Boarder has dumped their horse

[OverandOnward]

When I get a new boarder into the barn, I ALWAYS check references from the prior barn.

Why are they leaving?
What are the horses like?
Do they pay on time?
Have they every bounced a check?
And more personal questions about horse and owner.

Yes, 11 page board agreement. When you want to board at my barn, you don’t have an option. Sign it, or you aren’t moving it. It has three signature boxes, and 15 places to initial.

If more BO’s operated this way, there would be so many fewer threads on COTH! LOL What would we talk about?

I’ll definitely be pinging you for a copy of that agreement. You are generous to share it.

[OverandOnward]

If I were to guess, at an admittedly uninformed distance … I think you’ll be the owner of this mare by the end of Feb.

Might be one of the best breaks of the mare’s life. Will be jingling for her continued good health.

In your shoes, I would be planning accordingly and thinking ahead about what outcome I really want. Per your contract are you allowed to give her digestive supplements on your own judgment? You can add it to their bill and not insist that they pay for it when they settle the total. Although they should, of course.

The other eventuality is that they move her just before you get ownership, leaving you with at least some of the bill still unpaid. It might be better to let her go as she could end up being a costly ornament for your place.

So far, so good. Keep updating please, OP, this is a tutorial for What To Do and When To Do It.

And, not to open any boarding barns unless the law is as protective of BO’s as it is in Virginia.

[Guilherme]

Am I to understand that you got paid by threatening legal action on a credit card and they are good to the end of the month?

If the above is correct then be prepared with your statutory letter the day after they fail to pay the Feb. board. It’s a virtual certainly that will happen (and if I’m wrong I’m very happy for you! ). Your “stick” by then will be worn out and time is not your friend.

I understand your concern for the welfare of the horse but until you own it that’s not your primary duty. The owner is the one who is “on the hook” for proper care while they own the horse. In the interim (between the statutory letter and the end of the statutory period) you do have to provide care IAW generally accepted standards.

Given the time of year and the condition of the horse market in most places this horse likely has a very low market value. In a couple months, as spring springs, the horse will be worth more. How much more is an open question.

Good luck as you move forward.

G.

[mountainhorse]

[QUOTE=scrbear11;8996703]
Not looking like anything is going to happen. I’m a little frustrated, but what can I say or do… If the mare has no where to go… At least the month is paid. Will begin again on February 2 with the letter of notice. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Being that I have no contact with the owners, the scary thing about all this is what if something happens to this horse. I do have a clause in my board agreement giving me permission to make euthanasia decisions on behalf of my owner’s should they not be reachable, and it is veterinarian recommended. Virginia is going to be plagued with colic weather soon… just makes me nervous.

If anyone would like to see a copy of my board agreement, feel free to email me: scrbear11@yahoo.com[/QUOTE]

Thank you for generously agreeing to share it with us. I’ve emailed you.

[csaper58]

[QUOTE=scrbear11;8996703]
Not looking like anything is going to happen. I’m a little frustrated, but what can I say or do… If the mare has no where to go… At least the month is paid. Will begin again on February 2 with the letter of notice. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Being that I have no contact with the owners, the scary thing about all this is what if something happens to this horse. I do have a clause in my board agreement giving me permission to make euthanasia decisions on behalf of my owner’s should they not be reachable, and it is veterinarian recommended. Virginia is going to be plagued with colic weather soon… just makes me nervous.

If anyone would like to see a copy of my board agreement, feel free to email me: scrbear11@yahoo.com[/QUOTE]

OP, here are a few points that concern me regarding your current plan…

I find it difficult to believe that in any municipality if you are paid in full thru the last day of January, and are not paid promptly on the first of February you are legally eligible to send a letter threatening ‘seizure of goods for non-payment’ on February 2nd.

I have not read your boarding contract, but most give a grace period for owners to pay (e.g. “payment must be received by the BO by the 7th of the month”) if you have such a clause in your contract, do not violate it.

If the owner is truly hospitalized she may legally have a right to be given more time to respond.

Is the law written that you may seize the animal 14 days from the date you send the notice, or 14 days from when you can prove they receive the notice?

Be thorough in establishing exactly what your duty is in this situation. If you make an error it could be very costly.

Establishing your legal duty via advice from a licensed attorney would be best.

[Palm_Beach]

GET A DEPOSIT FOR A FULL MONTHS BOARD BEFORE THE HORSE ARRIVES.

Then when the owner does not pay, you have the next 30 days paid for. On the 30th day without being paid, load the horse on the trailer and take it back to the owner.

[scrbear11]

Palm Beach, I am venturing to say you do not board horses. Where am I to take this horse if “back to the owner” is a condo in Downtown Washington DC?

Mare is happily eating her mound of hay on this lovely 5 degree morning. I spoke with her owner on Friday afternoon. While she still REFUSES to transfer ownership directly to me, she has agreed to allow me to find horse a home, she will sign bill of sale. I’ll do what I need to in order to find a soft place for this horse.

Anyone want a 17 hand Oldenburg mare?! Kidding COTH Moderator… Once I have an “agent” (totally rolling my eyes on at this, since the only thing I’m getting out of this extra work and hassle is finding a good home for this mare) contract signed by the owner, I will post something in the Giveaway section.

Bright side, I’ve filled her stall. My wonderful friend has moved into the area, and needs a place to board horse. She will be moving her horse in the early spring.

[vxf111]

I love people giving contract law advice who are (1) not lawyers and (2) haven’t seen the contract.

[scrbear11]

csaper- My contract gives no grace period. Board is due on the 1st. It is late on the second and the first late fee is added to the account balance. An additional late fee is added every seven days thereafter.

You must be one the few who has not requested a copy of my contract yet! Please feel free to email if you’d like to look at my contract. scrbear11@yahoo.com

[CenteredRiding]

Here’s your law for Virginia. There’s only a few simple steps if you can weed through all the language.

http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/lien/va_lien.htm

Last time I looked this up I thought you had the move the horse off property before you could sell it, but not according to above.

(Basically: you can sell after posting in public place & giving 10 days notice. If amount needed to recover is over $5,000, you file a petition with the court and sheriff will make the sale).

[Daisyesq]

My problem with this whole thread is that

1. OP accusing the prior barn owner of lying when OP asked if they paid their barn bills. Just because they are slow-paying OP, does not mean that they did not pay prior barn owner.

2. OP has been fully paid for this horse’s board through Jan 30. Getting paid required a lot of effort on OP’s part. This boarder is not an upfront, responsible boarder and clearly doesn’t value OP’s services very highly. But the facts of this thread seem to be that OP got herself paid for each of the (3?) months that horse has been boarded.

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=scrbear11;9002329]
Palm Beach, I am venturing to say you do not board horses. Where am I to take this horse if “back to the owner” is a condo in Downtown Washington DC?

Mare is happily eating her mound of hay on this lovely 5 degree morning. I spoke with her owner on Friday afternoon. While she still REFUSES to transfer ownership directly to me, she has agreed to allow me to find horse a home, she will sign bill of sale. I’ll do what I need to in order to find a soft place for this horse.

Anyone want a 17 hand Oldenburg mare?! Kidding COTH Moderator… Once I have an “agent” (totally rolling my eyes on at this, since the only thing I’m getting out of this extra work and hassle is finding a good home for this mare) contract signed by the owner, I will post something in the Giveaway section.

Bright side, I’ve filled her stall. My wonderful friend has moved into the area, and needs a place to board horse. She will be moving her horse in the early spring.[/QUOTE]

Glad the owner is finally letting you rehome the mare. I do not get why she will not just give her to you. Why are you a bad person but some other person is OK?

I do realize that you probably have no idea what the answer to that question is. It just seems so weird to me.

[scrbear11]

I specifically asked the prior barn owner if “they paid ON TIME.” That’s a specific question. A yes answer means that they did pay on time. A no answer could then be clarified that they were slow paying. The answer I was given was yes. Plain and simple. Which was a lie. No accusation. Just the truth from me.

And is there an issue with #2? I’m updating the followers of this thread as I go along. When I originally posted, owners were non-responsive.

[ChasPonyCat]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;9002598]
Glad the owner is finally letting you rehome the mare. I do not get why she will not just give her to you. Why are you a bad person but some other person is OK?

I do realize that you probably have no idea what the answer to that question is. It just seems so weird to me.[/QUOTE]

I find that odd too. Why wouldn’t she be willing to just sign the bill of sale to you? Then, boom, done, she’s no longer responsible for the horse.

[csaper58]

[QUOTE=scrbear11;9002451]
csaper- My contract gives no grace period. Board is due on the 1st. It is late on the second and the first late fee is added to the account balance.[/QUOTE]

Yikes!!! I find this rapacious, and would be very interested to see it defended in a legal challenge.

Thank you for the up date, I sincerely hope a great home can easily be found for this mare.

[csaper58]

[QUOTE=scrbear11;9002604]
I specifically asked the prior barn owner if “they paid ON TIME.” That’s a specific question. A yes answer means that they did pay on time. A no answer could then be clarified that they were slow paying. The answer I was given was yes. Plain and simple. Which was a lie. No accusation. Just the truth from me. [/QUOTE]

Did the former barn owners demand payment on the 1st of the month, too?

If that barn has a grace period, the horse’s owners could have paid on time, the barn owner could have told the truth, and you may be guilty of slandering them all.

Those that can bend are more difficult to break.

ETA… there is something very unsettling, that borders on abusive, about the way you are treating these people. As the facts reveal themselves I am less and less in favor of your actions scrbear11.

You have been a bit of a scrooge this holiday season.

[vxf111]

[QUOTE=csaper58;9002681]
Yikes!!! I find this rapacious, and would be very interested to see it defended in a legal challenge.

Thank you for the up date, I sincerely hope a great home can easily be found for this mare.[/QUOTE]

Go look on Westlaw/Lexis if you want to find loads of cases where contracts are enforced according to their terms (which the parties mutually agreed-to). There’s no law I’m aware of that requires any sort of grace period between two private parties contracting in this sort of situation.

[csaper58]

[QUOTE=vxf111;9002703]
Go look on Westlaw/Lexis if you want to find loads of cases where contracts are enforced according to their terms (which the parties mutually agreed-to). There’s no law I’m aware of that requires any sort of grace period between two private parties contracting in this sort of situation.[/QUOTE]

I could make a very good case that your contract results in Usury were I live.

[red_mares]

[QUOTE=csaper58;9002693]
Did the former barn owners demand payment on the 1st of the month, too?

If that barn has a grace period, the horse’s owners could have paid on time, the barn owner could have told the truth, and you may be guilty of slandering them all.

Those that can bend are more difficult to break.

ETA… there is something very unsettling, that borders on abusive, about the way you are treating these people. As the facts reveal themselves I am less and less in favor of your actions scrbear11.

You have been a bit of a scrooge this holiday season.[/QUOTE]

The barn owner is supposed to take a hit just because it’s Christmas? How about the horse owner be generous and pay the debt they incurred?

Personally, I find it a abusive that the horse owners have to be threatened before they pay their bills.

But that’s probably because I ended up with several hundred dollars in vet bills that resulted from my BO cutting corners because some of his boarders weren’t paying.

I have less than zero sympathy for those who are late on board.

[csaper58]

[QUOTE=red mares;9002732]
The barn owner is supposed to take a hit just because it’s Christmas? How about the horse owner be generous and pay the debt they incurred?

Personally, I find it a abusive that the horse owners have to be threatened before they pay their bills.

But that’s probably because I ended up with several hundred dollars in vet bills that resulted from my BO cutting corners because some of his boarders weren’t paying.

I have less than zero sympathy for those who are late on board.[/QUOTE]

The OP is out $0.00. Her stall is filled.

Let those most fortunate folks who have never had a medical crisis, at the most inopportune time carry on throwing stones at those who have.

Every a pancake has two sides,

This smells more like a cow patty with every up date.