Horse sale agreements

This agreement is a simple way to protect yourself as a buyer of a horse or pony.

It is very hard to ascertain whether an equine has any problems or vices at a viewing, even when a vet has assessed the horse's medical condition.

By using this sale agreement, you obtain the seller's promise (warranty) that there are no undisclosed problems. If there subsequently turn out to be, then it is the seller who becomes responsible for them, not you.

Using this document could not only save your thousands of pounds but also much anguish over dealing with a horse that you cannot ride.

Sale agreements are usually written to protect the buyer because it is the buyer who takes the risk if the horse is not sound.

This document is drawn to protect the seller. It can help re-balance the strength of the deal back in your favour:

• by offering an agreement you are likely to come across as a professional and trustworthy seller
• by giving warranties (promises) you can reassure a nervous buyer to buy
• if there are potential problems, you can remove your warranty relating to it without bringing the removal so obviously to the buyer's attention
• you can choose terms around payment and delivery that suit you rather than the buyer

Of course, this agreement is drawn in terms to which a reasonable buyer would not object.

This is a livery agreement where the yard owner acts as an agent in the sale and receives a commission if he sells the horse. In addition, he receives livery fees while the equine is on the yard.

The yard may have superior facilities in which to allow the seller to demonstrate the horse's ability, riders on hand who can get the best out of the equine, and surroundings that impress buyers; and the owner doesn't need to spend time arranging viewings, answering questions, or being at viewings.

Key features of this agreement include:

• same provisions for livery as our standard livery agreement
• the yard owner can choose to evaluate the horse before accepting the instruction to sell
• a choice of alternative commission arrangements including fixed sum and percentage of the sale price
• the procedure for selling is covered in full
• recourse to yard owner if horse causes damage

This agreement is suitable for high value transactions where the buyer needs strong legal protection.

It could be used to buy any equine, including those for general recreational use, sport horses, racehorses, stallions and brood mares. It is suitable for international sales.

It might be that:

• the value of the horse is high
• the consequences of having an unsound horse are costly (for example, the buyer lives far away)
• the performance of the horse is critical to enjoyment or use (for example, it is being bought in order to event, so it needs to be able to jump reliably)

It is impossible to test everything that might be wrong at a viewing - your new equine might behave perfectly in the seller's arena, but might be impossible to handle at events.

Up to a point, you can rely on a vet for checking medical health, but a vet can easily get it wrong, since he can only assess the equine at a single point in time with limited information. Of course, a vet cannot tell you anything about the horse's temperament, ability or suitability to you.

The only way of protect your interests as a buyer is to insist that the seller makes promises regarding the condition of the equine. If subsequently it turns out that a warranty is false then you can seek damages. This document gives you those warranties.

You can easily remove provisions that you think are unnecessary in your circumstances, or add additional ones that you might require.

As far as possible, we have drawn the agreement so that both sides will be happy to use it.

This option agreement binds the owner of a horse or a pony to a future sale if the prospective buyer decides to buy.

The prospective buyer pays the owner now for the right to buy later, whether he does so or not, and the right is granted for a limited time period.

Use an option agreement when prospective buyer is seriously interested in buying, but wishes to buy at a later date when he has better information about the value of the horse. Examples might be:

• when awaiting the outcome of a competition
• before you have had the opportunity to ride the horse and properly assess its suitability for you
• before a vet has confirmed that a mare is in foal
• before the results of a veterinary or drug test have been released

Using an option agreement enables the buyer to prevent any other prospective buyer from purchasing the equine until he has decided whether or not he wants to do so.

The advantage to the seller is that if he thinks that the value of the equine will not increase in during the option period (or if he thinks there may not be many buyers in the future), he guarantees himself a payment now for granting the option, and still has a good chance that he will sell the equine.

The document covers:

• the buying process in the event that the optioner does decide to buy
• appropriate optional warranties by the seller: that the horse is sound, and that she is in foal (or not!), or that she has not been fed any prohibited substance
• for the buyer to take ownership without the involvement of a reluctant seller (the validity of this provision is dependent on the rules of the registering organisation)