TNJ............. The Motivating Factor in the Decision...

Part One


For me the most important aspect in considering the decision about this settlement offer was always the horse. My concerns about his situation began not all that long after I'd traded him to BG and over time they just continued to grow. With a settlement offer on the table I found myself looking back at that history to aid in my decision.

Once I'd realized how WF was really taking care of her show horse I was very sorry I had made this deal. I was not happy I had put Storm into a situation where he would not see proper work, once his initial training was accomplished, or turnout. Most of his life would be spent standing in a stall or at the end of a lunge line if he was lucky enough to even be lunged on a regular basis.

Then as things progressed. I realized that Storm probably wasn't even getting proper training but being "trained" just by kids in the barn. Even if BG or WG was riding him at all there was nothing to suggest that would be adequate for what the young horse needed . WF's show horse does well to the regional level but his initial training was not done by WF. It was done by a very competent trainer who finished the horse properly. That was not what was happening with Storm. I was very worried for him and for my business. Here I had another super star type horse that wasn't going to shine in the ring. That wasn't good for Storm or for Legs.

I'd been told that once this question arose about Storm's ownership, the horse was not being worked at all. He just stood in his stall for weeks with no exercise. GD had asked if she could work the horse in the lines and been given permission to do that. How much of that was being done, I did not know. All I knew is that GD schools horses as she has been instructed by BG and that's just not adequate enough to finish any show horse, despite what they say. The way GD's own horse goes in the ring is proof of that.

The longer this thing drug on the longer he would be in their grasp. Although MD and GD had promised me they would let me know if the horse wanted for anything, I wasn't trusting that much at this point. As things had declined with them, I didn't know what to believe. Was the horse getting exercise on a regular basis or not? Was he being wormed and getting his feet done? I had no idea. All I knew was what to expect from past history will all of these people including MD and GD. That was enough to be unsettling. I wanted that horse out of there as quickly as possible.

In the beginning Dave was not so sure he wanted the horse back which was surprising to me because it had broke Dave's heart that I'd traded the horse. Now all he could see was how many horses we have and how much work it is. In his mind the last thing he thought we needed was one more horse adding more work no matter who that horse was. We were at odds.

Obviously that didn't stop me. When I get it in my head that something is right, then right will win out every time. I don't care about hard or inconvenient. Doing what's right is much more important to me and it seemed to me the right thing was to get that horse out of there.

I knew that Dave would come around if we got the horse back so I was willing to deal with him being mad. However, it didn't take long for BG's claims to make Dave so angry, I no longer had to worry about him being mad at me. Before we ever even got into the actual lawsuit, Dave and I were firmly on the same page. Getting Storm home was number one on our list.

Before I ever got on the phone with the attorney Dave and I had discussed in length the settlement and it's elements. We'd also discussed the likelihood we probably would never see any monetary compensation from BG or WF for damages. Both of us had been adamant we would not settle if the confidentiality clause was a glorified gag order designed to protect BG and WF. Now that I knew that wasn't the case, there seemed to be only one thing left to do.

Even though the settlement offer was nothing like it should have been considering the kind of damages done, there just seemed to be no point in proceeding further. If there wasn't much possibility of collecting on those damages, continuing would only drag out the stress, the expenses, continue to take my time from the horses, and leave Storm in that untenable situation longer. It just seemed to be better for us and our horses to take the deal and get Storm home.

Once the attorney had assured me the confidentiality clause only covered the actual settlement, I told him Dave and I would take the offer so we could get Storm out of there. We briefly went over the steps to get that done and I thanked him for his help. He told me he'd tallying up what he'd done and send me a bill. To date, I have seen no bill.

There was one thing that really frustrated me about signing this agreement. They were never going to get to see my case. All the work I had done that was now sitting on my dining room table was just begging to be sent to their attorney. I wanted them to know what I had against them. I wanted them to know I had done my homework and I was fully prepared to win in court.

To be continued...................

Little Glitches....

This is Scandalous Storm at about 6 weeks of age.

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