VIC Bought Horse That Is Lame - Claim Compensation?

[HPnurse]

Hello. We purchased a horse mid last year. Proposed age was 15. He was described as an ex schoolmaster and in the time (approximately 7 months) we had known this acquaintance (the seller), this horse had always been a gentleman.

We decided to purchase for the purposes of trail riding 1-2 times per week. We first rode him 6-8 weeks after purchase due to being a custom saddle fit. After the second ride he had become sore /stiff. We followed a process to help him by getting equine chiropractic treatment. He was then rested a advised for around two weeks. We noticed after the second ride and thereafter with subsequent rides he was becoming increasingly lame. Overall, in about 3 months we rode him 6 times and in between times we had to rest him due to this soreness / lameness.

One day he became so lame(after not even being recently ridden) we obtained an urgent vet review who said he was so crippled with arthritis he should be put to sleep. We phoned our acquaintance from whom we purchased so she could say goodbye and she urged us to get a second opinion which we did.

The second vet said spell him for two months and review him. As I had given him bute (pain relief) the day of initial vet assessment, when the second vet came he was still lame but nowhere near as bad as prior day. When this vet reassessed out not this Saturday, he said he had improved slightly but allnot able to be trail ridden (the purpose for which we bought him).
If he turns out to be unsound for the purpose we bought him,

Are we entitled to request compensation for our large purchase price or subsequent vet bills, etc? No, we did not get pre purchase vet check.
Thank you

 

[Michael T]

Did you have a written agreement for the purchase of the horse?

 

[Sophea]

Hi HPnurse,

as consumer laws do not apply to private sales such as this, there are no warranties as to fitness for purpose etc that would be implied into your agreement for purchase. Your rights to any compensation will depend on whether the seller had prior knowledge of this condition, which will be difficult to prove, unless you can get your hands on the horses old vet records to see whether there was any prior health issues that pointed to future problems with the horse being lame. If the seller did have prior knowledge of this and she didn't disclose it to you, there may be a case for misrepresentation or misleading and deceptive conduct at common law but it would depend on all the circumstances.

 

[First Class Medical P.C.]

Sorry to hear about your loss, But guarantee that he was not receiving a good chiropractic therapy for the soreness in its legs. However you may want to learn more about chiropractic adjustment.