Livery yard disputes
Clearing a debt • Wrong turnout • Negligent or not?
QMy horse is on a special feed due to his allergies. As part of my livery agreement, he is to be fed this morning and night. Recently, he came out in hives, which the vet confirmed was a severe allergic reaction to the wrong feed being provided. What can I do and who is liable for my vet’s fees? Sally Dobson, Dorset
Rebecca says... Professional negligence happens when a professional fails to perform their responsibilities to the required standard. As you have a livery agreement (either oral or written) where there was a term of the contract that your horse should have been fed his special feed and wasn’t, you may have a claim for breach of contract.
You may also have a claim due to the potential breach of duty of care owed to you by the livery (that is, the ‘tort of negligence’). In tort law, there needs to be various elements that are all present in order for you to be able to bring
this type of claim. These are:
DUTY OF CARE: The livery owed you a duty to feed your horse the correct food and not to cause the type of harm suffered.
BREACH OF DUTY: The livery breached the duty owed when they fed your horse the incorrect feed.
CAUSATION: This has two parts which both need to be proved: 1 Factual causation: you would need to prove that, but for the livery’s negligence, you would not have suffered the loss. The cost of your horse’s vet treatment would be the ‘loss’, plus any other expenses incurred as a result — for instance, if you had booked a lesson you couldn’t attend. 2 Legal causation or remoteness:
whether the livery owner’s negligence was the legal cause of the loss.
Keep copies
I would recommend ensuring that you have copies of any documents or correspondence saved in a safe place. This could even be screenshots of WhatsApp messages that you send to someone else. I would then try to talk to the livery owner, explain the situation, and what their actions have cost you. It may be that you’re happy with a contribution toward these costs to draw a line under the matter, but be aware
that you can’t accept the contribution and then try to claim the whole amount.
You can also write a ‘letter before action’ to the livery yard, setting out your potential claim and the losses you have suffered. If you have any queries, I would recommend talking to a specialist equine solicitor who will be able to advise you.