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Who's responsible

3K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  haviris 
#1 ·
**Note! This is NOT my stallion we are talking about, this is something I was asked by a friend online and wasn't sure on so I figured you guys would be the best to ask**

A friend of mine is also a stallion owner. She boards her stallion at another farm, not on her property. He is in a dry lot with safe fencing and electric fence along the edge with no adjoining fence lines to any mares.

Recently another boarder who's mare had been getting increasingly fat was moved out of the barn to another facility. Through the grapevine she had heard that the mare was pregnant and due any day which is why she was moved.

The mare's owner was in charge of morning and evening feedings a few days a week meaning she was often alone at the farm quite often. The owner had mentioned a few times that she wanted to breed her mare but could never afford the stud fees so my friend, the stallion owner, obviously said no.

Now she's about 99% certain that the mare was bred by her stallion without her okay. She questioned the mare owner who admitted it is her stallions foal and is now claiming that her mare had gotten loose and somehow in the stallions pen (without hurting a single fence, gate, or herself mind you... hmm....).

My friends question is: Is the mare's owner now responsible for paying the stud fee? Can the stallion owner sue? or take the foal upon weaning?

It's really often we hear of the stallion owner being responsible because their stallion got loose, but now I'm curious as to what rights stallion owners have should the mare either get loose or get put in to breed without owner knowledge!
 
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#3 ·
Yea I saw that thread which is what made me think to ask you guys. Since you never get any information on who's responsible if it's the MARE that escapes or the mare owner instead of the stallion owner being responsible.
 
#4 ·
I think she needs to discuss it with a lawyer.

I have heard of things similar, that if it was proven that the mare owner intentionally stole a breeding then the MO is responsible to pay for the cost of the stud fee, etc.

But like I said, your friend's best bet is to get a lawyer if she wishes to pursue it.
 
#7 ·
I went thru something similar to this with the foal I posted a picture of but I still owed the barn owner about $400 for something else tland she agreed we would call it even since she got a foal. Good deal all around :)
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#9 ·
I agree with talking to a lawyer. Only one of them would be intimately familiar with the laws and courts around your area. We could throw out some speculation and guesswork but that would be all it was. Me personally, I would see what kind of colt the mare threw and if I liked it, go for the colt, if I didn't, go for the stud fee.
 
#10 ·
Well, I would say she (if proven the studs foal) needs to pay the stud fee. I don't think the baby would be taken away, as, in a normal case anyway, they are paying for the baby. It's seems way more of a hassle than just to owe up the money.

Did your friend have any kind of contract on the matter, like stating that by keeping the mare there, the stud fee would HAVE to be paid in order to breed to that stallion?
 
#11 ·
Its sounding like the mare was not registered so she's not really wanting the foal.

And since they were both boarding at a stables she only had signed that she was responsible for an damages caused by her stallion.
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#12 ·
I think it would be next to impossible to prove that the breeding was not an accident. It all comes down to heresay. Stud owner claims she wanted but could not afford a breeding, mare owner claims the mare got loose, yadda yadda. I think it would be worth more than $750 in legal fees to get the whole mess straightened out.
Is the resulting foal eligible for registration? The stud owner will have some leverage if the mare owner wants to register.
 
#14 ·
Yea that's kind of what I told her all in all. But it still upsets me that if a stallion gets loose and breeds a mare the stallion owner is automatically responsible. But if a mare takes down a fence to get to the stallion (which happens more than people know) suddenly nobody is responsible and it's a big argument. :(
 
#15 ·
Well I would be royally ticked if as the stallion owner if this was done on purpose, not sure how I'd handle this situation, probably just suck it up and move on and find ways to prevent this type of thing in the future. Mostly because, like was said, it's all hearsay.

Technically it would be the mare owner's fault if the mare got out and got bred, BUT the mare owner is the one that suffers when they end up w/ a potentially unwanted foal. The stallion owner may see themselves out the stud fee, but if it was an accident, that's probably not a stud fee they were going to get anyway and no one is happy. I'd be very unhappy and ticked if my mare ended up bred, I don't care who's to blame (but blame will go where it should, if it's my fault I'll own up to it). Now when registration is involved, if it's the stallion owner's fault they should sign the papers, if it's the mare owners fault they should have to pay the stud fee to get papers.

Now there is a difference between an accident and an owner slipping their mare in w/ the stallion when no one is around (I wasn't there, but it sounds like that may be the case here).
 
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