My teenage daughter is a talented horsewoman.

She is now too big for ponies and, 18 months ago, she began looking for a younger horse she could produce herself as a show jumper.

She was given a difficult young horse by a friend, who described the horse as “crazy” and one who could not be handled. They told her to “take him if you want him. He’s yours”.

The horse was nasty and dangerous when she started with him, but through sheer patience and perseverance, something amazing happened – the horse settled and, as he trusted her, he became manageable.

They started jumping and are doing really well. The horse is a jumping machine, but nobody except my daughter can ride him.

This summer, my daughter (now 17) jumped clear most days at 1.30m level and, after her last win, somebody approached her and offered her €100,000 for the horse.

I thought my daughter should sell him and use the money for college and as a deposit for a house, but she refused because she believes he can jump at Grand Prix level – which is her dream. We support her, despite our reservations.

The thing is, the girl from the family who gave our daughter the horse contacted my daughter to say that they heard about the €100,000 offered for “their horse”. She says that they still own the horse and want him sold.

They offer to split the sale monies 50/50 on account of the work my daughter put into “their horse”. They say that his passport is in their name. Our daughter replied that they gifted the horse to her, because they wanted rid of him.

My daughter doesn’t know what to do, she’s distraught at the thought of losing her horse.

She was always recorded as owner when competing and has the horse’s passport. The registered keeper is the livery yard. Does she have to sell her horse?

DISPUTES about the ownership of a horse are not uncommon.

Your daughter believes that the horse was given to her as a gift. A gift inter vivos involves the transfer of property from one person to another gratuitously, while the donor is alive and not in expectation of death.

Everyone can dispose by way of gift any property, which they own and generally all persons are competent to receive gifts, though there are exceptions.

Your daughter was a minor when she was gifted the horse and was what the law calls an ‘infant donee’, however, infants are legally capable of receiving any item of property by way of a gift, except for a gift of legal estate in land.

All types of property may be the subject of a gift. While not all animals are capable of being property (there being no absolute property in wild animals while living), a horse has been long defined as a chattel and thus property that can be gifted.

How is a gift effected in law? This varies dependent upon what is being gifted, for example, a gift in land can only be granted by deed in writing, however the position of chattels is simpler and, though a chattel can be conveyed by a deed, if possession is forthwith taken on the making of the gift and retained by the donee, this is sufficient to give effect to the gift.

Essentially, once your daughter took possession of the horse at a time proximate to being offered the horse as a gift, and has remained in possession to the exclusion of the donor, she is and remains the legal owner of the horse.

The passport

The various equine passport issuing authorities require owners to update a horse’s passport on a change in ownership.

All of these bodies (and their passports) will state that being recorded as owner on an equine passport does not constitute proof of ownership. This is correct, despite there now being a legal duty to inform the passport authority of a change of ownership.

On April 15th, 2016, the Equidae (Change of Ownership) Regulations 2016 came into force. The regulations require that “[u]pon transfer of ownership of an equine to an other person, the person transferring ownership shall give the identification document issued in respect to the equine to the new owner”.

Section 5 imposes an obligation upon a person acquiring ownership in an equine to (a) “complete and sign a declaration, identifying that person, his or her address and contact details and including a statement that this person has acquired ownership of the equine” and (b) “forward the declaration within 30 days to the issuing body…” Failure to comply with these regulations is an offence and, if convicted, the penalties include a fine of up to €250,000 and/or up to five years’ imprisonment.

On your daughter’s version of events, she is the owner of the horse. However, she has failed to record her ownership on the passport and must rectify this as soon as possible, though the former owners may attempt to block this with the passport authority.

Her failure to record her ownership exposes her to a potential prosecution if she asserts in litigation that she came to own the horse 18 months ago, which is a formal admission she breached the regulations.

Given her minority and amateur status, one would hope that common sense would prevail in the Department, but nothing is guaranteed in the gargantuan behemoth that is modern agricultural bureaucracy.

Evidence of ownership

Your daughter has possession of the passport, which is consistent with ownership, despite her failure to record the transfer of ownership into her name.

If the matter proceeds to court, I suspect the former owners will say they retained ownership (which was why the passport was never updated) and only furnished the passport to enable your daughter to comply with the legal obligation that whenever the horse is moved, his passport must accompany him.

That said, it will be hard to tally this with their offer of a half-share to your daughter. While ownership is not determined by the name on the passport, it is persuasive evidence in Court.

However, your daughter will be able to call evidence to dispute this including; the fact that your daughter was always recorded as the owner of the horse when competing. Your daughter may have been identified as the owner on the keeper’s records (e.g. the equine census), and you may be able to dig out texts, messages or emails from the time of the transfer that refer to the horse being gifted, including contemporaneous references to the horse being a gift.

Finally, the fact that your daughter, presumably, paid all the horse’s costs will be further evidence of ownership.

You can advise your daughter that she doesn’t have to sell her horse. If the former owners bring a claim, the case will likely be determined (in the absence of convincing documentary evidence) by a judge hearing oral evidence from your daughter and the persons who previously owned the horse.

I think most of us would hope that a judge would be persuaded that the horse was gifted, but one never knows what will happen in court.

The above comments are made only by way of academic commentary to assist The Irish Field readers better understand the legal norms and rules applicable to common equine-related dilemmas.

These comments are not ‘legal advice’ as per section 2 of Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 nor is the author providing ‘legal services’ pursuant to the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. Always consult a solicitor.

Seán D. Rafter is a Kilkenny-based barrister. He practices in criminal and civil law with a special interest in equine and agri issues. He is an enthusiast of hunting, racing and a good book.

Have a legal query for Seán?

email editorial@

theirishfield.ie and put ‘Legal’ in the subject heading.