24 March 2015

Sale of horse with injury

Category: Buying a horse

One of the reasons that a horse should always be examined before the purchase of the horse follows from a court case in the Netherlands about a dressage horse. The Court of Appeal gave a final decision om 3 december 2013 (ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2013:4492). Although a pre-purchase examination by a veterinary took place the real spine injury of the horse – kissing spines -were discovered a month after the sale of the horse. Amongst others a witness statement is the Dutch court case about the horse says:

_”Something is wrong, I don’t know”. “It is just probably from all my work he has a little bit muscle sore”, “It is just I think he is a little bit muscle sore because I knew you were coming I had him trained for quite a while on him for a couple of weeks and I thought now I made him ready for the owner And I think I did too much” ;he also submits “This one needs to be more together engaged and that is what I did. And I did it too much. That is why he probably is a little sore, he is saying with his ears ahhhh. But really, his back is sound.” and “If you ride him longer I hope he will get out of his pain. (…) Yesterday I trained him a bit too much, I’m sorry”._ Check here for more information on buying a horse in the Netherlands.

Examination of horse by expert veterinary

The second veterinary expert of a Dutch Faculty of Veterinary Medicine who examined the horse concluded:

The horse [het Paard] shows radiographic changes of the thoracic spinous processes in the saddle region. These changes are already visible on the radiographs taken during the pre-purchase exam on 5 September 2005. Contrary to the actual radiographic findings the spine was judged by the Dutch veterinarian as normal. This is not correct. The cervical spine also shows massive radiographic enlargements of the facet joints. (…)”

Court protects purchaser of horse under Dutch consumer law

The Dutch Court of Appeal finds that Dutch consumer law applies to the sale of the horse. Dutch law allows a claim of the Purchaser if a defect is discovers within 6 months from the sale. Then the the onus of proof that the defect or injury was not present at the moment of the sale is on the Seller of the horse. The Seller of the horse did not succeed in proving the injury (kissing spines) did not exist when the horse was sold. The judges of the Dutch Court view video footage of the first presentation en trial ride of the horse. The video also holds the abovementioned statement of a witness given at the moment the (potential) Purchaser is riding the horse. Therefor my tip for potential buyers of a horse in the Netherlands is to make a video of the a trial of the horse as well as a video of the examination by the veterinarian.

Court allows damages to purchaser of dressage horse

The purchaser of the horse who filed the claim for dissolvement of the contract sale succeeds. The Court allows dissolution of the purchase agreement. The Seller of the horse is ordered to pay back the purchase price of the horse plus statutory interest. Other damages allowed by the court are cost for veterinary Sale assistance, stable costs, blacksmith, etc. for € 200 a month as well as insurance costs of the horse for the amount of € 2.828,32, as well as travel expenses. In case or any doubts on the sale or purchase of a horse don’t hesitate to contact Equine lawyer Mark van Weeren.

Prepuchase examination of horse

One of the reasons that a horse should always be examined before the purchase of the horse follows from a court case in the Netherlands about a dressage horse. The Court of Appeal gave a final decision on 3 december 2013 (ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2013:4492). Although a pre-purchase examination by a veterinary took place the real spine injury of the horse – kissing spines -were discovered a month after the sale of the horse. Amongst others a witness statement is the Dutch court case about the horse says: “Something is wrong, I don’t know”. “It is just probably from all my work he has a little bit muscle sore”, “It is just I think he is a little bit muscle sore because I knew you were coming I had him trained for quite a while on him for a couple of weeks and I thought now I made him ready for the owner And I think I did too much” ;he also submits “This one needs to be more together engaged and that is what I did. And I did it too much. That is why he probably is a little sore, he is saying with his ears ahhhh. But really, his back is sound.” and “If you ride him longer I hope he will get out of his pain. (…) Yesterday I trained him a bit too much, I’m sorry” Examination of horse by expert veterinary The second veterinary expert of a Dutch Faculty of Veterinary Medicine who examined the horse concluded: The horse [het Paard] shows radiographic changes of the thoracic spinous processes in the saddle region. These changes are already visible on the radiographs taken during the pre-purchase exam on 5 September 2005. Contrary to the actual radiographic findings the spine was judged by the Dutch veterinarian as normal. This is not correct. The cervical spine also shows massive radiographic enlargements of the facet joints. (…)” Court protects Purchaser of horse under Dutch consumer law The Court of Appeal finds that Dutch consumer law applies to the sale of the horse. Dutch law allows a claim of the Purchaser if a defect is discovers within 6 months from the sale. Then the the onus of proof that the defect or injury was not present at the moment of the sale is on the Seller of the horse. The Seller of the horse did not succeed in proving the injury (kissing spines) did not exist when the horse was sold. The judges of the Dutch Court view video footage of the first presentation en trial ride of the horse. The video also holds the abovementioned statement of a witness given at the moment the (potential) Purchaser is riding the horse. Therefor my tip for potential buyers of a horse in the Netherlands is to make a video of the a trial of the horse as well as a video of the examination by the veterinarian. Court allows damages to Purchaser of dressage horse The purchaser of the horse who filed the claim for dissolvement of the contract sale succeeds. The Court allows dissolution of the purchase agreement. The Seller of the horse is ordered to pay back the purchase price of the horse plus statutory interest. Other damages allowed by the court are cost for veterinary Sale assistance, stable costs, blacksmith, etc. for € 200 a month as well as insurance costs of the horse for the amount of € 2.828,32, as well as travel expenses.

Court of Appeal The Hague, 3 December 2013, ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2013:4492.