The year of 2021 will soon be coming to an end which means that we’re soon going to be closing our first sales year with BRIDL LIMITED.
Our first year in business has been challenged by plenty of interesting operations: some were very successful, some hyper challenging but generally it was a great opportunity to get an overall understanding of the market, learn plenty of specific points, understand what should be done and what should be avoided in the moment of buying a Show Jumper.
Why do you want to buy a show jumper?
One of the most critical point that’s needed for the purchase of a horse is having the understanding of why you want to buy a horse.
- Are you looking for a schoolmaster that’s going to allow you to build your confidence on international 145m GP classes?
- Are you looking for a youngster that you can build up to resell for profit in the future?
- Are you looking for an easy junior horse that anyone can take around a 1.20m course for fun on the weekends?
Having a strong understanding of the purpose in this purchase will keep you grounded and much more aware of what you need at all time.
You don’t want to go out there, write a 5 to 6 figures check for a horse that doesn’t fit your needs.
To face this challenge, the first thing that you should do is truly to brainstorm and get a strong understanding of what it is that you need and want. You should discuss with your trainer, your peers or experienced equestrian friends.
It’s really important to think things wisely and to get a real understanding of your needs and wants. Once you know, there is nothing easier than letting our team know what makes the perfect pony to you!
We will be more than happy to help you work it out and go through everything is detail – our team will dive into very specific questions such as: your experience as a rider, your physical characteristics, where you are located, your budget, whether or not you work with a trainer, the ideal gender of your future horse, where the horse should be located, what the experience of the horse should be, and your show experience.
If any of the horses that we have proposed to you are interesting, we will get in more details exploring their international results, their national results and much more videos.
You then have the possibility to also get in touch with the owners, the riders and ask whatever question you might need an answer to.
Our team thinks that it is very important to obtain answers to your questions and dive deep in the understanding of the horse’s past performance, the horse’s attitude in the ring, in training and in the day to day life.
Ask for available x-rays!
At this stage, if the horse already has a set of x-rays available, our team will share these ones with you. We recommend you to get your vet to review the x-rays.
If you realise with your veterinarian that these x-rays do not fit your expectations and that it’s a deal breaker for the purchase of this horse, you will then avoid wasting time for the organisation of the operation. And we will able to move on faster with other horses.
Remote X-rays reading can also be organised by the team of BRIDL and one of our veterinary partner who will be able to provide you a complete review of the x-rays set and recommendation upon whether or not this is a horse that will fit your needs and purpose in the future.
Not every horse will have a set of recent x-rays available pre-trial but if it is available, it can solve a great deal of challenges and allow you to save time and energy throughout the entire purchase process.
Organise a Trial of the Horse prior to the Purchase
Let’s now consider that everything so far is well and that you’re interested in the organisation of a trial with one specific horse.
Our team will be able to help you manage the logistics and organisation behind your trip ensuring that you’re provided with the right information prior to the trial of this horse.
One key factor to consider: whenever trying a horse you must ensure to have the right insurances protecting in case of a bad fall or an injury internationally.
For most Europeans, trying horses in Europe this is not a problem but in the case in which you come from outside of the European zone and that you’re travelling to try horses: we truly recommend you to verify the state of your insurance.
Prior to the organisation of any trial, our team will send you a trial agreement that will be signed by all parties involved in a trial to ensure that you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into, which horses you are going to be trying and in who’s facilities.
This trial agreement is also a great way to show the seller your commitment to their horses and your seriousness about this operation! It also ensures that the seller is fully aware of who is going to be trying his horse and under what conditions.
Having this agreement also states that the price of purchase cannot be increased post trial because of who you are for any reason.
In the case in which you cannot go and try a horse, our team has a network of riders across Europe that are able to got try horses for you and report their experience with the horse, it’s rideability, it’s quality, its attitude in the arena etc.
Whenever sending a rider to try a horse for you, they will get everything videoed for you, undertake exactly what you request and take the time to a phone call with you to discuss further whether or not they think it’s a good horse to purchase.
This is a part of our business that we started testing recently and that is being actively implemented. We consider that this is mostly interesting for people who do not have the time to go try or who are purchasing the horse on video. The aim here is not for our team to push you towards a sale but to ensure that you don’t purchase a horse that doesn’t fit your needs. That’s the main priority.
So far, we’ve worked with riders like Anastasia Bondarieva who tried horses in Holland for some American clients or Chloe Winchester who tried some horses in the United Kingdom to be exported internationally.
Whenever bringing in a rider that could try horses for our clients, we’re always looking for experienced caring riders who have a strong knowledge of the market, a great understanding of our clients needs and who are able to bring that level of value that you couldn’t get without sending someone to sit on this horse for you.
Whether you’re trying the horse yourself or that you sent someone to do so, it’s very important to stick to your gut feeling and make the choice that seems the most clear to you. Don’t spend hours thinking about it, if this doesn’t feel like the right horse – it probably isn’t.
However if the trial is successful and that you feel like this beautiful pony is the right one for you, it might be the time for us to move forward with the organisation of the veterinary check-up and the pre-purchase examination.
Undertake a Strong Pre-Purchase Examination
Pre-purchase examinations will truly vary from client to client but most people go for the traditional flexions tests, check up of the horses general health, analysis of the respiratory and cardiovascular health, analysis of their conformation and locomotion.
It is known that whenever buying a horse for export to the United States for example, our clients tend to be very picky and specific on what they are needing to see.
This is also the moment when you will require to undertake an extra set of x-rays under the advice of your own vet, we highly recommend to use different vets than the ones that traditionally work with the sellers to avoid potential biased opinions.
In the case in which you are purchasing to export a horse from Europe, this one will require to get his blood analysed by an approved lab, which might take from one to two weeks and half.
Many different tests can be undertaken, however the main blood test required in the moment of exporting a horse abroad is the piroplasmosis test. Waiting on the piroplasmosis results can truly be one of the scariest part of the process!
If everything is good to go, that the horse is healthy, the x-rays have been approved and that the piroplasmosis is approved it will be time to organise the payment of the horse, the closing of the deal with the right documentation and the transport of this one to its new location.
How to ensure you buy a show jumper in security?
For the payment of the horse, BRIDL is now implementing a secured payment system which will be launched through the platform very soon allowing our clients to ensure that their capital is protected at all time until the export of this same horse.
In the case in which you want to undertake a traditional transfer of funds, it will be at your own risk. Our secured payment system will be run through the international payment system: MangoPay.
It’s implementation within BRIDL ensures a secured transaction process where all parties’s identity are verified prior to the transfer of funds while running a background check on the parties receiving the funds.
Once the payment is undertaken, the funds will be frozen by our team until all details of the operation is organised and the horse is able to leave the facilities of the owner. You never saw that anywhere before right!
When closing the deal we will ensure that everyone signs a trade report provided by BRIDL stating how the operation was undertaken and what was the process followed by our team in the closing of the operation.
We highly recommend buyers and sellers to proceed with their own sales contract and agreed with their own negotiated terms in case of an issue related to the horse. Our team is currently working on the development of legal support and our own buyer’s protection, which is something that could be ready by mid-2022.
Once everything is good to go and is organised, the team of BRIDL will also be able to propose some transport companies which could help in the process of international transport and export of the horses to their new home.
And that’s it, you have a new show-jumper that fits your needs without having to go through a crazy complicated process!