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When a horse purchase goes awry
KAREN
WESLOWSKI
Buying a horse is an exciting
event. Buyers dream of future
horse show wins or long trail
rides. For sellers, it may be the
culmination of years of training
and investment. However, sales
can go awry and lead to litigation. Buyers, in particular, are
becoming more sophisticated
and turning to lawyers to deal
with disputes arising from the
purchase of a horse.
Soundness
Whether a horse is sound is
one of the most important
issues in the purchase and sale
and it can frequently give rise
to disputes. Soundness is a rela-
tive concept implying fitness for a
particular purpose. A horse that
has suffered an injury, for
example, may be sound for one
purpose, but unsound for another.
Disclosures
The doctrine of caveat emptor generally applies to equine
purchases. It is up to the buyer
to thoroughly research a potential purchase. If unsoundness is
readily apparent, the seller has
no obligation to disclose it.
However, this does not mean
that a seller never has to disclose
the existence of impairments.
The seller’s disclosure obligations will depend upon how
apparent the impairment is
upon a reasonable inspection,
the questions asked by the buyer
and perhaps on the buyer’s level
of experience.
Another issue that arises fre-
quently is whether the seller
Buyers, in particular,
are becoming more
sophisticated and
turning to lawyers to
deal with disputes
arising from the
purchase of a horse.
“
Karen Weslowski,
Miller Thomson
must disclose a horse’s prior
injuries. They may believe a
medical history is irrelevant and
need not be disclosed provided
the horse is currently sound.
However, the buyer is arguably
entitled to know the complete
medical history in order to make
an assessment in this regard.
Duty of agents
Trainers or agents are often
relied upon for guidance in the
buying and selling of horses. Disputes may arise when these individuals breach the duties owed to
their clients.
In Albert v. Storms, 1994 O.J.
1805, the plaintiff hobby farm
owner retained the defendant to
train his horses. The defendant
advised the plaintiff to sell one
See Horse Page 27
