# Result - Stolen on loan horse returned to real owner



## s4sugar (14 June 2013)

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/horse-stolen-on-loan-returns-to-owner/


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## Luci07 (16 June 2013)

Did feel sorry for the person who had bought in good faith and lost all her money though why she simply didn't take the money offered by the old owner seems odd. However, did I read this right..was the case between the owner and the "new" owner? What, if anything is happening to the person who sold the horse on in the first place?


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## MaHats (16 June 2013)

It happened to me.  I bought a horse advertised on the Internet.  I had a gut feeling something was not quite right but I was guessing I would find some behavioural problem which I was not too worried about, so I went ahead.

I didn't look too much at the passport, just the age and that it matched the description and the vacs due date.  I bought her, had the ownership changed and had myself a great pony.  About 9 months later I looked again at the passport a while before I recalled the vac was due and looked a little closer.  The previous 3 years vacs were stamped by a vet in the opposite end of the country from where I had bought her.  Bit strange I thought. Why would the vacs be done by a vet 200 miles away?

So I tracked down the last name on the Passport, which werent the people I bought her from.  I found her and phoned her, she went loopy.  It seems that 2 weeks after the owner had delivered her to the loan home, she had been advertised for sale and I had bought her; and the owner had, for the 9 months I had owned her, been getting regular updates from the loan home.  One email was dated only 3 weeks before my call, saying how well she was in her loan home.  The original owner was not happy.  

I offered to return the horse to her, or to pay for her, and I made it very clear that I adored her and really wanted to keep her.  After a very long week of me sending all the information, the proof of purchase, the original for sale advert, current pictures, telling her what I was doing with the horse etc, she agreed to let me keep her.  It ended very happily.

It was very upsetting to discover I had in all innocence bought a stolen horse; and I think by behaving properly in accepting that I have  bought 'stolen property' and offering to do the right thing, I was able to keep the horse.

When I looked back I suppose there were clues, but I was so pleased to have found such a lovely horse, I was too happy to notice.


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## adjaegham (18 June 2013)

I have a theory about theft - when is theft not theft? When someone sells your horse off loan.  The result of this court case gives a clear steer to people who sell horses off loan or people who turn a blind eye to glaringly obvious clues not to buy.  My homebred filly was on loan to family friends due to a bereavement.  She was my last filly and wanted to safeguard her for the future - I would never have sold her as she was too valuable to me.  I was informed that they'd put my horse down due to neurological problems and it was awful devistating news.  Many years after her 'death' I spotted a photo of her on NED last year.  My mare was alive and in Gloucestershire.  The truth was the family who I'd loaned her to dropped her off in a lane 200 miles away from Prestbury on their way competing their hunter at Hicksted.  She exchanged hands with the passport in my name and went on to several more homes with my name intact.  Her current keeper was the only person to amend it several years later.  My mare is a registered anglo (half sister to a horse that represents team GB endurance) and this document remained with me so she passed from pillar to post without pedigree certification.  The people who sold her off loan got off scot free - but civil action will be taken shortly.  I hope the many people who get involved with selling horses on loan take note of this outcome.  It's positive to know that if you own a horse and it's stolen you get your horse back..... if you have a car stolen or any other property stolen it's only right your property is returned to you.  The cost of legal fees meant I couldn't afford to take legal action against the keeper of my horse.  Instead we worked together to get facts to make a case against the family who sold my horse.


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## MaHats (19 June 2013)

Thats the problem with Forums I suppose, comments can be so easily be taken the wrong way.  e.g. _"The result of this court case gives a clear steer to people who sell horses off loan or* people who turn a blind eye to glaringly obvious clues not to buy.*"_

I almost thought it suggested I turned a blind eye.

A good example of how communicating isn't always as easy as it may seem


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## Luci07 (20 June 2013)

Problem is that passports are not often updated. I mean, what really is the point? It's not a legal document demonstrating ownership, it costs money to change in most instances so you can see why many wont bother.  Now if that could be changed and we could actually reinstate NED then we would see a sea change.

But so sorry for anyone caught up in this.


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## adjaegham (20 June 2013)

You're right - there are too many loopholes and it's the innocent buyer who ends up dealing with the legal aftermath whereas it should be the person who sold the  horse off loan/stole it.  Bring NED back!


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