Where do i stand legally?

[babycham]

Gail, make as many notes as possible ,mainly from th last link i sent you, write them down and have them next to the phone, so you sound confident on the phone. I was in a similar situation to you, and believe me..Once you start quoting the law, people start listening.
I took my case to a small claims court, but i also got trading standards involved, the will act on your behalf..free. They sent letters on my behalf too, adn in the end i decided to take it to court, and 2 days before the hearing, the dealer agreed to pay me back all my money, my fees and the court costs, in order to save face as he knew i had the law on my side. an dhad a copy of all letters sent recorded delivery, and all their replies. including receipts etc.
So ggod luck, and just be confident and clear, or if going to see her face to face, take a written letter(copy for yourself) and hand that to her before you start to talk.
Then in the eyes of the law,you have done everything properly/ good luck.

Sorry if this is waffling, but i am sitting here in shear pain from gull stones, and i dont do pain very well. lol xxx

[Gail&Merlin]

thanks sarah, and thanks babycham..blimey i hope you feel better soon, thats all you need over christmas..

[rach20uk]

The problem you will have is proving she is not fit for purpose. You need a copy of the advert saying she is suitable for jumping etc or it written somewhere to verify she was sold on those conditions. Without that you have nothing. You also need proof she is not capable of doing that activity.

[natalia]

Hi,

Ok, so, did you have her vetted? if no then sorry but you haven't really got a leg to stand on, also were bloods taken? if so get them tested NOW. I like all my dealing horses to be sold vetted and advise all purchasers to do so and to take bloods, as it protects both of us. How long has the dealer had her? has their vet seen to her at all and can they warrent her soundness proir to purchase? Did she only become lame since arriving with you? What surface is she worked on? is she shod? has she been just shod? Do you have an advert for her to hand? would you mind posting it to me?did she come with any money back warrentees? or does the advert say "sold as seen and tried" stating if they give a returns policy or not? Did they verbally agree to swap for something else if she didn't work out? To be honest your very unlikely to get your money back, esp if the horse only became lame on coming to you, a dealer would be very unimpressed to be returned lame stock, esp if they sold it sound. I would think your best line would be to go and try and exchange for another pony, as I can't see you getting money back outright.

[marianne]

Please make sure you start putting/sending things in WRITING immediately if you haven't already. Proving what was said and any timelines is what you need to document asap.

Also, if you're talking to the dealer on the phone, don't rush to fill any uncomfortable silences with chatter or excuses: state your case and wait (calmly!) for his response.

[pentaran]

Is this not the one you just had vetted with a clean bill of health ,that you showed a video clip of and lots said she was lame? Or is this another one?

[Ryan&Dizzy]

you will be able to send her back i have spoken to a solicitor about Ryan and they said i had grounds to have sent him back or got a partial refund for him as he was sold as a ridden horse and i was told he was suitable for jumping etc.

its also easier if its a dealer as there are extra laws that i think give you 30days to send back, but some dealers wil only let you swop the horse for another of theres which they ave the legal right to do. if there being a pain tell them you have nation wide contacts and will tell people not to have any dealings with them! dealers cant afford bad publicity

[kya]

Nickya... don't give real names and histories like that. You're leaving yourself open to a law suit. I would delete those names if I were you hun.

Gail... he may just take the horse back. I would start softly, softly, leaving any threats to the very worst case scenario.

[Cheryl Walmsley]

Make sure everything from now on is in writing, do a letter, deliver by hand and request a written response. Get it clear in your head the reason why you say he is fit for purpose. Documentary evidence is going to be the best kind such as the sale advert. If it is the case that you simply had a conversation with the dealer in which you said what she will be used for and he said that should be fine, then start thinking about who was with you and whether they can give a statement. If you are writing to him to tell him that you think she is not fit for purpose DO NOT give him full details for the basis of saying that, you don't want him to build a ready made defence before things even get underway.

I can't see the civil court holding it against you that you didn't have a vetting, it is up to the vendor to give reliable information and if he said she is fit for jumping then she should be.

I also think it will be important for you to know exactly why she isn't fit. If it is the same horse you posted a vid of, and the vet could find nothing wrong, that will be a sticking point. Hopefully in your bid to find out why she isn't fit, you may find a solution and make her fit. I know you've probably been through all this but what about her saddle and what not. In the meantime why not turn her away and give her some time with the herd to see whether she does come around.

Big thanks to Babycham as well, that info is very interesting for me and I will be saving the links!

[horsey123]

gosh sherb how did you know that ..

[Cheryl Walmsley]

Trainee Legal Exec!! very nearly qualified actually. Although, I do family so I'm not as up on horsey stuff as babycham seems to be but I'd be very interested to learn more. Seems like an area of law I could sink my teeth into actually. My knowledge about civil law generally is purely academic but useful in alot of situations.

[kalasadi]

It will be difficult to prove that the horse has a long term lameness that you bought him with unless you go down the path of scans etc which is going to cost you a lot of money. the dealer can claim that the horse was sound when it left and it became lame with you.

The dealer should have the T&Cs on the receipt of sale that you have or at the very least on their website

I would advise though a vetting on any horse would save any of this and think of the poor horse in this!

Always caveat emptor - let the buyer beware!

[Gail&Merlin]

kalasadi said:

It will be difficult to prove that the horse has a long term lameness that you bought him with unless you go down the path of scans etc which is going to cost you a lot of money. the dealer can claim that the horse was sound when it left and it became lame with you.

The dealer should have the T&Cs on the receipt of sale that you have or at the very least on their website

I would advise though a vetting on any horse would save any of this and think of the poor horse in this!

Always caveat emptor - let the buyer beware!

Buyer beware doesnt count when buying from dealers! the horse was vetted here and she was so badley behaved the vet would of been a miracle worker to see anything, he did say that she should have scans and xrays to look further into, but his advice was to return the horse ans save my money. I am not a cold hearted person and i feel pretty offended that i need to be reminded to think of the poor horse.

Have been trying to get hold of the dealer but no answer funnily enough ...

[mags]

Iv got a horse law book here will have a quick nosey after iv had dinner lol

[Deleted]

I've got nothing to add to any of the wise words above, except to wish you well with this. It's going to be hard enough to send her back anyway, I do hope the dealer doesn't make it harder than it has to be.