NC woman spent $324k on a lame horse and a skittish horse, then lost her legal fight

A Raleigh woman bought her daughter a pair of show horses costing $324,000, the first of which turned out chronically lame, while its replacement was easily spooked and threw its 12-year-old rider.

So Tara Dow-Rein sued in 2018, naming a long list of agents, trainers and sellers in multiple states and alleging a “web of lies, falsehood and misinformation.”

But a fight over jurisdiction has stalled since then. And on Tuesday, the N.C. Court of Appeals sided with a set of Florida defendants, ordering the actions against them dismissed.

A horse with an injury

The legal journey began in 2015 when Dow-Rein, through a Raleigh horse trainer and broker, arranged to buy Season, a “hunter-jumper,” from W.H. Schaub Stables in Florida. She paid $120,000 plus a 10% commission.

But Season appeared lame from the day her daughter, then 11, took her first ride. And after multiple aqua therapy sessions and an MRI at N.C. State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the horse was diagnosed with “bilateral suspensory injuries” and put out to pasture, according to her lawsuit.

Next, Dow-Rein traveled with Schaub to a farm in Virginia, where they met and eventually paid $192,000 for Fred. At the time, Schaub told Dow-Rein he had heard Fred’s only potential behavioral issue was he might be “mildly nervous with oncoming traffic,” the lawsuit said.

Fred, her broker told her, was a “lovely horse.”

But on her daughter’s first ride, the suit said, Fred got nervous and froze. On a subsequent ride, he threw her daughter to the ground. He then threw a more experienced rider. Later, Fred threw off a professional and, eventually, Dow-Rein’s daughter a second time.

“Fred was obviously a huge safety issue,” the lawsuit said.

A dispute over jurisdiction

Once in court, the out-of-state defendants fought over jurisdiction at the trial court level and lost. On Tuesday, the appeals court reversed the lower court and ordered the case against the Schaub defendants dismissed.

In the decision, Judge Richard Dietz noted that the Schaubs only brush with North Carolina came by receiving the bill of sale and payment Dow-Rein sent from the state.

“The sellers, who are Florida residents and who did not reach out to our State in these business dealings, could not reasonably have anticipated being hauled into court in North Carolina over claims concerning either of these horses,” he wrote.

Judges Hunter Murphy and John Arrowood agreed.

It was not immediately clear what becomes of the rest of the defendants and the entire case. Calls to attorneys were still awaiting return.

This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 11:48 AM.