Selling A Horse? Avoiding Kill Buyers?

Question

Iam not looking for the advice in this necessarily, Iam bringing this up to open the dicussion on HOW a person can be as responsible as possible when selling a horse for cheap. We all know there are meat buyers out there, we all know that they want to scam their way into get cheap horses (even free ones) to make money off of them but HOW does an innocent person trying to do the right thing by re-homing some older horses face this issue? How do they scope out a meat buyer? How can we ALL be cautious and scope out potential buyers to ensure the best possible home for our "ponies"?

This isnt to stir up argument, I just want to see what advice people have. So no rudeness intended or expected in return.

Thanks Everyone :)

Answer 1

Once you sell the horse it is out of your hands and whomever buys it is free to with it whatever they wish.  You cannot control it.  If you truly care about the horse you are trying to re home.  Consider "retiring" the horse into somebody Else's care.  They essentially have the responsibility and use of the horse but you still have some ownership privileges.  This might require you to share somewhat in his expenses but you can yank on the string attached to him and bring him home anytime you want.  If you can't do that then you have a couple of other choices...keep him and care for him yourself, have him humanely euthanized, or sell him and think happy thoughts and hope you never find out anything bad happened to him.

Answer 2

1)  Don't give a horse away for free, unless it's to someone you know well (and  a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend doesn't count!)  

2)  Price the horse above meat price (approximately 40 cents per pound right now).

3)  Draw up a sales contract.  Stipulate that if the horse needs to be sold, they will contact you first.  It isn't written in stone, of course, but it can help.  Let potential buyers know that you'd like to check in with them as to the horse's progress.  Most owners don't have problems with this and are happy to brag about their new horse's accomplishments.

4)  Present your horse in a professional manner:  your ad should contain useful information that has been spell checked and that has proper pronunciation.  "He's so pretty and it only took him two days to learn how to neck rein and my mom thinks he's so cool" is not useful information - "He is 5 years old, has had 30 days of training and is UTD on everything" is useful.  

Photos - Take good, clear photos of a clean, groomed horse.  A shot of your horse out in the pasture after he had a dust bath is NOT good.  A shot of a freshly bathed, groomed horse in a new and/or clean and well-fitted halter with someone holding him is good.

Answer 3

I recently purchased 2 horses from a lawyer that had gotten too old to take care of them properly.

Of course he hasnt lost any of his mental ability, so he had questions for me.

Where are the horses to be located?

He wants monthly visits for the first 6 months.

Who would be taking care of the horses if I had to go out of town or was injured?

What were my intentions for the horses?

Required 3 references, one had to include my employer so that he knew they were not just made up or from friends who would say anything.

Plus he had the name of a friend who would get first rights if I decide to sell them within the first year.

He laughed when he told me I was the first out of 8 people who looked at the horses and did not flinch at the requirements he had in place to protect the horses from meat men or people who just wanted cheap horses but would not be responsible for their well being. He will be visiting them this Saturday for the first time since I bought them, however I did give him a call after they saw the vet and the farrier just to give him an update.

Answer 4

Most of the places I hear/see meat buyers are at auctions - particularly, "low quality" (don't know another term for them) auctions - ones that aren't for a specific breed, registry or discipline.

They aren't always a specific look or feel and they won't spend a lot of time and money looking for horses - so they're not going to go to the trouble of putting on airs and making up stories about what they'll do just to get your horse, there's plenty horses out there easily available to kill buyers.

However, consider that once you part with the animal, you have no control over what happens to it.  Although you may find a good home for the critter now, who's to say that next week the next owner won't sell to such a person.

I would suggest asking lots of questions and viewing their place and checking some references - a kill buyer will shy away from anyone like this.

I would further suggest not offering the horse for free in advertisements nor exceedingly cheap.  If the horse has any value at all, ask the proper price for it.

My feeling on this is similar to that of having children - if you're not prepared to have them for life, don't enter into it.  I know that's a hard line to take, but I've had 'em all my life - I know how to manage them and I know what they cost.  Too often a un-prepared person purchases a horse, perhaps one that's not befitting them, then they must off load it to either recoup money, get rid of the expense or get a different one.  These are the animals most likely to be found by killers.  another group are those that are bred and foaled by unprepared people or people who haven't given good thought to quality of foal produced or market for it - quite often they turn out with behavioral problems or physical problems that make them worth less than one bred or started better - people don't want to take on a problem horse, they want to start fresh ones.

I have two currently that are quite old at 25 and 27.  They are falling back in their health - and I'd never even consider selling them.  I will be responsible and make arrangements to have them humanely euthanized when their health demands it.

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

For me my horses stay with me to the end, my friend has been trying to give away a horse for a yr know, a older girl and well lots of takers, she hasn't felt right with them so she says no, also she talks to folks she knows and trusts.  I think in the end like she said she would rather put her down than take the chance of the wicked new owner.   Personally I think she should just give up keep her, but like she said she's still got many more good yrs for quite riding, and trails.  And she doesn't ride any more.

If I had too, I would sell my girl for a fare price and about 1/4 over the meat price!  Also I would be so picky that, well in the end she'd stay with me:)

Answer 6

ask a lot of questions about experience,previous horses etc. and please please please go to inspect where the horse will be living and the entire family that will be around it

good luck!

Answer 7

call an equine vet...obviously they are out in your area "horse world" daily. Since people talk,You can bet they know names of these meat slingers! then,when someone answers an ad, get the name first or read your caller ID. If it is a meat slinger, tell him its sold.

Answer 8

There are a lot of good ideas here, not much to add...

If you steer clear of the Friday night horse auctions you can avoid most slaughter buyers.  If you must take your horses to an auction, the ringmen will usually point out who the killer buyers are, if you ask.  If they bid ib  your horse, you have the option of refusing the sale.

Answer 9

Well,  first of all, people who are well connected have a distinct advantage over those who aren't.  The larger your network, the more likely you are to be able to connect with someone with a mutual reference.

If you are doing a free lease, use an inclusive, binding contract.  Mine is several pages long and it covers all the points required by our state for a binding contract.  It could be easily altered to be a binding conditional sales contract or a conditional transfer of ownership.  Reputable rescues have good contracts that you could use as a basis, if you can't spring for a lawyer.

If you find yourself suddenly rehabbing special needs horses one after another, though, I'd recommend having your contract reviewed by an attorney in your state.  Well worth the piece of mind to know it's binding and legal.

Same goes for a conditional sale.  Of course, if a person is in the business of producing low priced horses, or carelessly allowing them to be produced, there isn't a way to be responsible, so why bother pretending for appearances' sake?  This is for the person who rehabs and rehomes, or finds themselves needing to sell their own.  The option of first refusal is a recognized, enforceable condition to a sale.  It means before an animal can be sold to another party, it has to be offered back to you at a given price or neutrally determined appraisal value.

Either of these terms are only as good as the amount of effort put into follow up by the original seller/rehomer, though.  

For free leases to unkown parties, I require references, including nosy ones like how long you've lived at your address and how long you've been on the job.  I have the nerve to ask a person to prove they can afford the horse, ESPECIALLY if they don't already have equine references, like a trainer, vet, etc.  

I visit the site.  I look at their facility.  If I'm not satisfied, they don't leave the trailer.

SOME of that doesn't function well in a typical sales situation, it just doesn't.  These aren't "typical" sales, they are low priced, at risk, sometimes special needs horses.  So in those cases when I say "to good home only" and a person answers my ad, why should they act surprised when I desire some sort of proof?

Dallas, congrats for a good question.  I know 'everyone' who responds to low priced ads aren't greedy schmucks...I'm a sucker for a special needs horse and those ads are where I've found a few who are in good hands now, either with me or in supervised placements.  But that side of the coin is readily and eagerly accepted and easily enough done.  The harsh realities of the ugly flip side can a bitter pill for people to swallow, so I tend to ramble on long and loud about it.

If the right thing to do was always the easy thing, nobody would have to be pushed to do it.

Answer 10

I would suggest donating older horses to a rescue ranch. That way they will either have a home at the rescue ranch, or the ranch will be sure to find them a good home. The rescue ranch in my local area carefully evaluates people who adopt horses and visits their site regularly to make sure the horses are well taken care of.

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 11

I wouldn't take any chances if I couldn't retire the horse at home.  Once a horse is sold, you cannot control what happens.  Best bet, find a reputable retirement home for your older horse.  I have made arrangements for my horses should they survive me.  They will go to a beautiful retirement home and have the best of everything.  No one will ride them and they will not have to work.  They just get to be horses among their horsey friends with lots of good food and hay and apples and carrots and visitors.

Answer 12

Interview...insist on seeing the property where the horse will move to....contract to have visitation rights for a certain time period....contract for first right to purchase at an agreed to price if the buyer ever sells the horse....discuss slaughter and contract a no slaughter agreement.  The first line of defense is to ask for more than killer prices can compete with, but your horse may not sell at all when you do that. Just make it as unappealing as you can for a killer buyer to be interested in your horse.

Answer 13

Don't sell, donate.

There are plenty of 4H clubs and Pony clubs that would love a seasoned older horse.

Many Therapeutic riding centers would also benefit from an older horse donation.

Answer 14

em try like asking the intended buer what the purposes they want the horse for and stuff...what they hope to achieve and do with it etc. Try leasing or loaning it to potential buyers for a year or something - they wont want to spend money on a horse they just want to kill! OR say you want to make frequent visits to see it. Hope this helps!