Western Horse Connection
Seller Policies
Effective date: August 9, 2026 · Version: 2.0
These policies state the public standards expected of sellers working with Western Horse Connection. Acknowledging them confirms receipt; it does not by itself create exclusivity, agency, a commission, a protected referral, or authority to sell a horse. Those obligations must be stated in signed agreements. A signed agreement controls if it conflicts with these policies, except where applicable law does not permit a right or remedy to be waived.
1. Network Role and Independent Decisions
Western Horse Connection may identify possible buyers, organize information, and coordinate communications. Unless a separate signed agreement expressly says otherwise, Western Horse Connection is an introducer and coordinator—not the horse’s owner, seller, veterinarian, trainer, insurer, transporter, escrow holder, or legal representative—and has no authority to bind the seller, accept an offer, transfer title, change a price, make a warranty, or receive sale proceeds.
2. Ownership, Authority, Liens, and Identity
A seller must accurately identify the horse, every legal owner, and the person authorized to negotiate and sign. Before a horse is presented, the seller must disclose any lien, security interest, lease, co-ownership, registration restriction, pending ownership dispute, right of first refusal, breeding interest, insurance restriction, or other claim that could affect marketing, possession, or transfer of clear title. Western Horse Connection may request identification, registration papers, ownership records, lien releases, or written authority and may pause work until they are reasonably verified.
3. Complete and Continuing Horse Disclosure
Sellers must disclose known facts reasonably important to a buyer’s decision, including identity, age, registration, use and training history, current condition, maintenance needs, medications and supplements, diagnostic work, surgeries, illnesses, injuries, lameness or unsoundness, reproductive status, prior material veterinary findings, and material insurance or mortality history. Sellers must also disclose known dangerous, resistant, or unwanted behavior—including biting, kicking, striking, rearing, bolting, bucking, flipping, pulling back, cribbing, weaving, trailer problems, or behavior requiring special handling—together with known circumstances, frequency, and recency. A seller must not conceal a condition through medication, sedation, altered shoeing, temporary treatment, selective presentation, or omission.
4. Records, Descriptions, Photographs, and Video
Information supplied to Western Horse Connection must be truthful, current, and not materially misleading. Registration, veterinary, competition, training, and ownership records must be authentic and shared with permission. Photographs and video must fairly depict the horse and must not conceal material condition or behavior through undisclosed editing, filters, speed changes, staging, or substitution. Statements about temperament, suitability, safety, experience, health, or performance must have a reasonable factual basis.
5. Material Changes and Availability
Sellers must promptly report changes in ownership, liens, price, location, availability, condition, health, soundness, behavior, medication, training, injury, sale status, or any prior statement. A horse must not continue to be presented as available after it is sold, withdrawn, reserved in a manner that prevents another sale, or otherwise unavailable.
6. Welfare, Visits, Inspections, and Trials
Sellers must provide humane care, a reasonably safe environment, honest safety instructions, and an appropriate horse for any activity they permit. Sellers control access to their property and horse but should permit reasonable independent pre-purchase evaluation under agreed logistics. They must not direct or interfere with an independent veterinarian’s findings. State-specific warning signs, participant notices, or signed releases may be required before riding, handling, inspection, or trial activities. Nothing in these policies authorizes unsafe activity or excuses fraud, intentional harm, willful or wanton misconduct, or liability that applicable law does not permit to be waived.
7. Buyer Introductions, Compensation, and Conflicts
Applying to or joining the seller network has no membership or listing fee and does not by itself create exclusivity, a commission, or a protected referral. Before Western Horse Connection identifies a buyer as a protected referral or undertakes transaction-specific paid work, the relevant parties should sign a written agreement defining the referral, protection period, seller’s expected return, Western Horse Connection’s fee, when the fee is earned and paid, exclusions, termination, and what happens if the introduced buyer purchases a different horse. Western Horse Connection will disclose the party responsible for its compensation. Any material conflict, dual role, or compensation from more than one side must be disclosed and handled with any written consent required by applicable law.
8. Buyer Screening and Seller Responsibility
Western Horse Connection may gather information about a prospective buyer’s stated goals, experience, budget, and timing, but cannot guarantee identity, conduct, financial capacity, payment, performance, or completion. Sellers remain responsible for deciding whether to proceed, verifying payment, setting property and trial rules, and signing complete sale terms. Sellers must not use protected buyer information for unrelated solicitation or disclose it without a legitimate transaction purpose.
9. Written Sale Terms, Disclosures, and Warranties
The legal seller and buyer should sign a horse-specific bill of sale or purchase agreement identifying the parties and horse and addressing price, payment, deposits, inspection rights, possession, delivery, passage of title and risk of loss, disclosures, factual promises, warranties or lawful disclaimers, return rights, default, and dispute procedures. A statement of fact or description may create an express warranty even without the word “warranty.” Any “as is,” merchantability, fitness, or remedy language must be lawful, clear, and conspicuous and cannot erase fraud, concealment, contradictory express promises, or nonwaivable rights.
10. Deposits, Payments, Taxes, and Fraud Prevention
Payment and deposit instructions must be written and verified through a trusted second communication method. Written terms should identify the recipient, whether a deposit is refundable, conditions for refund or forfeiture, and consequences of default or unavailability. Unless a separate signed agreement expressly provides otherwise, sale funds pass directly between buyer and seller and Western Horse Connection does not hold deposits or proceeds. The parties must allocate responsibility for sales, use, or other taxes and for transaction expenses.
11. Interstate Health and Transportation Compliance
For an interstate sale, the parties must identify the horse’s location, inspection location, destination, and delivery point. The seller must cooperate in obtaining accurate identification and all origin-side health and ownership records required by law or the signed agreement. Destination-state requirements can include a current Certificate of Veterinary Inspection, negative equine infectious anemia testing, permits, or additional disease testing and can change without notice. The purchase and transportation agreements should allocate document costs, taxes, insurance, quarantine, carrier selection, loading, delivery, risk of loss, and delays. The parties should confirm current requirements with the destination state animal-health authority and an accredited veterinarian.
12. Media Permission and Privacy
Sellers may provide photographs, videos, descriptions, records, and contact information only when they have the right to share them. Unless a signed agreement states otherwise, the seller grants Western Horse Connection a nonexclusive, revocable permission to copy, format, and privately present submitted material for evaluating the horse and communicating with appropriate prospective buyers; revocation does not require deletion of records Western Horse Connection must reasonably retain for an existing transaction, dispute, security issue, or legal obligation. See the Privacy Policy for additional information.
13. Concerns, Cooperation, and Removal
Sellers must communicate respectfully and avoid deceptive, coercive, discriminatory, abusive, or unlawful conduct. Western Horse Connection may request supporting information, correct or withdraw a presentation, warn an affected party when reasonably necessary for safety or fraud prevention, or pause or end participation when ownership cannot be verified, material facts are withheld, records appear unreliable, conduct threatens welfare or safety, or continued participation would undermine trust. A seller may report a concern and may leave the network at any time, subject only to obligations in a separate signed agreement.
14. Records, Nonwaivable Rights, and Policy Changes
Seller information is used to evaluate participation, communicate about buyer opportunities, protect people and horses, and maintain appropriate business records. The policy version acknowledged with an application is recorded. Material revisions will receive a new version and effective date and will not retroactively change signed transaction terms. Nothing in these policies limits responsibility for a party’s own fraud, intentional misconduct, or express written commitments, or limits a right that applicable law does not permit to be waived.