Anyone know law??

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SkyBlue

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I have today returned a horse i took on a 3 month loan with view to buy. The horse was sold to me as being a confidence giver, 100% on roads etc. In the contract it did state that the horse is young and needs work in school, namely canter work... Which i knew about and was ok with. In the contract it also stated the horse was strong and needed an experienced handler. This i didn't know until i got home and fully read the contract... Yes i have learnt my lesson but was naive enough to think that the contract only had in it what the owner had told me!
However, the horse has bitten me and others, kicked, bucked in school, barged me into gates bruising ribs and barges into me all the time. He clearly has no manners whatsoever. This i was not told about. He has also spooked on roads.
So i told owner i was returning horse. He was not how he was decribed to me.
As the loan agreement is not up until january the owner has tried to get money out of me for field rent, farrier and worming. Which i have refused to pay.
Now she claims she's getting a solicitor involved.
Bearing in mind that the horse name on the contract is not the name on the copy of the horse passport she gave me and is demanding back. Also the daughter of the owner witnessed her mum's signature but on my copy of the contract no one witnessed me signing. And that huge fact he isn't how he was described to me...
Does anyone know where i stand with this?? Please help! I want this matter sorting as i have a poorly mum and much more important stuff tho be thinking about!
 
A free bump to the top for you. I can't offer any definitive help for you but it does sound like the contract isn't worth the paper it is written on if it doesn't have the horses' correct name and isn't witnessed...
 
Try Citizen's Advice for free info before paying out for a solicitor yourself. Also, if you are in a union or similar they sometimes have free legal advice (sorry, don't know how old you are - could be still at school!!?)
 
I didn't think any contracts were worth the paper they were written on unless they were drawn up by a solicitor.
The horse was on loan with view to buy, the horse wasn't as described (it's not a confidence giver!) so you are returning it. The horse is hers and is therefore her responsibility.

I don't know if this is the letter of the law but I have a horse out on loan at the moment with a downloaded BHS contract. If they weren't happy and wanted to return him I would just have to take him back. It would be highly inconvenient but he's my horse and ultimately my responsibility. If things don't work out I can't expect other people to be paying out just because I don't want to!

I hope you get this sorted out soon. It sounds like you've got enough to be thinking about, without this on top of everything.

If the you've actually taken the horse back and is no longer in your possession, I'd be tempted to leave it at that. I don't see how you owe her anything.
 
I wouldn't worry another second about this until you hear from her solicitor! I would suspect that you won't hear anything from anyone. Her horse, her responsibility regardless of anything else. I cannot see any solicitor taking this on (unless they just want her money for nothing), at a push, but I doubt it, you may get a solicitors letter, simply fire an angry one back about the horse being vicious and causing injury and lack of honesty in the contract, etc etc........ Just don't worry about it and put it down to experience, make sure you always check the contract thoroughly in future.
 
I wouldn't worry at all. I remember you posting about this horse and the problems you were having. I have been told as well that unless a solitor signs the contract it's useless
ring bhs if your a gold member. Iv rung them before and were very helpfull.
 
Thanks all for your advice... I am a born worrier and it will play on my mind.. I actually felt terible for sending him back but also know he really is not the horse for me. Can you beleive she even accused me of not looking after him (she didn't bother coming to visit him last week when she said she would) but wanted me to keep him until the end of the contract...! I'm sorry but i would NEVER neglect any animal and if i suspected someone of neglecting mine i would be straight round getting them back!
I'll just have to wait and see if i get a letter..
 
Sorry but a contract doesnt have to be in writing or even witnessed. The fact that the horse has two different names is also irrelevant if it is the horse that was offered and accepted. So if there were conditions regarding costs if you returned the horse early they are valid and enforceable.
 
Mike007 said:
Sorry but a contract doesnt have to be in writing or even witnessed. The fact that the horse has two different names is also irrelevant if it is the horse that was offered and accepted. So if there were conditions regarding costs if you returned the horse early they are valid and enforceable.
Click to expand...

There was nothing in the contract that stated if the horse was returned early that i would be responsible for costs, nor was this discussed at the time of taking the loan on. The matter of costs only came up after i told her i was returning him, and she did this by text. Pretty much demanding i paid for field rent, farrier and worming.
My husband was with me when i went to view the horse and she didn't mention the horses habits to him either. She has obviously deliberatley kept this info to herself as i asked about everything. Surely this invalidates any contract, written or not as i've been misled.
 
Unless you were deliberately misled about the contents of the contract and can prove this (eg you were told "this contract doesn't say anything other than what we have discussed") then the fact that you didn't read it but still signed it wouldn't count. Don't EVER sign any contract unless you have fully read it and understood everything in it!!

That being said, I agree with others- it's unlikely you will hear anything from a solicitor! If you do, go to CAB for advice! They will know a lot more than most of us on here.
 
i wouldnt worry about it as i would have thought that it would cost more for a solicitor then a couple months field rent.
 
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