Abandoned horse - Ownership query

mitsubishi1

Hi,
not sure if anyone can help.

I have my own horse in a field and ever since my horse has been in the field there has been an abandoned horse there. I have been caring for the horse ever since, i.e. hay, farrier care, veterinary care, stabling costs while horse recovered from foot injury etc.

No owner has come to check or look after the horse in all that time.

What I am wondering is would I be entitled to ownership of the horse after this length of time or what are the legal implications of the above.

Thanks for any help.

Pat Mustard

mitsubishi1 wrote: »

What I am wondering is would I be entitled to ownership of the horse after this length of time or what are the legal implications of the above.

This is a request for legal advice, which is not allowed by forum charter.

The forum charter does not allow users to request or to give legal advice.

The thread can remain open, on the proviso that nobody gives legal advice and that no further requests for legal advice are made.

References to caselaw and legislation will be allowed, as long as nobody attempts to apply the law so as to give legal advice. Legal advice will be deleted and the thread will be closed.

There may be some details missing from your story such as:

• whether the horse is in any way identifiable to an owner
• the ownership of the field
• whether the owner of the field owns the horse or has given permission to the horse owner to keep the horse there
• the circumstances of how the horse ended up in the field (if known)
• whether it is likely that the horse was put there by travellers who might return to reclaim the horse after the various bills have been paid.
• Why are you paying farriers/stables for someone else's horse?

GeorgeOrwell

It's an interesting question - almost like if there's an animal version of adverse possession.

GerardKeating

GeorgeOrwell wrote: »

It's an interesting question - almost like if there's an animal version of adverse possession.

An interesting (for me anyway) hypothetical question.

If the OP paid for veterinary care, to which the owner objected, (for example, gave the Horse antibiotics or vaccinations) and the owner wanted the horse to be sold as "organic", would they have a case against the Vet or OP?

Victor

Isn't there a requirement to register horses? Was the horse registered?

paul71

There are number of horse rescue charities in the country
Report the horse as abandoned to one they will come and assess the horse including scanning to see if the animal is microchipped
They can and do take possession of abandoned horses inform the Gardai and department of Agriculture chip and register themselves as the owner and you can then apply to them to adopt the horse
They do normally ask for a fee of about €300 for adoptions and they will have the animal medically assessed and treated

I can give you contact details if you require

Samuel T. Cogley

GeorgeOrwell wrote: »

It's an interesting question - almost like if there's an animal version of adverse possession.

Trotter's rights?

nuac

Equine equity

Samuel T. Cogley

nuac wrote: »

Equine equity

Missed the obvious one there Nuac; Equine's Darling.

Victor

Do note that mere grazing of horses does not grant adverse possession (??? -v- Irish Rail), but that case applied to the land, not the horse.

runawaybishop

Victor wrote: »

Isn't there a requirement to register horses? Was the horse registered?

Yes, all horses over 6 months old should have a passport and any within the last few years should also be microchipped.

lifeandtimes

paul71 wrote: »

There are number of horse rescue charities in the country
Report the horse as abandoned to one they will come and assess the horse including scanning to see if the animal is microchipped
They can and do take possession of abandoned horses inform the Gardai and department of Agriculture chip and register themselves as the owner and you can then apply to them to adopt the horse
They do normally ask for a fee of about €300 for adoptions and they will have the animal medically assessed and treated

I can give you contact details if you require

I highly doubt the OP after all the effort of taking care of it they have done the past while, will contact them now and let them take it away only to pay 300 quid to get it back.

Op there are chip readers you can buy online or the local vet can check. If the horse has an owner it is only right to contact them to let them know you have the horse, they may not want it and could transfer ownership to you. If there is no owner then I'm of the mind set of finders vs keepers

bobbyss

runawaybishop wrote:

Yes, all horses over 6 months old should have a passport and any within the last few years should also be microchipped.

What does having a passport entail?

Peregrinus

I don't think there's any special rules for horses here, or indeed for animals generally. They are just examples of personal property, like wallets or hats or anything else that you might come across in circumstances where it seems to have been lost, mislaid or abandoned.

At common law, to the best of my recollection, common law distinguishes between:

Abandoned property: The original owner intends to renounce any interest in the property, and allow the first person who wants to to claim ownership. An example might be old furniture that you dump somewhere. Leaving aside littering laws, the first person who wants to can take possesion of the furniture and assume absolute ownership of it.

Lost property: E.g. the wallet or jewelry that you drop in the street. The finder acquires a title which is good against the whole world except the true owner. If the finder takes steps to prevent the true owner from recovering the property, or fails to take reasonable steps to allow this to happen, that's usually some species of larceny/theft offence. But if he does what he can, and no true owner can be traced, then he can treat the item as his own (and if necessary defend his title against others) unless and until the true owner claims the property. In theory the finder never obtains absolute title to the found property; in practice the likelihood of a true owner turning up and making a successful claim gets smaller and smaller as time goes on, unless the property is very distinctive and very valuable (like, say, an identifiable painting).

Mislaid property: You go into a restaurant, leaving your hat on the hat rack and your umbrella in the umbrella stand. Some hours later, after a splendid meal and more wine than was strictly prudent, you roll off, leaving both hat and umbrella behind. You made no booking and paid in cash, so they have no idea who you are. Unlike secondary characters in Sherlock Holmes stories, you have failed to write your name inside the hat-band. What's the story?

The story is pretty much the same as for lost property, except that instead of the finder acquiring possessory title, some authorities suggest the occupier of the premises acquires it. (The rationale for this is that it increases the chances of your recovering your property, if in the morning you recall where you dined last night.)

OK: Was this horse abandoned, lost or mislaid? As is often the case, that's hard to say. The OP describes the horse as an "abandoned horse", but that may not be correct. We're not told how the horse came to be in the field. Did the horse stray, and find his own way into the field? Was he left there in the dark of the night by an owner who spotted the chance for some free grazing?

But, on the worst analysis, the occupier of the field acquires possessory title to the horse, good against the whole world except the true owner.

Grassey

bobbyss wrote:

What does having a passport entail?

Answers the age old question of 'who brought the horse to France'

Teyla Emmagan

Who owns the field?

In any case OP, that definitely sounds like your horse to me.

Mr. Incognito

I cannot believe

Animus Horesendi

has not been quoted.

I dont know the law on this but under the Sales of Goods Acts if property is called on to be collected and is not it is treated as abondoned.

On a practical level I would log the details with the Guards and if no one turns up looking to claim the horse I think you would be deemed the new owner.

runawaybishop

bobbyss wrote: »

What does having a passport entail?

horses details, microchip number, owners details etc, also has a diagram of a horse with distinguishing marks on it, such as whorls in the coat, coloured socks etc