Without specific knowledge, it’s hard to say what happened in this case. But if the owner doesn’t pay the bill after 30 days, the trainer is still stuck with the horse, and the bill continues to grow in the meantime, whether it’s for another 30 days or 300 days.
What a joke. I don’t know many trainers who would let a client rack up those kind of bills. Usually people expect to be paid every month.
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You just cannot make this stuff up! Oy vei! I feel bad for the horse caught in the middle of all of this. 
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Yes, but this is probably better for the horse than some of the other possibilities when a horse disappears.
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Definitely ^^ This also explains why Emily Williams initial statements weren’t more panic-stricken, and in at least one, was phrased as a “PSA” not an emergency and a criminal act. Odd that her initial statements didn’t mention the billing dispute with the owner, since that was obviously going to come out very quickly and it is not like the relationship with the owner is salvageable. Not that she’s to blame for the situation, but she obviously knew more about the situation than her statements implied. Should be interesting to see where the horse turns up and how this gets resolved, since it will now draw lots of public interest. Assuming the owner is indeed behind it, she’s now created quite a mess for herself.
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I’m a little cheesed that she made the interview sound like a third party unknown to her had stolen the horse that was “like my child” … the child she’d sell at auction for $60k.
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Maybe she was being careful about the possibility of slander/libel? Just a guess. I have no knowledge of it.
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Agreed with everyone that I feel sorriest for the horse caught in the middle of all of this, even though he’s probably okay. And I will also agree with @Madison that it was a bit odd not to mention the billing dispute yet to draw so much attention to the matter, as everyone knows that social media being social media, it was certainly going to come out very quickly. Keeping quiet for legal reasons is the most logical explanation, I guess.
Hopefully, there will be no more Law & Order-style twists in this narrative for the horse’s sake.
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Taking the trunk and knowing the codes makes it seem a lot more like a financial dispute and less like the random mystery theft that the trainer painted a picture of to COTH. The owner owed money and took the horse before an auction on a stableman’s lien is very different than a herd of random horse thieves. I find it borderline dishonest for the trainer to have held back details. COTH wouldn’t have likely run a story about a billing dispute!
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This whole thing is a non story- the trainer is acting so concerned but in reality they all know who took the horse and why - so this is just a shaming piece? And why did they allow bills to pile up to $57,000? Takes two to tango- there is always two sides especially in the horse world where there are 50 and a sprinkle of lies for good measure.
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And I cynically suspect this is the reason the initial statements didn’t mention the billing dispute. There is no libel/slander risk in saying you have a billing dispute if you actually have a billing dispute. You simply say you’ve had a dispute with the owner and are hoping the horse is safely with the owner. But the Authorities, magazine, and social media are going to take far less notice or interest if you say that than if you imply that the horse could have been stolen. And now the dirty laundry is getting aired, and we hope the horse is being well cared for and getting what he needs in the interim.
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I notice that the original post has been updated to include information about the billing dispute. Thanks COTH!
Regarding the bill, I’m only speculating, but for those of you who have worked for BNT–is it likely because the horse was bringing in some nice publicity for the barn because of all of his wins? And people were hoping/assuming that the owner had deep enough pockets and would eventually pay up and if the owner didn’t, the horse could be sold for at least that much?
All of this is very interesting and dramatic indeed, although it does feel like social media is being used as a weapon in a private dispute at this point.
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That seems like a pretty sound bet. Also, I would imagine that it wouldn’t take that long to accrue that kind of bill with a horse at this level, especially if it’s been out showing etc.
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This was my guess too… Horse was there for publicity. Something happened between Trainer and Owner. Trainer then decided to slap Owner with a big bill. But there has to be some sort of contract saying Owner is liable for the expense for the agister’s lien to stick. Maybe Owner signed a contract saying horse would be there for X amount of time, or Owner would be liable for said bill. If Trainer was covering ALL fees- showing, vet, farrier - it wouldn’t take long at all to run up a bill this big.
It would be interesting to know what the actual story is. There is still so much missing here.
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Not defending anyone but selling the ‘child’ at auction might have also been a requirement of lien process in that area.
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yes it was the only nice horse Emily had to ride for awhile and that’s why she let it rack up the bulls. Happens more than you would think at this level.
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^^^ This makes the most sense. A billing dispute would never have garnered the level of attention and concern as a “DERBY HORSE MISSING” story. Think of the vast number of people now aware of the situation, eyes peeled out of concern for the “missing horse”.
I agree with @Impractical Horsewoman - with the addition of the billing dispute information, it does feel like “social media is being used as a weapon in a private dispute.” Methinks the trainer comes out looking a bit disingenuous here.
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If you look up the horse’s record, he is a very nice, competitive horse but not top ranked. Shows almost entirely limited to Ohio and Kentucky. Lots of shows last year. Not sure he’s gotten her a ton of publicity (till now) but he is certainly worth every penny of the amount owed. I have to wonder WHY keep dragging horse to shows and running up expenses if owner isn’t paying? Who knows.
Agreed. Horses still eat, need constant expensive care. Bills can run up very fast if owners don’t pay, and trainers continue to care for the horse
Why does everybody have to immediately assume the trainer has done wrong? If you’ve been in this business for a while, you would know that there are bad owners, too. We don’t know the agreement that was made. Likely that the horse was sent to be sold, owner wanted X dollars, and the only way you can get that kind of $$ is to present the horse as a show ring winner. Bills run up fast. This actually sounds like a nightmare client to me; demanding service and running out in the bill. Yah, it happens
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