Those of us in the horse world seldom think about such things as consulting a lawyer unless there is an active dispute raging. After all, there usually is not a huge amount of money at issue and the people involved are all friends or the buyer/seller seems so “nice.” We naively believe that “things will just work out fine.” And many times, they do. But when things go wrong in the horse world, they go wrong in a big way with creatures we love caught in the crossfire or human relationships destroyed. Consulting a lawyer before the deal is done will very often eliminate a future problem.
I know. Lawyers are expensive. But so are vets and farriers. Yet we recognize immediately the wisdom in having a veterinarian perform an expensive prepurchase exam before we buy a horse, and we routinely have the vet give our horses the vaccinations they need to avoid life-threatening diseases. We would not dream of allowing our horse’s feet to go uncared for until it was crippled before we contacted the farrier. But we give little or no thought to legal disasters that might be avoided by consulting a lawyer before we act.
When should you consult a lawyer? Well, here’s just a short list of times when getting legal assistance up front might save you many thousands of dollars later:
- Before buying or selling a horse,
- Before leasing a horse,
- Before purchasing horse property,
- Before you even think about taking in boarders,
- Before standing a stallion, either in house or to outside mares,
- If you want to begin training horses or giving riding lessons,
- If anyone will be riding horses on your property,
- If you want to co-own or set up a partnership in a horse,
- If you want to set up your horse activities as a business,
- Before you hire farm hands or other employees,
- Before you allow a trainer to work on your property,
- Before you put your horse in training with someone,
- Before you go overseas to look at a horse for import,
- Before you enter into a contract with a stallion owner for the breeding of your mare, and/or
- If you are considering converting your residential property to a horse business.
Of course, you should also consult an attorney when a problem arises. Despite the best of preparation, things can and do go wrong. An attorney can help keep a small problem from becoming a catastrophe for you and your horses.
In future articles, we will explore the legal issues that commonly arise in the horse world (including many of those raised above) and help you better understand your rights and responsibilities as a horse person in today’s society.
Rebecca Pennington has been a trial lawyer in Houston for over 35 years and for 3 years was the Director of the Trial Advocacy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center. She is also a long time horse breeder and owner of Sonesta Farms in Cypress, Texas. Today she primarily practices equine law and hosts an equine law web site at www.EquineLawyer.net . Email her at RPennington@EquineLawyer.net.
