Injured horse

[sixpackpayne]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma

Several months ago we took a horse that was for sale that belonged to someone else (with their permission) to show to some other people that were looking for a horse to buy. They didn't want the horse so we returned it to the owner. Now 3 months later the owner is saying the horse is crippled & wants us to pay for it. We have been to this mans house a couple of times since the horse was returned & he never mentioned anything about it. He is supposedly hiring an attorney. We talked to our veterinarian about the alleged injury & he said it would have been noticeable immediately. He called on Monday of this week to ask if it was injured when we returned it. My husband told him no, that was the end of the conversation. Today, Friday he called needing our address for his attorney. Should we be concerned? What should would do if he does have an attorney?

 

[RRevak]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma

Several months ago we took a horse that was for sale that belonged to someone else (with their permission) to show to some other people that were looking for a horse to buy. They didn't want the horse so we returned it to the owner. Now 3 months later the owner is saying the horse is crippled & wants us to pay for it. We have been to this mans house a couple of times since the horse was returned & he never mentioned anything about it. He is supposedly hiring an attorney. We talked to our veterinarian about the alleged injury & he said it would have been noticeable immediately. He called on Monday of this week to ask if it was injured when we returned it. My husband told him no, that was the end of the conversation. Today, Friday he called needing our address for his attorney. Should we be concerned? What should would do if he does have an attorney?

When you initially took the horse to show was there any sort of vet check done by either you or the perspective buyers?

 

[RRevak]

Also.....



What is the reason the owner is stating the horse is crippled?

 

[sixpackpayne]

There was no vet check....the guy is saying the horse is "stifled" which is an injury somewhat common in barrel horses (this is a barrel horse). I believe it caused by running the horse too much with out the horse being in the proper physical condition. It has something to do with their knees. This is the lamen definition the vet gave us. We have owned hundreds of barrel horses & never had one that was stifled. Its not limited to barrel horses it can happen to any horse. It can also happen in an older horse like arthritis affects older humans. This happens to be an older horse & it was rode by my husband & briefly by an 8 yr old little girl. The horse was never ran. We are not crazy & have never caused an injury to a horse. We have never ran anyone elses horse.
It is discouraging because we considered this man a friend. My husband has been to his house several times since the horse was returned to visit with him & he never mentioned a thing. They needed to sell this horse to pay some bills & we weren't able to help them & the horse still hasn't sold & I think they need money.
They will have trouble getting money from us because we don't have any!

 

[RRevak]

A stifled horse is one which has a hind leg "locked" in a fully extended position. All the joints of the leg, except the fetlock, are incapable of movement. The most common causes are stress to immature joints, tearing of ligaments, and faulty conformation--excessively straight hind legs.
The horses stifle is a hinge joint which corresponds to the human knee. As the human knee, it too has a knee cap; the patella.

The stifle joint connects the lower end of the femur and the upper end of the tibia. Across this joint rides the patella which is held in place by three ligaments--one on each side, one in the middle.

Stifling occurs when the medial ligament (the one on the inside of the leg) is stretched or loses its "tone" and can no longer hold the patella in place. The whole joint becomes stuck because the knee cap can no longer slide over the joint properly. A horse which is stifled will often as not unstifle himself. In many cases the horse owner does not know for sometime that the horse has a problem. Many horses which stifle do so after having been "fit" and worked hard for a long period of time, then given a long period of time off. The ligaments are simply not ready to go back to work, and are lazy about their job. If the horse is slowly brought back into condition, the problem usually disappears.

When you got the horse did they exhibit ANY signs of lameness, even if it was just a slight bit off in each gait? If the horse were to correct the locking then it wouldnt have been immediatly noticable but a slight bit of lameness would have been detected. When you recieved the horse was it a "working" horse? How long was it from when you took the horse until the time you returned it?
In other words what i'm saying is that if the horse was in full "working" condition, then given to you where it was either being worked very lightly or not at all, then there is a possibility the horse could have become stifled while in your possesion. A vet doing a work up with images taken could determine the length of time the injury was present. If its determined that this occured while the horse was in your possession you COULD be liable for the vet costs (but making the determination that you were the direct cause would be difficult) it would take to correct this. You are NOT on the other hand responsible to purchase the horse either way.