Seller Beware - Anyone ever sold a horse and regretted it?

Herbound, is your sister certain that her paint has died? They could have lied to her to get her off their backs? I dunno.

I agree that there should be some sort of fee associated with buying/adopting an animal.

I know that hindsight is 20/20 and all... but I might have chosen to give a "free care lease" on the horse rather than to give away ownership. In that case you've got a heck of a lot more legal justification for reclaiming the horse at any time if necessary.

The same has happened to a woman I know who trains and finds homes for mustangs. She halter trained a two year old and he was adopted (as all mustangs can be) for a small fee of $125. The poor guy was then left to sit around in his paddock for two years with no further training or work. He wasn't completely neglected, but was somewhat underweight and definitely far behind on his training. Eventually his paddock flooded and the mustang trainer I mentioned was asked to take him back and rescue him from the flood.

A few months later he's looking handsome as can be and has been advancing in his training... but he's still waiting for that person who really wants to take him home and give him a job.

This is entirely possible. They could have done any number of things with the horse that didn't entail its death. At least, at first. The animal may very well have been sent to auction or sold to a KB.

I'm going to say 'not always' to a rehoming fee. I got JJ for free and I've given one horse away in my lifetime, as well as sold one.

Acquiring an animal for nothing does not mean it's going to be neglected or abused. JJ is living like a king, and the two I let go have been cherished their entire lives.

It's all about running reference checks and listening to your gut. If you think something might be whonky, don't ignore that little voice.

In all the years we've been in the horse business, this has happened once. Several years ago, we sold Flipper to a local guy who was just looking for a horse that he could ride occasionally and that's the type Flipper is. Anyway, he is a pretty hard keeper TB and if you even think about changing his feed, he'll drop weight. Anyway a few weeks after this guy took him home, we were driving past and noticed that he seemed a little thin. After that, we would check up on him often and found out that they guy was feeding like half a ration of crappy grass hay to him every other day. Needless to say, Dad confronted the guy (I was living in Amarillo at the time) and said that if you aren't going to feed the horse, we're taking him back. So Flipper came back home in our trailer and got to enjoy all the good food he could eat after that. He still isn't fat, probably never will be, but he is slick, shiny, and healthy in his forever home. It would just be cruel to risk putting him through something like that again so he can live out the remainder of his retirement in our pasture.

I may be looking at this from a completely different point of view but...

I gave a horse away once, it was a very sweet horse and I wanted a very specific type of home for it. By giving it away, I felt I had the right to CHOOSE the home it went to. I made a good decision. The horse is happy, safe and well care for.

If you sell a horse, then you've given up all rights to it. You've handed over ownership and responsibility to that person. Unless otherwise statet in a binding legal document, you have no rights to the horses whereabouts or any other information related to said animal.

It was a very sad situation in deed but I think your only recourse for this situation would have been to involve animal control.

This could be a lesson for every one. Maybe instead of giving a horse away you let them use the horse with rights to inspect and check on it. If it is not being cared for you take it back no questions asked. After they provide good care for a year then gift them the horse with 1st right of refusal if they choose to get rid of the horse.

Well my sister thought maybe they said that because they still had the horse and were hiding it's condition so she sent her husband down in there after the weather was better and it wasn't there. She asked around to see if maybe they had sold it, it doesn't appear to have been sold. Every time she sees a paint that is red and white she stops to check it out and make sure it isn't marked like her's...I think deep down she clings to the hope that the poor thing did somehow survive and make it out of that hell whole.

We "gave" away our old pony Buddy, and he's living like a king now. He's got a little girl that mauls and pets and brushes and loves him daily, he's getting regular exercise with someone who doesn't weigh too much for him (I was always worried I would hurt him-I'm 125, and he's a fairly small boy), and I couldn't be happier for him and the little girl. Technically we could demand to have him back at any time-there was nothing legal signed, no money passed, but me and my dad haven't brought up the issue, and don't plan on it. Not every "free" horse is going to neglectful, abusive owners, but you really do have to know the person and get some references to diminish that risk.

Farmpony 84, technically, if you sell a horse you have given up all rights to it, but I am proof that sometimes you can get around that with enough research and persistence and get the horse back, even with nothing in writing. So my advice is at least try.

I dunno. I got a horse for free, and he was one of the best trail horses I ever had (he's 30 and arthritic and retired from riding now). I definitely didn't think of him any less because he was free. As a matter of fact, I consider him sent to me by God.

I would try to never sell a horse I cared about, because you don't know where they are going. That's why I still have the 30yr old. At some point I will have to put him down, but I am not giving him away because you just don't know what will happen after that. What happened to your sister would be a big fear of mine. Luckily I haven't been forced to sell one yet.

Hi there, sorry im new to the horse forum and im not to sure on how to use it yet...

If anyone cud help me with my question it would be much appreciated thanks.

Basically I sold my 13.2hh in 2008 the people had him on trial then bought him and I have stayed in contact, visting now and again, he was sold to them as they gave me their word he'd be there till the end of his days, today I went up to see him and was shocked and upset to learn he was sold a month ago... does anyone know how I could find out where he is now as the people we sold him to won't tell us... I really want to find him and make sure he is ok :( can you find out through passports etc ??please help if you can. Thanks