When I was younger my family adopted a Standardbred. Sadly we won’t adopt again as the clause was that the horse could never be sold, and we had to tell them anytime the horse was moved to a different place. They verbally said that after a certain point we could get ownership of him and sell him. After it got to the point I needed to only have one horse to concentrate on my goals of upper level eventing and we informed them we wanted to sell him SURPRISE they say that they never said that and he needed to go back to the rescue. After putting lots of training into him as an eventer, including taking him to my WS positon with a *** rider.
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Says who?
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Yes an animal can be adopted for free, it there needs to be paperwork clearly stating who had ownership, as well as care and custody of the animal.
Assuming the OPs family did have legal ownership of the horse, is there anything enforceable about a clause stating the horse has to remain at the original property?
I know somebody who bought a horse (paid a purchase price and received a bill
of sale etc) but the purchase agreement includes some wording about the horse remaining on the premises for life and the purchaser (an adult) also made a verbal promise the seller, that said they would never board elsewhere. I don’t see how that can possibly be enforced…do you? There is no wording outlining what would happen if the purchaser did move the horse.
In simple terms, the only issue is whether your parents actually own the horse.
If they do, there is almost no court that would prevent them from moving; or, as a practical matter, enforce any penalties if you ship out.
Ownership, if not clearly stated in the contract, will depend on contract interpretation in your state, or the laws of the state specified in the contract.
So, don’t seek legal advice on the internet. Get a copy of the contract to a lawyer in your area.
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UPDATE:
OP here. I have attached a picture copy of the adoption contract of my horse and a PDF of the full story of how I acquired my horse and the situation now. All names have been obscured. For a little bit I had became discouraged from trying to move my horse but I am now ready to fight again, hence why I came back here. Thank you to everyone who replied to my original post.
Patches.pdf (69.2 KB)
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I have thought about this. Friends around me and BO of the new place I am interested in boarding at have all said “lets just say we are going to a show and never bring the horse back.” But in this instance, the entire transfer of ownership document (“adoption contract”) would then be voided and my horse will no longer be mine in the eyes of the contract.
I can view the story of how you acquired patches.
I cannot view the contracts.
If you really want to fight this , I suggest you get a lawyer and do it right.
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The story is nice but meaningless, it’s all about what your mother and the BO agreed to in that contract and both signed. Which we can’t see…and, really, you need to show to a lawyer who might be able to help you.
Its tough. But your Mom signed it and accepted the terms. Not sure speculating over the exact and specific wishes of Jane, what was in her will or what she communicated to the BO is worth your time, you would need to prove anything you are insinuating.
The BO here might have her side of the story as well, One we don’t know.
Perhaps you could offer to buy Patches outright? If the barn is in financial trouble, might be the way to go and cost less then a lawyer and persuing legal action.
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OP, The law looks at horses as property, just like a stereo or a car. This is not some custody battle where a judge will decide what is the better home for Patches. So all of those paragraphs you wrote about why one barn is better than the current barn will not be considered at all. It also doesn’t matter what you think the deceased owner would want.
Your parents need to actually hire a lawyer to find out whether the no-relocation clause in your contract is binding.
Please understand that the law actually prohibits people from giving specific legal advice if they’re not licensed attorneys. https://hirealawyer.findlaw.com/do-you-need-a-lawyer/what-is-legal-advice.html
Therefore any free advice you may get here, or from friends and other trainers, is totally useless and is not something you can rely on.
There truly is no other answer except “Hire a lawyer”. For such a simple transaction, I bet it wouldn’t be very expensive at all to get a legal opinion about what you can and can’t do with the horse.
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Regarding ownership of Patches, HungarianHippo says it well. I have nothing more to add to that.
The contract can’t be viewed but that’s ok, we get the idea. I did read the PDF.
OP, it sounds as if you are in the last year of school before heading off somewhere to college. Frankly, this is one of the times of your life where you should not be taking on full ownership of a horse. The same for your family.
From your PDF, I’d say that it is time for you to give Patches back to his barn, while you move forward with the kinds of horses you want and need to be involved with now, and with your education. Patches has been a wonderful part of your childhood. But you are taking on college and gaining your wings just as he is aging. He doesn’t want or need new adventures. You do. You and he need to be free to go in your different directions. And that is what the barn owner planned to be possible to do.
You have a beautiful dream that generously includes the Patches you have known over the years going with you. But if we could ask Patches, he might not agree that he wants to move and do new things. The older any creature becomes, the less adaptable they are to changes in circumstances. The care where he is might not be ideal, but he’s accustomed to it, and he’s undoubtedly better off than many horses with far less caring owners.
I once had a beautiful dream for a future for me and the horse I had at the time. I took many concrete steps to realize it. It didn’t happen, it wasn’t meant to be, and it was hard to realize that. I’ll always remember that dream, but I’ve released it and moved forward.
This is a hard, hard transition that millions of horse-crazy youngsters have had to make at just about this point in their lives. Patches was your beloved childhood companion. But now you need to go one direction, and Patches needs to go another.
It sounds to me like Patches is where he needs to be and staying there will give him a decent life into his aged years. And the barn owner is ready to take him back because she planned for this moment from the beginning of your journey together. Regardless of the reason she gave, she knew that one day you would need to be free to go forward unencumbered, and Patches needed to be assured of being able to stay in the place that he knows, comfortable and safe. She sounds like a wise soul.
For the next few years focus on your education without the distraction of horse ownership. You have responsibilities enough coming over the horizon. Keep just enough horse love to keep you sane and motivated. Move forward with your riding to the new barn, friends, trainer and new horses to ride, but just as much as allows you to make college your priority.
Keep Patches close to your heart and visit him when you can. Check in that he continues to be safe and cared-for. From your own story, that seems to me to be the kindest and best thing you can do for him while you move onward with your life’s journey, as you are meant to do.
Good luck with your riding and your life! Good luck and good life to Patches, too!
<3
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Maybe this has been mentioned before, but is there anything in the contract stating the kind of care Patches has to receive? I know it says he’s not allowed to leave, but if they broke the contract first by giving him sub-par care, then you’d probably be justified to move him.
You could also also try bringing up the fact that he’s not a rescue, and couldn’t they save more horses if they had that space open? Maybe write something up stating they can check out the place you want to move him to, and visit once or twice to make sure he’s being properly cared for. Do not insinuate that there’s something wrong with how she does things, instead focus on how the move is better for you and the horse. You’d like to continue to train with your trainer, the other barn is closer to home, your job is closer, whatever it may be that focuses on your convenience, not how much better the other place may be.
I was at a barn for many years that I loved for most of the time, until I got my own horse. When I moved my new horse in, I realized how poor the care was. Small paddocks, which he barely got to access because there were too many horses on the property, and he was good in a stall so he rarely got turned out. Someone labeled him a hay waster (he’s not) so he was restricted to one flake for breakfast and dinner (he’s big, so that was not the amount he should have gotten!). I also had problems with people thinking they could ride him, lazy barn staff, and it was so far from home. I had to suck it up and hurt some feelings, so I pushed the blame on me and said I found a place closer to home where I could ride more, so that’s the reason I left. That was mostly true (it’s maybe 5 minutes closer in the other direction) and I do get to ride more, but I mainly moved because he gets the right amount of forage, a giant field he can live out in, and no one takes advantage of me.
You need to find a way way to put your horse in a better situation. Also, for what it’s worth, you don’t have to get rid of him for college. I bought my horse in the middle of college, and yes it’s hard and scheduling time for things is a pain, but I probably wouldn’t have made it through school without him. Obviously assess your own situation and ensure you have the resources and grit to own a horse in college (and take into account YOU might have to pay for it, not your parents). But don’t just assume that because it was too hard for some, it’ll be too hard for you.
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What’s been mentioned before is that non-laywers should not be giving uninformed legal advice that could put this poster’s parents in court facing thousands of dollars in expenses.
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Two random thoughts:
Some posters have argued the BO is better off allowing the horse to be moved rather than taking the horse back and assuming all his expenses. However, that argument ignores the fact that if BO take Patches back, they are free to sell or lease the horse again. If the BO were to let OP move Patches, BO will never receive another board check or lesson fee on Patches. If BO thinks they could sell or lease Patches in relatively short order, BO is better offer taking Patches back.
OP really does need to examine the contract in its entirety. The small snippets from the contract shared on this thread may or may not be meaningful. It is hard to know without the benefit of context of the entire document.
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Reminds me of when I managed an independent guitar shop. My boss forever wanted to use layaway as a form of soft sale. But he didn’t have a contract and half the time forgot to get salient info like the person’s full name and phone #. So we’d be stuck with stuff sitting in the stock room for over a year because we had nothing enforceable and he was sure the person would. One back and pay it off. I finally drafted a boilerplate contract that probably wasn’t legally bulletproof but at least eliminated some of the mystery. Then, he managed to let a kid under 18 sign for a layaway. Argh.
