Odd legal query

J

joecannon

New User
Joined
30 July 2013
Messages
3
Visit site
Hi H&Hers,

Firstly please be gentle,Im quite new around here and Im sure I will probably get told off for something,but I would like to pick your brains.

I have a horse at livery on the south coast,which I have put out to grass and turned away for the summer for various reasons. I have been working away in the midlands lately as I run my own business and thought all was well.

Despite being told that this was going to be the case, I got a letter from the yard last week saying that they now consider the horse abandoned and they will involve police. They have been getting paid every month for their services. Can they do this? Are they just being stupid.

Any advice apart from move which I will do some point anyway?
 
they can do what they like. it depends is the honest answer - if it is diy livery then yes you should check your horse regularly therefore could be seen as abandoned. it does seem an odd first step though.
 
What did your contract say. Most grass livery places provide grazing and that's it, no full care service. Does the contract state that they were going to provide full care? Are you paying for full care?
 
If you are paying for him and can prove you are paying for him, ie bank transfers or receipts then legally he is yours and I am unsure how or what the police will be able to get involved with!

Are you paying them to also check on him or have you arranged a friend to do check? Could be they just haven't seen anyone check him and are worried.
 
I would take a couple of days holiday from work/ your business and get down there and move him to another yard. Calmly settle any bill/ notice with the current yard and not worry about it.

Maybe look for a retirement type livery were the YOs don't expect you to come and see him on a regular basis.

I can see this from both perspectived, If he's on grass/ DIY livery (£30 ish a week or thereabouts) and you haven't been for several weeks and maybe they don't have a current phone number for you then I can see why the yard might resort to this.

If he's on full livery where they are fully responsible for his care (more like £100 a week in the south!) then I'm supprised by their approach. I know several people who have horses on full livery and don't see them from one month to the next - TBH the YO loves these liveries as they are low maintenance owners!!
 
They are paid to check on the horse once a day in the summer, as they do not offer a stable for use by the livery during the summer period.

Thinking of selling up for a while to be honest, had nothing but trouble for the past year and its taking its toll
 
What arrangement have you made for him to be checked? Is someone looking at him daily, are you paying the livery rad to keep an eye on him? Who will ring the vet in the case of an emergency?
Or did you just put him out at grass and hope for the best? Although as you are paying for his 'keep' he can hardly be said to have been abandoned, if the latter is the case, I can fully understand why they would want you to remove him. They are having to be responsible for his safety and health without being paid to do so, which is after all, their business.

ETA, just read your reply. In that case, although they can ask you to leave, they can hardly call him abandoned. Very strange!
 
Last edited:
If you are paying for him to be checked, then you have not abandoned him.

However you need to be very clear on what the agreement was, and what their level of care was etc. I'm sure you have all this in writing, and that they knew that they had sole charge of the horse etc. But as with all these things - a simple phone call usually clears these things up.

What were your arrangements regarding veterinary treatment and trimming?

When did you last see the horse?
 
This is what I thought. And they were fully aware of implications of a 'summer out', they confirm this in the letter.

They have full delegated powers re: vets / emergencies.
 
A similar case came up on here recently

It basically came down to what sort of livery arrangement was agreed, checking on the horse once a day could mean anything from 'it still has four legs' to 'I will catch it, check it over, pick out feet etc'

Then there is arranging the farrier, dentist, vet - turning a horse away for the summer does not exclude these considerations - if it was agreed that the YO would arrange it and they havent then they cant really say the horse is abandoned

Having someone say they will keep an eye on the horse is one thing and paying for full livery on a grass only basis is another

Check your contract and if you dont have one then I'd get down there and get one drawn up so everyone knows what is expected of them

Producing bank records will only show you paid grass livery and will not show the services you paid for

Good luck with it
 
I only time I have done this is when I go away on holiday and its usual to sign that they have care and custody and your permission to call the vet, farrier etc. I would speak to them ASAP. To be honest if they have misunderstood your intentions I would take him away and find somewhere else, if you are going to sell now is the time to do it.
 
I would ring them at once and try and sort the issue in the meantime I would find another yard ( retirement type perhaps ) and hire someone to move the horse .
But you really need someone to be seeing the horse now and again not connected to the yard .
My vet did this when I was unable to check one of mine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top