horse ownership am I being unreasonable - opinons needed

E

expat

Member
Joined
24 April 2012
Messages
23
Visit site
It’s a long story but try to keep it short.

Started sharing horse 3 years ago, 1 year in owner could no longer afford horse and wanted to sell, but got diagnosed with navicular. As unsellable and owner could not afford to keep took on horse paying all bills incl. insurance, vets etc with no agreement. One year later horse got diagnosed with mild form of kissing spine. Owner kept on saying horse is mine and wanted me to take on full ownership as was worried about financial liability and no money. When I now agreed to take on ownership was told that I would gain from this deal and I should contribute financially.

Said horse is 16, super sweet and easy on ground, but does not hack on its own and unpredictable in company we had rears in the past, no longer jumps/cross country because of health issues and is a difficult ride in general, but can be rewarding and don't mind the challenge. Suggested to owner to take him back, sell him whatsoever and was told financially not possible and would not want uncertain future. Owner feels I am taking advantage of situation and is now pissed off with me for not paying, and decided she wants me to take on ownership but all rugs and tack to be returned.

Am I being unreasonable for not paying for a horse that age with health issues and lots of quirkiness? I am emotionally attached to this horse, but don’t want to be taken for a ride. Any objective opinions welcome. Owner and I are or used to be friends; feel very sad about this situation and maybe somebody can think of a better solution for everyone? Thank you!
 
Last edited:
It's not nice when a friendship sours, whatever the circumstances. However, if you are prepared to take on this horse I think that maybe you could come to an agreement about buying his tack and rugs. I wouldn't think that this would be unreasonable.
 
The horse is worth £1. I have just paid that for a super-sweet and incredibly well bred great looking 9 year old horse with mild lameness issues.

Offer her the pound and walk away if she will not take it and give you a receipt for full ownership.
 
i am confused, its taken you a year to decide to take the owner up on the offer of taking the horse on? i would speak to the owner to get a clear idea of how much moneythey are expecting to exchange hands for the horse, then possibly get adverts for horses similar, that i would expect to be free to good home then go back with these adverts. if you are emotionally attached to this horse it may be worth the effort?
 
If Im understanding this right, youve been paying all the costs for the "shared" horse since 2 years ago, but shes still been calling herself the owner?

Id say you have more than bought the horse to be honest - and agree with the others, If you want to own him outright, offer her the market value for the tack and his bits and bobs, and add £1 for the horse as a goodwill gesture - or Id say walk away. I know you are emotionally attatched to him, but there are horses out there without the soundness issues,who wont cost you what he does !

And as for you being the one who is taking advantage?? thats just laughable.
 
The horse is pretty much unsellable so I wouldn't be paying for it. To salvage the friendship I might pay fair seconhand value for the tack, but to be honest I would be questioning the friendship in your position. You've done her a huge favour in many respects and I would actually expect a bit of gratitude rather than grumbling. This horse is not going to be cheap to keep so it's not like you are in it to make money.
 
Wow she is really taking the pee there! She should think herself lucky you were prepared to take on all the costs for the time you have. I agree with posts above, make an offer for the tack and nominal amount for horse, non negotiable. She doesn't have much choice and will realise that if she ends up paying his upkeep while she tries to sell him. You could let her put him on the open market and see how many phone calls she gets!
 
Honestly I wouldn't even be giving her £1 for him. He is not sound, now has KS, is 16, doesn't hack, not easy ridden probably due to KS. You are walking into vet bills with an ultimately sad outcome and once he hits 17 if the insurers are anything like over here value plummets and there is not much covered. She is guilting you saying he'd have an uncertain future....the right thing to do if she feels that way is put him down and it would serve his owner well to remember there are worse things in life than death! Maybe I'm being very harsh but it sounds to me like she doesn't want to make that decision and wants you to pay for the honour of being the one to pension him off and ultimately make the decision to let him go. Maybe he has years left in him but not without a lot of money spent to correct his issues
 
Surely you have more than paid for the horse already in what you have spent on his keep and vets bills etc? What do they all add up to? You have saved her this amount over the past two years! If she is genuinely concerned about the horse having a good home she will sell him to you for a pound like others have mentioned above. Seems to me she is rather tight with money whether that be through unfortunate personal circumstances or just general attitude to money so don't be tempted to give her more than the going rate for his tack and rugs. You can buy them elsewhere if need be. Personally I think she's taking advantage of your good nature and affection for the horse. Don't let her xxx
 
Also be aware that given his health you won't ever be able to sell him or pass him on so he'll be your for life, which has a lovely romantic ring to it, but effectively means it will be your sole decision when to let him go when the time comes, which may be sooner than you expect given his conditions x
 
His ridden problems are probably down to the pain of KS, but can you afford to have this treated?

The horse is obviously unsellable, so I can't see how the owner expects you to pay anything for him. You would be doing her a favour by paying the £1 for him and offering market value for tack.

Some friend!
 
I'd work out exactly what he's cost you since you started paying for everything, and show her the total, and try to reasonably convince her that you can offer a good home for the this horse (you're the best guarantee she's going to get of an certain future other than PTS). I wouldn't pay for him, other than whatever might be deemed necessary to signify you have passed ownership over, and I wouldn't pay extra for the tack and rugs - you're effectively doing her an enormous favour. I wouldn't take the horse without them.

I'd also point out that the costs of PTS and disposal are likely to be higher than the value of the horse even with (possibly) the tack and rugs thrown in. If she wants to make it a financial discussion, meet her on her terms, and throw all the figures at her. I'd try to keep it as positive and balanced as possible, though - I wouldn't go in with an ultimatum; I'd just present the figures and your side and leave it up to her.
 
If you want to keep him, you need to pay £1 so it's official and get a receipt or have her write a 'gifted to you' receipt and his passport. Tack/rugs should, IMO, be gifted to you. Other than his wardrobe, does she want anything else paid for?
 
Hello everyone,

Thank you all for your advice and concern. I resolved it in an amicable way with owner and will keep him for said £1 not a wise decision but a decision from my heart. I know that I will be his last home and that sooner than later his time will come. I had to make the PTS decision in the past, and know that it will be not an easy one. Really glad I got so many nice replies :)
 
I'm glad you have sorted this in an amicable way. It is lovely that this horse has found someone that is willing to love him, give him good care and make the brave decision when the time comes.

Paula
 
expat said:
Hello everyone,

Thank you all for your advice and concern. I resolved it in an amicable way with owner and will keep him for said £1 not a wise decision but a decision from my heart. I know that I will be his last home and that sooner than later his time will come. I had to make the PTS decision in the past, and know that it will be not an easy one. Really glad I got so many nice replies :)
Click to expand...

This is good hun, BUT the cautious person residing in me says make sure you're given the passport!!!! THEN send her a receipt for it!

Plus a receipt for the actual "sale", saying words to the effect that "£1 received for .......... namely one horse (name) received from (yourself). You'd be wise to each sign and date this in the presence of independent witnesses.

Am glad this has all worked out OK for you; sorry its affected a friendship, but hey, if her so-called "friendship" was so basically one-sided, selfish and fickle in the first place, then IMO it wasn't any friendship. You, out of the sheer goodness of your heart, have taken on someone else's problem, and I think your so-called "friend" has behaved appallingly. Selfish little bitch!!

But anyway...... hope this all works out, BUT I'd get receipts/passport sorted out NOW!!!

Good luck!
 
expat said:
Hello everyone,

Thank you all for your advice and concern. I resolved it in an amicable way with owner and will keep him for said £1 not a wise decision but a decision from my heart. I know that I will be his last home and that sooner than later his time will come. I had to make the PTS decision in the past, and know that it will be not an easy one. Really glad I got so many nice replies :)
Click to expand...

And you've been given the passport, and have a receipt of ownership??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top