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A BC horse owner who paid $6,500 for a thoroughbred mare that had to be euthanized two days after the purchase has lost a legal challenge after she tried to get her money back.

According to July 4 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Trudy Lancelyn bought the nine-year-old horse called Leading Lady from Rebeka Kennedy from an unnamed location in the Okanagan. However, two days after purchasing Lady, the horse had to be euthanized as it was suffering from colic.

Lancelyn sued arguing that Kennedy had misrepresented Lady's health and she wanted her money back.

The decision said Lancelyn bought the horse through Facebook and mentioned it looked thin in the photos.

She was told that the horse was a "hard eater" meaning "picky eater" and had been very neglected by her prior owner, but improved significantly in the two years since Kennedy had owned her.

In August 2022, Lancelyn went to see Lady, took her for a ride and paid a $650 deposit.

Soon afterwards she signed an Equine Bill of Sale contract which said she was buying the horse "as is" and waived a pre-purchase health check.

The horse headed to the Lower Mainland and got off the trailer "calm and relaxed" and "settled in well."

However, by the following afternoon, Lady started to show signs of discomfort. By the following day, the horse had been euthanized.

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In the decision, Lancelyn accused Kennedy of misrepresenting Lady's condition and submitted a vet's report.

The report stated that a basic post-mortem examination found Lady had a twisted small intestine, which would be fatal without surgery.

"(The) examination also revealed numerous adhesions between the loops of intestines and between other abdominal organs, which indicated a prior abdominal accident or an 'inflammatory process' at some time in the past... the significance of that finding was unclear, but it pointed to chronic problems," the decision read.

The Tribunal ruled the "difficulty" with the vet's report was that it did not explain what caused the twisted intestine or whether it would have been evident to Kennedy before she sold the horse.

"Further, (the vet) specifically stated it was unclear whether the prior intestine condition contributed to the twisted intestine that led to Lady’s death," the Tribunal ruled.

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An expert opinion from an equine veterinarian who reviewed the original vet's report was also submitted by Kennedy.

Kennedy's vet said that colic is an "intestinal accident" that is "random, unpredictable and unavoidable." She also said a pathologist would have to examine a bowel sample to determine how long the horse had had the intestinal condition.

The Tribunal ruled that neither vets' report established that Lady had any chronic health condition.

"Even if Lady did have a chronic intestinal condition, I find the evidence before me is insufficient to establish that Ms. Kennedy knew or ought to have known about it," the Tribunal ruled. "As for the twisted intestine condition in particular, Ms. Lancelyn admits that Ms. Kennedy was likely unaware of it and that a pre-sale veterinary examination would not have revealed that issue."

Ultimately, the Tribunal ruled the twisted small intestine condition was likely a "sudden and unpredictable ailment" that could have occurred at any time, and dismissed Lancelyn's case.

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The ruling leaves Lancelyn horseless and $6,500 out of pocket, plus $225 for Tribunal fees and a further $2,000 in transport fees and vets bills.

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