15 Month Colt not Gelded under training/boarding

[Bentley24]

I have a colt who I have not gelded due to being a stud prospect and sending him to a high end trainer come his two year old year. I placed him with a trainer close to home to teach him patience and ground manners. This trainer also owns this barn/boarding facility. She has a few other horses on the property. She placed my colt next to a filly when he first arrived. Fence damaged happened and she blamed it on my colt. However the fence was pushed in towards him and filly’s knee was swollen and had cuts on her face. The fence is a no climb fence. Trainer admitted to not seeing what happened, but charged me $300 because it couldn’t have been the filly who caused it. I paid it because I wasn’t in a position to move him at the time, and I wasn’t arguing over it. Filly left and trainer then placed my colt directly next to her mare. Fence line is only about 50 inches tall (4 ft) throughout her entire facility. Trainer does not have an electric line running over any of her gates.

I get a phone call from her demanding that I pick colt up immediately on a Monday evening (contract states I have 7 days). So she broke contract there… She yelled at me and told me she wanted him gone the following day. So I picked him up within 16 hours of her phone call. She yelled at me and said that the colt jumped over his gate and entered her mares pasture, and was not sure whether he bred her. However, upon arrival that morning when I loaded him, there was no damage to her mares fence or gate and she was charging me for damage to his gate. There was no possible point of entrance into her mares fence. I questioned her how my colt got into her mares pasture. She still has not shared that with me. All she does is yells at me and continues to point blame at me.

I paid her for two months of training of $1200 ($2400 total). She broke the contract and owes me $400 but insisted I pay for her gate. She also is insisting I pay for her mares LUTALYSE shots because she does not know if they bred or not. My colt has one testicle that has dropped. She also is insisting I pay for her mares care because she has a hemotoma on her chest under the left shoulder muscle and blames my colt.

When I asked for the camera footage from her cameras on site, she insists the camera wasn’t pointing in that direction.

My question to you all… This is supposed to be a professional trainer.

Question for you all that may have knowledge on South Carolina Law…

Did this trainer neglect to care for my Colt in the proper manner by not providing the proper fence line for him (Since his a stud colt) and not ensure there was electric line running over top the gate to deter him from jumping the gate (I have pictures). Also, did she set him up for this situation by placing him directly next to a mare (they shared a 4 feet fence line).

Who is responsible for these damages and who is responsible for her mares care? I would really love to hear from someone who has experience in this type of situation or someone in law.

[pluvinel]

Get your horse out ASAP and ditch this trainer sooner. This person is clueless. Placing an intact 2 year old male next to a female is negligent. In most operations I know for training stallions, there are no females or there is a “mare barn” and a “stallion/gelding barn” that are kept apart by distance. You are lucky your horse was not injured. As far as the damages, it is up to you what you want to do. If it were me, I would point out the inappropriate stabling situation and say “sue me.”

[Bentley24]

I picked him up Tuesday and have him boarded somewhere else to where he is separated. As for damages, I think I have paid her enough for her negligent business practices. Thanks for the reply!

[luvmyhackney]

I wouldn’t pay a single dime more. Your obligation is over. Take pictures of what “damage” your horse supposedly did.

People are incompetent.

[2tempe]

Not sure you can do anything other than what you have done - ie move. There is absolutely no reason why the colt should have been pastured that way. Trainer was asking for trouble IMO. But all of these bad decisions and the care issues will likely cost you more to fight than to pay.

My (much older) stallion has two common fencelines in his pasture - But only geldings go in the other two pastures. I am lucky as he is a very social guy, loves his buddies and the worst that has happened is that HIS fly mask occasionally ends up in one of the other pastures.

[trubandloki]

I agree with the others, you are not responsible for this trainer’s poor management.

[trubandloki]

Curious, is there a boarding/training contract? You mention one, but does it cover damage and all that?

You might want to remind this barn owner that they are the one in charge of care, custody, and control of your horse and where it is turned out.

[Night_Flight]

Was the trainer aware before his arrival that he is ungelded? It’s irresponsible either way to turn him out beside mares without proper fencing, but I’m wondering if perhaps it came as a surprise to the trainer whose facility isn’t set up for ungelded colts, or whether they accepted the horse knowing in advance that they would need to arrange special turnout.

[findeight]

Yeah, many, if not most, general boarding barns don’t accept intact males. Those that do keep them separate, often charge a bit more.

OP is lucky she found out what a JAW this person was before her colt got hurt. Idiot.

[blue_heron]

Pay the $300 for the fence to be nice and move the horse. Whether her filly was bred or hurt is a result of her management practices and not your problem.

[Bentley24]

No, she knew he was not geld before I took him to her facility. She was well aware of my plans for him prior to his arrival.

[Bentley24]

She has my training fee that I paid for until July 5th. The time she demanded I pick him up to the time training would expire would total $400. To replace the gate was $179 (Per her) but then I would owe for the handyman to come in and install. Surely that wouldn’t cost more than $221 because gate brackets weren’t damaged. So I feel we are even on that part. She’s pressing me to pay for her mares care by telling the vet to charge it to my account. The vet ends up calling me to see if I authorize the charge and I have told the vet no on two occasions. It blows my mind!

[findeight]

Is the horse out of there? Long distance horse management is a challenge. If he is elsewhere, just stop communicating with her. Keep copies of all texts, contract and other communication but just don’t engage with her rantings.

There is likely another side to this but she is the professional and she assumed care, custody and control with full knowledge he was a 15 month old stud and she made all the decisions on where to keep him. You trusted her to do the right thing. She did not.

[Libby2563]

@Bentley24

She’s pressing me to pay for her mares care by telling the vet to charge it to my account. The vet ends up calling me to see if I authorize the charge and I have told the vet no on two occasions. It blows my mind!

Wow, that is ballsy. You’re lucky you discovered her gall and incompetence early in your relationship and before your horse suffered any injury. I’d send the vet something in writing stating that you have moved your horse out of trainer’s place and do not authorize any further services there.

[RedHorses]

If the possibly bred mare belonged to another client, that client would be suing the trainer as it was the trainer’s responsibility to ensure an intact male horse was kept safely away from the other horses.

After blaming the colt for the fence between him and the filly, anyone with any sense would realize that the colt shouldn’t be sharing a fence line with a mare. The trainer is entirely responsible for all damages.

The trainer owes you. If she dares to sue or have her lawyer threaten you, counter sue.

[clanter]

@RedHorses

If she dares to sue or have her lawyer threaten you, counter sue.

will most likely never happen, I was involved in a wrongful injury suit which I had nothing to do with other than I was there, my defense attorney fees were nearly $25,000 and the case never went to court being dismissed with prejudice

Lawyers are not cheap, they make horse training look inexpensive

[Bentley24]

It does cover damage and I have paid that previously. However it also covers that she must give me a 7 day notice to evict him. She did not and demanded I pick him up the next day. I picked him up under 16 hours of phone call because she called me at 515pm and she lives a little under 2 hours away. I took off work to move him the very next day.

Damages to property are my responsibility, however she broke the training/boarding contract by not giving me a 7-day notice. Which in turn she would owe me $400 for boarding/training services. The damages would fall under that amount. I took pictures of damage, and she texted them to me as well. Gate was the only thing he damaged due to no electric wire running over top the gate. He supposedly jumped over that gate causing it to cave in on top. No damage to her mares pasture, so I’m still not understanding how he got in there. We took pictures of her mares pasture as well. Trainer/Barn Owner (Same person) decided not to be present when i picked him up so we were able to take pictures of everything. Also, fences and gates are only 4 ft tall (48 inches). Fence electric run evenly parallel to the top of the fence. Gates have no electric fence throughout facility.

She’s insisting that I pay for her mares vet bills due to hematoma and the potential breeding. As a responsible horse/stallion owner, I will pay for the 2 LUTALYSE shots, because I don’t want her to have any part of my colts lineage. If she takes me to court would I be crazy to counter sue her for previous damages she charge me for due to he negligence previously and this time that she is charging me for?

I posted to ensure that I am on the right track of expecting her to be responsible for his care, custody and control of the horse. I have pictures of the fence line where she doesn’t provide electric fence on top of any of her turnout gates and have pictures of her boarding him next to her mare. I believe whole heartedly she is in the wrong. I just wanted opinions of others who have had similar experiences or know the law in South Carolina.

[pluvinel]

@Bentley24

I just wanted opinions of others who have had similar experiences or know the law in South Carolina.

You have gotten people’s “opinions” and “experiences”. For an accurate appraisal of the applicable law in SC you need to contact a lawyer.

[knic]

Did she have other paddocks available that would have been suitable for a stud colt? Higher fences, fully electric etc.

If she had those facilities and chose not to use them for your colt, then that’s her bad judgement alone. But if you chose to board there knowing she had inadequate facilities for a stud colt, some of the blame is on you as well.

[NaturallyHappy]

In my state, there is law on the books that says stallions must be in a 6 foot fence. I doubt that electric just on top of the gate would have deterred him. It might have stopped the filly from pushing the fence, though. I agree w @pluvinel- you need to know your state’s law.