Update on new horse w bronked me off -how do i get my money back?

I've also been thru this nightmare.

Firstly, who did you make the cheque payable to? If it was the ex husband, then this woman was technically acting as an agent. that was the stategy used to screw me.

as mentioned by everyone else, you do need to speak to a solicitor. they will run a CCJ (county court judgement) search on the vendor to see if there are any orders already against them. the blunt truth is that there is no point in taking legal action if the otherside do not have the money to refund the purchase or your legal fees.

something to bear in mind, when i faced this in 2002 we were advised that the legal fees were likely to be in the region of 10K for each side, and the loser gets the othersides costs.

our case progressed for about 4 or 5 months until it became clear that the other side were going to claim that the horse was a reformed character. i had a lot of evidence of previous dangerous behavour. the horse had also been sent to Rossdales for bone scans etc.

our solicitor advised us not to proceed as she thought the judgement would be 50/50. in total we lost around £10k (puirchase price/livery etc), but this would have been 30k if we had gone to court and lost. i had also heard gossip that the riding school owned by the vendor (NB agent told me owner was "total novice") had bad reputation for paying bills, and was sold some months after this debacle.

I assume you have googled your horse's name. Any old competition results might help to track down info about the horse's behavour. contacting previous owners shown in passport yields oodles of info.

if you get info from a previous owner, get them to put it in writing before you commence proceedings. the previous owner, to the one I bought the horse from via the agent (if that makes sense) verbally told me that the horse was extremely sharp and not good with traffic. she had sold the horse to my vendor only 18 mths previously, and once i started action provided the vendor a written statement saying horse was fine. I'm guessing she was concerned about being sued herself.

sorry to be so negative, but there are a minority of folks out there who do not give a damn about your safety or the future of the horse they are dumping
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I really feel for you Donadea as I have been in pretty much exactly the same situation. A horse I bought randomly flipped out and bronked me off after a week of owning him and turned out to be an utter full on rodeo style psycho. The person I bought him from was adament he had never ever done anything like it before and like a sucker I spent £1000s more on vets, diagnostics, physio, chiro, pro schooling and god knows what else. I battled on for months, was thrown off without warning on a regular basis, suffered numerous injuries and lost a hell of a lot of confidence.

Six months after buying him he threw me off for the last time and I vowed never to get back on him. His only saving grace was that he was well bred, young, and had a lot of potential so I cut my losses and he was sold cheap to a reputable comp horse dealer who found him an excellent pro home who did very well with him before deciding he was too strong for them and sold him to another pro! I wish to god I had had the sense to try and send him back that very first week he decked me.

You are definitely doing the right thing; £6k is a lot of money, but you stand to lose even more if you decide to invest a lot of cash in getting to the bottom of his issues.

I wish you the very very best of luck as it is an awful situation to be in
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As you bought from a private seller, I'd be wary of going down the legal battle route - I tried it in a similar position and lost, ended up worse off than ever with legal fees to pay and an unwanted horse! Unfortunately, It is impossible to prove that the horse had ever misbehaved before you got him. Of course, anyone with a brain would agree that he must have done, but circumstantial evidence doesn't count in a court of law. In my case, the lawer for the defence claimed that the 'stress of the journey and change of yard could have brought about a change in the horse's behaviour' (my new horse cribbed, napped and bucked) and this was all the judge needed to hear. I even had a vet testify that these behaviours are highly unlikely to develop overnight etc but it didn't help.

As he wasn't exactly cheap, I think you would be best to send the horse to a reputable professional for selling livery so the horse can be schooled and sold on to another professional or very experienced amateur with the least heartache and expense to yourself. Presumably, the horse either has some previous competition form, or potential, to have warrented the original price tag to any degree. There is sure to be someone out there who is expert enough to deal with this horse's problems if they think they might get a decent competition horse at the end of it. Then then you might be able to recoup some of your money, buy a new genuine horse and put it all down to experience. Don't give up! I've lost loads of money on horses in the past, it just makes you that bit more savvy for the next time!
 
Thanks for all the comments and advice. In answer to some of the points raised, I did a direct bank transfer to the woman who showed him to me, and I assume she then passed the money on to her ex-husband who is the owner of the horse.
There is no possibility of contacting former owners, as the aforementioned ex-husband bred him so I suppose technically I am his first owner. I know he has never been out competing and has no registered name in his passport.
As I think I mentioned above, the woman who sold me the horse is a professional rider, and she did offer when I phoned to take him back to sell him for me, so I suppose that is an option but I'm going to push for a direct refund first as I just want this over as soon as possible now. Plus I don't want to be responsible for him being sold on to some other poor hapless person and hurting them as well.
When I tried him she said that if I didn't buy him he was probably going to go showjumping, presumably with a professional, so perhaps that would be the best option for him. (He is actually bred for jumping anyway - has Concorde bloodlines).
Anyway I will keep you all posted what happens.
 
if you made the payment to this woman, then I think your case is against her, not the husband. if, big if, she is a dealer then you may have a case. Trading standards do prosecute sometimes.

i hate to say it, but on the info you have provided, I think you will have a real struggle to get a court to back you. as i mentioned before my solicitor didn't advise proceeding even though i had credible witness statements (list 1 judge, international dealer etc) as to the horse's past behavour.

the agent in my case also suggested that i send the horse back and she would sell it on my behalf. i rejected that option as, one, didn't want responsibility for anyone else getting injured, and two, did not want the horse returned to me by angry purchaser.

can i suggest that you google the seller's phone numbers.you might discover if she sells enuogh horses to be considered a dealer.

good luck
 
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Firstly, who did you make the cheque payable to? If it was the ex husband, then this woman was technically acting as an agent. that was the stategy used to screw me.


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Thanks for confirming this. When I bought my dangerous mare the woman got us to make the cheque out to her partner, not her, and while I decided not to pursue returning the mare, I've always suspected this would be the case anyway. She was also a dealer, not advertising as a dealer. Some people are just utter money-grabbing b'stards.

The cheque thing is something everyone should be aware of. Plus if you buy a horse from a dealer "on behalf of client", you don't have many rights.
 
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Plus if you buy a horse from a dealer "on behalf of client", you don't have many rights.

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I've always thought that dealers state that the horse is on 'selling livery' or being sold on behalf of a client, to absolve them of any blame if things turn bad.

In a friends' case also, part of the case is trying to prove the dealer is/was a dealer in the first place!

If they don't have a selling website or distribute leaflets / advertise as such, it's quite hard to prove that they deal and then you don't have the Sales of Goods Act to fall back on.
 
I am sure all your other H&H forum friends will agree with me ,that youve got guts getting back onthis horse.Respect,but dont do it again ,its not worth it.The horse knows how to get rid of you.Continuing like this will only reinforce the behavioural problemand may get you seriously hurt. Right now you need some experts,a good lawyer, and a really knowlegable "rough rider"who can sit on the horse and tell you whether its a rogue or just needs rebreaking(I hate the word breaking,it implys all the wrong things). If I needed the services of a good rider ,unafraid to get on a potential rogue,I would ask about from the local hunt. Keep us informed,and dont do anything rash that might get you hurt. Mike
 
I agree with chestnuttymare about the lawyer sending a letter. I think a lot of people say they are selling on behalf of someone else, which they think is a way to get out of their responsibilities, so it is quite a good reply to say that they must be a dealer then and subject to Sale of Goods and being suitable for purpose

Get advice from BHS, Trading Standards and Citizens Advice.
 
Look at all these peopl who have been in the same boat. Horse buying is a real hit or miss i think.
Agree with Mike, don't get back on him, i pretty much know you have made that decision anyway. Becoming a mother changes your whole attitude towards things like this. You always have to remember that there is someone who is totally dependent on you.
Riding is about risk-assesment, it it doesn't feel right, then don't do it.
 
keep claim under 5k and it goes thro small claims court!!Only costs £120 to put your claim in.You DONT need solicitors,thats the whole point of small claims.(i was advised by a solicitor to defend myself with use of a witness)and all the info you have on the seller and horse. Seems theres so much of this going on and people get away with it as it does cause so much stress!!! BUT stick to your guns and see her in court if thats the route u want to go down! Take horse to selling yard to sell on 4 you and claim the amout you have lost back!!! This way leaves you free to maybe get another horse(if u havent been put off),!No point keeping a dangerous horse&the longer you keep it,the more attached you will be!You can ask around to see if anyone else has had this same prob from this so called pro rider!!
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