[Sydney Lyons]

Hello everyone.
I used to live in the State of Alabama, but I moved to another state for work. Before I left, I made a verbal agreement with a person to take care of my horse for me while I was gone from AL. For the span of an entire month she agreed continuously to take care of the horse, even when I asked specifically over and over again "If you are not up to the task please let me know so I can find other arrangements," but she stated numerous times that it would be her pleasure to take care of said horse. I have seven people who were actually there to hear the verbal agreement and to act as witnesses in case any discrepancy arose.

The agreement was that she would remove my horse from the property on which I boarded her, and lease her for free for the span of four months on the account that she would feed her, water her, play with her, and have her shod/take care of vet bills when and if needed, with the option to buy when I returned. I asked her several times when she was going to move my horse (she was in contact with my boarder) and she continued to promise she would move her at the end of the month (the end of April) or that she would pay the board for my mare if she didn't move her in time.

A week ago, I received a text message from my boarder saying that this person had never contacted him and that I owed him two months board. I do not have the money to pay for that, and knew I would not, hence making the agreement with said person to house/care for my horse while I was away. I texted her a few times, asking why she hadn't gotten my horse and that it was no excuse, but I did not hear back from her. I then had a fellow co-worker confront her about it, and she told my co-worker (who is also one of my seven witnesses) that she thought it wouldn't matter since she would be gone to South Africa (her aunt apparently lives there) by the time I returned, and that she had forgotten about the horse, and to please tell me that she wasn't there and that my friend/co-worker had never spoken to me.

I am now $350 in debt, do NOT have that sort of money to pay, and my poor horse suffered an entire month without any love or affection. Is this worth taking to a small claims court? Is a verbal contract binding in the state of AL when there are seven witnesses, and the amount of money is under $500?

I have contacted a horse rescue program to help my horse. She is OK now. If you are wondering why I never contacted the girl to inquire how my horse was doing, it is because I have been extremely busy here working, and that I actually trusted this girl with my horse, and really wanted her to buy the horse since I didn't have much time to devote to her anymore. The only question is the matter of the bill I owe my boarder. I can not afford for him to take me to court.

Any help would be absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for your time and patience.

[N0help4u]

One problem is that even if you take her to court and win she could claim she doesn't have any money and never pay you a dime anyway or she could make a payment arrangement and pay you as little as $10. A month.