Recovered EQUINE Smokin Dynamite, Last Chance to Impres

NOTE: This story is long, but if you will take time to read it in its entirety, you will be amazed and the lengths some people will go to when trying to commit civil theft! Some of the highlights of the case are in RED.

Since February [2006], my family and I have been in the process of moving to Tennessee. We lived in Ohio and owned 3 horses at that time. I sold one horse and proceeded to try and find a trainer that would train my gelding, Chance, in exchange for my filly, Dyna.

In April, I came across an ad in the local free newspaper of a "horse whisperer" with 10 years experience. I called her up and found her very knowledgeable and interested in my proposal, and we arranged to meet. The first week in May I met with her and showed her the photos and registration of the filly she would receive. She liked what she saw and agreed to do the training. The agreement was that Chance would be taught the basics and introduced to trail riding and for payment she would receive Dyna. I was under the impression that it would take 2 to 3 months.

On May 23rd, I, along with a friend, trailered the horses to this trainer’s farm. My friend and I discussed the arrangement with the trainer. I had told the trainer I would be up in Ohio at least once every 3 to 4 weeks and would stop in to see the progress she was making. There never was a boarding fee – the payment of Dyna was to cover that.

The trainer wanted me to vaccinate the horses when I brought them over and that was done. She never asked me to have a Coggins test done on them. She also never asked me for the transfer to the filly. She did ask me for the registration with the reason that she wanted it there to show any potential buyers her bloodlines. I was under the impression she was going to train the filly and later sell her for a profit. I told her I would send her a copy when I got to Tennessee because everything was packed away. There never was an agreement drawn up on paper which was my first mistake. But there was a witness to all of this. I also left my saddle and tack with her to use in the training.

We moved the following weekend, and as soon as everything was unpacked, I sent her the copy of the registration. Meanwhile, Chance got injured in her barn. He got a 10- to 12-inch gash on his belly starting at the girth area. She claims he tried to jump over a stall gate in the barn. She had him and Dyna in the same stall. She did put them in this stall when I dropped them off and I told her I didn't want them stalled that way. She told me it would just be for that night and they would be out to pasture from then on. It was getting dark and she didn't want to put them in the pasture with the other horses until she could observe them.

I never thought she would continue to put them in that stall. The day he got hurt she never did call me and tell me of this. I found out a couple days later when I called to check on him. I really wanted to get the horses out of there, but just moving to Tennessee, I didn't have a place to put them and I didn't want to bother my friends with an injured horse that had to be nursed. She assured me she was taking good care of him and seemed truly remorseful so I left them there.

I was in Ohio a couple of days later and saw the injury. I saw she had him in a clean stall and even had a baby monitor in there so she could hear if there was any problem. She said she went to nursing school when she was younger and could handle his wound, so I felt better about leaving him there. But of course this put off his training for awhile.

Everything seemed to be going well otherwise. We kept in contact over the phone and she told me he was healing well. The next time I was in Ohio was July 12th. It was raining when we got there so I didn't get to see what progress she was making on him. She told me that she was only doing light groundwork anyway and that there wasn't much to show yet. His injury was healing nicely though.

On August 4, I was back in Ohio, but again, I didn't get to see anything.

I almost missed seeing her; she was just leaving with a friend when we pulled in even though I told her I would be there that evening. I visited with the horses and saw that the injury was looking better and talked to her for about half an hour. She didn't offer to show me any progress and acted as though she had more important things to do.

Around the end of August, I received a letter from her wanting me to shoe Chance and asking for the transfer to Dyna. I called her back and told her I would check into boots (she knew I didn't want to shoe – I want to keep him barefoot). The boots would be too expensive because there wasn't a Natural hoof care practioner in her area to fit them to Chance. I later called her and told her this, and she agreed to finish out his training on pasture. I also told her I would be in Ohio on Sept. 8 and 9 to sign over Dyna after I was able to see the progress she had made on him so far. She also said he would be finished by October 6, the day I planned to bring him home.

When we got to the farm, there was no one there. We waited around for almost an hour. Just before we left, the man she was living with showed up, and we left the registration and the unsigned transfer report with him. We also told him to have her call us the next day. When we got home, I tried countless times to get in touch with her. She never returned my messages.

On Sept. 18, I received a letter from her demanding the transfer report immediately or she would give me a bill for boarding and training. I wrote her (because she still wouldn't answer her phone) and explained I didn't get to see the progress, and I would be in Ohio again on Oct. 6 to sign the transfer as long as she upheld her end of the agreement. No sooner than I mailed my letter I received another 2 letters from her. Both said I wasn't allowed on her property again until I paid her $3152 and also signed over Dyna to her. She also said if I didn't come up with the money by Oct. 15 she would sell both of the horses. She also said she quit training Chance on Sept. 8 because I didn't sign over Dyna. I was totally taken back by this sudden change in her demeanor. I made myself sick with worry over possibly losing Chance and the fact I trusted this person.

I spent countless hours on the phone trying to find out what I could do but unfortunately without a lot of money no one would touch my case. I then found a paralegal in my town that guided me to Stolen Horse International. And I don't have to tell you how wonderful Debi was. She gave me the moral support I needed to go out and fight for what was rightfully mine. I knew, because she had possession of the horses, that there wouldn't be much I could do without going to court and paying outrageous attorney fees. So I decided to try and get my horses back. I was going to pick Chance up anyway on the 6 so I decided to keep my word on that. Early that morning, we went up to the farm and just led both horses off her property. I figured once I had both the horses the ball would be in my court and she would have come after me to settle up. I got Chance loaded but Dyna (she has only trailered once in her life) wouldn't load for me. I guess with my being so nervous it didn't help matters much. So I had to leave her there. That trainer was pretty mad and said she had called the police. So we just left.

When we got back home, I had a nasty message on my machine and a letter in my mailbox from her. In the letter she was trying to claim I was the reason she didn't finish the training because I wouldn't shoe Chance. And that I was the one being fraudulent because I didn't sign over Dyna when I first brought the horses to her, and I didn't get a Coggins test on them. She said she had filed to get custody of the horses. The letter was before I took Chance back but the phone message was after. It pretty much said I would be arrested if I came back to Ohio for horse theft and a lot of other threats. I wrote her back and explained to her that since she did not finish the training that I wasn't going to give her Dyna, but I would pay her for the work she did on Chance. She wrote me back with more threats of filing charges on me for horse theft. I proceeded to keep in touch with the courts and the sheriff to see if any of this was true. She never to this day filed anything in court.

Meanwhile, I had three different evaluations done on Chance. The first guy wouldn't even get on him because he didn't show any knowledge of the basics from the ground. The second guy got on him and tried to ride him, but he couldn't get him to respond to anything. The third person I videotaped, and they concluded what the first two had said – Chance didn’t know the basics at all. She had claimed she worked him for 72 hours and he was almost finished.

Realizing she was never going to take me to court over this (I was wanting my day in court), I finally got hold of legal aid in her county and they helped me file a replevin. This is an action to get property back. She still had my saddle and tack that I had loaned her to train Chance with. Before I filed this, legal aid had told me to write her a demand letter to try to settle before I filed in court.

I e-mailed and also wrote a certified letter, but this time I addressed it to the land owner instead of her. She e-mailed me and continued her threats of legal action but she did go down to $1140 (the $140 was for court costs that she claimed she filed) but she still wanted Dyna also. She also claimed after I told her of the evaluations that she only used "secret methods" and only she knows how to get a response from the horses she trains. I had to go back to Ohio to file the replevin, and when I returned home, I had a message on my machine from the land owner. When I called him back, I got an ear full from him. He told me he also was having problems with her and wanted to get her out of his house. He didn't know anything about the problem I was having with her.

My court date was set for Dec. 21. My witness couldn't go with me, but I had a notarized statement from her, all of the trainer’s letters and the phone messages she left me and the evaluation on videotape. I thought I was ready, but the judge informed me that I wasn't and didn't want to hear anything that day. He told both of us to have an attorney when we returned and he denied me immediate possession of Dyna and my property, and said we were to go to trial over this matter. He wasn't too nice about it.

I was pretty upset, too, to say the least for I didn't have the money to hire a lawyer. I went right over to legal aid after the hearing and tried to get them to take my case. I didn't get an answer from them until after the holidays, and by then I found out my trial date was set for Jan. 18. To my dismay, legal aid wouldn't take me on for my case wasn't a quality of life type case they usually take on (cases like child custody, domestic violence, etc.).

I tried again to get a lawyer or someone to take me on pro bono but couldn't find anyone willing to do it for less than $1000. So I then, taking advice from a couple of attorneys, tried one more time to settle. Not wanting to go in front of the judge again and get chastised for not having an attorney, I offered to sign over Dyna to her but I wasn't going to pay anything and I wanted my tack returned. I also wanted to see Dyna one last time. She then e-mailed me back and demanded $540. And I couldn't see Dyna because I was an insurance liability. The $40 dollars was a shipping fee to ship the saddle. Like I was going to trust her to send it to me after all this. This was about 2 weeks before the court date. I then proceeded to get ready again for court.

About three days before court, I was checking out things on line and ran her name through a search. I then found out she had a couple other names because of different marriages. I then proceeded to look her up under the different names in the surrounding counties. Lo and behold I found her; she had a long docket in Muskingum County courts about custody and child support. It looks like she lost custody of three kids and back in August (when all of this started to happen with me) she was convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to 60 days in jail. This was suspended under conditions of paying her child support. Well guess what, she didn't pay and as of Jan. 11, she had a bench warrant out for her arrest.

The next day the land owner calls me and tells me she had some of her friends take Dyna away. He thinks they took her to the next county. I told him of the information I found out the day before; he didn't know of this. The day before court, I called the Muskingum County courts and notified them that she had a court date with me and where she would be. I figured if I somehow lost my case at least I would have the satisfaction of seeing her arrested.

Court day arrives, and I went and picked up my witness and went to court. When we got to the courthouse, the trainer didn't show up, but she did send the guy she was living with to give me a note. In the note she stated she wanted to settle out of court. She just wanted Dyna, and she made arrangements for me to see Dyna and to return my tack. She wanted me to call her before 1:00 to settle things.

Well, do you think I was going to do this after coming all the way from Tennessee and having my witness miss work for nothing? I told the bailiff that she wasn't coming because there is a warrant out on her. I then went in for my trial.

The judge, seeing she didn't show, awarded me Dyna and my tack, and if I didn't get my property back within 24 hours I was to get $2000. I had to come back to the courts to get the paperwork after 4:00 though. After I left the courtroom, I then called her and told her I was willing to work with her. I didn't want to take the risk of telling her I had won and then not being able to find Dyna.

She told me to meet the person that had Dyna at a location not far from her home and she would have my tack. When I got to the specified location, the person who had Dyna had me follow her to what I thought would be her house. Instead she took me to a parking lot in the town she lived and told me her husband was bringing Dyna there for me to see. On the way there, my witness told me she knew these people and that she had sold horses to them before.

So I then told her that I had won custody of Dyna and that she could either cooperate and hand her over now, or I would bring the sheriff over to her place later (I wrote down license plate numbers). After talking to them for awhile about what had happened and because they already knew my witness and respected her, they agreed to give me Dyna. It turned out that the trainer was going to trade Dyna to these people for a car.

Since Dyna was loaded on their trailer, we then paid him to take Dyna over to my witness’s farm. I got my tack and the papers on Dyna back also and I didn't even have to see that so called trainer again.

So now it is over. Dyna is safe at my friend’s house, and I will be bringing her home next month. I really lucked out over this court deal. If it weren't for the warrant out for her and I had to fight this out, I don't know if I would have won Dyna back or I might have at least had to pay her some money. Even though I had that evaluation on tape, I don't know if the judge would have allowed it. So I might not have been able to prove that she didn't do the training she had promised.

I hope whoever reads my story will learn from it. First of all, never deal with someone unless there is a written agreement no matter who it is. Like Debi says, even if it's your mother – get it on paper! Also, don't let someone try and take advantage of you – keep on fighting for what is right. Some people told me after I got Chance back to just let it go … it isn't worth all the money I was spending going back and forth to Ohio, time off work to prepare for the case, the evaluations I had done, etc. And realistically they were right in a way. I did end up spending a lot of time and money pursuing this, but I just couldn't let someone take advantage of me and get away with it. It was all a matter of principle and someone was trying to make me out to be dishonest. That really bothered me, and when I first made this deal, I thought Dyna would be going to a good home. I raised this filly from birth and I wanted only good things for her. I thank God I can now see to that. And I want to thank Debi for being there and giving me that kick in the butt I needed to get this done.

~ Melissa Klingler (1/31/2007)