Miniature Horse question, am I wrong to be mad?

[farmchick897]

So, I bought a mare last year from a large miniature horse breeding farm in MS and she was suppose to be "open", come to find out she is pregnant and just had a healthy little filly born a few days ago. I contacted the farm to find out what stallion she was bred to and to get a stallion certificate and they refused. Not only rude about it but stated I bought her "open" and therefore I can't register the foal.
I'm sorry but "open" to me means not bred and if you allow her to get bred then you should provide paperwork so the filly can be registered. Am I wrong? By the way they have 5 stallions on their property so it would be hard to "guess" who is the daddy.

I waited to contact them to be sure she had a heathy, live foal and if it was a colt I would have gelded him and not cared about pursuing papers.

 

[Teach97]

To me, you bought her as open so you should not expect to be able to gain from the foal that was born...however...had there been any complications due to the birth I would held them responsible since they sold you her as open and you were not planning on the expense of a foal.

 

[farmchick897]

If she were open I could have bred her to my registered stallion and had a regsitered foal, which is what I had planned to do.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I would definately be upset, though I am not sure there's a whole lot you can do about this. How long did you know she was bred for and when you knew she was pregnant did you contact the breeder right away? Did you attempt a breeding with your stallion or did she just never come into heat? I don't blame them for not wanting to allow you to register the foal, expecially if they don't know which stallion she was exposed to. Seems all very unprofessional to me. Yes you have a right to be upset, but not sure about your rights to much more than that.

 

[SpringChickens]

I would be VERY upset if I bought a horse which was supposed to be open, but was bred. I think that they should either compensate you the cost of keeping the mare for a year, plus depreciation (b/c she is now another year older and you couldn't get a registered foal out of her last year), or they can let you register the foal.

They might also have some idea of which stallion is the sire, depending on if they tried to breed her or if the mare got into a pen with the stallion. Its also very possible that she got bred by a young colt, which is why they don't want to let you register the baby...

Good luck!

 

[Katy]

I may be the odd man out here with my opinion, but I'd just be tickled to have a healthy foal. I'd look at her as a "bonus" that you didn't pay for since you bought the mare open and not bred. At least I'd think she would have cost you more had she been sold as bred.

 

[lockedhearts]

Ok, I am not familiar with the Mini Registries, but give this a try.First, see if the registry has a website and print any registration application out, also check to see if the offer DNA services. Call the registry, explain your situation. Have all the information on the foal that they need.
They may tell you to go ahead and send in the application, you will likely have to dna mare and foal. What they should do is contact the stallion owner and try to get them to willingly give them the information, if not, they may threaten them with suspension.
I went through this with a Pain foal, I bought Mare in foal, previous owner never paid stud fee, when foal was born stallion owner would not give breeders certificate. I called APHA had all my ducks in a row, previous mare owner and stallion owner received letters on my behalf. I got papers on my foal.


And to answer the question..... NO, you have every right to be mad, and for all the years I have been in the Horse Game, OPEN means not carrying a foal.......

 

[RiverOtter]

Well, yes, on the one hand she got a healthy foal - which is always nice.

But open means that she could have bred the mare to her choice of stallions and gotten a registered foal which would either bring a higher price or advance her breeding plans - as this one can't do either of those things, this foal is a financial loss compared to the foal that otherwise would have been.

A lot of people think of horses as pets. If you're familiar with livestock - say you have a herd of registered Angus cattle, and the neighbor's Jersey bull busts up the fence and breeds your cows. The bull owner (in all fence-in states) is not only responsible for the repair of the fence, but also can be sued for the difference in price between the pure Angus calves the cows would have had, and the nearly worthless dairy cross calves they did have.

Suppose the person who owned the Angus cows then sold one as open to an unsuspecting buyer as breeding stock. Healthy calf or not, the new owner has lost a year's worth of time, potential for a breeding of value and the original owner can be sued for that loss. Which is why with cattle preg checks are relentlessly pursued anytime there is a sale. Sadly with horses we tend to go with a handshake.

Legally, "open" means "not bred" and implies in breedable condition, not "we don't know if she is or isn't and we wash our hands of it"
I would send them a politely worded letter to the effect of "We want to work with you to have a satisfactory result from this misunderstanding. As there seems to be a problem with communication, we will be seeking third party mediation, either through the registry or with our lawyer, to ensure that this issue is settled with no further misunderstanding. Thank you for your time."
And then follow through. Contact the registry and ask them about recourse and if they are unwilling to work with you (sometimes the first person you get on the phone finds it easier to just tell you NO so they can get back to computer solitaire) then find a lawyer knowledgeable about agricultural law. Probably a letter with Attorney At Law on the letterhead will get the job done for you.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I realize it prevented her from the breeding she might have preferred. But a live birth is always a good thing in my book.

I'm very familiar with livestock.....I'm a farmer/rancher with a cow herd and know very well what happens when a neighbor's bull jumps the fence. I'll still take calf to sell as a yearling at the sale barn over no calf.

 

[19hhbelgian]

This year I would have been happy to have a live foal whether I could have registered it or not... Instead my mare had the filly too early and it couldn't process the oxygen because lung development wasn't complete. I was there for that babies last breath and trust me I'd do anything to go back in time and have things go right. You didn't mention if you even tried to breed her last year when you bought the mare. Mini's are easy to sell, especially the foals, registered or not. Sell the filly if you don't want her because of registration issues, breed your mare back on her foal heat, and your set for next season. I guess I have been through so much with different horse people, this kind of thing wouldn't get me riled up... I don't care if I'm the minority on this subject.