Lina Smith asked:


 

A horse agistment lien is a legal claim made against the owner of a horse as security for unpaid agistment fees. This kind of arrangement is common wherever horse agistment is carried on but Australia is a good example to look at.

 

The Impounding of Livestock Act 1994 was amended on the 20 October 2004 to allow property owners to originate a lien over a horse agisted on their land if the owners of the horse had fallen behind by more than 14 days with the agreed horse agistment fees. The horse agistment lien enables the landowner to recover these costs.

 

For many years landowners entered into agreements with horse owners on a verbal basis and allowed horses to be grazed on their land, housed them and provided services without having a written contract. This frequently caused major problems if the agreed fee was not paid. The owner of the horse may have had various personal reasons for not paying and occasionally the horse had been abandoned. If these problems occurred, the owner of the land not only had to look after the horse but also had no legal way of getting rid of the horse. Now, with the amendment to the Impounding of Livestock Act 1994, landowners can use a Horse Agistment Lien to either sell or otherwise get rid of a horse. When the owner of a horse has fallen behind by more than 14 days a Default Notice, under the Impounding of Livestock Act 1994, can immediately be served and payment must then be made within the next 28 days.

 

After a Default Notice has been served on the owner of a horse, they will frequently then get in touch with the landowner or holder of the lien. At this point it is advisable to make an effort to arrive at a mutually agreeable outcome. If the owner of the horse wishes to contest the Default Notice the legal procedure carries on. Therefore it is advantageous to both parties if the problems can be solved as soon as possible.

 

In recent years landowners have become wiser and written contracts have been made. This is a good idea because it means that both the landowner and the horse owner are protected by the horse agistment contract. It also encourages responsible ownership of the horse. The parties are compelled to enter into detailed discussion to agree the content of the written contract and this saves misunderstandings from arising at a future point in time. It can be made clear just what services are to be provided by the landowner or horse agistment provider as well as covering the payment of fees subject. If a horse agistment contract is in place and it has a late or non-payment clause, then that clause would take precedence and you would not be able to implement the Impounding of Livestock Act.

 

Nobody wants to be in the position where they are forced to implement a horse agistment lien and it is for this reason that written contracts should be arranged and signed, prior to the commencement of any horse agistment arrangement.

 

 



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Lina Smith asked:


 

Getting a horse agistment contract drawn up and signed before you commence using a particular facility has become normal practice in the last few years. You may ask yourself do you really need to go to the expense of getting one. The answer, most definitely, is yes. It is recommended that you get a legal adviser to draw up the contract, especially if you have any particular requirements, but there are standard contracts available and further information can be obtained from a number of websites on the Internet.

 

For many years landowners and horse owners would only have a verbal agreement between them. This gave rise to many problems for example, if the horse fell ill or the horse owner defaulted on payment of agreed fees. With a horse agistment contract in place these problems do not arise as the contract can deal with all these eventualities and both parties know what is expected of them. To enable the horse agistment contract to be drawn up to adequately cover all likely problems the correct information must be given to your legal adviser.

 

A basic horse agistment contract would normally include clauses covering horse owner’s responsibilities for example, welfare of the horse, payment of veterinary fees, insurance against the horse damaging the landowners property etc. Clauses covering landowners responsibilities would generally be, advising the owner of any injury to the horse, advising the owner of the horse if the land or facility has become infected by disease, water quality and availability etc. Obviously, if you have any particular requirements pertaining to your own arrangement you should include these.

 

Horse agistment contracts normally also include a clause covering late or non-payment of fees. Should this problem occur the landowner would have the right to a lien over the horse in question enabling the landowner to recover any fees or costs outstanding. If a horse agistment contract has not been signed it is possible that a landowner can claim a lien under the Impounding of Livestock Act 1994. However any clause dealing with late or non-payment of fees, in a horse agistment contract would take precedence.

 

Although the horse agistment contract is between two people, additional information for example, the full name of the horse and any distinctive markings or scars of old injuries should also be included to clarify which specific horse the horse agistment contract is for.

 

The horse agistment contract should stipulate that the management of the horse should be of an accepted standard and may cover such items as accommodation, quality of pastureland and food, veterinary and farrier attention, vaccination against disease and pest treatment etc.

 

If the landowner has taken on the management of the horse, under the horse agistment contract, the horse owner should check the horse’s welfare on a regular basis. Both landowners and horse owners can be held to account for animal neglect or cruelty.

 

Get a horse agistment contract, it can save you money in the long term

 

 



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