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  Discussion on Buying a horse
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Posted on Friday, Apr 21, 2000 - 3:28 pm:

did you have anthing in writing about his suitablity - eg a newspaper ad, how did you find the pony? any written description or verbal one if someone else heard it, will help you.

Posted on Friday, Apr 21, 2000 - 8:09 pm:

I am sorry you have had this problem. For some reason the horse industry works on handshakes and oral agreements. And, when written agreements are used, they are often unsatisfactory. That is why above all else I recommend using EDRS mediation/arbitration contract clauses to "courtproof" and take these disputes out of the attorney-courtroom arena.

It appears your witness may be able to corroborate your understanding of the warranty, though I am not sure what is meant by "sound conidition" in your circumstance.

Most horse sellers are concerned about their reputations so you may be able to bring the seller to mediation with an organization like Equine Dispute Resolution Service, 1-877-ZERO LIT (937-6548). Its worth a try.
ggoulder

Posted on Saturday, Apr 22, 2000 - 8:06 am:

Chrissy,
I feel sorry about your situation. We have experienced similiar situations. You would think we would learn, but guess we trust a man's word too much.
With the first one, we tried to have the seller take him back but to no avail. I kept him a year and tried to make it work and then pratically gave him away. The second one we also tried to get the seller to "come clean" and buy the horse back but they only offered to work with him more. We took him to the trainer and he is now an exceptional horse, he just needed a chance. He will never leave our place now! :-) Our third, the seller not only bought him back but paid 1/2 the shipping ($300.00) to return him.
If you don't get anywhere with the seller, could you have some training done with the pony? Maybe with a firm hand and a bit of a brush up he would turn into a nice pony. At this point, you may not have any other options. Either you work with him or try to resell him knowing what you know.
That is worse.
Someone told me once to never buy a horse until you have ridden it at least 3 different times.
Sometimes first impressions are deceiving.
Hope it works out.

Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2000 - 9:25 am:

Hi Denise and Chrissy,

around here it's common to purchase a horse with a 30 day trial period. At the end of that time you can return it, losing only what it cost to keep. This seems to me to be the best option as it's hard to tell if a horse/rider are a match with a few rides.

Teresa

Posted on Friday, May 5, 2000 - 7:40 am:

Chrissy you sound really frustrated. Maybe it is time to get someone else (new to the situation) to spend a little time with the pony, or at least to be with you so you can get a different perspective... or at least get a bit of a break.

Posted on Friday, May 5, 2000 - 12:02 pm:

Chrissy-
I had a 19 mos. old Quarter filly I bought from someone who knew my background with horses wasn't much. The filly hadn't been handled at all and when she finally was, she was mistreated. She was EXTREMELY spookey. Just to touch her sent her up in arms. Anyway, she spooked one day and quite literally ran me over, 3 1/2 mos. later I still am not fully healed. Anyway, I sold her to someone who has alot of experience handling horses, he knew all about her since she was in his barn when I got trampled. Anyway, probably the best thing you can do is sell your pony to someone who is very experienced and is full aware of his attitude. I know how dangerous they can be when they're like that from first hand experience. You can try getting the people to buy him back willingly, but I would bet that's why they sold him. There may also be something in the law in your favor along the lines of negligence on the lady's part who sold him to you since she failed to tell you of his temperament and you got hurt as a result. I'm not a lawyer so I don't know for sure, but worth asking around about. Let me know what happens, if you get the chance. I'd be curious to see.
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