Please help my friend,horse not paid for, now sold!

T

thatsmygirl

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 May 2010
Messages
4,341
Visit site
Please bare with me as I'm writing on a phone and can't re read what iv wrote once the page has gone up so sorry for spellings and I hope it makes sence.
Please no nasty comments as my friend is upset enough and knows never to trust anybody again so only comments to help her please.
Last summer her friend who she was v close to put a deposit down to buy her horse ( no receipt or contracts signed) pay days which they agreed soon went by and said horse is still to date un paid for.
Recently things have came to a head as said horse was no longer on the yard ( sent for training apprently but doesn't add up when horse hasn't been paid for)
my friend saw a for sale ad which matched her horse but was up country , but after more info and pics it's def her horse.
She's reported him stolen via his mircochip and seeked legal advise from cititions advise who have advised her to send a recorded letter with a set pay date or said horse is returned to her. If this isn't followed than go for a small claimes court.
Can anybody offer her advise,
best way to go about this?
How much does smalls claimes court cost?
How can she prove the horse is hers?
She has txts which she can print off stating that payment will be made but more recent ones stating she isn't going to see a penny that she's owed.

I hope this makes sense as I can't re read it. Any questions I will do my best to answer.
Thanks
 
Whoes name is on the passport as owner? Does she have the passport and/or registration papers? Is she a BHS member? If so they have a legal helpline.
 
Are you saying that essentially person X had a loan to buy agreement with person Y. Person X took the horse and agreed to pay in installments but has made no payments and has now moved the horse away to premises not known to person Y. And now person Y believes that person X is advertising the horse for sale?
 
She's isn't a bhs member which is a shame and may be worth joining for the legal advise.
The other lady has his passport but would be in my friends name unless she changed it before he was reported stolen. Don't think he had reg papers but will check.
 
Echo bravo yes it is theft but police don't want to know.
Hard to get him back when your not really sure where he is.

Tgm yes your right horse was for sale but ads have now disapeared so where the horse is nobody knows.
Thing is there was no paperwork between both party, only a few text messages as back up.
Will answer questions the best I can.
 
Get her to check her home and car insurance to see if she has legal insurance - lots of people do and don't realise it and it can cover general advice.

Is it the friend who agreed to buy the horse that is now selling it or someone else?
 
Ghostie I will get her to check that thank you.
No it isn't the person who agreed to buy that's selling, it's somebody up country far away from us but they are friends on
facebook I believe.
 
Unfortunatly, this isnt a theft but a civil matter. Small claims court isnt too expensive, a few hundred i believe.

I would phone the number on the advert and go as a 'viewer'. Has your friend got legal cover on their house insurance? U may be able to get advice there.
 
Used small claims court a good few years ago and it was less than £100 but may have gone up by now.
The maximum you could claim for then was 5K including costs.
 
1Lucie said:
Unfortunatly, this isnt a theft but a civil matter. Small claims court isnt too expensive, a few hundred i believe.

I would phone the number on the advert and go as a 'viewer'. Has your friend got legal cover on their house insurance? U may be able to get advice there.
Click to expand...

I thought that it was a theft if someone INTENTIONALLY took the horse on loan or view to buy and never intended on paying for the animal or intended to sell it on...............so then it is theft - as has been stated in a few of the threads on the stolen forum.

I woudl say contact Missing horses online. Get his pic up and out there so that it is clear he is a stolen horse.
 
Definetly contact MHOL, I had my horse sold on whilst on loan, my case was made easier by having a watertight loan contract in place, your friends case may be more difficult if it becomes a 'he said, she said'
Passports are not and never have been proof of ownership, I had to prove by letters from vet, farrier, YO, receipts and witness statements.
 
i would get in touch with the passport issuer and register the horse as stolen, as has already been said get in touch with missinghorsesonline and put stolen posts on any websites you can, most don't charge so advertise everywhere you can. Put good pictures up with any distinguishing marks and also state wher the horse was last known to be. Hope your friend gets either the horse back or the money for it but I do feel sorry for the new owners as they will have bought in total innocence.
 
Sounds like theft to me! Also sounds like the police not wanting to get involved as it concerns horses, and not taking it seriously. Just because there might be a civil remedy, doesn't mean a crime can't have taken place!
 
The best person to give advice is a solicitor.

A simpler way however would ne to take a trailer and go and collect the horse.
 
It's theft, no two ways about it. Similar thing happened to someone I know, police were involved and they were actually very helpful once they had all the info,horse returned and the woman was sent to prison. Don't let these people get away it, get the police involved!
 
EmmasMummy said:
I thought that it was a theft if someone INTENTIONALLY took the horse on loan or view to buy and never intended on paying for the animal or intended to sell it on...............so then it is theft - as has been stated in a few of the threads on the stolen forum.

I woudl say contact Missing horses online. Get his pic up and out there so that it is clear he is a stolen horse.
Click to expand...


I'm not going to argue but my original advice was correct in THESE cirumstances.

You could seek advice from ur local Citizens Advice. They are very helpful. Dont be worried by small claims court, it is quite easy, even without law knowledge. CAB can assist with it too. Very often solicitors give a 'free half hour' so it could be worth walking into your local one and just obtaining some advice.

Poor thing i really feel for your friend, such a horrible situation to be in!!!
 
Last edited:
1Lucie said:
Erm.... i'm afraid this is a misconception if i had understood the circumstances of this correctly. In these circumstances the offence in law of theft is incomplete, i'm sorry to say. The agreement relates to a verbal civil contract. 'Intentional' does not come into the definition of theft. Trust me, i am highly in the know ;)

You could seek advice from ur local Citizens Advice. They are very helpful. Dont be worried by small claims court, it is quite easy, even without law knowledge. CAB can assist with it too. Very often solicitors give a 'free half hour' so it could be worth walking into your local one and just obtaining some advice.

Poor thing i really feel for your friend, such a horrible situation to be in!!!
Click to expand...

Also 'highly in the know' albeit retired for a couple of years. This could be a theft, it could be a fraud. Either way the National Crime Recording Standards do require the Police to record that allegation of crime and conduct enquiries to determine which crime has been committed, they cannot dismiss this out of hand without at least getting an outline of what has happened so that they can make an informed decision.
 
I agree with what other have said also put pictures out on fb let everybody know whats happened, word spreads fast us horse girls love to gossip.
 
Having had a very similar experience happen to me earlier this year, i would definitely be calling the ad up finding out where the horse is and going with a trailer/lorry to fetch it! I did just this and luckily got mine back. I do know others have not been so fortunate. I couldn't believe it when i was browsing through the ads and came across my boy, who i thought was in one place and he was actually not. He was advertised under a different name, i called up, the chap made out he owned him, arranged to go and view him and bought him home with me! I have since reported this chap to trading standards, he is passing himself off as private but is most definitely a dealer! Oh and best of it was one of the pictures he used on an ad, was of me riding him! It was a very bad copy of a copy of a professional photo! The cheek of it!

Good luck and i hope your friend gets her horse back.
 
Go and pick the horse up if possible.

Go to where ads were placed and give shop owners a photo of horse and make them aware that it is stolen and trying to be sold on through them.

Pan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top