I really hope so too. This gelding was the “I’ll try my best with anything you ask of me” type. I can’t see him becoming dangerous without extreme reasoning.
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If I were you, I’d talk to your attorney before you respond to the buyer. Let the attorney know that you’d be interested (if you still are) in taking the horse back, either by offering the woman a low price or simply by offering to take the horse back. I’d want to get clarity about whether you making an offer to take the horse back might in any way be used against you if she does decide to sue.
Beyond that it really sounds like the buyer is in over her head. She may be just plain evil, or it may be (as some of the previous posts have suggested) that she’s either not as good of a rider as she represented or she has somehow made the horse spooky or nuts. (Poorly fitting tack might do that for example). Or the horse might have developed some medical issue that has altered his personality and the woman just can’t see that.
Good luck sorting this out.
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Might be best if a neutral but strong intermediary contacted the buyer. She sounds emotionally volatile and would escalate. Would the attorney do that?
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She doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Not after 9 months. So many factors can make a horse’s behavior and training go downhill, and in a much shorter period of time than 9 months! However, I have purchased horses back months and years past when I sold them for various reasons, if it is feasible for me at the time. Not always at full price, if the horse has developed physical or behavioral issues for whatever the reason. In those instances I was worried about where they would end up, so I bought them back. If you are truly concerned about this horse, (AFTER speaking to an attorney), try and get him back. However, since she is threatening to sue, I would consult an attorney to make sure that purchasing him back wouldn’t admit wrong doing. I hope he lands safely!
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I’m going to echo what others have said. Before you respond to her, talk to your attorney about what you would like to say, and what you’d like to see come of this. I say this as an attorney myself!
If it were me, I’d want to offer her a cheap price (since he’s clearly regressed) to take him off her hands. With a contract that says she can’t sue you. Again, ask your lawyer, to be sure.
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Add me to the club of those that have taken a horse back (well, several), for a reasonable price. I once sold a dead broke, kid-safe mare to a friend’s mom as a husband horse, with strict instructions that mom, the experienced rider, would need to get on periodically to maintain the training or the horse would become sour and learn to take advantage of the beginner husband. Lo and behold, she never followed my instructions and they sent the mare back to me not a year later - she was sulky, pushy, and kicked out when asked to canter. All the training had been undone.
If I had to guess based on the timeline, I’d bet that these people took your horse home, tossed him out in a field the rest of winter and then expected to saddle up and ride off into the sunset come summertime. All but the most dead broke of horses is going to need a tune up and some solid saddle time to get back into the swing of things with that fair-weather-rider routine. If he spent the winter basically unhandled, it’s not far-fetched that he’d have a bit of a feral horse attitude about suddenly being dragged in and saddled up - especially if the tack is a bad fit and the rider is a floppy novice with heavy hands. Obviously all just guessing on my part, but it seems the most logical and likely route to get to this result.
Hopefully your attorney has some helpful advice. She may not win, but that certainly doesn’t mean she can’t attempt to sue you. If the price is reasonable and something you can afford, I’d probably just take the horse back, but I’m a sucker.
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You need to speak your attorney before you respond.
Then you can make an intelligent business decision. You have multiple choices from tell them to go away to buying the horse back at the original price.
Did you photograph the horse before it left? Did you video the horse before it left? If so then make sure you have those in a safe place for review by others.
This is not a happy thing but maybe it’s just bluff and bluster and maybe it’s serious. But talk to your lawyer BEFORE you even talk to them.
Good luck.
G.
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Echoing what others have said…invest the $$ in an attorney before you respond.
But it also understand that buying a horse is “as is where is” unless otherwise stipulated in a contract.
These folks sound off their rocker to come at you 9 months after the fact. If it were 9 days, or even 9 weeks that might be different.
with what it sounds like you have (videos, ppe) you are absolutely in the clear.
Like me others suggested, if you want him back, offer a price above meat. If she really truly is that horrified by the horse, she’ll take it.
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As long as you realize these are, for the most part, unenforceable. Once you’ve sold the horse, he’s sold and no longer yours. Many a horse has been sold with a right of first refusal in the contract to never be heard from again and no real legal recourse for the seller (you).
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I knew someone who returned a horse to a dealer/seller two years after they had bought the horse. And, the person actually took it back.
I have no intention of responding to her till I have talked with my lawyer, he is a horse person (big into reiners) I have a feeling he will have some choice words on this as well.
but it makes me feel better knowing that if I do prolong a response (she demanded a same day response to arrange me paying her back and getting said horse) that she really wont ve able to do much.
realized also she had my old mailing and physical address, not my new one. Not sure if she could find me in the end.
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This was my gut first thought as well, because in the add it states he is NOT the kind that can be kicked out for weeks and hopped back on. He thrived on interaction and having his mind engaged.
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OP I would Heed the opinions here and perhaps gently suggest removing references and pictures here. The interwebs is a small world and the last thing you need is this thread getting back to her
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Did a wee bit of editing, hopefully it helps. Firsy set panic did not help that post
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In your reponse ask why they did not ask for any help immediately that something was wrong. You want photos and videos immediately. You want to know what the horses is doing and what each and every ‘professional’ did to him and why. You also want them to pay for a PPE with a vet of your choice. You will buy back if all seems above board for whatever above meat prices. If he is now permanently lame he is still theirs.
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Like others have said, and you plan to do, talk to your attorney. I find it hard to believe that she has a leg to stand on.
You’ll feel much better after your legal consult. And do consider letting the lawyer take over from here and send her a calmly worded response. It might cost a few dollars, but it will be worth the piece of mind to know that a legal professional will be taking care of the situation for you.
Best of luck!! Let us know how it turns out!!
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the immediacy of her demands almost makes me think she’s in a panic, she’s drunk, or there’s something truly ridiculous going on. None of those things are your problem at all. Talk with your lawyer ignore all future attempt on her part to contact you until you’ve had a chance to talk with your lawyer hang on to that recording and hang on to those videos and such.
I once had a buyer attempt to shame me into returning a pony she bought from me after owning him for a year, claiming that he was lame, he was aggressive to other horses in her pasture, he wouldn’t load, etc etc. Never mind that she declined to do a PPE, never mind that she saw me catch him in my mixed herd when she arrived trying out, never mind that she loaded him on to her two horse at my house to take him home.
People are crazy.
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I just want to say thank you all here who have posted and helped talk some calm into me. You all really did save my head from exploding and remaining an anxious mess this entire day.
I do plan to have my lawyer do most the contacting and discussing if we do decide to proceed in this direction.
My vet was up here at the ranch today to do some floats, told her some of this and she volunteered to go with me if I do go get him, sad she would do a PPE on him. She is an absolute godsend. Talk about managing to make a great friend in a new area.
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Best of luck to you and Good Boy. I wish I was closer, I’d take him in.
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So, I know this was an extremely stressful thing to happen for you, but given the information presented, I personally wouldn’t even spend the $$ on an attorney yet. Buyer bought a horse “as is.” There’s plenty of physical documentation that horse was what it was advertised to be. The new owner had every option to evaluate the horse fully before purchasing. So, I don’t think this person has a leg to stand on.
What I believe is happening here is that this person knows they don’t have a leg to stand on and is making threats to try to scare you into doing something you aren’t obligated to do. If this person had approached you reasonably, then I could understand that you might try to work something out with them, if only to benefit the horse. But, the buyer sounds crazy, and the horse is 12 hours away. I don’t see any benefit to you getting involved. You could either ignore their communications or politely ask them questions about what they have done with the horse since purchasing it and recommend that they send it to a local trainer to be gotten back in work and sold.
Either way (lawyer or no lawyer) I would NOT respond further until they make another move. Chances are the person will reevaluate, recognize that they don’t have a leg to stand on, and back down from bothering you.
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