Horses and the Law
"How to Get Paid for Boarding or Working On a Horse"

Disclaimer - This article is intended as general discussion and information on the topic covered, and is not to be construed as rendering legal advice. If legal advice is needed, you should contact an attorney. This article may not be reprinted or reproduced in any manner without prior written permission of the author.

“I'd rather owe it to you than cheat you out of it.” - Anonymous

This article is written especially for the owners of boarding stables, farriers, veterinarians and those providing breeding services to horse owners. You have probably been in the difficult position of not being paid for services provided at one time or another. I find veterinarians, especially, have rather large accounts receivable and are always looking for a way to insure payment for their services.

If an obligation becomes hopelessly delinquent, you either have to forget about it or acquire a lien. A lien is a legal term, which establishes a property right on the object in question. This lien allows you to enforce the right of sale of the object to recoup the funds owing if you follow the proper procedure set forth in the law.

Most states have liens created by law if you work on or care for horses and have possession of the horse. Possession is a key factor because, under most liens created by law, you do not have to give the horse back until you are paid in full. These liens are known as service liens and are commonly found in four categories:

1. Agister’s lien;
2. Farrier’s lien;
3. Veterinarian’s lien; and
4. Horse breeder’s lien.

An agister’s lien is a lien for boarding a horse. This lien is common in almost every state and allows the provider of the service to keep possession of the horse until paid in full. Note, however, if you allow the horse to leave your possession, you no longer have the right to possession, thereby making collection of the amount owed much more difficult.

Suppose you have possession of the horse and the owner continues to neglect payment. The board keeps getting higher and higher, and the owner has no intention of paying the bill and obtaining possession of the horse. In this situation, you have the right to sell the horse and apply the proceeds to the unpaid bill. However, be very careful. You must consult an attorney and be sure all legal steps and procedures are followed, including notice to the owner prior to the sale, or the sale could be null and void.

If the state-mandated procedure is followed, the sale will be valid, and you will hopefully get your bill paid. If the proceeds from the sale are insufficient to cover your bill, you have the right to go after the owner, personally, if the amount is large enough and the chance of collection is reasonable. Again, an attorney familiar in this area could advise you on the prospects.

Some states specifically recognize a farrier’s lien on the horses the farrier has shod. A farrier’s lien is also possessory in nature, but also allows the farrier to seize the horse later to aid in guaranteeing payment. The sale procedure referred to in the agister’s lien section is applicable here as well.

Other states also allow veterinarians a possessory lien on the animals they have treated. It allows the veterinarian to keep possession of the horse until the bill is paid in full. The problem here is that most veterinarians make “house calls” and do not have possession of the animal. In that situation, the veterinarian must follow the standard procedure of filing a lawsuit and proceeding in that fashion.

Finally, some states have a horse breeder’s lien. This lien is for the benefit of stallion owners and creates a lien on the foal sired by the stallion, and in some states, also includes a lien on the mare. However, these liens are tricky and require a lawyer, since they are not possessory liens, and are subject to strict legal time limitations and filing requirements.

I cannot over-emphasize the importance of contacting an attorney and strictly following the procedure set forth in state law for the sale of a horse. If you do not, you open yourself to being sued as was done in the case of Harland vs. Lovett, Tennessee Court of Appeals, 1996. In this case, Ms. Harlan leased acreage from Mr. Lovett to pasture her horses. She defaulted on the monthly rental payments and refused to make any arrangement for payment or remove her horses from Mr. Lovett’s pasture. Mr. Lovett seized her horses, without legal authority, and sold them. He applied the proceeds to the rent owed and sent the balance to Ms. Harlan.

Ms. Harlan sued for conversion, a legal term meaning Mr. Lovett exercised ownership and control over the horses without legal authority to do so. (Remember, Mr. Lovett did not follow state procedure allowing for sale.) The court found in favor of Ms. Harlan, and Mr. Lovett was ordered to pay her $10,000 and she also recovered possession of a number of her horses.

This is an example of what can happen if you take the law into your own hands. If you need to sell someone’s horse for payment owed to you, I strongly advise retaining an attorney who can follow the strict requirements necessary for the sale. Once this is accomplished, you will at least recoup some, if not all of the money owed to you.

Enough legal talk–it’s time to hitch horses.

Ken is a practicing attorney in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, where a good bit of his practice involves negligence cases. Ken and his wife, Karen, own Sunny Hill Farm Belgians, and they have been exhibiting their six horse hitch for the past few years at most major shows in the east.