Horse sales

•    Articles 1582 and following of the Civil code ;
•    Articles 1602  and following of the Civil code;
•    Article 1112-1 of the Civil code ;
•    Article R 215-14 of the Rural code.

« A sale is a convention in which one person commits to delivering something, and the other person commits to paying for it. A sale can be concluded by authentic contract or by private agreement » (Article 1582 of the civil code).

Regarding the form, this article of law, tells us that a sale should in principle be carried out in writing, not so much for the validity, but to establish proof in the case of a dispute. However, in some fields or areas, of which that of a horse sale, it is often the principle of word of mouth that predominates. Inherited from common practice, this habit of word of mouth is not without certain dangers, and at present one can only recommend drawing up a written document.

With regard to the moment when the sale is fulfilled, article 1583 of the Civil code mentions that a sale is effective once  « both the object being sold and the price have been agreed on, even though the object has not yet been delivered, nor the price paid ». The « object » obviously here refers to the horse. This is a direct straightforward sale. In this case the sale is definitive even before the buyer has paid in full. The sale is considered definitive at the moment of the exchange of consents.
A sale can also be established subject to conditions. These are suspensive conditions.
Here are some examples :
•    The sale may be suspended until a satisfactory trial period for the buyer has been carried out.
•    The sale may be with the reserve that the veterinary examination of the horse confirms that the horse can be used for the purpose the buyer is purchasing him for.
A conditional sale may not be presumed, and must be agreed on in a written contract to give the parties proof in the case of a dispute.

A sale is a wilful act and should therefore be with the consent of both parties. This consent is the basis for any sale and is therefore the source of several rules which are described in a page relating to consentment defects. The consent should also be given by a person who knows what he is commiting to, thus the co-contractors should be of age or emancipated minors, in full possession of their faculties.

A sale is thus a contract which commits two parties : one or several buyers, and one or several sellers. Each of the parties has certain obligations :

The buyer's

The buyer’s « main obligation », according to article 1650 of the Civil Code is to pay the price at the time and place designated by the sale ».

If this condition is not fulfilled, the buyer may then be obliged either to pay additional interest, or to give back the object acquired.

The seller

The seller has to respect more detailled obligations since by law he is considered to be the « strong party », who is aware of the qualities and defects of what he is selling. Thus article 1602 stipulates : The seller has the obligation to clearly explain what he commits to. Any obscure or ambiguous pact will be interpreted against the seller ». The following article stipulates the two main obligations : « to deliver and guarantee what is being sold ».

Moreover, since ruling number 2016-131 dated 10th February 2016, the seller has a pre-contractual information obligation. Indeed, article 1112-1 of the Civil code indicates : Of the parties, the one which has information with determining importance with regard to the consent of the other party should inform the said party, when in all legitimacy the said party is ignorant of the information, and trusts his co-contractor.[…]. In addition to being held as the responsible party, failure to fulfil this obligation to inform can lead to cancelling the contract following the conditions mentioned in article 1130 and following ».
 The obligation to deliver is easy enough to comprehend, since it is simply the fact of handing over the object purchased to its new owner, as well as the accessories, such as the identification document and the ownership registration certificate, by taking the object to the buyer, or by letting him take possession. The obligation to guarantee the object, in this case the animal sold, is more complex and is the basis for several provisions, as the object of the sale should be conform to what was announced and the animal should be without any vices. These questions are dealt with in the pages relating to the compliance guarantee, hidden vices and crippling defects.

Before inviting you to consult the other pages relating to a sale, here is a little reminder. In all the situations described, there is a predominant preoccupation : proof.
Proving that the animal is unsuitable because he is lame, and was destined to compete, or that he is too lively, when he was destined to take beginners hacking, is not always easy, especially if the parties involved did not draw up a written contract !
This should lead to the following reaction, which can avoid a lot of disputes nowadays : drawing up a written contract when buying a horse. Each party should have a copy of a clearly expressed document, which is not necessarily expressed using legal terms. In the case of a dispute, this document will enable a judge to ascertain what each party wanted at the time of the sale, This contract can also allow to adapt the guarantees which apply to the sale.
Finally, when dealing in horses, it is very important to get hold of the animal’s identification document, and the registration certificate which should be endorsed by the seller, and handed over to the buyer once the price has been paid in full. When buying a foal, whose documents have not yet been edited, you should get the necessary information from the SIRE (Identification and registration service for equids) to make sure that you will be handed the documents.
Article R215-14 of the Rural code, stipulates that is an offence to sell any horse who has not been identified and is punishable by a fine relative to category three offences.