legal help needed regarding current horse loan contractual problem

paulhiggy

Hi,
I am hoping that somebody will help me out here so that I don't have to spend any money with a solicitor...?
So the history is that we loaned a horse for my daughter from a local stables about 18 months ago.
With this loan agreement it states she is allowed to ride on a weds, Friday and Sunday.....with no times stipulated.
So for the past 18 months she has ridden pretty much at the same time on each one of this days.
We pay monthly by direct debit.

We have been told that the horse is being bought by somebody (also at the stables) and that she cant ride when he has historically has.
So what has happened is that even before the horse has been sold she has been told she cant ride at the times she has done for 18 months and when the horse is eventually sold her timing's will change.

To my mind (and I am no legal expert) we have a monthly contract and would need a months notice for any changes?
Furthermore as we have historically always ridden at the same time is it an implied contractual time whilst we are still in the months notice period?

Sorry one last thing - she hasn't been able to ride at the times normally ridden on a Sunday due to the stables allowing the potential new to ride and has been told that she cant ride at the historic time for the remainder of the contract? can I ask for a % of my money back.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm a frustrated parent who is also consoling my daughter who doesn't understand why she cant ride the horse she loves?

Any advise greatly appreciated!!
Thanks in advance,
Paul.

ILW

Unless you have paid in advance you are due no money back.
It appears the agreement was purely on a monthly ad hoc basis unless you have a contract that says otherwise with notice periods.

Just arrange to use a different horse.

Gigglepig

Frankly it sounds a bit silly to consider a solicitor for this. Have you cancelled the direct debit? If the problem is that you have already paid 1 month in advance then for the remaining part of that month you may need to be flexible regarding the time she rides (as per your contract which does not stipulate a time). If you cannot make any other time than when she originally rode, I would ask them (nicely) if she could either swap days or ride another horse at the usual times.

Sad as it may be, the horse is being sold so unless you make an agreement with the new owner your daugher won't be able to ride it. The horse belongs to someone else and it is their decision. Unless your daughter is very young this should be easy to explain (thoug sad).

Hintza

It doesn't sound like a loan to me if she has set days. It sounds more like hire of the horse on those days, to me a loan is when you have full exclusive use of the horse.

If you have a contract then what does it say about termination?

As said above though if you have paid no monies in advance then it really is not worth a fight. Perhaps it is time to buy her a horse or arrange a another long-term exclusive loan.

aileth

Unfortunately one of the pitfalls of loaning, as you'll fall in love with the horse and then something like this happens and it's heartbreaking.

It does sound like a month-by-month ad-hoc agreement like ILW says. You'll either have to work around the new owner's arrangements (as it is their horse), or if the new owner doesn't want to loan, look for another horse. Very sorry for your daughter though, I've experienced this myself when I was young and it was very upsetting as you start to see the horse as 'yours'.

There's different types of loan re the hire point, full loan, part-loan. It sounds like a part-loan if she's been told she can only ride on certain days.

Try and find a full loan perhaps, maybe someone who is unable to care/ride a horse due to injury or other circumstances (too busy etc) but is unwilling to sell and she has the full care and full riding rights of the horse. This will also be handy if you're considering buying a horse in the future as she'll have the full experience but be able to 'drop it' per se if it's too much.

paulhiggy

thanks so much for the quick replies and all noted with many thanks.

Taking your comments on board, draw a line under this current episode and move on I think!
thanks again