Opinions on Contract Please

[maestoso]

A few years ago I purchased a horse for the purpose of showing. The sales contract included show incentives, to be paid to me after the horse showed at AMHA shows. Here is the exact wording of the contract, minus the breeder's and horse's name.

"Seller with include $300 of show incentives with this purchase. This is payable directly to AMHA show management, or as cash reimursement for AMHA show entries or stalls at qualifying shows. Should buyer take (horse name) to AMHA Regionals or World shows, or AMHR Nationals, an additional $200 would be payable as above. The expenses must be incurred by (horse name) only."

As I said, this is all the contract says.

This is the only section on the contract that refers to show incentives. Now the facts;

I showed this horse and received the show incentives for the $300 at qualifying shows. At this time, the seller asked for a copy of the show entry form. She did not ask for any additional documentation(a copy of the check).

The horse was shown in ammy and open competition for these show incentives.

My partner also purchased a horse with the same show incentives and with a similar contract. I leased this horse and showed it in open and ammy competition. The owner received the show incentive money. The seller requested the show entry form but did not request any additional documentation. She also did not care that it was ME showing the horse and I was leasing the horse. It was still the owner who received the show incentives.

Last winter, I added two additional names as owners to my horse, but I never removed my name as owner, they were simply added. I competed this horse at AMHA regionals this past year, and a youth also competed the horse. We used the same entry form for both my entry and the youth's entry. One of the youth's family member's paid the entry fee for all entries, however I paid the family member back for the entries, and the youth was showing the horse on my behalf.

I recently requested the additional $200 in show incentives. The seller requested the entry form. After reviewing it, she has decided that I am not entitled to the show incentives, because in some of the classes it was the youth who showed and not me, and because it was not my check who paid for the entries.

I have absolutely no legal background, however it is my opinion that since who shows the horse is not specified on the contract, nor is payment of entries, I am still entitled to the show incentives. Had I sold the horse or transferred it out of my name, I could see where that would matter, but as I have owned the horse the entire time I believe the way the contract is worded should allow that I receive the incentives.

Furthermore, since the seller paid my partner her show incentives, even though the person who showed the horse and was leasing it was not the owner, I think it makes it pretty obvious that it is more of a personal issue than a contractual issue.

Looking for thoughts . . . Please do not make assumptions on who the breeder is, who the horse is, etc, and I will not answer these questions in PM's either. I am simply interested in your thoughts on the contract and this situation.

Thanks!

 

[RockRiverTiff]

"Seller with include $300 of show incentives with this purchase. This is payable directly to AMHA show management, or as cash reimursement for AMHA show entries or stalls at qualifying shows. Should buyer take (horse name) to AMHA Regionals or World shows, or AMHR Nationals, an additional $200 would be payable as above. The expenses must be incurred by (horse name) only."

It's a tricky situation. That said I think the fact that they do specifify that it must be the buyer taking the horse protects them in the above scenario. Even if they made allowances in the past (e.g. reimbursing your partner when you were showing their horse), that doesn't mean they're obligated to make those same exceptions again. Furthermore, they may have only made that earlier exception because you were also a client of theirs. Since we don't know their side, I hesitate to even imply what they're thinking in this situation, but they may be thinking that you only invited the youth to show the horse because you thought the breeder would cover it, when they're only obligated to cover expenses incurred by the original buyer. If the entry form shows someone else paying for the stall(s) and entries, then it's hard to prove that the buyer is the one that took the horse. It's semantics, I know, but legally it matters. On the other hand, I'm assuming the horse is still registered to you? I would think you would be reimbursed at the very least for the classes you showed the horse in. Have you explained all of this to them? Sent them proof that you reimbursed the family member?

 

[maestoso]

I did take the horse to regionals. I was entered in classes as well. I see this as no different if I had asked for a trainer to catch handle my horse in an open class, except in this case, it was a youth, not a trainer.

In this case, that family member is my partner, and one of the owners on the papers. She is also involved, so if it came to that, she would of course act as witness to the reimbursement. However, it was a cash exchange, so no, there is no proof.

The seller also offered to pay a partial amount of what she owed. As the seller and I are obviously not on good terms, I don't know anyone who is looking to give money away to someone they are unhappy with if they truly don't believe they owe them anything....

Thank you for the reply.