Should i take the owner of a horse i board to court to get ownership of the horse?

she owes me for 4 mths board(400.00), 4 times having her feet trimmed(80.00) and a wormer(13.00).


i'm not a jerk just out to get her horse but if she can't afford her she shouldn't have her. i have been paying for her food and maintaining her for the last 4 months and haven't heard from her owner. when i do tell her that she needs her feet trimmed, she says that she will bring the money(20.00) but i never see her for months.


i don't feel i should have to call and remind her about board or feet trimmings because you don't forget about a 1200 lb animal that you are supposed to love.


the horse is a wonderful animal(11yr old tb mare that has only been under saddle about 15 times). i just want to give her a secure life and good training.


she has been here for 4 yrs and i have grown very attatched to her.


i also own a 17 yr old sorrel mare and board a 5 yr old paint gelding.

Should i take the owner of a horse i board to court to get ownership of the horse?
first off FAIR PLAY to you for taking such an interest in this horse's wellbeing - many stable owners would have now chucked this horse out onto the nearest road and let her fend for herself. If I were you I would ring the owner and tell her straight out the amount that she currently owes you - now I know that you may be taking a loss here - but I would tell her straight out that as far as you're concerned she has no interest in the horse, and you would be willing to write off the amount of money she owes you in exchange for her animal.


If she disagrees to this - then yes take her sorry neglectful **** to court! thank god for people like you who genuinely love animals! As an owner of two horses myself I couldnt just abonden them like this - some people so do not deserve to be animal ownders
Reply:Talk to a lawyer,get the animal away from this loser!!!
Reply:I don't think going to court is going to give you the answer you want. If you went to court, the judge will probably make the lady reimburse you for the expenses, and say that if you want the horse, you have to buy it. I know that's crap because you have spent so much on this horse (not just finances), and deserve better, but court rulings don't work that way- they go by dollar amounts and evidence, and make a ruling that is fair in that sense.


If you want to buy her, I suggest offering her money to buy the horse, and then saying that you want her to reimburse you for the expenses she was supposed to pay you. You need to be able to show the court that you made every effort to get your money back before taking legal action. I would write the lady a letter (so you and her can have a copy), stating everything that she needs to pay you for, give her a week to respond, then send another threatening legal action. This way, it gives her a chance to pay you before going to court, and if she doesn't it proves that you made a good effort to get your money back by other means.





As far as getting to own the horse, it could get a bit sticky, so if I were you, I'd offer to buy the horse, ask that she take the money she owes you off the price. If she refuses, say- ok, but you need to pay me the money you owe me. That way, she knows that even though you are paying full price of the horse, you still require payment for the expenses, and she won't get a shock when you send her the letter.





Like I said, if you go to court, chances are the judge will say that the expenses are one thing and ownership is another, they won't allow you to accept a horse as payment for outstanding expenses, but you certainly have a right to get your money back for the board etc. I would take her to court for that.
Reply:since a horse is considered property, and you have performed services for the horse agreed to by the owner, you should be able to put a lien on the animal until the balance is paid, depending on what state you live in if the balance is not paid in thirty days the horse legally becomes yours.
Reply:KF is right,





any simple business law course will tell you this.





when i started boarding, i signed a contract like a lease on an apartment, that had specific requirements. One was that i keep my horse in good health. another is that if i do not pay the boarding price, fees will be assesed for the first month late, and if no attempt is made to remedy the situation (ie me calling the barn owners and apologizing) then the horse is theirs. At that point they could keep it, sell it etc.





HOWEVER. this is not always the case. in more horsey states, the laws may be quite different. Get in touch with a lawer to start with.





ALSO, if this horse is registered, you will need to go through legal processes to transfer ownership to you. this may take a while.





ANOTHER THING, if this horse is becoming uncared for, you should call your local animal protection agency, after taking multiple pictures over a period of time of the horse's condition. show them your horses in comparison, and ask that you adopt the horse. Or they can seize it and adopt it out. either way, you will be getting a horse into a place where the OWNER will love it, not the barn owner. :)





you are doing a great job taking care of this matter. remember the main thing right now is to keep track of EVERYTHING and dont do anything for the owner. do it for the horse. she needs your help right now.
Reply:In the state of Missouri,Transfer of ownership has to be stated in a lease agreement, with responsibilities falling to the owner for notification of arrears. Limits are placed on late fees and other incidentals. These precaution are in place to keep a facility from claiming delinquencies to take ownership of a nice horse. The process through legal channels takes approx. 90 days. If you want transferable registration, it would probably take a court order, unless the two parties can come to an amiable agreement.


As a trainer it is frustrating to have those kind of people come through you program, I had clients sneak into the barn while I was at a show and it cost me my farm.. Good luck.
Reply:i think you can take her to court for the money she owes u but i'm not sure you can take her to court for the horse, you would be better off just trying to call the owner and asking her if instead of paying you back all the money, you would be willing to take the horse and forget about the money issue and she could come and see the horse when ever she wants, and since she doesn't come out now i'm pretty sure that she probably won't come out then or if she does come out it may be like once or something, that way you won't have to pay court costs, and if she says no that she doesn't want to give the horse away then just tell her that if she doesn't pay you all the money she owes you soon you will be forced to take her to court
Reply:Did you have her sign a traditional board agreement before she moved in? Usually there's a clause that the horse can be seized in liu of payment for past board and associated fees.





Other than that, I think you *could* go to small claims court and propose to the judge that the horse itself in exchange for past due board would settle the debt. Only problem is, the judge might just demand the horse is removed from the premesis, then order the boarder to pay all back bills. It doesn't sound like you want that... and I know it wouldn't make me happy either.





Is the horse being neglected in any other way? Vaccines? Teeth floated, etc.? Maybe you could cal the ASPCA or local humane society and see what their take is on it. Perhaps they would 'seize' the horse, and you could foster it~ eventually adopting it~ but that has no guaranteed outcome either.





So, yeah. I'm being longwinded. Hire a lawyer, bring documentation, and seize the horse. The fact that she made it to 11 and has only been u/s 15x makes me think she's damned lucky to have found you. Good for you for caring.
Reply:I think you should take her to court for the money she owes you or ask her for owership of the horse free in exchange for the money she owes you.
Reply:The owners of the stable do have a problem, and the first thing they should do is look at their boarding contracts and check what terms they wrote into them.





Then they should find out what their state laws are. There are actually laws in almost every state that cover exactly this sort of situation, but a lot of barn owners don't realize this.





They need to find out the specifics of their state's law. Most laws allow the stable owner to take possession of the horses when board has remained unpaid for a certain amount of time (depends on the state) and when they stable owner can prove that he or she has made certain specific efforts (sometimes a registered letter, but again, this depends on the state) to contact the horses' owner and get payment. In some states, the law goes into effect after the horse has been left at the barn with board unpaid for nine months -- in other states, the period is a lot shorter.





Your stable owners need to do some legal research to find out what the state laws are, and they will probably need some legal advice to help them proceed from there. A lawyer willl be able to advise them whether the best procedure for them would be to take possession of the horses or to bring a collection lawsuit against the horses' owner.





There are specialist lawyers who deal with equine law, and that's the kind of lawyer they will need.





- Jessica





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Reply:you should've had it in a contract with rules and consequinces for nonpayment.since you probablt didn't I would right her a registered letter explaining in detail what she owes and give her a time limit on payment(like 2 weeks-a month).Also enclose a letter that would give her the option to surrender the horse to you for the amount owed and have her notorize it and send it back.This will help protect you if it comes to court and hopefully be settled out of court. g'luck
Reply:you know she has money problems, call her and offer to buy the horse less the amount already owed, if she refuses then tell her she has a certain amount of time to come up with the past due amount and move her horse off your premises or you are going to take her to court
Reply:THE HORSE IS YOURS SINCE YOU PAY FOR ITS UPKEEP. MOVE THE HORSE TO ANOTHER BARN. THEN START THE LEGAL PROCEDURES.MAYBE A JUDGE WILL SEE THE OWNER UNFIT AND YOU WILL GAIN SOLE OWNERSHIP OF THE HORSE. GOOD LUCK
Reply:First, I hope you have a signed contract.





Second, you should bill her every month for the board due showing how much is owed in back bills. Stating a due date and when the amount is past due and a late fee for the balance is helpful.





Third, if you weren't authorized by the owner to have the horse's feet trimmed, I don't think a judge will make her pay for it. Same for the wormer. Irregardless if the horse's health required it.





Put all correspondence into writing, with copies for both of you, that way she can't ignore it.





If you're going to take care of someone else's animal, get a contract and bill for services rendered at every month or you will get seriously burned.





My brother in law had someone stop paying board, and yes, he billed everyone every month and made them sign a contract. He ended up selling the horse and taking what the owner owed him out of the sale price and then gave the owners the difference on the balance. He's been boarding for years.And I think that clause was written into the contract. He still had his lawyer go through the steps prior to seizing the horse, though.
Reply:This is a state to state law question.


In AZ. a horse can be leaned and held for payment due just as if it were a car and a mechanic had worked on it. but then you need a boarders license to do this.


the sad thing is many folks buy horses not knowing all the cost involved in the ownership of said horse. or many have a change of interest and forget about them.


talk to her and see if you can make some kind of deal for the horse that will work out in both of your interests.


But in the mean time get a hold of your law-er and have him/her check out the local and state laws were you live.
Reply:It might be worth it you might be able to save court cost and have the owner sign her over without a fuss. Sadly many owners abandone their horses and never come back. I've known six dumped at one barn by different owners! Have a very calm sincere talk and see if there are problems or she wants to work it out. If she decides to sell the horse and doesn't do it directly from your property you'll probably have to go court. If they're with you state directly that "X" amount should be given to you and the rest to the owner. Hope it works out for you