A friend gave me an Arabian gelding that had been left for five years on her property by the previous owner. She still has the registration papers, but I have been paying for horse’s care for five months. We have had a bit of a disagreement about an unrelated topic, so I am worried that she could take the horse away since she still has his registration papers. Is this possible? Do I have any legal options?
JOSHUA
Comments
I am not sure have you talked to a lawyer?
First thing: since your horse is a gelding, unless you want to show him in Arabian breed shows, the papers are of no importance. You can’t breed a gelding, if you want to show him in open shows you don’t need papers, and if you’re going to use him for pleasure riding papers don’t matter.
Second thing: if your freind takes the horse back from you, she will have to start paying for his costs (feed, shoeing, vet care etc.) again. Realistically, do you think this is something that she wants to do? In the current market, a lot of people have horses they can’t give away, much less sell. Unless your friend wants to use the horse herself or give him to someone else, it seems to me unlikely that she’d want him back.
Third thing: “Possession is nine points of the law.” I’m not a lawyer, but the horse is in your possession and I assume you have some proof that the friend allowed you to have the horse. If she wants the horse back and you say no, you gave him to me, what is she going to do? She can’t just drive up with a trailer and load him up and go away unless she wants to take the chance of you filing charges of theft against her.
It seems to me that the only likely thing she will do is not give you the registration papers.
What you need to make all this go away is a bill of sale. I don’t know what your disagreement with this person is, but can you go to her and ask her for a bill of sale? Typically in a situation like yours, the bill or sale would specify that for $1 she is selling you her interest in (description of horse).
Good luck.
well i’m not sure where you live, but in michigan the law is that after 6 months of you paying for the horse’s care you can file a claim in a small claims court and they will give you possession of the horse.
Hi, Myrrikishey.
You should post this question in whatever the legal questions section is. (If you haven’t already.) Also give your state, because the laws on this type of thing vary from state to state.
If the friend owned the horse and gave it to you, then you own it, although this might be difficult to establish. The problem with verbal contracts is that although they are enforceable, they are difficult to prove.
However, in order to claim that she had not given you the horse, your friend would have to explain to the court why she allowed you to have the horse in your possession and pay for his care for 5 months. For example, she’d have to argue that she allowed you the use of the horse for some period of time, and that you agreed to be responsible for his upkeep, but the horse was not a gift.
If she gave you the horse and you mentioned this to other people–and she also, perhaps, mentioned it to other people–then it should be easy to establish that you own the horse.
However: are you sure your friend owned the horse?? Here’s one relevant paragraph from an interesting article I found:
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Most states have laws governing the abandonment of animals by the owner. The majority of these statutes deal with situations in which an animal is left at a veterinarian, kennel, or similar facility.[14] If an owner does not collect his animal and pay for the services within a certain number of days,[15] the animal is deemed abandoned. At that time, the facility has certain duties before gaining title to the animal. First, most statutes require that the facility contact the owner and notify him that he can obtain the animal by paying for the services. If the owner does not respond, the facility generally has the duty to turn the animal over to an animal shelter. Most states require that the facility inform the owner as to which shelter the animal has been turned over. After delivery to an animal shelter, the animal is treated as per the shelter’s policies. A facility that does not comply with state statute, for example by turning the animal over to a shelter before the waiting period has expired, can be liable to the owner for expenses incurred.[16]
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Here’s the source:
The article says that if your friend didn’t surrender the horse to an animal shelter, she may not ever have owned it. In this case, she could not have given it to you.
The only way to straighten this out is to get legal advice and then take steps to establish title to the horse.
Yes, you do but this all depends on the state you live in
. Did the friend have anysort of “contract” writtne or oral with the legal ownner? However please remember these facts though:
(1) It’s often unclear exactly whom should be notified when horses are found, and even law enforcement may not be able to tell you the right answer
(2) Failure to notify the appropriate authorities can have negative financial consequences for the finder of a lost horse
(3) Even months and years after the horse goes missing, the lawful owner can reclaim the horse
(4) When reclaiming the horse, the lawful owner may be able to avoid reimbursing the well-meaning people who have paid to take care of his horse.
More specific information is needed to clarify this topic. However with proper notification of concerned parties (legally) this could be resolved rather easily.
