Come back on horse bought from dealer?Small claims court?

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kombikids

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Hi

I am wondering if anyone has been in the situation I find myself in and can offer any advice? I bought my horse on 2 August from a dealer (will not mention name in case they remedy this!) after specifying that I want something to hack out on and go onto do a bit of jumping after my confidence is back (I have had a 10 yrs break from horses and have a 2 yr old baby) and was recommended this horse. I was actually going to buy another one but when i tried to take it out the gate on a hack it napped very badly so they persuaded me to take this one. Anyway she has been very spooky to hack ( as any new horse would be- she seems to find it impossible to walk down the side of the road as prefers to jump from side to side) so we have taken it very very slowly and just kept to simple walk and trot rides to increase her confidence. As her fitness has increased we have had a couple of bad episodes where she rears spins round and takes off in the other direction. She gets very anxious so it doesnt seem to be naughtiness.I have had her teeth rasped her back and saddle checked, feed her calmer and had her diet checked and tried encouragement but I am losing confidence which is not what i wanted. I therefore emailed my dealer to see if she could help but no response. I then tracked down her owner (until nov last year) who said that she has been passed around dealers yards because she heard shes a live wired to hack. I then rang the dealer, 2 days after the 30 day offered warranty and was told that for a fee of £500 I could swap the horse - as long as its was for a part exchange. We simply cant afford this so i looked into my consumer rights and was told that I am entitled to a refund or replacement under the sales of goods act as the horse was not the 'confidence giver' or the 'good to hack out alone or in company' as they promised in her advert. The dealer then took offence has withdrawn her replacement issue and is ignoring any contact. I am happy for them to provide me with another horse and not a refund I simply want a horse that I can ejoy - I accept that you do have issues with new horses and that none are perfect its just that this horse i feel could be dangerous.I am not sure whether to push it through the small claims court - has anyone experiance of this?

Sorry about the long winded post, there just seems to be some good advise given on here.
 
Yes there is a remedy through the civil court but there is also a cost in taking out these proceedings, in addition you would need to find an independant expert who is prepared to say that the horse is unsuitable, although the previous history is very relevant.

i don't know how reputable or stable the dealer is that you purchased from. For some of them a county court judgement is just water off a duck's back, they up sticks, change their name or simply refuse to pay - then you need to go back to court to proceed for non payment (more cost to you)

In principle it can work, in practice it is more challenging.
 
thankyou that is very helpful - am very upset we have to be dealing with this - just want a horse that hacks out - not too much to ask! they have changed names before i know, lets hope they dont do it again - will make sure i post everywhere for people to beware of them!
 
Firstly without wishing to being unkind I fail to understand why so many people incist on buying horses from dealers. Dealers know very little about the history of a horse and even if they do most will not give you the history or truth.

You are far better off to buy a horse locally where its temprement and history are
known. Just put a wanted ad in the local tack shops/feed merchants etc. and wait for people to respond.

However I would suggest that you first instruct a solicitor that specialises in equine matters and get then to write to the dealer concerend asking for a full and immediate refund and also advising the dealer that any costs incurred by you will also be added together with interest. Do not accept an alternative horse as otherwise you will have the same problem again.
 
What a worry for you. Did you have the horse vetted?

I had a 10 year break many years ago and, when I decided to buy myself another horse did the daftest of things and bought a recently gelded 15 year old chestnut TB ex-racer
shocked.gif
I didnt realise that after a few years away that it could be so difficult to ride. Fortunately he was very forgiving and in the 6 years I owned him before he died he taught me so much.

Have you bonded with this mare? If so, I would ask for help and motivation from a good instructor and from your friends and try to work through it. It may well be a learning curve. I do so hope you work it out.
 
Peter, people buy from dealers as private sellers are just as dishonest as dealers and at least with a Dealer if they have misled you, you do have legal comeback
 
I think if you are going to contemplate suing, you should consider how you will gather the evidence the court will look for. You need an expert to confirm that she is difficult to hack out and that the dealer could have foreseen that from your description of your experience and ability. The testemony of the former owner would also be invaluable. The dealer could otherwise argue that you over-stated your experience and that the horse is not dangerous (where is the evidence of this? - any horse could be dangerous in terms of shying if hacked out by a nervous rider, its in the nature of horses). I think it would be rather difficult to prove. You havent acutally fallen off out hacking, its more of a perception or fear, isnt it?
 
If you read the OP, it is not the spooking that is bothering this person, but the fact that now the mare is getting fitter, she is rearing and spinning around. the OP said she had been managing the spooking although obviously, a spooking horse was not what she was looking for.

I dont think the OP is at fault here - a vetting would not have shown up "spookiness" or "a tendancy to rear and bolt" (well not any vetting I;ve come across) and there are a number of ways an unscrupulous seller can ensure a horse behaves resonably well on a try out as I;m sure lots of us know. She has already indicated to us that the horse was not fit when she bought her and a lot of the more serious problems are only beginning to emerge. Likewise she has also said that this horse has been passed around from dealer to dealer which indicates that it was pretty unsellable... until this cowboy got hold of her.

dont have any advice for the OP as I dont have any legal knowledge but sometimes I feel sorry for people posting these sorts of questions on here because they get replies that seem to indicate THEY (the OP) are at fault - personally I think that if you ask a dealer to sell you a horse predominately for quiet hacking and you get sold a horse that is known in the area as being a very spooky lively difficult ride to hack I fail to see how you are at fault regardless of whether or not you have the experience, time or inclination to sort the problem out. JMO I know my boss would quickly go out of business doing this, he deals at the lower end of the price market but he wont sell people "unsuitable" horses and will take the horse back if the owners arent happy.
 
Thank you southwestwhippet for that post. I am in the same situation as kombikids and it is simply not helpful for people to blame the victim in these situations. Obviously, if a novice buyer who could hardly manage to walk, trot and canter swaggered up to a dealer's yard bragging that they were the next Pippa Funnel/Willam Fox-Pitt or whatever then they could be said to get what they deserved but, in my case, and I am sure in most others, we were completely honest with the dealers regarding our abilities,experience and what type of horse we wanted.

To everyone who says "but surely you could tell what it was like when you tried it out"? er, no, not necessarily. My OH and I tried out our bad purchase twice and he behaved impecably but, after a few days of getting him home, it was clear that he was a bag of nerves. He bucks people off and is massively spooky but he WAS NOT like this when we tried him out. We now believe that he had been worked hard before our trial and/or had been denied water. I feel sorry for kombikids since she is clearly the victim and not the villian of the piece!
 
thanks for your support guys - your words are very true! I wish i bought from your boss sw whippet - i nearly looked in cornwall as that as where she came from - the stockdales bread her (and she was fine with them)! We are able to get my BHSI instructor to verify my hacking and also film her issues if we do go to court. I am just concerned how many other people will get duped - i have had 5 or 6 people buying from the same stud with the same issues- just wish i could tell everyone to stay away! And not all dealers are the same as these people are giving them a bad reputation.
 
I would be interested to know which section of the sale of goods act you plan to rely on? As you mention the advert, I assume you are relying on the statement that it is good to hack as a condition of the sale (although I suspect more likely to be treated as a waranty anyway), and rather suspect that the seller would seek to rely on s.11(2) of the act to argue that you had waived the condition if you purchased a horse which was jumping from side to side on the road, and which you failed to return during the waranty period.
If you are looking at s.48, and the right to repair or replacement within 6 months of delivery, I suspect you might run into problems under s.48A (4) (b), as the nature of the horse does not really lend itself to the assumption that because there is a problem with it now, there must have been a problem with it 6 months ago.
I'm not saying you dont have a case (particularly if you have a better basis than either of the above points) but I think you would lack the standard of proof you would need for a court case, particularly if you cant afford the cost of losing. If I were you I would send the seller a strongly worded letter saying that you intend to initiate legal action, outlining the legal provisions you intend to rely on (without enclosing the full statute), and stating that you intend to charge them the cost of the horse's board from this date until they take the horse back and give you a full refund.
 
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