Who is resonsable for sold horse?

[Just Us N Texas]

When you buy a horse at auction, you are the owner and responsible for the horse at fall of hammer. Wouldn't you think the same would apply when bought privately if there is no contract? Once at a TB breeding sale, we sold a very very expensive broodmare to a Japanese gentleman. She was carrying a foal. When the buyers' agent came to the barn to pick her up, all was fine, but when she went to step on the horse van, she pulled back, reared, went down and broke her neck. That man was out several hundred thousand dollars in a split second. Of course, he could have bought insurance before the sale that would cover at the fall of the hammer, any horses he purchased. I don't know if he had the ins. or not. At any rate, I believe the buyer is responsible for the horse when it has been purchased and paid for.

 

[Songcatcher]

I would also just like to point out that what is legal and what is good business may be two different things.

I recently bought a mare and foal (verbal agreement with someone I admire and trust greatly). I sent a check with the understanding that it may be close to two months before they could be picked up. A couple of weeks later, the seller informed me that the colt had been stepped on and died. He offered to refund my money. I told him, "No, I still want the mare." I do not feel he was obligated to offer a refund, but it was nice of him to offer and that is one of the reasons I think so highly of him.

 

[Davie]

Songcatcher, I agree with you that each situation is different.

In the event something did happen to a horse that I sold I would always try to be fair to the buyer as I want a happy client. That said, there are some folks you will never please no matter what you do, therefor the wording in contracts. It is always a good business practice to be willing to be fair--like in your case the offer of a return of your funds.

The bottom line, when your in business, you try to have happy customers, but no matter what you do, you can't please everyone.

 

[Songcatcher]

Songcatcher, I agree with you that each situation is different.
In the event something did happen to a horse that I sold I would always try to be fair to the buyer as I want a happy client. That said, there are some folks you will never please no matter what you do, therefor the wording in contracts. It is always a good business practice to be willing to be fair--like in your case the offer of a return of your funds.

The bottom line, when your in business, you try to have happy customers, but no matter what you do, you can't please everyone.

I totally agree.

 

[Carolyn R]

Insurance is deffinately the best way to go. Mortality and medical. Once the horse is delivered, you still have insurance for the rest of the year. There are those cases where a horse will get shipping fever, hurt in transit, or even catch a bug at its new home, something in the environment that your horses are already immune to. With that said, it is not the sellers fault, and not your fault, heck, even if it caught shipping fever from seemingly healthy horses that had their health cert. it is not the shippers fault either, this way you are protected.

It protects both parties involved.

I have in the past kept a horse for an agreed amount of time. It was spelled out that up until 30 days the horse, if the horse was at my place, they were my responsability, after 30 days, the horse was to be paid full and all responsability was the buyers. If it was not picked up by the end of 30 days, board was to be charged based on a daily set amount. Once the horse left the property, wether it be with the buyer or with a third party shipper/transporter, I am released of any and all responsabilities of that animal. There are no gaurantees expressed or implied, unless otherwise stated in the contract, on any animal once it leaves the property.

The gaurantees would be if a mare was sold in foal and miscarried, the owner would have the option to breed her back for free after she had been seen by a vet and had a culture done.

I also welcome vet checks and offer the chance to speak with my vet (s).

I have in the past, had a mare miscarry before she left, but after 30 days. The buyer was given the option to back out, but they didn't, so, as a good faith measure I took the board money from the horse(s) they purchased and applied it to the vet bill because it was the right thing to do. Yes, they did assume ALL responsability after 30 days, it was their duty to pay the bill, it was my choice, and it was clearly stated that it was a one time gift, so to speak.

Carolyn

 

[DarkhHorseFarms]

This is taken from my sales contract:

All veterinary costs after the HORSE is paid for in any form (terms or in full) become the sole responsibility of the BUYERS.

This has worked well for us in the past years.

Once there was an issue with a horse being sold and having to stay for a few weeks. He was being paid for on paymrnts. At one point he needed veterinary care and because it was spelled out in the contract, the buyer understood it was their responsibility.

 

[lil hoofbeats]

We have a situation now, we sold a colt to a lady, she SLOWLY paid the deposite in 2 installments. She was told the colt needed to be picked up by June the 15th(she lives one hour a way). I gave her till the first of July, and she still did not send final payment, and just could not make time to come get him( i think because she did not have the rest of the money) . She said she would come get him last weekend, and again could not make it! and it is now AUGUST! This past week he was kicked apparently by one of the other horses, and had a calapsed Trachea, and we had the vet out, but he could not be saved. I spent half the night with the vet, and the other half crying, and upset. We have all this documented by us and the VET, . So now i have a vet bill on what i consider HER horse, and she never finished paying for him. Do i give her the deposite back? she had not recieved the colt prior to his death.

My feelings are that if she had NOT been DELINQUENT in paying and picking up her colt, the colt would still be alive. Not only should i not give her money back, but she should finish paying for him and his VET bill. I am not here to be a FREE boarding facility. Unfortunately, she has not contacted me about him, so she still has no idea yet that he is deceased. The real looser here was the poor colt. If he was picked up by now, he would not have gotten kicked and would still be alive.

My feelings are that once you buy a horse it is your horse. We keep horses that we have sold here for people with transportation issues, and will work with them. We take extra care to make sure they are safe and well fed and healthy for their new owners. We run our farm as a business, I am not here for the buyers ENTERTAINMENT or CONVENIENCE Unfortunatley we cannot and will not guarentee life. If you are concerned about a horse that you buy from us , we welcome vet inspections, and suggest insurance. That will protect the buyer.

 

[Charley]

We have a situation now, we sold a colt to a lady, she SLOWLY paid the deposite in 2 installments. She was told the colt needed to be picked up by June the 15th(she lives one hour a way). I gave her till the first of July, and she still did not send final payment, and just could not make time to come get him( i think because she did not have the rest of the money) . She said she would come get him last weekend, and again could not make it! and it is now AUGUST! This past week he was kicked apparently by one of the other horses, and had a calapsed Trachea, and we had the vet out, but he could not be saved. I spent half the night with the vet, and the other half crying, and upset. We have all this documented by us and the VET, . So now i have a vet bill on what i consider HER horse, and she never finished paying for him. Do i give her the deposite back? she had not recieved the colt prior to his death.
My feelings are that if she had NOT been DELINQUENT in paying and picking up her colt, the colt would still be alive. Not only should i not give her money back, but she should finish paying for him and his VET bill. I am not here to be a FREE boarding facility. Unfortunately, she has not contacted me about him, so she still has no idea yet that he is deceased. The real looser here was the poor colt. If he was picked up by now, he would not have gotten kicked and would still be alive.

My feelings are that once you buy a horse it is your horse. We keep horses that we have sold here for people with transportation issues, and will work with them. We take extra care to make sure they are safe and well fed and healthy for their new owners. We run our farm as a business, I am not here for the buyers ENTERTAINMENT or CONVENIENCE Unfortunatley we cannot and will not guarentee life. If you are concerned about a horse that you buy from us , we welcome vet inspections, and suggest insurance. That will protect the buyer.

I am so sorry for your loss. That is really sad.

My feelings are that the sale was never complete as she did not make the final payment only the deposit. He would not have left your farm without this payment so he was still your colt. As to refunding the money, that is usually set out in the sales agreement that stipulates the down payment, and the payment schedule and all the other stipulations such as what is refundable. I'm sure you will do what you know is right and fair.

 

[Jill]

We have a situation now, we sold a colt to a lady, she SLOWLY paid the deposite in 2 installments. She was told the colt needed to be picked up by June the 15th(she lives one hour a way). I gave her till the first of July, and she still did not send final payment, and just could not make time to come get him( i think because she did not have the rest of the money) . She said she would come get him last weekend, and again could not make it! and it is now AUGUST! This past week he was kicked apparently by one of the other horses, and had a calapsed Trachea, and we had the vet out, but he could not be saved. I spent half the night with the vet, and the other half crying, and upset. We have all this documented by us and the VET, . So now i have a vet bill on what i consider HER horse, and she never finished paying for him. Do i give her the deposite back? she had not recieved the colt prior to his death.
My feelings are that if she had NOT been DELINQUENT in paying and picking up her colt, the colt would still be alive. Not only should i not give her money back, but she should finish paying for him and his VET bill. I am not here to be a FREE boarding facility. Unfortunately, she has not contacted me about him, so she still has no idea yet that he is deceased. The real looser here was the poor colt. If he was picked up by now, he would not have gotten kicked and would still be alive.

My feelings are that once you buy a horse it is your horse. We keep horses that we have sold here for people with transportation issues, and will work with them. We take extra care to make sure they are safe and well fed and healthy for their new owners. We run our farm as a business, I am not here for the buyers ENTERTAINMENT or CONVENIENCE Unfortunatley we cannot and will not guarentee life. If you are concerned about a horse that you buy from us , we welcome vet inspections, and suggest insurance. That will protect the buyer.

I am sorry about the colt, and I agree with your perspective on the issue. The way I see it, the colt was still at your place only because you were going above and beyond to accomodate his purchaser. If someone else with their money situation in order came along first, he'd be at home with them now. At the very least, I'd not refund the deposit (hoping it's enough to cover the vet bill).