The unpaid for horse! Please help!

I bought a horse 2 years ago as a 9 month old filly. The lady I bought her from said that the papers for her would be coming and she would send them. I kept trying to get ahold of her, and finnally gave up. Instead of going through her, I emailed the owner of the Stallion who said she would be happy to sign for the papers and said she would then send them to the mare owner for her to sign. I got an email from her this morning and this is what it said...


Hello Madison, My friend has sent me papers to sign, and the e-mail messages below. Could you please tell me who you purchased the filly from? I sold several horses including Kitty Hawk, and her foal to a woman in E**** named T****. She purchased them on contract, and did not finish paying for them. That's why the filly wasn't registered when she should have been. Perhaps you could get ahold of T**** for help......I don't
believe it's lawful to sell property that isn't paid for......she needs to contact me. Thanks, I*** M****

What do I do? What are my options? Is she able to take my horse away from me. This is my first horse and I love her to death. Please help!

Sadly, you need to talk with a lawyer.
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She's right, the person you bought your horse from, can't legally sell the horse. I would find out what is written down in a contract between the person you purchased the horse from and the person who sold her the horse. If it's all in black and white, the original owner could take legal steps to repossess your horse and you would have to take legal action against the person who sold you the horse, very messy.

I agree - you need a lawyer. I really do not know what they would do in this case. But if you put 2 years of feed and care into that horse I would really hope they could not just up and take it from you - but you never know. Hopefully the breeder does not want the horse back and somehow they can just get a ruling from the person you bought her from to pay what is owed. Good luck.

Just a thought, but maybe contact that person again, the one who sent you the email, and ask if you can pay a portion of the amount owing for your filly to obtain a clear title and registration for her?

What wares said...
Except I would hold off on paying any money to anyone till you can have a lawyer look at the situation

I agree with Waresbear. If you can make an agreement with the breeder for some sort of payment it may be less expensive than going to an attorney. She may very well rather have money than your horse so it is worth a try. You bought the horse in good faith and have put a lot of time and dollars into caring for it over the last two years.
I would email her back asking if there is some way to clear this up. Let us know how this goes. Wishing you the best.

One reason to make sure if you want a registered horse, see the papers when you see the horse, & get the papers when you get the horse. All the promises of papers coming later...well, not so often. I would give the breeder the most up-to-date contact info on the seller, & then not get in anybody's face & see if they sort it out on their own.

I wouldn't worry too much about it.
You might never get the papers you wanted.
Possession is 9/10 of the law, if original breeder hasn't worried about getting their money by now, I doubt they will be too eager to come after you now.
I would just sit tight and let the breeder make the first move. Why spend a bunch of $$$ on a lawyer if it isn't necessary.

But do keep track of all bills paid on the horse and anything that proves you are the owner of the horse. I hope you got a bill of sale.

YES, contact a lawyer. Ask friends and business associates to find one for you, if you don't know one--DH is an atty, btw.
Also, since she didn't complete the sale from the stud, perhaps the stud owners knows who has ownership of your horse. It's true that anything can be sold to anybody, and perhaps you could complete the sale, via your atty, and then sue for the monies that this woman has taken from you.
BTW, in my American History research I came across several stories in the 19th century of people who moved west bc they bought a farm in IL from somebody who wasn't the owner. This isn't a new game. =b