FAQ & Policies
We're here to answer your questions about our horses, training, and other services. We want all our clients to have a clear picture of our sales policies while they're looking for their next best match with us.
FAQ
Policies
We strive for 100% transparency to our clients for the best possible buying experience.
Deposits
A 10% NON-REFUNDABLE deposit can be put on one of our horses to hold a horse for 7 days. This allows you, the potential buyer, to come try the horse, complete a vetting, and make a decision.
The deposit is NON-REFUNDABLE even if the vetting reveals a sale-stopping issue, the horse has a new injury during the trial period, or if the buyer changes their mind for any reason. There are NO exceptions. Once the buyer pays a deposit the horse is on hold for the buyer and the deposit will not be returned. If the buyer does purchase the horse, the deposit DOES go towards the purchase price.
It is important for us to explain our policy as we understand no one wants to lose money on a horse that doesn't work out. Most sellers do not offer to hold horses for deposits, but instead offer "First Come, First Served" with no exceptions. This often results in the horse of your dreams being sold out from under you, even if you have invested the time and money to try the horse and have it vetted.
Our deposit option protects the buyer from this situation. A deposit BUYS YOU TIME. Without a deposit, even if you have a vetting or trial ride scheduled, the horse can be sold at any time. We will always let a potential buyer know before they drive to see a horse if it has been sold, if they have chosen not to put a deposit on the horse.
We are not in the business of making money off a potential buyer's deposit. However, our potential buyers need to understand that if we hold a horse for a week, that is a week that we are holding the horse for that buyer, and the deposit covers the related expenses of board, training, etc. The horse would require these regardless of whether or not it is purchased. Additionally, there are many buyers out there that will buy sight unseen without a vetting. We have been selling horses for years and have many relationships with clients that know us, trust us, and will buy without question and do not need to meet or try the horse to know it will be a good match. These buyers loose the opportunity to buy if the horse is held. These buyers often find another horse or lose interest within a week. This means we could end up not selling to you, the deposit holder, and also missing out on several others that may have bought the horse if it had not been on hold. Furthermore, If we hold a horse and it becomes injured during the week of the hold, we may need to rehab the horse for days or weeks after the trial period. This is costly for us and our clients who sell horses with us. Without a hold, the horse could be sold and off property within hours at any given time reducing our risk immediately. These are just a few things to consider that we hope to help buyers understand why deposits are non-refundable.
Ultimately deposits are optional. If a buyer don’t agree with our policy and does not want to risk losing the deposit, we understand. We just ask that the buyer is understanding if the horse is sold to someone else while deciding.
Please Also Note: We will continue to show the horse until the vetting is complete and payment is made.
If a horse is on hold don’t get discouraged, buyers often do back out. Please don’t assume if the horse is back available, its because of the vetting or something that the horse did. There are many reasons that people may pass on a horse during a vetting and another customer may be perfectly happy with the results of said vetting. It is also common that people back out of vettings or simply change their mind before a vetting. We have had horses vet 100% clean and even after extensive money was invested in the vetting, the buyer backs out due to unpredictable life changes.
IF you have any questions please let us know. There are always more horses and if we sell one you are interested in, we will do our best to find you another one!
Vetting
We are in Tryon NC. We have two multi-vet practices close to us, Hunt Country Equine and Tryon Equine. We do personally use services and multiple vets at both practices. If you prefer to use a vet outside these two practices we are happy to accommodate as well, but we will only personally recommend vets we have seen in action. If booking with Hunt Country or Tryon we will haul the horse to their facility to be vetted to save buyer the farm call fee. All the vets do digital X-rays. Both practices are comfortable vetting for customers who can't be present for the vettings. They typically will do the flexions, lunging, etc. and then call to discuss the results before proceeding to anything else. If the horse will need to be ridden during the PPE we need to know in advance and there is an advance $50 charge that must be paid.
NOTE: If you plan on having hoof x-rays taken, shoes will often need to be taken off (depending on the vet). If this is the case you will be charged for resetting the shoes REGARDLESS of if you decide to buy the horse or not. The cost is $150 for fronts $200 for a full set reset. Our farrier is very busy, and last minute rescheduling to have shoes reset is hard on both his schedule and ours. Also, having the shoes taken off can delay when the horse can be tried by potential buyers, and can also be damaging to the hoof (if shoes were done recently).
VET RECCOMMENDATIONS:
Hunt Country Equine- 1-828-894-2627
Bibi Freer
Grace Buchanan
Miller Thornberry
Tryon Equine- 1-828-894-6065
Anne Baskett
Bill Hay
Shipping Options
We do offer shipping for $1.50 per mile ROUND trip. If we have another horse going or coming in the direction we only charge one way. We often make trips to KY, FL, and PA, and if the horse needs to go in one of these directions we can ship for $1.00 per mile. There are also shipping options that we can recommend, depending on your location. We will hold the horses for a week at no cost while shipping is arranged. We have a 7 day pick up policy after your payment has been made. We have a very busy barn with limited space and are unable to hold horses past seven days without charging full board and training. If shipping cannot be arranged in 7 days, board and training is $60 per day and must be paid in full before the horse is released to your shipper.
Accepted Payment Methods
Paypal (friends and family ONLY, or you will pay the roughly 3% to cover fees), Venmo, cashiers check and wire. Personal checks on a limited basis and must clear before horse leaves. We do offer payment plans but the horse must be paid in full before departing and you are responsible for board while payment plan is in affect. CHECKS CAN BE MADE OUT TO: S & S Sporthorses LLC.
Guarantee
All horses are sold “AS IS” WITHOUT GUARANTEE. With that being said, If you buy a horse from us, you can always receive a discounted board and training rate of $1200 per month (on the horse that you bought from us). If the horse turns out to not be a good fit for you for any reason, or if you are no longer able to provide care to the horse, we will always take the horse back and do our best to resell the horse for you and/or find you a better match if desired. If you are looking for a better match we may be able to work out an even trade or you may need to pay an additional fee for a horse that better suits your needs. If you return the horse to be resold, you will be responsible for paying 20% commission, board, and training costs. We do our best to recoup as much of your investment as possible. In some cases the horse may sell for more money depending on training, maturity, and market.
Training
Our board and training rate is $1500 per month plus farrier ($150 half set, $200 full set) and any needed veterinary costs (routine or emergency).
While in training, your horse will be ridden by Shalise or assistant trainer 5-6 days a week depending on what we feel they need. We start EVERY horse with extensive ground work, long reining, desensitization, tying, and trailer loading regardless of what their intended job will be. We are firm believers in extensive cross training and exposure for all horses regardless of discipline. This means their schooling will vary from: arena work, trail rides, jump schooling, indoor schooling, gymnastics, fox hunting, cross country schooling, off site hauling to conditioning on grass track, etc.
Selling a Horse With Us
If you would like to send us a horse to sell, you are responsible for the above training rates. In addition we will require a 20% commission off the final sale price. The board and training rate will be prorated to the day the horse ships out and a refund will be issued if applicable.
We recommend that any horse that comes into our program be fully insured. We haul all training and sale horses to offsite venues, trail ride extensively, cross country school, fox hunt, and turn horses out in pairs or groups. We always do our best to minimize risk and injury for your investment but accidents do happen, and having insurance is one of the safest ways to further protect your investment.
Due to the variety of our training, we do encourage owners to be a part of the process. However, if you would like to watch training sessions, it is by appointment only. We operate without any help with tacking, grooming, feeding, chores, etc. Our schedule can vary widely as it’s based on the time each horse needs per session. It can be a challenge to accommodate owners coming to watch their horses spontaneously. With sales being our main business, buyers wanting to come try horses also have precedence in scheduling and often schedule last minute. We ask for your understanding on this matter in advance.
We primarily focus on bringing along Eventing horses, however we offer training in the following areas:
~ Working young horses in hand (halter breaking, jump chute, obstacle work, picking up hooves, desensitization, tying, trailer loading)
~ Starting horses under saddle (45 day minimum)
~ Fox Hunters
~ Jumpers
~ Trail Horses
~ Driving
~ Dressage
~ Western Disciplines (trail, obstacle, barrels, basics of reining, cowboy/western dressage, working equitation)
~ Problem Horses
~ Trailer Loading
If you want us to evaluate a horse for you or put on a training ride on them, we charge $1.50 per mile travel and $100 per session. If additional sessions are requested it is often $50 per ride plus travel after the initial evaluation.
Foxhunting
We offer lease horses at $150 per hunt. Opening hunt is $200 to cover braiding. This includes us hauling them to and from the hunt, and we provide all tack (in some cases you may use your own saddle if desired). We hunt with Green Creek Hounds Thursday and Sunday. The GCH cap fee is $75, payable to them online or in person, in addition to the $150 for our daily rental. We can (at times) accommodate last minute requests, but prefer to have one week notice if possible. In some cases we will lease a horse to be hunted with Goodwin Hounds, or Tryon Hounds. Please inquire for more information.
If you want your horse to be taken foxhunting, we will catch ride your horse for $65 per hour. Hunts typically run 2-4 hours so please be prepared to spend up to $260 for one of us to ride your horse on one hunt. If you are a GCH member we will catch ride for you for $50 per hour. If we have to haul your horse to and from the hunt additional fees may apply. We will only use our own saddles. We will ride in the bridle that the horse is used to going in but can also provide bridle if needed.
Lessons are available on a limited basis: $50 per lesson if you haul into our farm. If we travel to you we charge $1.50 per mile round trip plus the $50 per lesson. Our business is primarily training and sales so lessons can only be offered on a case by case basis and as time permits.