Sounds like an uneforcable contract to me unless of course over there it doesn’t matter if you have a contractual condition that is on balance not reasonable to one party.
Had it been timelined that would be considered differently here but never ending??? Nah?!
[QUOTE=mvp;4677948]
How much more than the original $8,500 is the new, advertised price?
I can’t imagine how this contract would work with a horse advertised without a price.[/QUOTE]
I’m not sure how many horses the OP sold 3 yrs ago that were recently advertised again, but the ad I saw was more than double the original.
I sold a horse a few years back that in the sale contract I stated that I would buy him back for the amount sold if purchaser becomes afraid of him and no longer wants to ride him. Well, for some reason she was bound and determined not to let me have him back and moved barns like crazy. Luckily I know enough people around here they kept tabs on them for me. She was afraid of him and so were other people who tried to ride him. She also advertised him under many different names, never selling him. I did see him for sale fall of 2008 and contacted her, I offered her the amount I sold him for and she refused. She then told me she was selling him for more money to another girl. I said fine. So, last summer I see him for sale again. I contacted the girl and we made a deal. I drove 3 hours to pick him up and she confessed to me the girl she got him from was afraid of him and would not ride him and while the new owner did ride him, she did get bucked off a few times and was just tired of it. And she bought him for less than I offered the girl I sold him to. I never pressed her with legal action as I felt the contract would be hard to enforce as it was really at the discretion of the owner to sell the horse or not to a particular person. Not wanting him to go to a sale, I bought him back. While he is a jerk from time to time and needs to be on a 5 to 6 day riding schedule, he is an amazing jumper. I have a working student who loves him and so I gave him to her. He is here and they are happy and should be showing this spring or summer.
So, the best thing your guy can do is buy the horse back or make on offer on the price listed.
[QUOTE=BybeeGirl;4678459]
I’m not sure how many horses the OP sold 3 yrs ago that were recently advertised again, but the ad I saw was more than double the original.[/QUOTE]
Well a $17K horse is not a very high price for a show horse, but most likely more than the man would want to fork over for a horse that he obviously didn’t pay much for or bred himself. I am not so sure how wise it was for agent to draw sellers attention to the sale listing if agent really thought the seller would not want to pay the current sale price. Sort of created your own problem there.
Also agree with the poster that it is surprising that a buyer would sign that kind of agreement with the 30 day written deal and all. Whoever was the buyers agent perhaps should have advised them that maybe that wasn’t such a great idea…
3 years ago I was making a huge career move and sold about a dozen horses. Bybee Girl, who knew me personally, knows the horse I’m talking about.
I really am more upset that the clause was not honored, but I was particularly attached to this horse. I saw him born, and started him as a 3 year old. Sold him as a 4 year old. He’s a special boy to me.
Or maybe I’m more upset that I went above and beyond to make sure this family got this horse, and they go behind my back and sell him? I guess I’m just bitter about the whole situation all around.
Owner has decided to seek legal action himself. He was the horse back. He plans on having an appraiser, big name trainer and vet check the horse- because the horse is not worth what they are asking for him- he’s been sitting in a field for the last year. All I’m doing for now is making sure the owner has the right connects to get his horse back.
And just an FYI- we sold him for first right of refusal for the purchase price because he was sold under market value- once again, pulling strings so this family could buy him. I had offers for double that but turned them down because I thought this family would be a good home for him and would appreciate him.
Sounds like the owner is going to waste a whole lot of money. Per your description of the contract, it doesn’t matter what an appraiser, big name trainer and a vet have to say as regarding the price for which he should be able to buy back the horse.
As a matter of fact, if I was the current owner of the horse, I don’t believe I would allow this without the former owner putting down a deposit and signing a purchase contract (in which I am sure I would include a rather lenghtly right of first refusal clause ;))
I don’t understand what the appraiser, etc. are going to do for you because the clause doesn’t say that you can buy him back at an appraised price, etc. It just says that you can buy him back at lowest advertised price. Unless you have seen the horse advertised lower, then seems to me to be a waste of your time.
ETA: posted same time as RockinHorse. Totally agree that if I was owner I wouldn’t let you and your appraiser/BNT/vet near my horse unless you came certified check in hand for advertised price.
I would think your best bet would be to have your former client talk to the attorney that drew up your contract for you, or another equine attorney who might be able to tell you how enforceable that contract is and what the correct approach would be to come to a resolution. You yourself might want to have a different attorney go over your contract in case you need to change it for your future business.
Reported
it was kind of fun reading this old thread, waiting for the punch line.
These spam / phish bots are interesting. The last one was for businesses in florida, a dentist if I remember
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