Do you think I have a legal case?

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pelvicpanda

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Last weekend I went to see a horse described as a 'safe and sensible allrounder' as an advisor for a friend who is buying her daughter her first horse. The horse sounded absolutely ideal and the owner seemed genuine. I have ridden for nearly 25 years, have BHS qualification, competed successfully at affiliated dressage and have a HND in Equine Science so can comfortabaly say that I am an experienced rider. I am however 5 months pregnant so before going to see the horse I explained this to the woman selling the horse saying that I am willing to get on a genuinely sensible horse but am not in a position to take risks getting on a horse which is known to be stupid for obvious reasons! The owner assured me her horse was wonderful and she said that I would be absolutely fine.
We got to the stables and the horse certainly seemed exceptionally quiet. The owner rode the horse first and it seemed quiet enough in walk, trot and canter so I agreed to riding it on the flat. I rode it first on the right rein in all 3 paces with no problems, changed the rein through walk and again rode a few circles in walk & trot before going into canter. We cantered half a circle when the horse freaked. Big time. It spooked very dramatically halfway across the school and then bolted straight across the arena & I mean a proper bolt, not just taking off with me. I came off and landed on my back.
Once I eventually managed to get back to my feet, the owner got on her horse and she then proceeded to have a lot of trouble with it. It kept tanking off with her and was generally being rude, unpleasant and definitely not the safe, sensible horse it was described in the advert as!
The owner had said to my friend when I came off that 'it wasn't that big a spook!' as if she was used to seeing the horse do worse things and she didn't seem at all surprised by it's behaviour despite the fact that I had made it obvious we were only interested in a quiet, sensible horse to build my friends confidence.
Fortunately the baby is fine. I however have a factured hip and write this from my hospital bed while drugged up on morphine. I am looking at a minimum of 6 weeks bedrest, probably a hip replacement and it looks like I may have no option but to have a c-section instead of a natural delivery.

Obviously we all accept that sometimes horses do strange things and the unexpected can happen. However, when I have told the owner before hand that I am pregnant and therefore need to be extra careful and was assured that her horse was genuinely a saint on legs do you think I could have a public liability claim against the horse owner? The advert was actually worded as 'safe, sensible, not dangerous allrounder'. Although I am pregnant I don't think my pregnancy has a bearing on the case because I would still have come off even if I wasn't pregnant and would still almost certainly have the same injuries, also I am an experienced rider - what would have happened if a genuine novice rider had been on bored?!?
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Sorry it is so long & sorry to hide under an annoymous user name (I am a regular HHO user!) but I think you can all see why this is necessary. Also, if anyone can suggest any decent lawyers please feel free to PM me the details
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Appreciate your thoughts and comments.
 
I'm sorry but I think you were really stupid to get on a strange horse whilst you were pregnant.

I am sorry that you've suffered injuries but since you have quals etc then you know full well that every insurer everywhere tells you riding is a risk sport.

I don't think you have a case for negligence against the owner and even if you found a solicitor to take it on then you'll have a heck of a job proving it.

Hope you feel better soon
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I'm sorry but I think you were really stupid to get on a strange horse whilst you were pregnant.

I am sorry that you've suffered injuries but since you have quals etc then you know full well that every insurer everywhere tells you riding is a risk sport.

I don't think you have a case for negligence against the owner and even if you found a solicitor to take it on then you'll have a heck of a job proving it.

Hope you feel better soon
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Agree with this. Horses are unpredictable.
 
I would like to point out the only reason I got on it was because I was assured it was so safe by the owner! This is a horse which was described as suitable for a novice rider.
 
Glad you and baby are OK but sorry got ot agree with above.Have nothing against peoplpe who choose to ride their own horses who they know well whilst pregnant but personally I think it is pretty irresponsible getting on a strange horse with just the owners(who is trying to sell) word for it that its safe.
Couldnt your friends have found someone else to try for them because to be honest I wouldnt ask a friend of mine to be put in that position whilst pregnant.
Do hope you are feeling better soon though.
 
I'm afraid I think that the above are probably correct.

Unless you can prove that the horse has a history of this type of behaviour (which would be very hard to do), the owner could always put it down to it just being a horse and having an off-day.

Thank god that the baby is ok. Hope you feel better soon x
 
Stupid woman, sorry, but you're willing to risk your unborn babies life based on the words of a woman who is trying to sell her horse?!?!?! She was hardly going to tell you its a dangerous beast, was she?!

Thank goodness your baby is alright, but no you dont have a legal case, only your complete stupidity to blame! Hope everything heals well.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I'm sorry but I think you were really stupid to get on a strange horse whilst you were pregnant.

I am sorry that you've suffered injuries but since you have quals etc then you know full well that every insurer everywhere tells you riding is a risk sport.

I don't think you have a case for negligence against the owner and even if you found a solicitor to take it on then you'll have a heck of a job proving it.

Hope you feel better soon
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Sorry but I agree with this. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
 
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I would like to point out the only reason I got on it was because I was assured it was so safe by the owner! This is a horse which was described as suitable for a novice rider.

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Even so, no horse is bombproof. What if a helicopter had come over or a bee had stung the horse or somethimng. Even a saint of a horse could have freaked out.

I think that you have been very unlucky and maybe the seller WAS in the wrong and WAS trying to hide something, but IMO there is no way you can prove this and no way that any lawyer would take it on.

If you get on a horse, you get on it knowing the risks. Especially if you are experienced. Sorry. Glad you are ok (ish) though.
 
Sorry I think you were very stupid getting on in the first place. But when thinking if you have a case or not you should first think does the person in question have means to pay if you win, if not it is not worth the effort for no reward.
 
How unlucky, although it was abit risky to get on the horse, you trusted the owners description and in alot of cases it would have turned out fine. I don't know where you stand legally because i suppose the owner could turn round and say it was the first time it did it, out of character etc so it would probably be difficult.

Not that its alot of consolation, but i bet the owner was mortified and learnt a huge lesson about selling horses.

You poor thing being in hospital when you were just trying to help a friend find a nice horse, I hope your hip is better very soon and glad to hear the baby is OK
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I feel sorry for you and wish you a speedy recovery!

However as above - knowing that the majority of people selling horses are lying toerags (sorry everyone). I would not have taken that risk in your condition

As no money changed hands, I don't think you'd have any sort of case against the seller. Although you could always try ringing one of the no win no fee companies.

However being that horse riding is dangerous I think it would get thrown out.
 
I haven't read other posts but my first thought is how silly to get on an unknown horse whilst pregnant. As you say horses are unpredictable and you saw the horse behave perfectly well for the owner, enough so for you to get on board.

Personally I hate this 'i'll sue them culture'.

IMO you'll have to take the responsibility of making a bad decision yourself and put it down to experience. Any lawyer worth their salt will annihilate your claims.

Sorry
 
The point of my post isn't that I came off while pregnant - obviously it is my own choice to ride while pregnant and I accept that people have many different views re riding during pregnancy. The issue is that I stressed to the owner that I was only willing to get on bored a strange horse if she would assure me that it wouldn't do anything stupid! I really dread to think what would have happened if a nervous novice had got on this as I suspect they would have be in a far worse way than I am.
 
The chances are being a better rider that you put the horse under more pressure and this might not have happened if a novice got on and the horses did what ever it wanted.

If we forget the pregnant issue (that was your choice) then i do think that a horse describes as "safe, sensible not dangerous all-rounder" should not spook to that degree and bolt but horses are unpredictable and even if this horse had done it before there are dishonest people out there.

I wish there was some come back but the unfortunately most horses are sold as seen and it is up to you to do all the relevant tests to make sure the seller is telling the truth.

Do you have personal insurance maybe that would cover your injuries?

Hope you feel better soon, i really wish the seller could be held responsible as i hate it when people lie (if the seller had known that is).
 
How can any owner of any horse offer a 100% guarantee that nothing will go wrong, horses by their very nature are unpredictable and even something deemed bomb proof can react to the unexpected.

The only horse you'll get that assurance from is a rocking horse
 
Whats right/fair isn't always what wins the legalcase I'm afraid....

yes- you were a bit daft to get on the horse but you had been assured that the horse was safe...yes I know horses are unpredictable but this sounds as if it was a regular thing with the owner not being too surprised.....

Take out the fact you are pregnant....if this had not happened at the time of trying the horse out and your friend had actually bought the horse, if it had displayed this behaviour after being bought would they have any chance of returning the horse because it most definately was not as advertised/described? Personally I think so...

TBH if I were selling a horse and a pregnant lady turned up to try out then I would have refused, possibly thinking that if anything did go wrong it would be my butt on the line.

Hope you recover soon, glad the baby is ok.......
 
I'm in no position to criticise your choices - I test rode an ex chaser for somebody when 6 month pregnant - but I do think that NO horse is 100% safe and you must always anticipate that something can happen.

I feel your pain, I broke my hip coming off a youngster a few years back, hope you recover quickly and have no long term issues with it.
 
First off...ouch
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That must have been very scary and painful. I hope you heal quickly and that baby is ok...

What did the woman say when you came off...did she say the horse had never done this before or did she act like it was normal?
I would have been VERY annoyed. This horse is advertised for novices and it BOLTED across the school. What if it had been ok for you and you had put the novice on, then it did what it did?!
I understand horses do spook but very few bolt especially in a school...that is a serious issue
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Having said that, I'm not sure there is a hell of a lot you can do about it. You did take the risk of getting on an unknown horse cos that is what it is no matter what anyone tells you about it...
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(((((((((VIBES))))))))))) for a speedy recovery
 
Thanks to all those who have made constructive comments. As I have added to my posts, this isn't about the fact that I got on a horse while pregnant & I wonder if I would have got a different reaction from some of the other posters if I had ommitted the fact that I am pregnant. My issue is with how the horse was advertised and described over the phone when safety and reliablity of the horses behaviour were stated as being the prime concern as this horse was intended for a novice rider.
 
But I think it doesn't make a difference if you were pregnant or not tbh - you still don't really have a case.

How many of us on here have gone to see a horse with a view to buy and been told it was an angel, only to come flying off it fifteen minutes later? I bet it is VERY common.

I also don't think anyone has sued the seller for it, or even tried.

Seriously, put it down to bad luck & concentrate on getting better
 
Sorry you seem to have come under fire on here, I guess the 'riding whilst pregnant' thing is a contentious issue?
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To be honest I don't think you would really have a legal case because you would have to PROVE the owner deliberately mislead or lied to you (the same applies for claiming on her insurance) and in a court situation she could wipe out any evidence you have with the failsafe 'horses are unpredictable' mantra.

Sorry not to have better news for you and get better soon x
 
you would not have got a different comment from me if you were not pregnant. A private seller does not owe you a duty of care (unlike an employer for example) and all of us get on horses of our own free will in the full knowledge that horses are living breathing creatures capable of doing crazy things.
 
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