse still, broken down (having been galloped around cross country courses on hard ground), that I would never, ever let a horse or pony that I owned out on trial.

My experience: pony went on trial to a very horsey family with children. The pony had a very gentle mouth, and was ridden in a rubber snaffle, so the bit went with the pony. Pony came home 2 weeks later with saddle sores and a sore mouth - it took another 2 weeks to get the bit back because they couldn't remember where they left it having not used it (they didn't like the look of it and preferred use to 'normal' metal bits, both snaffle and pelham). The pony had also lost a lot of condition, and very unlikely that it was due to being upset as it was a pony who had moved around a lot.

Anyone who is interested in buying a horse/pony that I have is welcome to come try them at my yard as often as they like, and to ride them in company or on their own, but not a chance would the horse/pony ever leave my yard unless they had been purchased. Not only that, but it also gives me an opportunity to vet the potential buyer!

Ave Sodalis

I'd agree with everyone above in that, if I'd a horse for sale, any trial would be on my own yard and through my time. I'd be more than happy to spend a week or two giving lessons on the horse, hacking out etc. As for horses going away and coming back, the yard I work at have only had 2. One of which came back fine, the other came back fat and with a nipping habit (irritating but not serious) so lucky in that respect.
We had another trial our own arena with another horse. It was a thoroughbred who wasn't long out of racing. She was a very quiet horse to work with but needed an experienced hand when riding. We were reassured that the girl coming was experienced and a good rider but alas, she wasn't. It seemed her family thought that experienced meant a year or two on riding school ponies and put the horse back weeks of training having panicked when on board. She then wouldn't listen to any instruction from people on the ground but oh well. T'was a learning experience!

silverfox88

Noooooooooooo. No way, absolutely not, could not be more emphatic on this. They would be welcome to ride my horse at the yard, as many times as they wished, but under no circumstances would I allow the horse out of the yard, not even with a deposit. I sold my mare two months ago and there's not a hope she was going anywhere unless she was sold!
You have no idea how people keep their horses, and it's too easy to ruin a horse in a short time. You also could have someone getting injured or claiming to have been injured and issues in that respect. I think there is too much danger in respect of "hoofkickers" and at the end of the day a horse is a valuable and expensive asset not to be let out of your control until money has changed hands and a sale has been finalised!

bob1984

It's funny as I am on the other side of this story

I'm currently horse-shopping and to be honest I simply take it for granted that there will be no trial; I think it is a very personal decision but in a strange way I would prefer someone to be wary of a trial if that makes sense?

I think if I was selling however it would be a no for me;

Valentina

My yard won't sell a horse to someone unless they take them for a trial. They prefer people to take the horse for a month or two, do a bit of everything with them and really get to know them.

If I was buying I would want a trial but I would be happy to keep the horse where he was if that's what the owner preferred.

monflat

most people are in agreement with this
i know it differs with each person but yes each rider has different views of how competent they are.
isnt is mad how people class themselves and then it turns out how they are not at that level at all
i remember once selling a horse and i specified he was not a novice ride as he is not a novice ride so that was fine
woman came to view in chit chat as she was preparing to mount my husband asked her was she riding long and she says yes since a child and gave him a look as if to say im an experienced rider.
i put out the mounting block for her
she could not get up
i let down stirrups
she could not mount
eventually i got a step ladder he was 17.2 she was overweight and no way flexible
she climbed abord.

she took off on a new horse to her into trot no walk first despite me saying to walk around get the feel of him
she then asked for canter in the first corner ( bloddy fool ) he sprung into canter and both her lower legs went back and down she came like a ton of bricks onto the ground !!!
And she classed herself in the experienced category of riders - thats the type of fools out there.......

imagine what would have happened the horse if i willingly agreed to a trial..................

granturismo

Plenty of genuine experiences why a seller wont agree to a trial but as a buyer I wouldnt buy without a trial - this can be sorted out over the initial phone call and if a trial isnt on offer both parties can just move on if there are different expectations.

We recently looked at about 12 ponies, all sellers agreed to a weeks trial except one who said they didnt do trials as they had adequate facilities for us to ride the pony over a few days but they would give a trial for 3 days as we lived an hour away. We didnt proceed as we found a more suitable pony the next day. Another seller was reluctant to vetting.

We trialed pony #3 but unfortunaltely she failed the vet test which upset everyone involved as the family selling were very helpful to us. Pony #12 was the second we had on trial and it settled down after a few days and is just about to get a quick recheck by the vet so all looks good.

Should mention that the first seller brought the horse to our livery yard on the understanding that he would bring the pony back if he wasnt happy with the yard and stable management, another reason why we were impressed with this person. The second seller was familiar with the yard.

Tegan

My friend was selling her horse last year and offered 1mts trial at the local yard where he was staying at the timeto which the buyer replyed "that defeats the purpose of a trial the horse will be used to these surroundings" after a long discussing they came to the aggreement that the horse was to stay on the yard for 2 weeks and ifthey liked the horse thay could move him to the yard they decided on ( after my friend contacted the yard and explained the sutuation).. after the 2 weeks the buyer lked the horse and took him to there own yard my friend delivered the horse her self.. at the end of the 2 weeks my friend called the buyer who said she dd not want to buy the horse and arranged the horse to be returned...the horse was returned HOGGED........ and with the tail pulled and with girth galls and a sore mouth allong wrth this his out door rug was destroyed to witch the buyer said was the horses fault , this being a horse who has never damaged a rug n hs lfe he wont even roll..........


on the other side of this story when i got my first pony when i was 15 the owner allowed us 1mts trial and transport to shows ect and also once the horse was sold wrote up a contract saying that in the 1st 2 mts that we had the horse if for any reason we were not happy with the horse we could return him and get our money bback ( we keep and still have the pony) he even would call us once in a while to see how we are getting on and if we have any problems,and to this day( 7years later) will still give the odd call to see how things are going .....

fits

I wonder if some of this is down to horses behaving differently in different environments.
I have heard of a few quiet horses being sold to people and then turning out to be not so quiet in a different place.

Even my own horse was like that. He came out of a big point to point yard and changed an awful lot when he came to live with me.

Just a thought is all...

(And no I probably wouldn't allow a trial)

bob1984

Its a funny one isn't it as no-one wants to give a horse on trail but anyone buying would love the opportunity

mothoin

I have come against this problem recently, I have purchased my own property and have so been afforded the oppurtunity to keep more horses than before and so now keep a few sales horses, I also operate an agency, [mod edit: snip], for foreign buyers, selling in Ireland to Irish customers is very tedious! Even in ads I state no trial, and offer to allow them to ttake the horse to coilog or xc schooling, people will still call, come and see the horse, and then say they want a trial! To which I reply, yes but the horse stays here and that never seems to suit! Do people not read the ad? I feel now I need to make it clear on the phone, so I don't have my time wasted!

With clients from abroad it is quite straightforward, obviously they never expect a trial!

Ah_Yeah

I have never owned a horse but will be looking to buy in the next few years, and I would ideally like to have a trial for a week-10days just to make sure I really click with the horse. Saying that, if I was selling a horse I would be reluctant to let my horse leave my yard for security/welfare reasons. I would be happy to take a horse on trial at the owners yard, provided I could ride the horse as I would at home. Everyone is happy that way.

charlieIRL

I am currently looking for a second pony for our kids and to be honest I would like to see how a new pony would be at home before purchasing. I've no problem brining the kids to try out a potential pony at someone's yard though but just like the peace of mind seeing them in our environment.

Valentina

If I had to sell my horse I'd like to know where she was going and hope that she would end up with someone who was well matched for her. I'd hate to think of her being passed around and ending up god knows where. So yes I would give a trial for my own peace of mind if nothing else.

Rips

I had my horse on a months trial many years ago... sellers didn't have much choice though, since she bronced me off at the viewing. She was being sold from the field and they had boxed her to the yard for me to try.

She stayed on livery then for the duration of the trial, though I did take her to shows.

It would depend on the horse I suppose, if the home was more important then the money, you might be aswell let the new owners have a trial.

I have to say though, when I tried to loan one of my horses, I never found the right people/home.