Taking a Horse on Trial?

I went on “date” number two with gelding number two Friday. This time I was fortunate to have my trainer join me for the 100 mile trip to see the chestnut Thoroughbred I liked from two weeks ago, but wasn’t sure I LIKED as he is a bit on the green side. It’s not that I have anything against a greenish horse, it’s just that I don’t think I have the sophistication and experience to perceive whether or not a green horse will be a good pick or a train wreck. I thought this guy might be a really good pick, but I just wasn’t 100% sure. Should I take the horse on trial?

My trainer bought Starbucks for me and I picked her up at 6 a.m. to try to stay away from Los Angeles rush hour traffic. We actually considered taking the train to see the horse. It would have been a 2 hour 45 minute train ride or 1.5 hour car ride (depending on traffic it could also be 2 hours and 45 minutes–I thought I’d take my chances).

The reining trainer who’s been working with him a couple of times a week for the past few months rode him and did several reining maneuvers which my trainer pointed out would cross over very nicely for dressage. She commented that he was executing the moves correctly and really listening to the reiner’s aids. As we sat there watching him work, my trainer narrated what she was noticing about the horse from the way he really stepped up under himself placing his back hooves into the imprint or even ahead of the imprint of front hooves to noticing that he looked even better under saddle than on the ground (which is what I had thought too!).

“So what kinds of things could I do with a horse like this? I know the owner’s taken him on the trail and he’s very quiet. I know he can jump but he hasn’t really been trained.”

She said I could do anything with him, “He moves like a hunter, he could definitely do dressage, I’m sure he could do jumpers too,” and then added he seemed like a really fun horse and she liked him so far.

My like started to grow stronger.

Then my trainer hopped on and his level of awesomeness rose even more. He was on the bit and moving forward and he came together and it looked like an effortless ride. She asked if she could jump him. This was what I had been waiting for! I had only seen him jump an X when I was on my first “date.”

My trainer cruised over the X a number of times and then took him over a hay bale jump and he just went. Next she did a tighter turn and aimed him at a colorful plank vertical. He stopped, but not a dirty stop. More like, “Oh, I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do.” She turned around, made a big circle and he sailed over it with no drama. He was game.

The only down side to her ride was that he was reluctant to pick up the left lead on a circle, but he did it landing, no problem. She persisted asking him and he didn’t get bratty, but after multiple attempts she backed down saying he had already done a lot of new in one session and she felt like it was a training and practice thing, not a health or willful disobedience thing.

My turn: I got on and walked around a lap or two. I’ve noticed I get nervous trying out the horses because I feel like there’s so much at stake. And because he’s only 6 and was wearing a much harsher bit than I would ever use if I owned him, I felt like I was riding very delicately.  Anyway, I did get him to canter on the left lead after a few tries. Again, he never got fussy or angry and I felt like he was genuinely trying. Then I jumped him over the X. I was riding like a whisper and so he lost so much momentum to the baby X that I thought he was going to stop. I was already apologizing aloud for being so waffley. He came to the base of the fence at the world’s slowest trot and he trotted over it anyway.

“He wasn’t going to stop, you were going to stop,” my trainer stately matter of factly.  Both trainers basically encouraged me to not baby him and to ride more assertively. “You’re not going to ruin him.”

I picked up the reins and had more contact with his mouth and used more leg and the next several jumps were much smoother and much better than the first.

We ended our fun ride and his trainer took him to hose off while my trainer and I pow wowed.

“Is it bad to get him and think, ‘If I don’t really like him after a year I could try to sell him?’ I like him, but it’s just that,” and that’s when my voice started to crack. “With my last horse, the first time I saw him I thought, ‘That is the most beautiful horse I’ve ever seen!’ I HAD to have him. I know I could buy this horse and have fun and I trust him and he’d be a good horse, but I’m just not crazy about him. I mean would he be a nice horse that someone else would like and want to buy if I never really clicked with him or if he didn’t turn out how we hoped?”

To my surprise she said it was not a bad thing to think at all. She said he was a good horse and that he would be the type of horse that would be easy to sell. I felt affirmed yet disloyal all at the same time.

I decided I would make an offer. The owner was not able to be at the showing so I planned to call her on the long car ride home.

As we said our thank yous and good-byes to the reining trainer, she mentioned, “Someone made an offer on him.”

After she left, I asked my trainer, “Why would they have us come all the way up here if he’s already got an offer?”

“Maybe they lowballed.”

I told her the amount I was thinking of offering and she encouraged me to go up a notch (the amount I decided on was 85% of the asking price).

So on the ride home I called the owner and said we both liked the horse and I was going to make an offer and would she (and the horse) be available for a vet check next week. She said yes to everything and I said I’d call with my vet time frames later that afternoon.

I called a vet referred to me by my former vet and he was going to leave on family vacation but had Monday at 9, 11, and 4 available. Sounded perfect.

The owner and I spoke again and I told her the vet’s availability. I then asked if she would consider me taking the horse on trial for 30 days. “I really like him, but he did resist the left lead and it would be nice to work with him over fences more.” My thought is you can always ask for something and people are able to say no. I could tell she did not like this request. I think I offended her.

“We used to have our own barn and we had to sell eight horses when we were getting out of it. The trials never worked. Our horses would return lame or with infections. They would be over ridden.”

I assured her I understood her concern and that that’s not the kind of people we are. I told her the reason I chose my trainer is because she’s a true horsewoman in that she cares more about the animal than about winning. Her passion is developing a connection with the horse and rider and teaching horse care, that’s why she just launched a Pony Club this summer.

Because she never said anything about the other party and she was going to check her schedule to check on a vet time, I didn’t think there was an offer. Or that the offer the reiner had mentioned must have been too low.  We agreed to talk on Saturday to iron out the details for the vet check.

Saturday morning I had another school garden workshop. I texted the owner around 10 a.m. to say I was in the class but that I would call her when I got done at noon.

I got a text at 12:06 p.m. that read

“Just getting back to you on my guy. I going [sic] to move fwd with the other buyers offer. It is just a cleaner, less complicated arrangement. I feel like maybe you are looking for a more finished horse, especially if you want a trial. They usually are more expensive, and trials may take place because of that investment. That is my experience anyway. My guy is as stated in the ad. Started, and you can take him whatever direction you choose. If you would like, I can let you know if for some reason this deal does not complete. Just let me know. I feel bad letting you know, but I feel like maybe you would be happier with a more experienced horse.”

The rug was pulled out from under me. I didn’t know I was in competition with another person since I never heard it straight up from the owner. Last I knew, she was figuring out her work schedule so she could meet me at the barn on Monday for a vet check!

Is there a reason we couldn’t have had an old-fashioned phone call voice to voice on this?

Does she have the right to tell me what I’m looking for in a horse?

I responded politely that I thought I’d ask about the trial because you never know unless you ask. I understand she wants what’s best for her and her horse, but if I’m in the ballpark of the amount she’s willing to accept, pending a clean pre-purchase I would still be interested minus the 30-day trial request. I rescinded the trial idea.

She’s still going forward with the other party.

That was yesterday. Today I have such a bad taste in my mouth for how this all went down, I don’t know what to think. My trainer was ticked and used colorful language to ask why they would have us spend half a day and two hours with the horse and drive 200 miles when they knew there was an offer on the table they were considering. I feel used.

And by the way, I know of a Thoroughbred farm here in SoCal that has a couple of horses that they have offered to allow on a trial (and they are not  uber “expensive. . .investment” horses). They’re in the same range as what she was asking.

I was thinking how nice it would be to buy this horse from a private party, a woman in her 60s. I thought there’d be no wheeling and dealing and inflated prices and masking of unsoundness. Just a nice older woman trying to find a good home. But something about this whole situation is not sitting right with me. The way information was revealed or kept from me. The mode of communication.

I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

What’s your view? In this digital age is is acceptable to negotiate and accept or reject offers such as buying a horse via text message?  

What is the protocol for trying out a horse at your location for a trial period?  Have you or anyone else you know taken a horse on trial or sold a horse and allowed someone else to take a horse on trial basis? What are your experiences when asking to take a horse on trial?

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