Horse ownership / payment problem

[Flyermc]

Personally I’d pick the horse up . Anyone who struggles to pay £800 on a payment plan for a horse is going to struggle to pay vets fees / basic care etc .

Telll her she either pays by x date or you are collecting him and advertising him for sale again

this is exactly what i was thinking, if they arent working and cant afford £800 over a year how can they afford the horses keep?

OP - if you've not seen the horse for over a year, how do you know they havent sold it on and kept the money, and how do you know that the care your horse is getting is sufficient?

 

[Lois Lame]

I think I’m obviously being too soft & being walked over but I find it really hard to confront people.

I agree.

This 'friend' had talked you out of selling the horse to someone who had paid you a deposit. As Lannerch pointed out, this was not the right thing for you to do. You had entered into a legal contract with that person.

(Lannerch, do you have to have the moving bunnies? I find them so distracting. Non-moving bunnies would be much better )

 

[lannerch]

I agree.

This 'friend' had talked you out of selling the horse to someone who had paid you a deposit. As Lannerch pointed out, this was not the right thing for you to do. You had entered into a legal contract with that person.

(Lannerch, do you have to have the moving bunnies? I find them so distracting. Non-moving bunnies would be much better )

Haha I forgot I have moving bunnies , as I never see them.

 

[Sandstone1]

They may well have sold the horse themselves. A passport is not proof of ownership and she may have been able to get a new one issued. I would want to know where the horse is and if she still has him and check he was ok.
She has him on free loan and you should really have had a contract in place.

 

[Lauren1993]

Hi all,
I had sold him for £1000 to the lady who paid the deposit & I refunded.
so this is what I expected My “friend” to pay too.
I’ve been in contact with her & she was really worried I was going to take him back which she didn’t want.
she’s said she has vet fees this month so can’t afford to pay me something until next month.
But she still wants to pay me monthly.
I’ve said once paid I’m happy to hand over his passport but we have not agreed an amount as yet.
I think she will pay me now, as her fear is I will take him back … so atleast I do have some leverage & hopefully get paid.

 

[Lauren1993]

she said she never expected him for free & gets that I’ve chased for the money.
I kept it light hearted & friendly … I don’t want to cause a big issue / argument / problem over it all but I guess this is the problem with “friends” & money !
I’ve left it with her & she’s going to sort some money for me next month then we can go from there. - I will then make sure we agree an amount & stick to it.

I agree if she can afford to care for horses you can afford to pay for The purchase of a horse - so there is no excuse.
I know she has 3 horses so not cheap to keep !

 

[Tiddlypom]

That's all fine as long as you are prepared to sing for the money. She's never going to pay you.

Only you can decide whether to grow some balls and take the horse back or not, but you'll not get paid for him.

 

[Lauren1993]

That's all fine as long as you are prepared to sing for the money. She's never going to pay you.

Only you can decide whether to grow some balls and take the horse back or not, but you'll not get paid for him.

I will give her a chance , if she doesn’t pay I will have to consider collecting him & go from there.
last thing i want is to drag the horse away from his home & where he is happy to then sell him on. That’s not fair on him.
We will soon see, I will give her a chance & if she doesn’t pay I willgrow some balls & take him x

 

[nagblagger]

I would get her to set up a standing order for 'x' amount. a month, but I feel if she can afford 3 horses she can afford to pay you! She should pay you (at least) the £1000. There will always be a 'vets bill', 'farrier', 'dentist' bill so be firm.
I don't know why you still don't want to upset her, she is not a friend, she's manipulating and using your good nature.

 

[SantaVera]

If you want to horse go get him and if not put it down to experience you are unlikely to be paid.

 

[Abacus]

On the plus side she has responded which is good. Some people would just go to ground. Do you know where he is now? It would be good to organise a regular payment but I agree sadly with some others that she doesn't sound reliable and keeping three horses at livery is expensive.

You sound very kind in that you are trying to remain light hearted and friendly. I hope she doesn't continue to take advantage. I would be far more strict but that is up to you. I do hope that it works out well for you and him.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I'm afraid it's unlikely you'll see any money.
You could always give her date by which to pay and then say you'll collect the horse (even if you don't intend to). See if that helps.
But as long as you keep it friendly and no pressure, it's unlikely you'll see a penny.

There's nothing as devious and dishonest as a horsey person and your friendship won't mean anything to her as long as she gets to keep the horse free of charge. Time to grow a backbone I'm afraid.

 

[ihatework]

I will give her a chance , if she doesn’t pay I will have to consider collecting him & go from there.
last thing i want is to drag the horse away from his home & where he is happy to then sell him on. That’s not fair on him.
We will soon see, I will give her a chance & if she doesn’t pay I willgrow some balls & take him x

How do you know he is cared for and happy If you haven’t seen him in over a year.

Hardball for me I’m afraid. She pays 1k by end of month or you go and get him. There are these things called bank loans

 

[Sossigpoker]

It really pisses me off when people say they can't pay for something they've known all along they're going to have to pay. Like livery or something like this. Do these people think that because they've got away with for a number of weeks or months it means they won't have to pay ? Using a vet bill is a typical excuse - this person has known all along she'll have to pay and has had a,year to save up. She's massively taking advantage.

 

[AmyMay]

Presumably you now know where the horse is being kept and have made a date to go and see him??

 

[Lauren1993]

She has said I can go & see him , so I will do this asap then atleast I know where he is if / when she fails to pay.

 

[Cortez]

She has said I can go & see him , so I will do this asap then atleast I know where he is if / when she fails to pay.

Of course you can see him - he belongs to you, you don't need to ask permission. I would ruddy haunt the yard until she pays you in full, and make sure EVERYBODY knows you own the horse.

 

[Fjord]

She has said I can go & see him , so I will do this asap then atleast I know where he is if / when she fails to pay.

Definitely go and see him. Make sure he is actually being well cared for then tell her she needs to pay you £500 this month and £500 next month or you will be collecting him. You don't need to 'give her a chance', you've given her a year!

ETA, you sound really nice, which is part of the problem. Can you take a ballsy friend with you who doesn't know her, and they can be the bad guy and tell her she needs to pay up?

 

[Dazzer]

I would suggest you visit him this weekend to ensure he is safe and well. Then you tell your friend you want the money £500 x 2 instalments. If she doesn't pay, go and get him and tell her this is what you intend to do. Do you have someone who could go with you for some back up if you don't like confrontation? I don't like confrontation either but I equally don't like p$ss-takers.

 

[Ossy2]

At least you should fine out where he is, good luck.

 

[twiggy2]

I am qoth everyone else she should pay you at least what you had already sold him for.
If she didn't have the money for 3 horses she should not have taken on the third one but you did allow her to do it.
I would tell her it's £500 in 2 weeks and £500 in 6 weeks, if she does not have the money she will have to pay with a credit card, loan, borrow the money or give the horse back for you to sell on.
I would get an advert ready for the horse and if there is no money by the 4 week mark I would put the add up.

 

[PSD]

I had a friend in a similar problem. Horse injured itself whilst with them before they’d paid any instalments. They then used the excuse that they had a huge vet bill to pay for and couldn’t buy said horse. So my friend turned up at the yard with the horsebox as the time limit for payment (that was agreed from day one) had been reached, miraculously they “found” the money.
They had the money all along, they just wanted a free horse. It’s amazing what people can do when a little pressure is applied, I think you’re being taken advantage for and need to be firmer. Give them a time frame in which to pay, if they don’t pay then you take your horse back and advertise. Whether he’s in a good home or not, he’s your horse and you want to sell him.

 

[ycbm]

I'm going to go against the grain here but if the owner needs to pay livery and takes this horse back it could cost her more than his value in livery fees, give her a load of hassle to sell, and could lump her with another vets bill that she can't afford.

If the horse is happy where he is I would let this go and chalk it up to experience (but I could afford to, so that's easy enough for me to say). If this person is unscrupulous enough not to pay then they are unscrupulous enough to suddenly return him if he goes unsound.

If they money is needed, then I would turn up and look her in the eyes and tell her I need it.
.

 

[sunnyone]

I agree with the majority of other posters: yes your friend did you a favour by taking the horse over whilst you were ill but has since taken advantage of you since your recovery.

If your "friend" really is short of money then you will be doing them a favour by relieving them of the expense of a 3rd horse. But I wholeheartedly agree that it seems she's made a sport of giving you the run around with her excuses including this month's vet fees.

Your priority must be to go and see this horse, do NOT allow yourself to be fobbed off. I'm astounded that you didn't go and check on the horse the minute you could sit in a car. I know I did when I was in a similar state of health. Your name is on the passport, if no duplicate has been issued, which means you still have legal responsibilities for him and his actions.

Who knows he might actually be worth more money to you now than the original 1k which does seem very cheap. Ask a going rate if you have to sell him on, you can always negotiate downwards if need be.

 

[Red-1]

I think I would go and see the horse and, if he looked happy, take her saddles against payment.
I bet she'd pay quickly enough then!!!

 

[Surbie]

I'd go visit asap to check the horse. And make sure the YO/YM knows it is YOUR horse. If you think your friend is at all likely to move the horse to hide it from you, I would be taking it back on that visit too.

As for payment, it's up to you. I'd love to be proved wrong but they've had a year of a freebie and you're still waiting. I don't think you'll be paid. If you want to give them another chance I'd give them a short deadline to get the money together and then take the horse back if they don't pay then. Credit cards and loans are available. She's got 3 horses, so surely understands this.