Do You Need a Horse Agistment Contract?
Getting a horse agistment contract drawn up and signed before you commence using a particular facility has become normal practice in the last few years. You may ask yourself do you really need to go to the expense of getting one. The answer, most definitely, is yes. It is recommended that you get a legal adviser to draw up the contract, especially if you have any particular requirements, but there are standard contracts available and further information can be obtained from a number of websites on the Internet.
For many years landowners and horse owners would only have a verbal agreement between them. This gave rise to many problems for example, if the horse fell ill or the horse owner defaulted on payment of agreed fees. With a horse agistment contract in place these problems do not arise as the contract can deal with all these eventualities and both parties know what is expected of them. To enable the horse agistment contract to be drawn up to adequately cover all likely problems the correct information must be given to your legal adviser.
A basic horse agistment contract would normally include clauses covering horse owner's responsibilities for example, welfare of the horse, payment of veterinary fees, insurance against the horse damaging the landowners property etc. Clauses covering landowners responsibilities would generally be, advising the owner of any injury to the horse, advising the owner of the horse if the land or facility has become infected by disease, water quality and availability etc. Obviously, if you have any particular requirements pertaining to your own arrangement you should include these.
Horse agistment contracts normally also include a clause covering late or non-payment of fees. Should this problem occur the landowner would have the right to a lien over the horse in question enabling the landowner to recover any fees or costs outstanding. If a horse agistment contract has not been signed it is possible that a landowner can claim a lien under the Impounding of Livestock Act 1994. However any clause dealing with late or non-payment of fees, in a horse agistment contract would take precedence.
Although the horse agistment contract is between two people, additional information for example, the full name of the horse and any distinctive markings or scars of old injuries should also be included to clarify which specific horse the horse agistment contract is for.
The horse agistment contract should stipulate that the management of the horse should be of an accepted standard and may cover such items as accommodation, quality of pastureland and food, veterinary and farrier attention, vaccination against disease and pest treatment etc.
If the landowner has taken on the management of the horse, under the horse agistment contract, the horse owner should check the horse's welfare on a regular basis. Both landowners and horse owners can be held to account for animal neglect or cruelty.
Get a horse agistment contract, it can save you money in the long term
About the Author:
Westbury Park provides quality, reliable horse agistment to the racing and breeding industry.
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