Removing a livery.

SonnysHumanSlave

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A friend of mine runs a small livery yard, and has given one of her liveries notice to leave for various reasons. She has had 30days notice and that ends this weds coming.

She has asked livery several times when she is moving horse etc. But livery has avoided answering and is quite surprised shes been asked to vacate.

My friend has a suspicion that she just wont leave on weds, but then what should my friend do?

How do you actually move on a livery after that?

Said person probably wont even visit her horse on that day (one of the reasons shes getting booted)

She has asked me to post this as she's not a member but would like some advice.

Many Thanks
 
Is she a BHS gold member? May be worth joining for the legal advice, or if not, getting a solicitor to write a letter on their headed paper warning of legal action if horse not removed. We own a small repair garage, and thats what we do if someone doesn't pay, and it usually works..
 
I think she'll need a solicitor, sorry. The only thing I can think of to maybe push things along a little is a letter suggesting she relinquish ownership of the horse for overdue livery bills for December and January unless she moves off immediately. However I've no idea if this is legal or not, hence the suggestion to get a solicitor involved.
 
She is a member of BHS so shes going to ring them on monday and get some advice.
Its a bit of a weird one, I think she wants girl to just go, and forget the 2 months, as long as shes gone, at least its not another months debt.
 
oh and she still owes Decembers and Januarys rent.
Under certain circumstances she can impound the horse and sell it to recoup the debt. However, she needs legal advice. Most solicitors participate in a system where a new client can have a short consultation for no fee (I have a feeling it's 15 minutes but I can't quite remember as it's a while since I did this). Alternatively, if she is a BHS gold member she can get legal advice from BHS.
 
I'd get all her belongings, leave them at the gate & tell her she's banned from the yard. She can have her horse back the day she coughs up the money owed & moves the horse elsewhere. No idea of the legalities of this though! Good luck with it all.
 
Does she have tack there that could be kept by livery owner? Depends what the horse is like whether you'd want to threaten selling it, she might jump at the chance but then YO will have another horse to be responsible for! I don't think I'd do it that way myself, imagine if it incurred a vets bill!

Solicitors letter sounds a good way to go, maybe the woman is just acting sheepish as she has not organised it yet.
 
this is one reason why all yard owners need to have a contract in place for each and every livery from the word go stating what measures come into place when money is owed and what will be kept back by YO in lieu of debt.

its a horrible situation having to evict a reluctant owner and a good equine solicitor is the only way to go.

depending on how much money is owed id be more inclined to impound tack (if worth anything) than the horse which is going to go on costing her money and time to feed and house until and IF the debt is paid.

unless she just wants rid asap and to hell with the owed rent?

in these kind of situations i know of YO that have tied the horse to the gate off their property until the owner has no choice but to remove it but its a difficult one as you have to be pretty hard hearted to do that and not a course of action i would take.

solicitor asap monday i think.

goodluck. being a YO 'aint easy. :(
 
my YO takes all tack/rugs/personal belongings etc and locks them away until the bill is paid, they can take the horses but if they don't pay she gets the tack, even if it's not worth much it's still an inconvenience to the owner. if they pay she lets them have it, she always tells them they have a month to pay up and collect.
 
Sounds like a nightmare. I like the idea of packing up all her stuff in boxes to be removed, and banning her from the yard till she pays up, or failing that removes her horse and boxes.
 
At the first place i kept my horse the land owner had the same problem.
He sent her a letter saying that if they were nt removed by a given date then the landowner would remove them himself. We were just going to tie them up in her garden to be honest.
Sure enought they were removed the day before the given date. I know everyone will bang on about how its illegal to do that , but to be honest with owners neglecting their horses on your land its a loose loose siteation, If you feed them the welfare organisations won t help and if you neglect them evan if they are not yours then you are ultimatley responsible.
The landowner succsesfully sued for money owned but it was a bit of a waste of time really as the horses owners pleaded poverty when told to pay up anyways.
 
Our YO turfs the horse out into the field if the bill is left unpaid for more than 2 months. In fact, she has just done it with one of the liveries who is 3 months in arrears. The horse stays out until the bill is paid and then it can come back in.
 
Hello

I am the yard owner in question, thanks very much for your replies :)
The livery in question is a grass livery client, to be honest the money isn't that important to me as not a huge amount, I just want her off the yard. Her horse is being neglected as well as is only fed because I feed her! She has been given 30 days notice in writing and this expires on Weds. I get the feeling that she is in no hurry to leave, after all she is not paying rent and I feed her horse, her email doesn't work and her phone goes straight to voicemail, so all correspondence has to be by letter or text. She doesn't have tack as horses is ex racer that is being turned away for a few months, so nothing I can 'take' until rent paid

I will be contacting the BHS helpline in the morning for advice. I am changing locks on tackroom today, as concerned things might go 'missing'

I am ensuring I get references from previous yards for any future clients and will get a contract drawn up, you live and learn

Thank you again
 
Depending on the hardness of the person could you put a claim through the small claims court?

If you did this, I would do it for full livery - as essentially you are providing full livery.

Clearly, they may be the type to completely ignore this, but it may just give them a wake up call that you are serious, without having to spend too much on legal fees.
 
Sorry so comment or suggestions but best of luck - I too wouldn't worry about the money, just to get shot of her will be enough by the sound of it! x
 
Our YO turfs the horse out into the field if the bill is left unpaid for more than 2 months. In fact, she has just done it with one of the liveries who is 3 months in arrears. The horse stays out until the bill is paid and then it can come back in.

Bit harsh on the horse, it's hardly his fault owner hasn't paid up.
 
When she was at home could you box the horse over to her house and tie it to her gate? Use a bit of baler twine or whatever. I work at a yard and that was what we were going to do with a non payer, but she coughed up and took the horse at the last minute.
 
Does she care about the horse at all? A threat to take ownership and sell the horse may just be what she wants to get rid herself (as she;s not visiting and not paying for it she doesn't sound like a loving owner!)

Can you send her an amended livery contract allowing you to take ownership for debts (lien I think it's called), realistically an ex racer not in work might take some selling in Jan! So you may need to seriously consider other more perminant alternatives to stop having to pay for it yourself.
Sorry your in such a tough situation but given the climate I can see this type of scenario becoming more common sadly.
 
Totally irresponsible to suggest tying the horse to a garden gate.

The YO would probably be able to take a lien on the horse against livery due. And may also be advised that the owner can be prevented from entering the yard once notice is up. With any further costs being racked up applying to the lien.

If the owner refuses to leave it may take a court order ultimately.
 
Totally irresponsible to suggest tying the horse to a garden gate.

The YO would probably be able to take a lien on the horse against livery due. And may also be advised that the owner can be prevented from entering the yard once notice is up. With any further costs being racked up applying to the lien.

If the owner refuses to leave it may take a court order ultimately.


if the YO as she says, isn't pursuing the owed rent, while i agree with you about removing the horse from her property, it may be her only choice.

be interesting to see what the BHS legal recommend in this situ.

Would you need a Court Order to evict a horse though anyway Amy, as isn't a horse only deemed a chattel (possession) in law ?
 
send a recorded letter detailing how much she owes and that it must be paid in full upon the final date of her notice period. inform her that from this date she will be incurring £20 per day full livery charges and that failure to pay in full and remove her horse within 14 days of this date will result in you treating the horse as abandoned and that you will enter it into the next local sale. you will then deduct all monies owing including transport to the sale from the proceeds and that balance will be paid to her.
this should get a response at the very least.
 
send a recorded letter detailing how much she owes and that it must be paid in full upon the final date of her notice period. inform her that from this date she will be incurring £20 per day full livery charges and that failure to pay in full and remove her horse within 14 days of this date will result in you treating the horse as abandoned and that you will enter it into the next local sale. you will then deduct all monies owing including transport to the sale from the proceeds and that balance will be paid to her.
this should get a response at the very least.


This is what our YO did however it didn't get the client to pay up and the horse went to the sales...However the horse sold for so little it only overed the fuel costs of getting it to market, not the full costs of livery, feed and bedding owed.
I've seen so many horses go through the sales lately to pay debts, such a shame it comes to this but sometimes it's the only option the YO is left with.
 
Hi this is not good.If it was me I would tell the owna that you are going to involve the police and would horse welfare if the horse is not gone by Wednesday see what she comes back with.good luck
 
But the horse is worthless, an out of work ex racer in January, as has already been said. I think if she doesn't take it the YO is going to have it PTS, which is a whole new can of worms.
 
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