Co-Ownership of horse-any experiences when it's gone sour?

Having just gone through a very similar situation (not in relation to the emotions being shown here thank goodness) where I co-owned a horse with a pro I would highly recommend getting an equine lawyer involved asap. I know that they cost but after messing round for weeks between ourselves and getting nowhere fast, I appointed lawyer - she came in, saw the unemotional path through and the deal was done within 2 weeks. Sometimes the unseen cost of the toll it takes on health and business rep of pro (horse world very small and gossipy in my experience) means it's worth taking a deep breath and paying for the experts to take over. Can highly recommend the lawyer I used - very no-nonsense, down to earth and efficient - PM if you want details.
 
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I assume it was quite likely that Jo saw this as 1) helping pro rider out a bit (pro has had benefit of nice horse not just the costs of keeping it), 2) and investment opportunity - which did come with risks ie if horse not that good/broke etc. and as such would expect any increase in the investment to be reflected in the buy out price.
 
ester said:
I assume it was quite likely that Jo saw this as 1) helping pro rider out a bit (pro has had benefit of nice horse not just the costs of keeping it), 2) and investment opportunity - which did come with risks ie if horse not that good/broke etc. and as such would expect any increase in the investment to be reflected in the buy out price.
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I totally agree ,why should she not benefit from her half of the horses increase in value they made a verbal contract and she has held her side on the deal and paid for the shoes now she deserves a return.
 
Ahhhhhh! Bad situation for everyone. But, but ....................even FRIENDS buying a horse together, two adults, didn't they think anything about the future? There is a lot of speculation about what one party thought, or did - WHY DIDN'T THEY WRITE IT DOWN? The Pro is at fault for not realising what was happening. "Gosh this horse is really nice and coming on so well, after all the work I have put into it. I wonder what it is worth now? Does the half owner want me still riding this valuable horse or does she want to cash in? How much value have I put on it? Where does it say in the original "agreement?"

If it costs both of them some money to sort out - well I can only say they deserve it. Experience can be expensively bought.
 
Goldenstar said:
I totally agree ,why should she not benefit from her half of the horses increase in value they made a verbal contract and she has held her side on the deal and paid for the shoes now she deserves a return.
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Me too. It would have been very generous to sell her stake in the horse at its orginal cost, especially as she doesn't seem to be emotionally attached to it.

Mind you I can't see why the horse needs to be sold, ok the rider is moving but as the co-owner never comes to see the horse anyway it surely doesn't matter how far she is from it.
 
@armchair_rider - EXACTLY!! someone gave some advice to this point today...he doesn't need to be sold. The Pro owns half, Jo owns the other half, it should not matter where he is kept. Since the Pro owns 50%, he should be entitled to the move the horse to another location if he wants...Jo still owns half and can visit any time.

He is going to get some legal advice today. Jo has contacted him again today to say that she changed her mind again, she wants him to pay the deposit, and she will give a contract next week for the sale. There is a lack of trust though (due to her changing her mind several times per day), and is worried about losing the deposit, and also worried about an unfair contract.

It's fine for her to still own 50%, he doesn't need her to sell her stake. He just wants to move the horse. That's all. The horse is not kept at hers. She rarely sees the horse.
 
I certainly wouldn't agree to that. No way would I hand over any money without a contract signed by both parties.

If he can't afford the whole horse what about buying part of her share? That way he'd have the controlling interest
 
If the co-owner wants to sell her stake the pro cannot stop her. She may sell 50% of the current market value of the horse to anyone she likes and the pro will find himself dealing with someone new with no choice in the matter.

If there has been some agreement on the purchase price the pro should pay in full immediately and get a receipt for the purchase of the horse. Anything else risks becoming a nightmare.

There may be legal ramifications in trying to take an asset (the horse) from one country to another without one owner's agreement.
 
Booboos said:
If the co-owner wants to sell her stake the pro cannot stop her. She may sell 50% of the current market value of the horse to anyone she likes and the pro will find himself dealing with someone new with no choice in the matter.

If there has been some agreement on the purchase price the pro should pay in full immediately and get a receipt for the purchase of the horse. Anything else risks becoming a nightmare.

There may be legal ramifications in trying to take an asset (the horse) from one country to another without one owner's agreement.
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Exactly she owns half he owns half he can't move the horse abroad if she seeks to stop him ,no ones half tops the other .
If she went to law she would be able to get an injunction to prevent the horse going abroad until the dispute is settled .
The pro is moving the goal post by moving not the co owner .
 
Just to clarify, though, the plan is not to move the horse to a new 'location' but to another COUNTRY, yes? So trust in the relationship has broken down but she is supposed to trust him to take her presumably valuable asset out of the country?

Also, she might argue the move may devalue the horse in the long run due to being in a different market, competitive pool etc. Perhaps the pro, if he can't buy her out, needs to convince his partner why this is a good move.
 
Oscar said:
Surely though she can't force him to sell his half of the horse? Especially if there is no contract in place.
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But she probally can stop its removal from the country and a court could order its sale to resolve the dispute
She could sell her half to anyone she chooses .
It's in the pros interest to resolve this with the coowner directly he has no more rights to the horse than she does .
 
It would have been far cheaper and saved a lot of stress if they had involved a solicitor at the outset. With so many high profile riders having issues regarding the ownership of their horses you'd think that would be a no brainer............

The pro should consider himself lucky that there is still a prospect of resolving this without the horse being sent to the sales as could easily have been the case if Jo had gone bankrupt or been involved in a messy divorce.
 
Thanks Kat, yes, that is something to consider, about divorces and forced sales etc...
Many thanks for your thoughts.
It's been an interesting thread. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
 
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