Beware the livery....for all yard managers/owners

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allijudd

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I only seem to be on here when i have a probelm....


Currently we are being sued!...i now cant sleep which is why i am on here at 530 in the morning.

A little while ago soem liveries left and went to a neighbouring yard. In november we recieved a letter from these liveries stating that they want their vet bills paid for the period that they were here. Their horse was kicked in the field. Nonoe saw it no one knows what horse did the kicking. The bills is over £1000.

These people have tried to ruin our business and now they are trying to ruin us. They go around telling people it is an unsafe yard. They have said on the court papers that we have a duty of care towards them and that we dont not follow BHS guidelines. (we are not BHS registered.) They are also calling my qualifications and experince into question by saying that their 15 yr old has more experince in her 3 years of riding then i have over 15 years of being in the business and qualifications from Duchy college.

They have also stated on the court papers that we did not respond to their letter. our solicitor is having a field day with that one as he did the reply and sent it!

I am distraught...the girl in question never cleaned the wound out so much so i was so worried about it i queried it and others on the yard remeber me doing it. i was told she knew what she was doing. the wound then got worse and worse with cellulitis etc etc. We called the vet in the first instance.

Other liveries which have left (one of which i am sueing for injuries to my back with her permission as i had to miss 3 weeks off work after her youngster went for me 5 times and put me over a water trough) who we were on speaking terms has written letters stating that she was worried about the safety of her horses on the yard which is why she moved.

sorry about the long post but if they win this case which our solicitor says they wont then all liveries owners managers etc etc watch out!
 
Don't have any practical advice as I am no expert, though doesn't sound like you have much of a case to answer.... It sounds like they are hoping you'll bungt hem some cash to shut them up.
I would be livid though about the defamation of yr character and business which is occuring. Hope you can counter sue and get some cash back.
Hope it all turns out well for you.
 
We closed our yard when a livery tried to sue us as her horse had sweetitch and it cut itself while scratching. What you need to do is pass it all over to your insurance company and let them deal with it. You musn't talk to anyone about it. Just let them deal with it and they will probably settle with her out of court.

I would stop worrying and let them all deal with it. Easier said than done
 
Its sounds like a lot of sour grapes really. They , i think, may be breaching the law anyway by slandering your name.

You need to be well advised so far as responsibility of injuries to horses that livery with you. Your yard insurance may outine something? I will be suprised that they will be able to sue you if the actions of another horse was to blame because kicking may be seen as 'normal horse behavour'.

If an accident was due to broken fencing and a horse getting into the field and kicking another one, then something like that could be seen as your responsibility.
I really am only summising though.

Maybe you have 'set the stall' by suing one of your liveries. Not to say that you are wrong to do that but word soon gets about. You know what the horsy community is like.
 
Sorry to hear of your woes....

I have been lucky enough to only have my horses in a livery yard for a very short time but the the YO, although not BHS registered, did use the BHS Livery agreement, that covered pretty much everything, so no nasty surprises.....

Good luck, and, as DieselDog says, leave it to the insurance people - I assume that you are insured???? If not, then you have been very naive.....I can speak with experience on that one, as we agreed to have a friend's shetland on our land for a few weeks as they had allegedly lost their grazing - no agreement in place, just a favour to a friend.....their pony savaged my beloved pet sheep to death (despite my specifically asking if he was OK with sheep as my horses are out with them). I was left with a £94 vet's bill and lost my pet - but had no formal agreement.

The "friends" removed the pony as asked the following week - and did not offer to pay the vet's bill, nor did they pay the 2 weeks livery that the pony was with us....no agreement, so I haven't a leg to stand on.....

Learnt a BIG lesson - and will not ever have anyone else's animals on our land ever again, no exceptions.

Good luck and try not to worry - leave it to the professionals if you can....
 
[quote

I have been lucky enough to only have my horses in a livery yard for a very short time but the the YO, although not BHS registered, did use the BHS Livery agreement, that covered pretty much everything, so no nasty surprises

[/ QUOTE ]

we have this contract and we have it signed..they have actually brought the contract up in the claim just to prove that my mil and fil s name is on it becuase they are also suing them.....

We have full insurance with the NFU so they are pretty bummed due to the fact that we sent them the original letter and they replied to it saying that if they found a statute in law then they may entertain a claim. I think this is why they are trying this "duty of care" way of doing things. My only worry is what would happen if they are found to be right by the court.....

we may as well close the yard down if this is the case it would leave every yard wide open to cases such as this.

we have found out that they do have a tendency to take most things through the courts for compensation, this would be the 3rd claim....
 
If this is their third claim then surely this would be brought to light and the judge wouldn't be very entertaining of them?

She had a duty of care to HER horse to make sure that it was free from suffering by providing it with adequate veterinary attention - and so if she did not clean the wound and let it fester to the point the horse developed cellulites (and was probably suffering a bit) then what does that say about her? Did she not kinda breach the Animal Welfare act? If you phoned the vet in the first instance you WERE looking our for this horse, you questioned it again (looking out for the horse), she through her sheer stupidity and ignorance caused suffering to her horse and she now wishes to slander you - outrageous!!

My friends horse cut its leg as it was put out in the wrong field by someone who worked at the yard - now SHE would have a claim.

This lady probably has nothing better to do with her life than harass and cause worry and suffering to others! She may well be doing a tit for tat with you suing the other livery (but you say that was with her permission?), which I see is very legitimate as a damaged back to someone who does physical work is a serious hindrance and could impede on your ability to make a living in your chosen field.

As Blueberry said you might want to check into the slander angle - as again her sour grapes could cost you your livelyhood and reputation.

You might want to ask a BHS/ILPH field officer to come and see your yard, and get a letter from Duchy/BHS regarding your qualification so they can state the level etc??

Sorry, these sort of things make me so angry - with the numpty lex livery , not you!
 
I'm sorry that you are having to go through this, particularly as the owner didn't respond to the injury with the correct first aid and you did all you could to deal with it at the time. I don't know the turnout situation at your yard but I will say, in general as a livery, I am quite glad to hear of liveries challenging yard owners legally. I've been at too many yards where accidents had happened, that were always going to happen, due to inappropriate turnout and apathetic yard owners. If you have provided safe fencing, small turnout groups of horses that are known to get along well and allowed new horses to mix over fences for a week before being introduced to one horse at a time, then you have done all you can and they shouldn't have a leg to stand on. Yards whose turnout involves 'every horse for itself', need suing to make them think, put their hand in their pocket for some fencing and prevent accidents to the best of their ability.
 
Poor you, what a horrible situation. I'm so glad you have got insurance which should mean that you are not out of pocket at the end of the day. It might be worth discussing with your solicitor the possibility of an injunction to stop them bad mouthing your yard. Possibly even a counter claim for loss of earnings. But I think you MUST rely on your insurance company and solicitor to deal with it all as its easy to inadvertently make things worse if you try to get stuck in yourself. Good luck
 
oh my god this is awful.

how can they think any of this is your fault?

horses get kicked in the field - end of - not even wrapping them up in cotton wool and leaving them in 24/7 stops them from injuring themselves.

i do sympathise with you and please let us know how this all goes.

we are in the process of looking for our own yard and was considering doing DIY livery - but after some of these stories on here im beginning to think twice.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If this is their third claim then surely this would be brought to light and the judge wouldn't be very entertaining of them?



It wouldnt make the slightest bit of difference. Every case is judged on its merits.
 
Unless you did something neglegent(sp) ie put a new horse in with their without their permission or moved the horses into a new field without them knowing then I really don't think they would have a leg to stand on TBH. Horses gallop, get kicked ect-thats life. We had a livery whos horse was kicked in the field and broke its leg- it had to be PTS- there was no thought of them sueing us- these things happen.
 
I agree with the others on this - not sure the livery really has a case unless, as mentioned the injury was due to poor fencing ro something similar. I am guessing they are attempting to claim from you as their vets bills turned out to be a lot more than they anticipated and no doubt they do not have vets fees insurance cover (if indeed they have insurance at all). Normally this sort of injury would be picked up under the owners own horse insurance policy.

As for you stating you sued someone else, do you mean sue or just that claime under their PL cover? I would think you were within your rights to do that maybe for loss of earnings but also would have thought your insurance for your yard and yourslelf should have covered such an incident as you being injured by one of the liveries horses anyway. Isn't it an occupational hazard when delaing with animals??

I am right in presuming the insurance companies agreed that she was liable under her insurance not yours?

Anyway, I should think it'll amount to nothing but can imagine it's a bit of a headache and I hope it blows over quickly
 
thats in the criminal courts. It is a shame, yes.

This person does sound particularly awful. Its part of owning a horse at the end of the day.

I would just pass it to your insurers to deal and try not to worry about it. It does seem to be a developing area of law in respect of the Animals Act, however as the horse is classed as property, as opposed to if a human was injured, Im not sure it would count. Under the Animals Act, people can be held responsible for the actions of their horse regardless of negligence. There have been many high profile cases recently.
 
people like this make me absolutely sick. the make a claim society we live in is ridiculous. if you acidentally trip someone up in the street - watch out they might try to sue ya! it takes all credibility away from people who are ACTUALLY seriously wronged, damaged or hurt and need justice done.

Yes this person is correct you have a duty of care. And clearly you did something wrong by allowing her horse to be kicked ?!?! Er, no! What are you supposed to do stand in the field all day with the horses and ask them nicely to behave?!

if this person cannot understand that horses are horses she should sell it and buy a hamster.
i hope for her current yards sake she has got private single turnout !!!!!!

Try not to sweat it too much i'm sure a judge would see how ludicrous the claim is. If you werent negligent and the horse was where it was supposed to be with horses is was supposed to be out in the field with than i cant see the problem.
 
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