Ridecamp: [RC] Selling horses

I don't sell horses well because I tend to look for the "perfect home" and 
thankfully, I think all of the horses I have sold have (eventually)found 
their match with their ideal owner.

I did attempt to sell one mare on a 30 day trial--and I'll NEVER do that 
again! The proposed buyer took the mare, rode her, and sometime around the 
third week took her to a vet who declared her lame and not a candidate for 
an endurance horse. The woman brought her back and told me in detail that 
she just didn't "click" with the mare, along with that explaination, she 
gave me a very casual mention of the vet's assessment. The woman then 
proceeded to tell EVERYONE in the local horse community about my "useless" 
wannabe endurance prospect. There went any chance of a sale to an endurance 
home!

Fortunately, I had a girlfriend that I foisted the horse on as a
"temporary" mount, since I thought they were a good match personality-wise. 
She wound up buying the mare, and a couple thousand miles later, and two 
years completion of the Sandy Barr award, the mare is still chugging away at 
endurance rides. As a matter of fact, as I follow this horse down the trail, 
watch her eat and drink everything in sight, finish rides without looking 
like she even went five miles, and actually GAIN weight on a ride, I'm 
beginning to wonder why I sold her.......

I'll continue to try to find the best match for the horses I sell, and I 
will even give a thirty day trial. But the horse will be vetted prior to 
leaving the property, and the full payment will be held in escrow until the 
buyer declares that they will keep the horse, or until the same vet declares 
the horse to have been returned in a sound and usable condition. I will make 
sure the buyer understands that if anything happens to the horse while off 
my property, then consider it sold.

I have no idea why the mare went lame originally or why the vet didn't think 
she'd make an endurance horse. My friend takes pride in the fact that many 
vets have commented favorably on her horse's conformation. A situation such 
as I described above could have meant the complete loss of a sale if not the 
return of a totally lame and damaged horse.

Maybe selling horses is like selling bananas--both products are perishable 
and they're tough to sell again if they've been mishandled.

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