It's a combination thing, mad at myself and mad at the situation. Last June 30 I was in a terrible car accident which left me in bed for a long time and I am still off my feet trying to recover. Shortly after the accident (mid-August) a friend called me about buying my horse. He was a 10 year old blood bay Arabian gelding, needed a refresher under saddle but had been jumped quite a bit over the previous winter/spring by a girl who leased him and her trainer thought he was a great event prospect. We agreed by signed contract that my friend would pay $1000 for him (I had purchased him for $5500 myself when he was 5), making payments when she could (my biggest mistake) since she didn't have the money up front and I figured it would be better for her to take him and care for him so my husband could stop having to do so. I disclosed to her everything I knew about his history, much of which she already knew from talking to me about him in the past. I had him vet checked before he left here, the vet pronounced him sound and healthy. He was underweight because the girl who leased him over the winter had not fed him well enough which we discovered when he was returned to us in May, he had gained weight since we had gotten him back and was doing fine other than being ribby.
My friend took him down to CT and gave me regular updates, only ever complaining about his stubborness. She mentioned that her farrier's wife told her that he had a crooked spine near his tail that should be dealt with by a chiropractor. She never followed up with a vet or chiropractor and that was the last I heard of it. After a few months she mentioned that he was being too stubborn and a friend of hers had fallen in love with him and wanted to buy him. I talked to the friend and he raved about how great George was and how much fun he was having riding him. We agreed that he would take over paying the $850 that still remained owed for George. He mentioned no issues with the price or the horse. We talked off and on through the months and he raved and raved, he made a small payment of $60 towards the amount owed. Then 2 months ago or so, he mentioned George was going lame when he jumped him. Next he told me that George was tested positive for Lyme. Today he tells me George isn't getting any better, is actually worse, goes lame after 10 minutes of riding, has colicked twice. He tells me he has put too much money into the horse, while admitting that he didn't treat the Lyme with the recommended Doxycycline, and he wants to return him to me or place him in a companion home.
So the way I see it, I sent down a perfectly salable horse and now they want to have used him up and return him to me in that unusable, unsalable state without ever paying what they owed on him. So I refused to take him back and told him that I was holding him responsible for the purchase price of George since he was fine when he left here as far as anyone could tell.
So since my first friend's name is still the one officially on the contract I told the second guy that it was between him and her as to how I get paid. So she writes to me and tells me that George was "off" when she turned him to one side right from the beginning, which she failed to mention until it came down to owing money for him. She says he had lameness issues all along, which neither person mentioned in any of the times that they were promising to send payments for him. She throws in my face that he was underweight when she picked him up and that he was not on a grain diet, he was grass fed on pasture 90% of the time, supplemented with high quality Canadian hay and hay stretcher, which she says is not an appropriate diet for a horse. Again, all of these issues suddenly come out of the woodwork when the horse can't be ridden anymore and no one wants to pay for him.
You think I would have learned with all the times I have been screwed over by friends, but the situation after my accident made it look like a good idea to send him down there. At first I was going to be completely stubborn and deal with this legally if need be, but with everything else going on in my life right now, I just can't deal with this junk. I finally told them to place him in a companion home and we can all be done with this. I'm still royally ticked off though. I have too many battles to fight in my life right now for me to fight this one too.
My friend took him down to CT and gave me regular updates, only ever complaining about his stubborness. She mentioned that her farrier's wife told her that he had a crooked spine near his tail that should be dealt with by a chiropractor. She never followed up with a vet or chiropractor and that was the last I heard of it. After a few months she mentioned that he was being too stubborn and a friend of hers had fallen in love with him and wanted to buy him. I talked to the friend and he raved about how great George was and how much fun he was having riding him. We agreed that he would take over paying the $850 that still remained owed for George. He mentioned no issues with the price or the horse. We talked off and on through the months and he raved and raved, he made a small payment of $60 towards the amount owed. Then 2 months ago or so, he mentioned George was going lame when he jumped him. Next he told me that George was tested positive for Lyme. Today he tells me George isn't getting any better, is actually worse, goes lame after 10 minutes of riding, has colicked twice. He tells me he has put too much money into the horse, while admitting that he didn't treat the Lyme with the recommended Doxycycline, and he wants to return him to me or place him in a companion home.
So the way I see it, I sent down a perfectly salable horse and now they want to have used him up and return him to me in that unusable, unsalable state without ever paying what they owed on him. So I refused to take him back and told him that I was holding him responsible for the purchase price of George since he was fine when he left here as far as anyone could tell.
So since my first friend's name is still the one officially on the contract I told the second guy that it was between him and her as to how I get paid. So she writes to me and tells me that George was "off" when she turned him to one side right from the beginning, which she failed to mention until it came down to owing money for him. She says he had lameness issues all along, which neither person mentioned in any of the times that they were promising to send payments for him. She throws in my face that he was underweight when she picked him up and that he was not on a grain diet, he was grass fed on pasture 90% of the time, supplemented with high quality Canadian hay and hay stretcher, which she says is not an appropriate diet for a horse. Again, all of these issues suddenly come out of the woodwork when the horse can't be ridden anymore and no one wants to pay for him.
You think I would have learned with all the times I have been screwed over by friends, but the situation after my accident made it look like a good idea to send him down there. At first I was going to be completely stubborn and deal with this legally if need be, but with everything else going on in my life right now, I just can't deal with this junk. I finally told them to place him in a companion home and we can all be done with this. I'm still royally ticked off though. I have too many battles to fight in my life right now for me to fight this one too.
