Equine Law Blog

More Equine Contract Blunders and How to Avoid Them

When equine business operators take legal matters into their own hands, problems can occur. Here are some of them:

• The horse seller has a sales agent that advertised the horse online and negotiated a sale to a buyer who is located out of the country. The sales agent, believing promises of the out-of-country buyer that the purchase payment was “in the mail” on the same day that the buyer’s shipper was picking up the horse,  allowed the shipper to haul away the horse. Unfortunately, the seller never sent a payment, but the horse was already out of the country before the buyer discovered the problem.

How to Avoid: In addition to insisting on a carefully worded sales agreement, the seller can insist that the buyer’s payment in full is received and clears the bank before the horse can be shipped away.

• Many of us have heard of internet scams where the buyer sends a large over-payment and asks the seller to submit a refund to the buyer or to someone else. The problem is, the buyer’s check is fraudulent, and the seller never waits for his payment to clear the bank before issuing the partial refund. This scam hit the equine industry years ago, but the sellers trusted foreign “buyers” and lost considerable money in the process.

How to Avoid: Unless you know and trust the other party to the transaction, always insist that the buyer’s payment clears the bank before parting with the horse or item and certainly before issuing a refund.

• A horse owner agrees to lease out her horse, but the lessee never signs the contract (which includes a release of liability). Both parties forget about the unsigned document – until the lessee is injured from the horse and threatens litigation against the owner.

How to Avoid: Make sure to use a well-worded contract that complies with the law of your state, and, of course, make sure that it is properly executed by all parties. Insist on the signed contract before the arrangement begins.

Careful attention to detail and consultation with legal counsel where appropriate, can help protect your interests in equine transactions.

Categories: Contracts