Advice on Horse a friend sold approx 8 weeks ago ???? long !!!!

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draffin

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Friend sold 16hh , 15yo gelding around 8 weeks ago , to lovely people , they rode him ,loved him , super sweet natured chap, hacks alone , company , low mileage , only really been hacking horse . she had lots of people interested but initial couple paid deposit and said def wanted him , paid for him end of week . And collected him .
My friend gave them a template reciept / horse sale contract thingy , from a horsey website i think , outlining horse is sold as seen, for hacking , no warranty etc , and that they were happy with horse and chose not to vet him . they signed it and my friend signed it too

All went well for 3 weeks , they were happily riding him but then they contact my friend saying horse is lame, to be put to sleep , horrific injury etc etc , my friend is distraught , thinks there has been a terrible accident , road accident etc etc .
Gelding had in fact injured himself in field / stable or some way . But these people have been trying to blame my friend , saying horse must have been lame when they rode him , tried him , collected him , and then rode him for 3 weeks ???

My friend is so upset and doesnt know what to do , he is not being put to sleep after all , turned out was just a bash / sprain and he was sound after vets had been out .
then people got back in touch saying he isnt sound anymore , lame again , and never was sound after vet ????

they keep changing their story , I have said to my friend it seems they are chancing ther luck maybe , as have asked about returning horse, refund etc ? also threatening legal action ?
they are adamant the injury was an old injury or an underlying condition etc ? and they say their vet agrees , but when my friend spoke to their vet he disagreed and said he had told them if it was a sesamoid bone injury in foot / tendon etc , he may need to be put down or have this option considered .

where does my friend stand as they happily signed receipt and they chose not to have him vetted when he was open to vet .

In the 2 years my friend owned this boy he was never lame , ill ,or anything at all, her vet can verify this as can everyone at yard, farrier etc .
My friend is swaying between she would take him back but doesnt have cash immediatley to refund and also is wary that whatever injury he has sustained , she will then be taking back a horse who has an injury so the buyers have said ????

She loves this horse as he is a lovely kind horse , and another friend suggested could they be wanting to return him becoz he is too much or they cant handle him but that is sooo unlikely , he is an absolute gentleman !!

Friend has found out yesterday from his previous owner that he was lame once with them , and their vet couldnt really pinpoint a specific injury , just said it was a fall / kick in the field, resetd him and buted him , 1 week and he was never lame again .
so my friend has further dilemna , does she mention this one off injury , from before she owned him or not ??? they may then be more adamant that she thought he had a problem or should she tell them and say that is the only injury he ever had and it was befroe she owned him ???
any ideas be appreciated ,

sorry for going on and on !!!

xxxxxx
 
In my opinion for what it is worth this situation is a case of buyer beware, when buying a horse it is best to have them vetted. They didnt and they signed a contract that the horse was sold as seen. Your friend has sold this horse and time has passed since the sale, I think she should just move on and have no further contact with them.

I do not think your friend owes any explanation in any regard, she did not purposely decieve the buyers and did not tell any lies to support the sale. Your friends concious should be clear, it is always hard to sell a horse as we love them as part of our families but the horse was sold and buying him back with a possible injury that details of are sketchy at best would not be right for your friend financially or emotionally.

I think you should give your friend strong support and a listening ear, time will heal and the anger and sadness will fade gradually. I have experience of a sale going wrong for me and people accusing me of deception and it is annoying and hurtful but when you know you are in the right and sold the horse as honestly as possible you just have to chalk these type of people down to experience and move on, thats what I did and now hardly think about it 5 yrs on.
 
karen , thank you for that , and your opionion having been there yourself , i dont have any personal experience of this so have just been trying to support my friend as you said , and her family and everyone on our yard is really trying to encourage her to try and move on becoz these people seem ridiculous in trying to say the horse had a problem before or when they purchased it !!

they have ridden him for weeks and then he went lame , which makes us all beleive he injured himself while in their ownership obviously !

horses are buyer beware at all times !! even when vettings are done people still have big problems that can somehow be undetected and then there is yet more hassle ad heartbreak .
i understand my friends concern for her horse , but as were are trying point out logically , she could well take him back and be left with a potentially useless lame horse who she will have to keep or may have to put to sleep at some point becoz he was injured with or by someone else but it is hard for her as she wants to try and do the best thing for her horse.

she feels bad for the buyers having problems with their new horse but then horse do things like this all the time, Mine likes to lame himself before a show etc !!!
She is upset becoz it was a difficult decision for her to sell him in first place, but they seeemd ideal home and they are certainly looking after him but she is angry and upset by their accusations but our freinds at the yard and myslef and my friends mother have tried to explain it is very unlikely they could take any legal action and vets / solicitors will probably take the view, they purchased horse, did not vet horse and then weeks after purchase horse went lame , accident in field etc .


thanks for your advice , will reassure her more tomoro .
time for bed i think .
xxxx
 
What a sad time for your friend. As far as I am aware as the horse was sold as tried and seen and the purchaser chose not to have a vetting there is no comeback. They are trying there luck. If I were your friend I would not say anything at all to these dreadful people. If they want to carry on with this they will have to consult a solicitor.
 
I think she probably needs to stop talking to them, and certainly not about very old possible injuries with a previous owner! They bought him with no vetting, they don't have a leg to stand on. However, for peace of mind it would be worth taking legal advice, does she have BHS Gold or some other insurance that might be useful?
I'd also be careful about putting to much on the forum, it can be a small world.
 
I had a very similar experience. 4 People were after my horse that had 2 sarcoids not in the area of tack. This information plus vets contact was made available and horse priced accordingly. Girl begged me to let her buy him without getting her vet to look as she wasn't concerned about them. Took him home and then 2 days later she phoned up saying that the sarcoids were going to cost money to treat (duh! was explained) and that she wanted to give him back. Needless to say I said no, he was sold as seen and the problem was disclosed on the sale documents and advert. We heard no more. It was a tough decision as now we don't know how he is doing or what is happening but taking him back would not have been fair to the horse to sell on again.
 
Are they first time horse owners?

To be honest, it sounds like they're just not committed and looking for a way out but PLEASE don't let your friend buy him back without getting a vet to check him out - it sounds like they've managed to lame him and are trying to get shot by tugging your friend's heartstrings...

Don't mention the 1 week of lameness! That is NOTHING, a muscle sprain or something.
 
i agree with all the above, they bought him without a vetting, so that's just tough.

however, if i was your friend, i'd be really upset about who my horse had gone to. i wouldn't want to think of a horse i love being in that situation, or owned by people who blatently don't want him. therefore, i'd probably buy him back (cheaply) and loan him out to a home i'd vetted... poor little horse.
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Agree with all of the above. If your friend wants some free legal advice I highly recommend the BHS legal help line, I've rung them a few times when I had a problem with a loan. It sounds like your friend did everything right when she was selling him and unfortunately the new owners are trying thier luck.
 
Thanks everyone , I have passed all this on to my friend and we are all encouraging her , she has told them any further contact to be made thorugh solicitor . I know the world seems to be full of people who chance their luck , it would seem that they have broken him (lamed him ) and now they are trying to get rid back to my friend . they have told my friend that they had their vet look him over after getting him , but before her was lame and their vet said he had terrible conformation and he would no doubt suffer lameness problems etc etc .then funnily enough he goes lame shortly afterwards !!!

he didnt have the best confo ever seen but didnt have the worst either , and confo was quite clear when they viewed him and rode him , you dont buy a horse then vet it !!!
Yes she is going to ring bhs legal line and find out more info .

i am quite angry for my friend and for this poor boy , he is a super horse and i think he will be all out of sorts .

thanks guys ,
 
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