Poor little pony - advanced arthritis and unscrupulous seller

Rachmeister

Rachmeister

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Poor little pony- a friend bought a lovely 13.2 pony club pony from an apparently nice lady recently. The pony was unshod, about 8 years old, my friend's daughter tried her, jumped her in a sand school and the pony had a fantastic jump. The pony was cheap so not vetted. The day after arrival at new home the pony was shod and became hopping lame. Immediate trip to the vets and nerve blocks showed advanced arthritis in one fetlock with others bad too. It's unlikely that the pony can ever be ridden and may not even be able to cope with companion pony status due to the amount of pain she is obviously in. She could not have been sound when she was tried without a large amount of bute and anti inflamatories in her system. Some people make me sick!!

My friend actually tried to take her back 3 days after purchase and got as far as unloading the pony but the previous owner took charge, had her farrier take off the hind shoes (he was conveniently there) and just shoved the pony back on friend's trailer!! The only option now is the small claims court, but the expenses continue to mount up.

I have volunteered to look after the pony for the next few weeks at my yard to help out because the little girl who was to own the pony is devastated.

Has anyone got any tips for making the pony's advanced arthritis as comfortable as possible for her before the owner can make a decision as to whether to PTS or whether she can be a companion (not a good idea to breed from her I guess)?
 
Not a good idea to breed from her - if shes in enough pain as it is, to then have weight of a foal inside her.
Talk to the vet, pain killers might help? And deep bed if in stable, thats all i can think of really

And thats awful of the owner! Could make a case on false advertising?
 
How sad, some people are a disgrace. Definitely see the vet, she should be on bute or danilon all the time really. And I definitely wouldn't breed from her, given she has arthritis at such a young age - not to mention the weight of the foal. Also she should probably be kept out 24/7 as this will keep the joints mobile - stabling can be one of the worst things for arthritics.

Good luck with her, and I hope the seller gets what they deserve in the courts.
 
Thank you. I was planning to put her out in a large field 24/7 with not too much grass and another little quiet pony mare for a friend. We'll dose her with bute and anti inflamatories until she recovers from the current flare up. Definitely not planning to breed her.

My friend has had a comprehensive (read expensive) vet's report done about her condition which gives the opinion that it must have been a pre-existing condition, so she should be ok to go to court, but it's never something that should be done lightly as its so emotionally draining.
 
If your friend bought the pony privately there is nothing she can do about it being lame. The law only provides for you to sue a professional horse dealer, so they would have to show the seller was a dealer and not a private seller.

I think the legal term is caveat preemptor - let the buyer beware.

I know it is sad, and very wrong of the seller to have done this, but the onus is on the buyer to have any pony vetted prior to purchase, there is no such thing as a cheap pony. They all cost the same to look after.
 
I am not sure that's right - the Sale of Goods Act does apply to individuals too, doesn't it? The pony was clearly not fit for purpose and an attempt was made to return it almost immediately.

Anyway, as I said earlier, its hard work suing anyone and not to be done lightly.

Thanks for your sympathy. I am very sorry for the poor pony who may have been shuffled around.
 
OK just checked up and you are right - Sale of Goods Act does not apply unless she was a dealer (and there is some evidence that she was) so caveat emptor applies. However, the goods must be "as described" and the pony is not a "pony club pony" if it can't do any pony club activites, so she may have a remedy there.

Thanks again for your help.
 
I apologise in advance if I've mis-understood and this is a stupid line of thought.... But, was the pony sound when it was tried without shoes? OK so you've found its got a problem but could it either a) cope with its arthritis unshod, or b) could it cope with its arthritis anyway but it was lamed in its feet as well during shoeing. Is it sound now the shoes are off?
 
Not a stupid question at all! The pony was checked at the vet and nerve blocked in various places which shows the lameness is not in the foot at all therefore shoes could not have made much difference other than to shift her balance a bit and maybe make her pain a bit worse. When her fetlock was nerve blocked she was 100% sound. She is obviously a lot better on bute too. Taking the shoes off did not change the degree of lameness. The previous owner said she was a bit footsore and recommended putting shoes on her. Hmmm.
 
Such a shame for the buyer, but really does highlight how important a vetting really is.
Why did your friend let her remove the hind shoes? Unless the buyer had agreed to take the pony back I wouldn't have let her touch the poor thing! And having meddled by removing the shoes, I certainly wouldn't have let her put it back on the trailer!
 
I dont think she had a choice - she was outnumbered and not willing to have a physical argument over this. She couldnt stop what was happening sadly. Very bad experience it seems.

You are of course right about vetting though not sure whether it would have shown up on a vetting if the pony had loads of bute in its system?
 
What a rotten thing to have happened, especially when there is a child involved. If your friend has got the original advert, she may well have a good case against the seller as the pony is clearly not as described. Even though this was a private sale, there is still legal comback. With regard to the arthritis. I have a 9 year old mare with arthritis of the coffin joint (diagnosed through nerve blocks and xrays). I have found that a good joint supplement and remedial shoeing has worked wonders. She is now on a bute-alternative supplement as well and is no longer on any danilon. She was extremely lame at one time but is now back to being a happy hacker. So although your friend's pony will not be up to jumping, the prognosis doesn't have to be bad.
 
My horse has arthritis in the fetlock joint and very severe arthritis at that..... It was also more than likely there when I bought him and when he was (and passed) 5 stage vetted!!!
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It only came to light when he was x-rayed to see why his fetlocks dont match!! The vet at the time said that I would be lucky to be able to ride him at all and at best it would be in walk and in straight lines
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I use no pain killers and just a suppliment called Easy Joint by Equiform Nutrition..... it is £66 for three months so not bank breaking and maybe worth a try???

Merlin is very much in full work, with the only restriction being not to school him endlessly in circles...... not something that appeals to me anyway..... we do hack but in all paces not just walk..... and for up to four hours at a time!! He has yet to go lame again (the diagnosis was 2 years ago)!!!

Good luck to your friend whatever she decides to do
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