Is my horse still alive or not?

Question

So heres the story..I had a 7 year old throughbred mare and i took her down to Sydney (I am from Ipswich) to get in foal to a very sucessful race horse, she was down there for around 4 months, we got told she was in foal therefore my dad rang and booked her transport. He then rang the stud manager to let them no that we booked her transport and the date. He then told me that she had been bitten by a snake and died. This was in janurary it took a long time for me to get over her death as she was my favourite horse and she taught me so much. I have only just got over her death. Then a friend told me that she has a gut feeling that she is still alive, my friend then contacted the man over email inquiring about buying her, then he said please ring we will dicuss then. My friend is trying to contact the man within the next few days.. I was just wondering if you think she could still be alive??? Or it is just something that despite how much i try she wil always be gone...I have lost two horses already this year... I am only 15

Answer 1

I'm very sorry this has happened to you!



You are nearly 1000 km's away from the stud - how is your friend going to visually be able to see this is your mare??



You need to be very careful not to alert him to your suspicions or they will move the horse and you will struggle to ever find her.



Get your parents involved, these people will be pretty slippery and may trip your friend up.



Contact the police. Go into your local police station and talk to them. Your going to have the problem of NSW v's QLD, so it might get tricky. But they will be able to advise you what to do. Ask them to contact the appropriate police in Sydney and advise them what has happened.



Do you still have her stud book papers? or proof of purchase? Photo's etc. Take it ALL into the police station with you.



At the very least the police can attend and ask for proof of the mare having died. Don't just take their word for it ;-)



If he was a big name stallion he would have been on a big stud with a big service fee $ to match it. A big name stud that has a manager would have contacted the stud book and notified of her death.



Contact the stud book and ask if they have had any such notification from the stud of her death. Make sure you have all her details at hand.



One tiny small good thing about this is, that they cant use her for race breeding purposes if you have contacted the stud book and told them what you "think" has happened. But obviously they could use her for pleasure breeding, riding or selling ;-(



I think it is VERY plausible that she is still alive. How did your friend come to hear of the ad for sale??



It is definitely possible that she died from snake bite. On the TB stud we ran we lost many mares to snake bite, it is a very unfortunate part of the country we live in ;-(



However, a reputable stud would always get a vet out to give a written conformation of the mares death to the owner. Noting her brands and markings.



We had horses at our stud from all over Australia. Owners have to be able to trust where they are sending loved and often very valuable mares.



Please get the police ASAP - it will be your very best chance of finding your horse. One small slip and they can move her or even take her to a meat auction to get "rid" of the evidence. They would face prosecution if caught by the police so they will do what ever it takes not to get caught.



Good luck in your search ;-)

Answer 2

When the incident accured, the best thing to have done at the time is ask for a post-mortem certificate from the vet at the time or to go down to the stud and identify your mare. You should still be able to request vet reports for the horse and say they are for 'insurance' purposes.

I don't know what kind of contracted you had set up as to who was liable for injury in the studs care and what should happen if the horse were to die. If you had a contract stating that the stud would pay you X amount in the case that the horse died and they did pay you, there's not much you can do. If you had nothing in place and no proof of vet reports in treatment of the snake bite, you can sue the stud for ultimately 'killing' your horse. It's a very difficult route to take and will not be easy to prove.



If the stud cannot give you any evidence that your mare is definately dead, then go ahead with your friend enquiring about the horse. You can't let him suspect any connection between the two of you. You will have to get an adult involved as you may need to involve the police. If the horse he is telling your friend about is your horse then he could be doing one of two scams. First your horse isn't really dead and he is trying to sell her for profit. Or he is scamming your friend as she really is dead and trying to get her money and not deliver a horse. (we have quite a few of the second scams going around South Africa).



Your friend needs to arrange to view the horse. Contact your local police as well as the Sydney police. They will need to be near in order to make an arrest. Your friend will need to take with a recent photo of your mare and anything that can prove she is your horse and you own her. If she is micro chipped or tattood, passport etc.



It will be a complicated process. Don't set your hopes up too high.

Answer 3

I'd have your folks call the Animal authorities in Sydney and ask about this fellow and see if they have had any dealings with him. Explain the entire situation to them. Including your freinds phone call. You might also contact the police and the jockey club and have them involved as well.





It seems a bit odd that it took 4 months for her to catch and be in foal. And even more odd that she turned up suddenly dead without a prior call from them at the time of the incident. It could very well be that you have gotten into a bad spot with someone of low morals and character. If she is really dead you will have peace of mind, if she is alive? you should end up with her back home and safe.

Answer 4

Was she freeze-marked, or micro-chipped or carrying any identification at all such as a passport or breed certificate carrying and official description? If not, even if you do find her alive, you will have very little to prove she is the same horse that you sent to stud.



If you have any reason to believe that the horse has been stolen it is a police matter but proving ownership is difficult. Incidentally, did you get the hors's paperwork back? If she is registered with a breed society you would have to send her papers back and declare her dead in order to keep their records up to date so no-one can register foals dishonestly as hers. It might be worth contacting the breed society anyway. Their details should be on Google.



Are you sure that your Father has told you the truth? Perhaps he has sold the horse and made up the story of the snake bite to stop you making a fuss?



As far as your friend's enquiry is concerned, the man she spoke to is unlikely to want to give info over email about any horse he had for sale and would be non-commital over any query made in this way. The report of his reply does not in anyway suggest that he was speaking about the horse in question.

Answer 5

There's certainly a good possibility that she could be alive. Since you appear to live a long distance away from the stud manager, he may have lied to you about her dying. Let your friend talk to this man on the phone. Tell her not to make any specific comments about your horse, but to say in general what she's looking for. Get the man to send your friend some photographs. You would recognize the horse, wouldn't you? If the photos are of your horse, take them to your father and then to the police. My guess is that the police would set up this stud manager by getting your friend to pretend to meet him in order to buy the horse. Be very careful. If your girl is alive, don't give this stud manager any reason to kill her just to cover his own butt because he thinks you're on to him. It

would be best to involve an adult in this little " purchase," preferably your dad. Good luck to you! I hope that your mare is alive and that the two of you are soon reunited!

Answer 6

The only way you are going to find out is go and visit the property that she was bred at. Anyone can claim that the horse is still alive via e-mail and anyone can claim a snake bit a horse when it didn't.



Remember horse dealers and breeders are the biggest liers on earth, so there a chance this person decided to secretly keep her as broodmare. There also a slim chance that she was killed by a snake.



Unless you go down with your sister there no way of finding out either way.

Answer 7

horses, here in the US at least, are very rarely affected by snake bites. snake venom doesn't harm horses the way it does humans, and i doubt it could have killed her. i know you have some very, very venomous snakes down in AUS, so maybe it's more likely there than here. either way, i've never known anyone to try and sell a dead horse. i would get the police involved now. if they do find out your friend is a friend, who knows what they'll do with the horse if they know they're busted. contact the police, tell them your situation, and get them involved. i bet there's a high chance she's alive.

Answer 8

This is a tough one.



Firstly, don't get your hopes up. It's possible that he has a similar mare for sale.



However, this should definitely get checked out! If he can confirm over the phone that he has a mare that sounds like yours for sale, I would get the police involved immediately!!!! You can't risk him realising that something is up and then getting rid of her.



This is a common occurence and I can speak from experience.



A friend of mine had a sweet little chestnut pony that was stabled at a livery yard. She really loved him a lot. One day the owner of the yard phoned her and said that he had been a bit stiff that morning so she called the vet and they had to put him down as his back was really bad and couldn't be fixed. She was devastated and couldn't handle going out to the stables again as she knew she would see his face everywhere. She was most upset that they didn't bother to call her and let her know so she could be there with him. She also had to send them quite a lot of money for the vet.



However, around 6 months later I was on an outride (I stabled at a yard around the corner) and was positive that I saw him in the field. I thought I must be wrong, and shrugged it off. But 2 days later I couldn't contain my curiousity any longer so I went for a ride past again. True as bob, there stood the 14.2 hh chestnut pony with white socks and a star. I was sure it was him!



But I was too worried to get her hopes up so a day later I called and asked if I could use the jumping arena to practise. They said no problem. This put me right next to the field I had seen him in. When no-one was looking I rode over to him and got off to have a proper look. My horse greeted him like he always had. I checked under his chin and knew for sure. Later that day I called her to let her know.



They got him back. Basically a group of us just walked in with a halter and demanded her horse. The owner looked shocked but had nothing to say. So we put the halter on and took him. He's still at my old yard, now being used for lessons for 3 year olds. I have no idea what they thought they were doing breaking a 10-year old's heart, but people are heartless!



So, yes. it's possible your horse is still around! Get a friend to check it out, but best to get the police involved!!!! Did you ever get a death certificate from him? Not sure about there, but here you get one if something like that happens to your horse.



Unfortunately some horsey people are scum and give the rest of us a bad name!



It's very hard on you to have lost so many horses at such a young age, but sometimes there's a run of bad luck. Be positive, your luck can only get better from now!



Good luck with finding out about your horse....

Answer 9

The whole thing sounds very fishy---why didn't he call you immediately when she was bitten? Or send you any vet bills for attempted treatment of the bite? I have no idea if she would be alive or not, but something weird is going on here. Perhaps she is alive, or perhaps her death was his fault and he is trying to cover his tracks to avoid responsibility, or who knows what else could be going on. I would advise you and your friend to proceed very carefully as someone this shady could be very dangerous. Might want to get in touch with the police/a lawyer to help in this.



Also, you might get some help from your Thoroughbred racing industry group in Australia--here in the US we have the Jockey Club. I'm sure your group is just as strict as ours, and if he has any plans to keep her for breeding or sell her, he'd have to be keeping her registration active. Any wrong doings on his part, as a major stud manager, would be in violation of rules of this group and they may be able to investigate as well.

Answer 10

confident, your horse is amazingly alive. He has more suitable an all out hatred of spiders & is recruting fellow horses to march on the finished uk to kill all spiders without warning. Doing especially sturdy i ought to assert. final I observed him, he replaced right into slightly distracted by ability of a lovable little filly inspite of the indisputable fact that.

Answer 11

I agree, this is super fishy. I would ask for some proof of this, and then maybe get the cops involved. Although it's been so long she could have been sold a few times and there be noo paper trail by now. I hope you find out what happened.

Answer 12

this person may not be genuine. they may of just said this to you so that they could then keep the horse. i have heard of this done before and it turned out they just wanted the money so they said the horse had died but really they had sold her on. i hope she is still alive for you. good luck finding out!

Answer 13

Was the stud trusted?

Look it up on internet.. you might find other stories.

He could of been lying..

Answer 14

dont get your hopes up

if its she is actually gone, you'll have to go through that pain again

and if shes alive you'll be twice as happy

Answer 15

I wouldn't count on it, and get yourself all dissappointed.



The situation does sound really fishy though!

Answer 16

would that guy sell a dead horse? No.



he lied to you. your parents didnt bother to check his story



I say yes she's alive and that guy is a criminal for stealing her.



get her back and sue

Answer 17

no one know whether your horse is still alive or not...only God knows...

don't worry about your horse, God will always take care of every single souls on the Earth included animals because God creates them.