Saint's Log

Horse Purchase Contracts

We decided to sell our horse a few months ago and buy another horse better suited to drill riding. The topic of which contract to use when buying a horse came up naturally. More specifically, the seller of the horse we were interested in wanted a right of first refusal (which I didn’t understand). My first go-to was the Horse purchase agreement – YouTube search. The video on Sales Fraud in the Horse Industry (youtube.com) was exactly what I needed. I’m summarizing the key points in this post so that I don’t have to watch the whole video again.

Some issues that horse buyers run into:

1. Training and disposition are misrepresented. The buyer didn’t seek enough info, or the seller wasn’t clear/transparent (e.g. about horse vices)
2. Horse is smaller/larger than represented, e.g. with minis where the seller doesn’t make a representation about the horse (or it is misrepresented).
3. Horse being drugged during buyer’s evaluation.

She gives advice on reducing disputes by sellers ensuring advertisements are true and accurate. One of the behaviors mentioned (that buyers complain about) is cribbing, which I don’t think I have heard of before.

Some recommendations from the video include:

1. put things in writing
2. avoid one-size-fits-all forms (e.g. are they valid in your state?)
3. don’t leave major terms to guesswork
4. specify the buyer, seller, price, terms, and the horse (registered date, foaling date)
5. avoid underage contract signers (such contracts will not be enforceable in most places).

She also reviews the buyer perspective, the top tip being “if it’s important to you, get it in writing.” Any seller not willing to put things in writing (e.g. the horse is bomb proof) is a red flag. I had to research the meaning of this term but got the gist of it from Bombproof – Western Horseman and The Myth of the “Bomb-Proof” Horse – Horse Trail Chicks. Other things to consider putting in writing are medical conditions:

1. if the horse has a medical colic.
2. whether the horse needs to receive joint injections (that’s a thing?).

Other recommendations include:

1. having the seller’s name and signature on the contract (thus ensuring promises are not just from a seller’s agent, who might not have really known the horse) and to specify who pays the seller’s agent’s commission.
2. hiring an independent vet to examine the horse before buying (e.g. to avoid paying a lot for a horse that has been denerved).
3. getting a drug screen.

She delves into the topic of releases, giving an example of a closed head injury that resulted in institutionalization of the rider, but the release didn’t use the language required to make it enforceable! Definitely caught my attention.

Other Recommendations

• She recommends liability insurance for owners in trial period or lease to buy scenarios.
• She mentions clipping a horse in one of her answers to a question from the audience. I wasn’t sure what this referred to until I found Horse Clipping Guide (smartpakequine.com)
• The video ends with a question about releases, which was the reason I wanted to watch this video in the first place. One of the big questions we had was the right of first refusal. I end up browsing through Right of First Refusal Clauses: Equine Law Blog for additional information about this.
• She brings up insurance, e.g. how having an equine insurance policy could allow you to euthanize a horse and still collect (unlike life insurance policies). She recommends purchasing it just before your new horse gets on the trailer (she gives an example where a horse got spider bites after getting into the trailer for transport as part of the purchase but the buyer got a payout after euthanizing the horse).

This was a great talk overall so I looked up the advertised references: My Horse University Online Horse Management and My Horse University | Facebook appear to have tons of resources on all matters equine. I’m also inspired to learn about types of horse insurance.