Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: renting a horse

Well, the statute of limitations for conversion in California might be 3 years, meaning, if you took the horse as your own, and stopped paying for it, then he should have brought a legal action in 3 years or else it may be too late. This does not mean he will not sue you. It just means you might have a legal defense if he does. Let me know if you want me to write him a letter which may help resolve the dispute, or if you need anything.

Daniel

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Re: renting a horse

You do need an attorney to write a letter to the owner to try to convince him to let you keep the horse, probably by making a payment of part of the overall value of the horse. The problem of arguing conversion is that there does not appear to have been any initial attempt to deprive the owner of his horse. You viewed it as his having abandoned the horse that he clearly did not want to have as he had abused it [implying he rather have it dead than alive] and that you were saving the horse's life. You were basically providing shelter for the horse and should be paid for the food, space, etc. that you gave the horse. You felt it was not possible to return the horse and the owner did not want him.

All of the above are not that convincing. Your rights to the horse are apparently very limited and I think at best you might be able to get the former owner who still really is the owner to discount the market value of the horse at the time you first rented it [reduced value because abused]. You should check with the local animal rights groups and governmental agency controlling teatment of horses to see if the amount of abuse to the horse would have been sufficient to remove it from the owner [so that you can argue he would have lost the horse so anything you give him is found money]. Do not threaten to turn him in for abuse as that might be interpreted as blackmail.

Check with several attorneys as to how much they would charge to get the information from you and then write a letter and likely a follow up response. Weigh that against how much it would cost to buy the horse from its former owner.

Good luck.