tricky dilemma

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nikkiandbrownie

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hi, am wondering if anyone can give me some advice please, i recently took a pony on a months lwvtb and left a non refundable deposit, it very quickly became apparent that he would not be suitable so i contacted owner to let her know i wished to return him, she has told me she has given up her stable and has nowhere to put him or the time to look after him, i have taken to texting and ringing every day to see if she has sorted anything and she either ignores me or says she will the next day, this has been going on for the past week and i am worried about how long this could go on, any suggestions, thanks
 
When you left the deposit/picked him up was there any talk of what would happen if he was unsuitable? Otherwise I would call her and if she answers tell her that the pony is just unsuitable, legally he is not yours and you do not want the deposit back, if she does not make plans to collect him etc then you will bring him to her, it isn't your fault she does not have room for him, she made an agreement! if she doesn't pick up I would send it her in a text adding that unless she texts back you will go ahead with your plans, good luck:)
 
The deposit you paid should have been used to keep her livery place, as there was every possibility that you would want to send it back, which is why I would expect the deposit to be non refundable, I hope you have something in writing to state the situation, it could otherwise be her word against yours if she really doesn't want it back and says that you have paid in full!!!
If you have her address, which should be on the passport, write to her, or even go round there, say that you are returning the pony on ??? day, to where he was collected from but I think it is most likely that you will end up with a pony you do not want and find it impossible to return.
You will need legal advice but you should be able to claim full ownership at some point and sell it on to recover your expenses.
 
ihatework said:
Drive him to the yard and leave him there !
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I would not allow a pony to be left at my yard if the owner has left, it is not the YO's job to take it back and deal with something that is out of their hands, it is what I would want to do but hardly fair.
 
charli_ said:
When you left the deposit/picked him up was there any talk of what would happen if he was unsuitable? Otherwise I would call her and if she answers tell her that the pony is just unsuitable, legally he is not yours and you do not want the deposit back, if she does not make plans to collect him etc then you will bring him to her, it isn't your fault she does not have room for him, she made an agreement! if she doesn't pick up I would send it her in a text adding that unless she texts back you will go ahead with your plans, good luck:)
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This ^ Lwvtb is not sale, he is hers and she needs to take responsibility for him. I'd give her a certain amount of time after initial contact to get livery, maybe 2 weeks and that's lenient. Then tell her if she doesn't take him back you will bring him to her, if she doesn't reply again pop him in her front garden and ring the bell. Sounds a bit mean but these kind of things can get easily out of control when someone is taking the mick
 
hi, thanks for all the replies, yes i have it in writing that he was on trial, i wouldnt just drop him off at the yard where i viewed him as it isnt the yard owners problem, as it is i cant even handle the pony and am having to pay for part livery, pony isnt malicious just tricky to handle and i am nervous which she knew, o dear looks like i may have been very naiive
 
Maybe point out that you will have to end your livery agreement on x date and ask her to arrange collection by then - force her hand
 
What exactly was agreed with the loan with view to buy? That you would have a month? Or that you could return at any point if not suitable?
 
i have already told her his livery is paid up till this friday but it hasnt moved things on at all, think i will have to join the bhs and ask for some advice tomorrow, thanks
 
verbally that he could be returned if not suitable at any point, its a mute point tho really as she gave her stable up the same day i took him so whether i kept him for a day or a month there would be no stable for him to go back to, obv i didnt know at the time that she had given up stable although am not sure if that would have made me wary or not
 
Oh dear OP, this isn't what you want to hear but I've got this horrible sinking feeling that you've been "had"...........

The "loan" as such, was with a "view to buy". So if the pony turns out to be unsuitable, then that means the "loan" is null and void.

You may need to ratchet up the pressure with the owner; e.g. tell her that you will be returning the pony at such-and-such a date (end of this week was mentioned earlier) and that you will expect her to be at the yard the pony came from or any another premises she may nominate to receive it.

You may have to forfeit your non-returnable deposit, that is fair enough; but it looks like this owner has been very adept at fobbing off an unsuitable pony with the first person that came along.

It would be good to set out something in writing to give to the owner by recorded delivery, i.e. reminding her of the conditions of the lwvtb and that as the pony has proved unsuitable you now wish to return it in line with the terms of the "loan", and that if she refuses to have the pony back you will have no option but to offset any future livery/veterinary costs against the possible sale of the pony to recoup your losses.

Note: not that you CAN sell the pony at the mo coz its not yours!!! - BUT it won't hurt to threaten it!

It wouldn't hurt to ask around locally; as often this type of seller has done this trick before, i.e. send a grossly unsuitable/unsaleable pony to an unsuspecting (usually novice, no offence to OP) punter and then jib at having it back. Shame on sellers like this as it gives the genuine people that make an effort to put the right rider/pony combination together a bad name:( This sort of thing makes me very angry indeed TBH.
 
The idea to join the BHS is the best plan so far. I wonder if the threat of legal action if she doesn't find somewhere to keep HER horse in the next five days.

Do you know where she lives? Is she an adult or a child/teenager - is there a parent you could contact?
 
You can serve them with an abandonment notice and then when the term has passed sell to recoup losses. I do believe though that the owner just wants rid :(
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Oh dear OP, this isn't what you want to hear but I've got this horrible sinking feeling that you've been "had"...........

The "loan" as such, was with a "view to buy". So if the pony turns out to be unsuitable, then that means the "loan" is null and void.

You may need to ratchet up the pressure with the owner; e.g. tell her that you will be returning the pony at such-and-such a date (end of this week was mentioned earlier) and that you will expect her to be at the yard the pony came from or any another premises she may nominate to receive it.

You may have to forfeit your non-returnable deposit, that is fair enough; but it looks like this owner has been very adept at fobbing off an unsuitable pony with the first person that came along.

It would be good to set out something in writing to give to the owner by recorded delivery, i.e. reminding her of the conditions of the lwvtb and that as the pony has proved unsuitable you now wish to return it in line with the terms of the "loan", and that if she refuses to have the pony back you will have no option but to offset any future livery/veterinary costs against the possible sale of the pony to recoup your losses.

Note: not that you CAN sell the pony at the mo coz its not yours!!! - BUT it won't hurt to threaten it!

It wouldn't hurt to ask around locally; as often this type of seller has done this trick before, i.e. send a grossly unsuitable/unsaleable pony to an unsuspecting (usually novice, no offence to OP) punter and then jib at having it back. Shame on sellers like this as it gives the genuine people that make an effort to put the right rider/pony combination together a bad name:( This sort of thing makes me very angry indeed TBH.
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Actually she could, she could put a lien on it and sell it after x amount of days to recover her costs for paying for part livery costs incurred after Friday.
 
gosh what a can of worms, deposit was only £200 am not bothered about money just want it sorting, poor pony in the middle of all this, strangely enough am not a novice, but can understand why you would think it haha, after getting myself into this, i do have his passport but she hadnt updated it ( i know, i know), am giving her tomorrow to reply and then am going to ring bhs and txt saying livery paid till friday as i communicated last friday and after that the yard owner will be holding passport and all bills incurred will need to be paid to him in order to remove pony, not sure if this is legal or not but will try it, does that sound reasonable, thankyou all, was beginning to think i was being unreasonable
 
Just a thought, maybe contact the previous owners, just to check.
Was it your idea to take him on a trial?
 
nikkiandbrownie said:
gosh what a can of worms, deposit was only £200 am not bothered about money just want it sorting, poor pony in the middle of all this, strangely enough am not a novice, but can understand why you would think it haha, after getting myself into this, i do have his passport but she hadnt updated it ( i know, i know), am giving her tomorrow to reply and then am going to ring bhs and txt saying livery paid till friday as i communicated last friday and after that the yard owner will be holding passport and all bills incurred will need to be paid to him in order to remove pony, not sure if this is legal or not but will try it, does that sound reasonable, thankyou all, was beginning to think i was being unreasonable
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Hmmm that's a hard one, to be fair you have the contract with your yo... Have you discussed this with your yo, is he/she happy with this approach? I would only do this if yo has agreed to this.
 
yes the trial was my idea, will discuss with yard owner in the morning, have checked with registered owner on passport and she confirmed he was sold, i traced her through fb but hasnt replied to any further questions about who he was sold etc
 
Queenbee said:
Actually she could, she could put a lien on it and sell it after x amount of days to recover her costs for paying for part livery costs incurred after Friday.
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Lol you've never been a livery yard owner then. It is not a case of just putting a lien on a horse and selling it after x amount of days. It's a long and involved process in the UK to recoup monies that way. Over here it's simple; registered letter after 14 days, advertise horse owned by whomever is going to such and such an auction (MUST be sold by public auction) and sit and wait. They usually pay up and then you tell them to vacate. In the UK it is far more involved. Anyhow this lady is not the livery yard owner and really is in a sticky position if the owner will not take the horse back. BHS is definitely where you need to go OP, they should hopefully have come across this before and will be able to advise you on the steps you need to take.
 
Even if you are not going to drop the horse back I would still be getting in the car and driving to both the yard you picked up from and from her home address.

I would also contact the owners previous to her just to make sure nothing dodgy has gone on.

Finally I would make arrangements to minimise your ongoing costs while this is all going on. It's summer, take yhe horses shoes off and put the horse in a field 24/7 - advise the owner immediately that you intend to do this (and keep evidence). Then advise her that the cost of field keep will be £x and the cost of care will be £10 a day which will be persued via legal routes
 
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