# Gave horse away for free, horse is being sold without my knowledge



## Speed Racer

You have no legal recourse. You gave the horse away, and signed away ownership. The mare doesn't belong to you anymore.


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## myhorsesonador

Sorry, but there is nothing you can do. You gave her a horse, now it is hers to do with as she sees fit. The first right means nothing, unless you have a signed contract.


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## jennafranks2002

I mean I understand that, but when she agreed to first right of sale with me, and she has not informed me that she is selling her, I feel like something in there is wrong...I know I do not own her, but as part of our deal in her getting my horse for free, she agreed to let me know if she was going to sell her and I have first right of sale....I've never given a horse away before so I really do not know how it all works, but I would just think people would have the decency to let me know if you're going to sell my horse after you promised me you were giving her a forever home.....you know?


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## myhorsesonador

jennafranks2002 said:


> I mean I understand that, but when she agreed to first right of sale with me, and she has not informed me that she is selling her, I feel like something in there is wrong...I know I do not own her, but as part of our deal in her getting my horse for free, she agreed to let me know if she was going to sell her and I have first right of sale....I've never given a horse away before so I really do not know how it all works, but I would just think people would have the decency to let me know if you're going to sell my horse after you promised me you were giving her a forever home.....you know?


Why? you gave her a horse with out having her sign a dotted line. At this point you have no control, and they have no obligation to you.


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## nikelodeon79

Even if you do have a signed contract, it will be difficult to enforce.

I'm sorry that you're going through this... it must be very difficult. This is a really good lesson to all of us: it's just generally not a good idea to give a horse away for free. Though it is good hearted to give away a horse to someone we think is going to love and provide a good forever home for them, some people just don't respect what they don't pay for. "Free horse" is draws the horse "flippers," traders, and kill buyers... who often have no qualms about pretending to be something they're not in order to make a profit.


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## Speed Racer

nikelodeon79 said:


> Even if you do have a signed contract, it will be difficult to enforce.


Exactly. First rights of refusal aren't worth the paper on which they're written. They're entirely dependent on the person being honest who takes the horse.

I'm not going to agree that giving a horse away is a bad thing though, as my last two horses have been free. :wink:

I'm sorry this person isn't being honest with you, but unfortunately even having someone pay money for an animal doesn't always guarantee a good, forever home. 

The only way you can guarantee a forever home is to keep the animal yourself.


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## nikelodeon79

Speed Racer said:


> I'm not going to agree that giving a horse away is a bad thing though, as my last two horses have been free. :wink:


LOL, I'm with you there... I'd certainly love for someone to give me a free horse! It's generally safer to list the horse with a price to discourage the lowlifes and then drop the price if you decide you actually trust the potential buyer.



> I'm sorry this person isn't being honest with you, but unfortunately even having someone pay money for an animal doesn't always guarantee a good, forever home.


Very true, unfortunately. I ended up paying $250.00 for a horse that had cost $50,000.00 as a yearling!



> The only way you can guarantee a forever home is to keep the animal yourself.


Agreed, and that's why I haven't been able to bring myself to sell a single horse I've owned. Two of them are buried on my parents' property, and two more are enjoying retirement there.


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## Speed Racer

nikelodeon79 said:


> LOL, I'm with you there... I'd certainly love for someone to give me a free horse! It's generally safer to list the horse with a price to discourage the lowlifes and then drop the price if you decide you actually trust the potential buyer.


I think this boy was a pretty good 'freebie'. As for unloading him, you'll have to pry him out of my cold, dead hands! :wink:


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## nikelodeon79

He's beautiful!

Here's my freebie:









Of course, he was given to me by my very good friend and mentor... so she knew what she was doing when she gave him to me.


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## jaydee

Its a very unfortunate story but as one of my bosses used to say

If it aint written down it never happened

Its so easy to get taken in by people who seem really nice and honest. You soon learn to distrust everyone
Sad world


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## DancingArabian

Can you afford the horse? If so, approach the girl and say you had an agreement and see if she will sign the horse back over to you. You could of course try to just buy her back, which would suck, but that's really your only options if you don't want the horse shuffled around.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Speed Racer

DA, I believe the OP has already contacted the current owner, who has denied trying to sell the horse. So if she really is trying to get rid of the mare, she's not letting the OP know about.


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## churumbeque

Have someone else contact her about buying the horse and see what she says


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## Joe4d

walk away, really life is too short for these childish games. Seems like all three parties involved need to grow up.


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## AbsitVita

If you want the backbiter to stop contacting you, save all the emails and/or phone calls and go to the police to file a harassment report....if that's all she's doing, which sounds like it to me. If you want to find out if the girl is really trying to sell her, PM me with the ad and I will do it for you!


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## themacpack

The horse belongs to the other person -it is their's to do with as they please and they are fully within their rights to sell or not sell the horse to anyone they want, including you.


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## Saddlebag

Well then, if it ain't written down then was the horse given away or on loan? Free use of horse in exchange for care? I wonder how that would argue out in court/


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## WickedNag

IMO you just need to move on. You can not retain rights to something you gave away. If you wanted the horse should have kept it


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## churumbeque

AbsitVita said:


> If you want the backbiter to stop contacting you, save all the emails and/or phone calls and go to the police to file a harassment report....if that's all she's doing, which sounds like it to me. If you want to find out if the girl is really trying to sell her, PM me with the ad and I will do it for you!


That sounds drastic. She hasn't even asked her to not contact her


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## churumbeque

Saddlebag said:


> Well then, if it ain't written down then was the horse given away or on loan? Free use of horse in exchange for care? I wonder how that would argue out in court/


I wonder how the court would take to lying?


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## AlexS

The only thing you can do is contact the owner and let her know you are interested in buying the horse back. Then you have to be prepared to pay whatever she is asking for it.


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## Saddlebag

I'm serious. If there was no bill of sale or contract signed it could be argued the horse was only on loan as there is nothing concrete to prove otherwise. It's often referred to as a free lease. And many times those aren't signed either. Had the horse been sold for a mere dollar the sale would have been legal, if there's a receipt indicating such.


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## themacpack

Saddlebag said:


> I'm serious. If there was no bill of sale or contract signed it could be argued the horse was only on loan as there is nothing concrete to prove otherwise. It's often referred to as a free lease. And many times those aren't signed either. Had the horse been sold for a mere dollar the sale would have been legal, if there's a receipt indicating such.


Except the OP has clearly stated that they "gave the horse away" - so to argue otherwise now would be dishonest and, imho, wrong. To see someone suggest doing just that is rather disappointing.


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## WickedNag

Very good point themacpak. I think that is the problem with a lot of what happens in this world is dishonesty but if the outcome is a benefit they don't necessarily see it as wrong. Very sad.

The op gave a horse away. You can not retain rights to something you gave away. The owner can do whatever s/he wants to do with the horse, sell it, keep it, take it to an auction. That person owns the horse and the op has no right to lay claim to it. So you pull yourself off by the bootstraps and learn your lesson for the next time.


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## wyominggrandma

You can contact the person who has the horse for sale and say you are interested in buying her back.Do not expect to get her back for free, do not even expect her to sell her to you if she doesn't want to, just like any other buyer/seller.
You gave her away. You did not sign anything with "first buy back" terms. No sense taking her to court, she will say she didn't agree to "first buy back" you will say you did say it. She might want to sell you the mare, but will charge you for her expenses I would bet.
Bottom line: you gave her away to this person freely and the horse is no longer yours or your business.


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## Barrelracer00

I'm sorry, I know you feel bad, but you gave this mare away. She's no longer yours, theres nothing you can do about it. I know you miss her, but you can't do anything.


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## Saddlebag

This is a fine example of why things need to be in writing along with a bill of sale. $1.00 makes it legal but the amount doesn't have to be included, just "Payment received in Full." One cannot put conditions on a sale.


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## Speed Racer

Saddlebag said:


> This is a fine example of why things need to be in writing along with a bill of sale. $1.00 makes it legal but the amount doesn't have to be included, just "Payment received in Full."


That's what JJ's previous owner did with me. We both signed 2 copies of the 'sales contract'. She got one and I got the other. 

I offered to give her a dollar just to keep it all legal, but she said that wasn't necessary. She just wanted to make sure nobody could come back later and say the horse was stolen or other shenanigans.



Saddlebag said:


> One cannot put conditions on a sale.


You'd be surprised what some people THINK they can put into a legal sales contract. Rights of first refusal, visitations, staying in contact with new owner via e-mail, etc. I'd never agree to any such foolishness.


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## autumnheart

This stinks. Sorry to hear this. :/


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## WickedNag

Looks like we lost another poster with no updates ...


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## ShannonSevenfold

Speed Racer said:


> I'd never agree to any such foolishness.


This made me lol


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## Speed Racer

ShannonSevenfold said:


> This made me lol


Glad you liked it. :wink:

I'm a little gun shy with sellers, since I've had a crazy stalker one. Imagine, someone thinking they DESERVED to see and interact with a horse they _*sold*_, and trying to track me down even after I moved to a different state. :shock:

You sell it/give it away, it ain't yours anymore. If you wanted to stay in Pookie's life, you should have kept him.


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## ShannonSevenfold

Holy crap. A different state?


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## Speed Racer

Yep. Moved from Maryland to south central Virginia. People be krayzee!


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