Old owner wants horse back!

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Foster1983

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Can anyone offer me some advice please?

Almost 3 years ago I was given a horse who was offered to me as "free to a good home." The previous owner had bred the horse herself and had found herself in a position where her health unfortunately prohibited her from having the time to look after and do a great deal with him. She could not bring herself to take any money for him and agreed that if she could find a good home for him then she would literally give him away.

The horse was dropped off with no notice and left at my friend's yard so I assumed the previous owner was desperate and took the horse on with no question. He was not in great condition but I saw some potential in him as he was sweet natured. After corrective shoeing, a lot of care, love attention, change of feeding routine and training and exercise I managed to straighten out his walk, improve his condition and get him showing to a really good standard. He now hunts safely, jumps to 1m high and always gets placed in showing classes. He is a really good all round horse and I love him to pieces! I have covered the cost of all of the livery and vet expenses.

2 weeks ago the previous owner called advising the horse was for sale and asking whether I would pay £1k for him (bearing in mind he will be worth a lot mor than that now!). She said the horse was never "free to a good home" and that I have only ever had him on loan. I would not have spent the thousands of pounds I have spent on someone elses horse and NEVER agreed to a loan agrement. After a discussion I agreed to pay her the £1k providing she left us alone it moving forward. 2 weeks later (whilst I was trying to scramble together the money) she called again saying she was coming to collect the horse the following morning and that she no longer wanted to sell the horse to me. I refused her entry to the yard until I have saught legal advice as I see the horse as my own and have no idea what to do!

Has anyone else had a situation like this before who may be able to advise me?

Thank you!
 
I'm betting you didn't get anything in writing either, did you?

Keep her off the yard and seek legal advice immediately, do you have the passport etc etc? I know this doesn't prove ownership but hang on tight to it....

I'd also call the police to advise them too, just on the off-chance, to let them know you were given this horse 3 years ago, and the person who gave you the horse, has told you they want it back, which would be theft, I'd guess.....
 
What an awful situation for you! Just a thought- could you counter her demands for you to return the horse with a bill for £xxxx for the cost of 3 year's keep?

Good luck x
 
You poor thing, what an awful thing to happen!

I'm afraid I haven't had any experience with this type of thing, but it sounds like you are doing the right thing with the legal advice,

What happened when she dropped him off, did you get the horses' passport? If you had the passport, maybe get the ownership changed officially so that the horse is yours in that sense.

You should have perhaps got a receipt, or signed letter off her saying she was giving it to you, and in a court of law if the horse is legally hers on the passport, it may be very hard to disprove. Do you have any other people who would back you up on this? I'm sorry I can't help more and really hope you sort it out!

At the very least you should be entitled to your money you spent on him back
 
If you would like to PM me the horses name, and old owners name i may be able to help.

Very similar thing happened to me x
 
Interesting thread... I read a news story today about a man who gave his dog away the decided he wanted it back the next day and the new owner is refusing to give it back. It's going to court so it'll be interesting to see the outcome of that which sounds quite similar to yours. I presume the old owner was nowhere to be seen all the time you were sorting the horse out? Do you have anything in writing at all? Definitely seek legal advice, common sense dictates you keep the horse but unfortunately the law probably isn't black and white on this issue!! Good luck.
 
Basically same happened to me.

I took mare on, brought to yard, dropped off, owner left, letter saying if i wanted to keep her she was mine, signed transfer of ownership form and passport was given to me.

Year later, said mare was a darling by this point, old owner wanted her back....turned up, took her while i wasnt there.

Had clearly reported passport as lost/stolen as she claimed later on to police she had one.

Police said it was a civil matter and without bill of receipt they coudnt do anything and it wasnt classed as theft.
 
Do not pay her anything, keep the horse and say if she wants the horse back she can take you to court. Do not pay her your not a charity she couldnt look after the horse and you did. Tough!
 
Was there an advert or anything in writing which said "free to good home?"

In the absence of a loan contract, I think you could charge her livery for the horse - 3 years x ? plus training, etc. etc. Then you can come to some arrangement over taking the horse off her hands for the £1,000.

This is a nasty situation and I just hope it ends well for you.

Quite common though. My sister got a foal from a neighbour that the owners were fed up with. She insisted on paying a small amount and when they came by 3 years later and saw what a nice horse he was, she could show them the cheque book where she had paid for him.
 
I would do the same and tot up everything you have paid out- absolutely everything and present her with the bill, saying you will discuss the horse when she reimburses you for the livery you have provided for X amount of time...

DONT say you will give the horse back if she pays, word it differently because im sure someone could prove that you are admitting you werent given the horse.
 
plus the value you have added onto the horse as it was not in good condition. These people make me so mad. She is seriously taking the pee.

Dont think the dog court case will compare to 3 years of horse care and money.
 
I spoke to a solicitor, who said i was looking at a few hundred quid really, plus i needed to have an address for them to summon her to court. (that the right saying)

She also said, if all i had was passport and livery bills and the other girl had a passport, and a bill of receipt from when she brought her, court would likely rule in her favour, due to the receipt. She could prove she had legally paid for the animal where as although i could show livery bills, we couldve had a verbal contract for "a loan"

***without a current address they cant do much....***

Police and solicitor advised me to cut my lossess.

Hurt like hell.
 
happened to a girl on my fiends yard last year- her solicitor told her to move the horse to a location unknown to the previous owner until the situation was resolved. Was there an advert online or anywhere advertising the horse 'free to good home?' this is the evidence that helped the girl keep the horse on my firends yard. Ultimately it was up to the previous owner to prove that she still owned him. The fact that you've agreed to the £1000 wont help you to be honest. But I would move said horse untill the situation is resolved.
 
Sure an unfortunate thing to happen

However as you said that you agreed to buy the horse now, it won't of you done you any favours as it sorts of admits that you didn't own the horse and he's old owner did. Otherwise why would you be paying for him now.

My best mate had something very similar happen, although it was the other way round. She loaned out a horse as having a baby, loaner said it was gifted, my mate took her to court and won. The loaner then brought the horse after the court case
 
Bill her for everything! Don't pay anything, make sure everyone knows on the yard that the horse is not to be allowed off the property and either lock the stable door or the paddock gate so she can't help herself. Good Luck to you.

I've just had this happen to me. I was given a mini as the owner had nowhere to keep it.

I eventually moved it on to someone else who has also moved it on. This all happened about three years ago.

The old owner turned up recently, wanting the mini back as she needed to sell him and said she would give me $500 for my troubles - I advised her that I no longer had the horse and that he was not worth even $500 in todays market - not registered and not the best put together.

Have not heard from her since.

Many years ago I was offered a give away - off the track TB - and having heard of other peoples problems of owners claiming them back bought the horse for $2 plus a receipt. The money & receipt made it a l egal transaction.
 
Jeez some people are just unbelievable. I would move the horse to a different location pronto. Do you have any mutual friends with this woman? Does she have your address or just phone number? ie any way of tracking you down?
 
Hi, can't comment on this horse.

But in the paper there was a lady that was given a dog free, then a month later the original owner decided they wanted it back, new owner declined. Old owner then stole dog back. All went to court, and new owner won full custody.

Get yourself some legal help and you should be fine. :) good luck! :)
 
Feel for you! This is horrible. If the old owner dumped him and couldn't be bothered, then she doesn't deserve what sounds like a lovely horse.

Firstly, I'd move him PDQ. OK so you won't want to leave your current yard probably, but I'd do this as a matter of priority just to set your mind at rest.

Secondly, make a list of people who would be able to back you up re. the fact that the horse was "free to good home". Then go to see them/ring/e-mail etc and get them to sign and date a brief statement saying so.

Then, sit down and tot up all your livery costs, everything you've spent on the horse and have it written down - if you know someone with accountancy experience even better, coz they'll be able to set it down as a proper balance sheet.

Then, armed with all the foregoing, consult a good solicitor who's got experience in equine affairs and/or (if you're a Gold member) consult the BHS.

For now, I think the less you do, the better. IF you're gonna make an offer for the horse, make sure that if its in writing you use the words "Without Prejudice" at the head of the paper; and include in it your list/balance sheet of livery costs - which will be in excess of teh £1000 you have generously offered.

Oh, what is WRONG with some people? This is typical dog-in-the-manger behaviour; she couldn't be bothered with the horse herself, now that someone else has bothered to look after him she's got all "precious" and wants him back.

Hang in there, we're all crossing our fingers for you.
 
Make her take you to Court and prove she is still the owner. Lets see her forced to put her hand in her pocket and pay Court fees to get it heard. I don't believe any Judge would favour her after you looking after the horse for 3 years in the belief it was yours all that time!

Don't give her the money either, just tell her you want her to sue you!
 
Im so sorry for the situation your in i know nothing about this but i wish you all the luck in the world,what a disgusting way for old owner to behave x
 
I understand OPs frustration and most of the replies on here are what we might like to happen, but probably won't. In cases like these you have to look at factual evidence. Do you or previous owner have a bill of sale? Do you or previous owner have registration papers and/or passport of horse? Do you have any correspondence proving your claim that previous owner gave you horse FOC to keep for as long as you want? Do you have any sort of contract stating what is what?

In most cases like these it is the previous owner who holds all relevant ownership paperwork and the person loaning or having care over the horse often doesn't legally have a leg to stand on. You could take it to court and see where you stand but I think you'll be spending good money after bad trying to prove something you may have no proof off.

At the end of the day, and sad as it often is, the horses in situations like this generally end up being in the legal ownership of their previous owners unless the person loaning the horse has paperwork stating otherwise.

If the horse does belong to previous owner and you aren't able to prove that this person gave the horse to you then probably best just cutting your losses and give her the horse back. I don't think it is reasonable at all to bill her for livery charges and costs for the horse for the past 3 years and anyway even if you did I doubt you'd be recompensed should she prove ownership. You have had 3 years of fun presumably with this horse which you were "given" for free. It's an unfortunate situation; the ray of hope is that you do have written evidence? Then there would be a bit more going for your case.
 
I would move him as well, they probably will not want to run up legal costs any more than you do, if you make it hard for them to find and take the pony, then they may, just may give up.

If they take him, it would I imagine be difficult for you to get him back.
 
Kaylum said:
Do not pay her anything, keep the horse and say if she wants the horse back she can take you to court.
Click to expand...

Ditto - a friend went through exactly the same scenario - it went to court - she won! I had a very simiular situation with an in-foal mare the owner didn't want - and changed her mind 6 months later! Lawyers letters, they tried to steal the mare eventually - and her by then yearling filly! THEY called police whose only interest was in preventing a 'breach of the peace'. I assured police there WOULD be a breach of the police if they tried to take my horse- police escorted them off my property.

It finally went to court - I won!
 
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