My experience has always been that vets don’t pass/fail horses, that they provide soundness info for the buyer to make the decision. She paid for the vet check/additional info, decided not to buy the horse. Another buyer might have taken x-rays, or decided it was serviceably sound for her purpose, etc. But her decision is not your financial responsibility.
All flexions where 100% and vet held them for at least 1 min 30 sec I timed and watched them
[QUOTE=Beam Me Up;8234298]
My experience has always been that vets don’t pass/fail horses, that they provide soundness info for the buyer to make the decision. She paid for the vet check/additional info, decided not to buy the horse. Another buyer might have taken x-rays, or decided it was serviceably sound for her purpose, etc. But her decision is not your financial responsibility.[/QUOTE]
This - exactly. And far more appropriate than my intended comment of “LOL hahaha…are you serious??”
The PPE is a cost savings by preventing a person from unknowingly buying a horse not suitable for the intended purpose. Unless they can prove that you fraudulently advertised your horse…(e.g. drugged it to hide a known injury)…good luck. I agree - do not cave. Sounds like a scam to me.
You did have a contract. You agreed to allow your horse to examined as part of a sale process. Unless otherwise stated, the costs of the PPE are borne by the buyer.
If you deceived a buyer and they expended funds on an examination then there might be a viable claim. The burden of proof is on them to establish deception. I’ve never heard of a successful claim like this, however. Neither have I done any research looking for one.
Horses don’t “pass” or “fail” a PPE. It’s just a set of physical findings. The buyer reviews the findings to determine if the horse is physically, or maybe temperamentally, suited to their intended task. Since the entire process is designed to protect the buyer they get to pay for it. They also own the findings and have no duty to share them with the seller, unless the contract requires that sharing.
G.
[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;8234297]
A flexion test is, IMHO and the opinion of may vets I’ve used in the past, a poor representation of a horse’s overall soundness. It may be an indicator of a potential problem but when there is no problem in work and nothing on rads, a flexion is thrown out the window.[/QUOTE]
Yabbut the horse was also 2/5 lame on a small circle on hard ground.
Stand your ground, OP. And the buyer might want to remember that the money spent to not buy a lame horse was well spent. That’s the nature of a PPE.
She sounds like a pushy, bully. Do not engage with her.
For the record we were very surprised and upset she didn’t “pass” as she did not appear lame to us before the vet check , during the potential buyers 2 rides or before offering her for sale … also has no known ongoing issues/conditions she has been competed successfully and ridden without any signs of lameness for the last 4 years … If she had we would of done diagnostics to find out the cause of any lameness .
did she pay with cashier cheque from a Nigerian bank?
Lol no . But she wants us to pay for her flash accomodation food travel expenses and the vet check …
Holy crapoli - what on earth is going through this woman’s mind? Is this the first time she has bought a horse?
Don’t let her draw you into a long series of interactions.
WRITE her so you have a paper trail. No more phone calls. Best is email (if you don’t have her email address ask her for it in a text). Email her you have contacted your attorney (do it) and tell her that she has misunderstood where the legal burden in This situation falls. If she would like clarification, she can contact your attorney at her own cost. Tell her that you are ceasing any further personal interaction with her. Then do it.
[QUOTE=Bronson77;8234348]
Lol no . But she wants us to pay for her flash accomodation food travel expenses and the vet check …[/QUOTE]
Tell her a donation will made made in her name to “The Human Fund” (for all those Seinfeld fans out there!)
Yeah, this is pretty ridiculous. Even if I as a buyer felt like someone had misrepresented things, I would stlil think “buyer beware” not litigation for my hotel room. This is silly.
[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;8234384]
Yeah, this is pretty ridiculous. Even if I as a buyer felt like someone had misrepresented things, I would stlil think “buyer beware” not litigation for my hotel room. This is silly.[/QUOTE]
She will pay more for her attorney than for the hotel room and probably most of the associated expenses, except for the PPE. This woman is off her rocker. Be happy she didn’t want to buy your horse.
I’ve always been under the impression that horses are not really given a pass or fail on a vet ck. The vet can only determine the suitability health wise for what the prospective buyer wants to use the horse for, and they are basing their opinion on what they see on that day. It’s up to the buyer to decide if they are ok with purchasing the horse for the intended purpose given the findings. Vets cannot say they passed/failed.
Many sound horses will not trot sound after flexing and many vets can flex a sound horse in a way that will make them trot off. That’s why many buyers will not rely on flexion and instead have x rays done. And some seers will not allow unknown vets to flexion test their horses.
The buyer is always responsible for their own costs incurred while horse shopping unless there was something in writing prior. And normally, if the buyer decides not to purchase a horse due to vet ck, they would offer to provide ppe results to seller, possibly offering them for what it cost them. That’s it. No reimbursement for anything.
The only ground they could stand on was if you withheld vet records showing you knew horse was lame, yet never mentioned it. That might fly with some judge or jury, but that is the only way I could see you not winning in court.
The 10 meter circle on hard ground is an “iffy” part of a PPE at best. I’ve bought several horses who failed that. A lot of vets do it but you take it with a grain of sale. That she’s claim the horse was “lame” because it failed that test is really pushing it.
I just went through this – except the ridiculous lawsuit part. In my case, the buyer was lovely, and ended up buying my horse for half price to take the risk. I had mitigating circumstances that made that the right choice for me at the time, though I’m sad about the whole experience. The horse had never taken an unsound step in his life, but was lame after flexion for the PPE. I had a specialist look at him – he was sound on the longe line, sound after flexions, and just a tiny bit off on a small circle on concrete. The specialist said put shoes on him. I firmly believe that he will not be unsound for the buyer, especially shod. At least until he has another PPE done!
So while I feel unlucky, the OP’s situation makes me realize it could’ve been worse. My buyer flew in from out-of-state! She could’ve wanted me to cover airfare too.
[QUOTE=arlosmine;8234368]
Don’t let her draw you into a long series of interactions.
WRITE her so you have a paper trail. No more phone calls. Best is email (if you don’t have her email address ask her for it in a text). Email her you have contacted your attorney (do it) and tell her that she has misunderstood where the legal burden in This situation falls. If she would like clarification, she can contact your attorney at her own cost. Tell her that you are ceasing any further personal interaction with her. Then do it.[/QUOTE]
This.
Please say to us that the above is what you did in response to this idiot. Its the appropriate buisiness minded legal response.
Hi yes we have sought legal advice , a very good equine lameness specialist vets 2nd opinion/diagnosis and I am not answering any of her numerous emails / messages etc the only thing they have is a Facebook post from 4 1/2 years ago that my sister posted (it’s her horse) that our horse was lame … This was the bad abscess and skin infection with vet records …
I really appreciate everyone’s responses and advice great to know I’m not strange or crazy for thinking this is so odd !
