Advice needed......

CNM

CNM

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I've had a livery in my yard for a good few years. The chap who owns him took him away after the first 12 months as he liked the idea of having his own little setup. We were very sad to see the horse go but off he went.
Six months later i had a call off the chap asking if he could bring said horse back along with another who he used as a companion. Of course i said yes. So back came the 2 horses and well, all i can say is that they came back RSPCA cases!!!
It took months and months of lots of feed and tlc to get them right. He sold the companion so were left with the boy.
The horse had obvioulsy come back with some issues and it took us ages to get him back to the horse he was before he left. Eventually we did.
Rewind to last Feb. Owner calls me up one evening to tell me he no longer had time for the horse and would i want him on PERMENANT loan. He was a fab horse, so agreed, only after offering to buy him first. Owner wanted to retain ownership incase he had time to ride again. So we had a 'gentlmans agreement' his words and i was happy. He stopped paying livery and i took the horse over. Was relieved to get the horse away from him as the horse was not right for him and he was a bit of a numpty!!
A lot of money went into the horse, 17.2 Thoroughbred very poor doer etc.
Last night he text me to tell me that as he no longer rides he finds it pointless to have a horse that he will never ride again and that he wants to sell him and the tack which he brought before the loan.
I was gobsmacked, what happened to the PERMENANT loan i ask him. He reply's i only mean't that to a certain extent and i want my money back i spent on him, which was only £1500 to start with.
I offered him a couple hundred quid for him and he told me he would think about it and get back back to me!!! He said he didn't want to just give the horse away.
I feel totally shafted!! And worried he will just turn up and take him. We have grown so fond of the horse and like i said before put a lot of money into him to get the horse right and happy and i didn't do all that for 12 months and for him then to sell him after all our hard work!
What would any of you do??
Freshly baked cookies for getting this far........
 
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thats really tough :( unfortunately seen this happen a lot recently. i had my first pony on loan for several months before his owner said she wanted to sell but luckily for me she was really decent and sold him to me for what she paid (only £1700 at 7 years).
in hindsight it would have been a good idea to work out a contract before the loan :(
 
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Because i had known the chap for a good couple of years and had done so much for him and the horse, i thought i could trust him. How wrong i was!!
 
I think there was a similar story to this a couple of days ago.. Can you prove how much livery he didnt pay for and the costs you have incurred? I think you should make it clear the horse cannot leave the property until he settles these bills.
 
Sadly it's the risk of loaning. :( I doubt he'll find anyone to buy him at that price unless he's lucky, and does he really want to have to look after a horse again? I'd appeal to his better nature, assuming he has one, sit him down and tell him how attached you are to the horse and how sad you'd be to see all your hard work go down the pan if he removed the horse without ensuring he's sold. Suggest he stays with you while he tries to find a new home...with no doubt he'll realise the struggle of selling horses now and eventually he'll give in and allow you to buy at a more reasonable price. IF he agrees to this then I'd most definately tell him he's paying livery though until the horse is sold!!!
 
I'd say I wanted at least £1,500 for the livery so far, before he or anyone else takes the horse away.

If he argues take him to court for the money. As long as you are serious and don't fanny about he'll back down and let you keep the horse, then get him to sign it over.
 
I think the term 'loan' is the issue, whether it is permenant or temporary is not really relevant as this can be interpreted in different ways by different people. I can't see how you can now ask him for past livery bills whilst you still had him on loan but there is no reason why he shouldn't have to start paying them now if he is planning on selling although you may be able to maintain an element of control by keeping it at your place until something can be sorted.
Personally, if you are that attached to the horse, try meeting him half way on price and put your hand in your pocket.
 
If you agreed to loan the horse and be responsible for the costs, I don't think you can ask for livery now. It's really sad but at the end of the day he is the owner and there is no such thing as a permanent loan. The whole point of loans is that both the owner can ask for the horse back and the loanee can equally give the horse back.

If I were you I would negotiate a price and just buy the horse. Do you think he would get anywhere near 1.5k for the horse in the open market? Perhaps you could offer him a more realistic price, point to the costs of advertising and explain that you would NOT be willing to keep the horse on loan and show it to potential buyers until it sold so that would cost him extra livery from now on.
 
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