A horse changes hands in an afternoon, but his paperwork is his memory, and a sale that sends him off with half of it missing leaves the new owner guessing at vaccinations, identity and history for years. Work through the documents in four bundles — identity, the sale itself, registration and health — and keep copies of everything for your own records before the lorry leaves.
The Passport and the Proof of Sale
The passport is the horse's identity document and it is not the seller's to keep: it goes with the horse, every time, and the buyer will need it to transfer the keeper record into their own name. Alongside it, both parties should sign a bill of sale that identifies the horse precisely — name, age, breed, colour, microchip and passport numbers — and records the parties' full names and addresses and the terms agreed, including anything included in the sale. Each side keeps a copy. If a deposit was taken or a trial period agreed, those terms belong on the same document rather than in a message thread nobody can find later.
Registration, Breed Papers and the Microchip
If the horse is registered with a breed society, the registration certificate or papers go too, signed over or accompanied by whatever transfer form the society requires, so the buyer can record the change of ownership properly rather than owning a horse whose papers were never updated. The microchip number, which should match the passport, needs passing on explicitly, with the name of the database it sits on if you know it, because the chip record is how a lost or straying horse finds his way home. Competition or discipline licences and affiliations, where the horse has them, complete the bundle.
Health and Care History the New Owner Should Not Have to Guess
Send the health story with him: vaccination record up to date, dental history, the worming programme he has been on, farrier notes if there is anything corrective about his shoeing, and any recent laboratory certificates such as a Coggins result. A summary of past injuries, illnesses and known quirks — the tendon that needs watching, the dust sensitivity that shapes his bedding — is not an admission against interest; it is what a responsible seller hands over, and most buyers trust a horse more, not less, for an honest file. If he is mid-treatment for anything, the details and the vet's contact belong in writing.
The Routine Sheet That Settles Him In
Finally, write the page no official document covers: what he eats, in what amounts, at what times; his turnout and stable routine; how he loads, travels and behaves to clip, catch and shoe; the rugs he wears and the companions he settles with. Ten minutes writing this page saves the buyer weeks of trial and error and saves the horse a stressful first month of being misunderstood.
That complete, honest handover is the thinking behind KinsLe's Transferrable Profiles: on a sale, the horse's profile passes to his new owner with his records, routines and history already inside it, so nothing he knows about himself gets left behind.