Need legal advice.. Barn owner having problems and her mare being taken away.

I know she's not, that's the issue. These people were selling her for $1000 and that's it, because they are SCARED TO DEATH of her. She's a super sensitive mare, and gets nervous real easy and gets all snorty and out of control when she has too much pressure on her. I'm not saying this in relation to this thread, but I'd be slow to say these people need animals at all. Much less horses. They have 6. One has foundered from them switching him to straight alfalfa and a lot of it, from lower quality costal. They bought one mare who could hardly walk (I think an old break in her knee) and the vet said she should be put to sleep, but not bred or ridden at least. They come back and say they plan on breeding her for a mule. I don't know, I'm honestly worried about the health of their horses in their care. But anyway, I honestly miss this mare. She was a nice girl.
Posted via Mobile Device

I'll be honest, I would never have believed this mare jad done anything she did based on how she rode had I not seen her youtube videos.
Posted via Mobile Device

I think if you have so many concerns about these people then you really should report them to your animal welfare authority otherwise you have to let it all go. It can destroy you and no-one wants that to happen.

They have been called multiple times by other people. (a mare they bought is very skinny) I actually got threatened to have my horse taken away just because he didn't have hay in his barn. They've done nothing so far. I'm just hoping they still sell this mare to SOMEONE.
Posted via Mobile Device

If you are worried about the mare, and she's for sale for $1k, buy her.

Yup-she is well worth it.

Animal Welfare do follow up on all reports. However, the law where animal 'cruelty' is concerned can appear bizarre. Welfare have to find evidence that an animal is being neglected or physically abused. This is very, very hard to prove in some cases and no matter what the officers 'gut' feeling is, they are prevented from acting by law. If they have concerns or suspicions, they will keep an eye on things but that is all they can do unless there is obvious abuse/neglect which cannot be related to an underlying illness. You really need to let this go and either make a report to animal welfare, buy the horse yourself or move on.

I'm going to be a jerk and elaborate on this some more... I'm not sure what your riding experiences are, BUT, it is important to note:

• The person who was riding the horse in the video may have just been a better rider than you and/or "Allie". Or, the rider may have simply had a different riding style than you guys, and you have not figured out this horse's buttons. Horses change hands, lose/gain fitness, etc along the path when they change hands frequently... most top level competition horses that look like they'd be easy and a dream to ride, but look that way because it is the RIDER, their riding style, and their experience that gives the horse that illusion.

This went from 'help with advice for BO on non paid fees and loss of horse' to a
Slam on the horse owner, and the horse that is worth nothing..

I just want to clear up some confusion here, since I've seen it repeated twice in this thread.
In the US, a verbal contract IS legally binding. It does NOT have to be in writing to be a contract.

However, the challenge becomes proving a verbal contract. It might require credible witnesses, or tape recordings, or some other method that is frequently not available. So it is always best to protect yourself with a written contract that can later serve as proof. But generally speaking verbal contracts are still legally binding.