Trainers dominate the horse sales market. That’s because trainers are professional, trainers are knowledgeable, trainers have the time, and trainers have the contacts. So when a horse lover wants to buy or sell a horse, the horse owner usually buys or sells through the trainer.
And that’s a good thing. Because trainers, who have a lot more knowledge, expertise and time, than the average buyer or seller, a can get a good deal in either the sale or the purchase of a horse for their clients.
But there are pitfalls because trainers, like the rest of us, are human. When problems occur in a trainer-arranged horse deal, it’s almost always because the trainer has not honored the fiduciary duty he or she owes to the client, or the client has not been clear about what he or she expects from the trainer.
The first problem is price padding. When a buyer wants to buy a horse for $50,000, the buyer might tell the trainer, “I’m looking for a prospect no older than 8 that has the potential to move up to Grand Prix,” or “I’m looking for a schoolmaster no older than 14,” or “I’m looking for something fancy for my daughter to show in Florida and at Indoors.”
Depending on the conversation, the trainer may have become an agent of the buyer. And as the agent, the trainer has a couple of obligations to the buyer. The first being a duty of obedience: the trainer needs, to the best of her ability, find the kind of horse sought by the buyer. The second is a duty of loyalty: the trainer must act as if the trainer represents the buyer’s interests.
So if the trainer goes out in the marketplace, finds a $40,000 horse that meets all of the buyer’s needs, and turns around and informs the buyer that the horse is a good deal at $40,000, the trainer has fairly earned her 10 or 15 percent commission.
But when a trainer goes out and finds a $40,000 horse, but tells the buyer that the horse is $50,000, and the trainer pockets the extra $10,000 plus the 10 to 15 percent commission… well the trainer has violated her duty to the buyer and has committed fraud upon the buyer.
The second scenario – where the trainer has stolen $10,000 – happens far too often in the show horse business.
The question is: can it be stopped? And the answer is: A resounding “YES!” In fact, not only can it be stopped, but it must be stopped. It must be stopped because it is driving out good owners, and driving away business from the good trainers, and tarnishing a sport as corrupt and unaffordable, except to those people who can afford to have $10,000 or more stolen from them.
I’ll be writing in detail about how these practices can be stopped, and how easily available legal techniques, and an association of horse lovers, horse trainers, and other horse professionals can reclaim the sport from crooks.
