# Gave Away Free Horse To Bad Home- Help!



## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

If your friend gave away the horse free and clear, she has no recourse. 


If the horse is truly crippled and lame, a call to AC is in order. However, even if they seize the horse it will not be given back to your friend; it will go to a rescue or foster.


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

Agreeing with Speed Racer. If they have emails or texts showing you gave the horse away without a bill of sale, your friend probably has no recourse. He can always talk to a lawyer for a 30-minute consultation (usually for free or a reduced fee) and see if there is anything he can do. 

Other than that, call Animal Control or an equine rescue and see if they can assist. If the horse is otherwise being taken care of though, it will be difficult to convince AC to remove a healthy horse from the current owners.

Edit: Wanted to add that a lawyer might be able to draft a letter requesting the horse back due to the horse being used for a purpose that you would never have agreed upon with the original agreement. Legally your friend may not have a leg to stand on, but it may be a big enough bluff to scare them into turning the horse over.


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## nyminute (Jun 22, 2016)

There is no paper trail with this horse between the old owner and new ones. Don't worry, a call to AC is the next step if there is no recourse in getting the horse back. The old owner just feels horrible because she thought it was an excellent home where he would be loved on by a little girl. Not to have fat people with huge spurs trying to keep him moving...


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

A little back handed, but if the horse is truly being abused and if there is nothing in print ANYWHERE (or no credible witnesses) that says I gave the horse to them, I would march over there and tell them that they cannot borrow my horse anymore and bring him home. If there is something in print anywhere stating that the horse was given to them, then that just sucks for the horse and he's stuck there. Sounds like, in hindsight, a free lease contract would have been better for this crippled guy.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

How long have they had the horse? In this case, the 30 day abandonment rule might apply (or however long that is). For example, you picked up a stray dog and tried to find owner to no avail. After you've been caring for it for a certain amount of time, its legally yours.

Otherwise (I'm no law expert though) I would think that if new 'owners' have no papers stating horse is theirs, but your friend has papers stating horse is hers, legally it would still belong to her?


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

What do you have against fat people, OP? Some of us ride quite regularly and well, and this is the second time you've mentioned 'fat people' in a disparaging tone.


If the horse shouldn't be ridden it doesn't matter whether the person is thin or not. If they're bad riders they'll hurt the horse just as much as any other inexperienced, unbalanced person.


I don't agree with abuse or using big honking spurs for no reason other than to try and gig a horse forward. That's not what they're supposed to be used for, anyway. They're meant as an extension of the leg and to refine cues, not torture a horse into going faster.


Call AC and have them check up on all the horses being used in the lesson program, not just the one your friend used to own. If he's in bad shape, then the others will be as well.


If the horse is registered, papers only denote ownership according to the _registry_, not for legal purposes. Lying just to try and get the horse back doesn't make you better than the people that were given the animal.


If your concern is truly only for the horses then call AC and let them sort it out, or have your friend offer to buy/take back the animal.


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