Our specialist equine lawyers offer practical and tailored advice for all areas of the equine sector. As keen equestrians and horse owners themselves, they are passionate about getting the best results for you and your animals.
The Team has over 10 equine law experts based in Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge, and Chelmsford, with wide-ranging experience of non-contentious and contentious equine issues.
Our lawyers have first-hand experience in the equine industry as owners, riders and enthusiasts. When working with our clients, the top priority is getting the right outcome without compromising what is best for your horse. Our approach is simple and driven by our passion and love for everything equestrian; you can trust us to get the best results.
We provide full service equine law advice to anyone involved in the sector, including professional riders, business and charity owners and hobbyists. Birketts’ equine law specialists can assist with a wide variety of areas such as:
- Sales and purchases of commercial equine facilities such as livery yards, competition yards and studs.
- Sales and purchases of private equine and rural property and land.
- Commercial and private equine tenancy advice, including commercial leases, livery agreements and grazing licences.
- Banking and financing arrangements.
- Employment advice for equine businesses and employees.
- Equine business sales, purchases, partnership agreements and company formation.
- Disputes relating to the sale and purchase of horses.
- Veterinary disputes and negligence claims.
- Equine tax and international wealth advice.
- Property litigation including fly grazing and livery agreement disputes.
- Construction and planning advice.
- Environmental and regulatory matters.
- Equine brand protection strategy, trade mark and design registrations and management of IP portfolios.
- Advice on protection in relation to inventions and developments in technology in the equine sector.
- Drafting and negotiating co-existenceagreements, joint venture agreements, licensing agreements relating to IP.
- Enforcement and dispute resolution to protect IP.
Our Experience
Recovery of land
Birketts’ Property Disputes Team recovered possession of land for a landowner where the occupants had remained in occupation following expiry of a prior tenancy to a member of their family. The occupiers kept 10-20 horses on the land. It was important to recover possession of the land not only because the occupiers were trespassing, but also because the Rural Payments Agency required the land to be occupied by animals with cloven-hoof.
World Horse Welfare
We were instructed to review the client’s existing rehoming agreement to ensure that it was fit for purpose and aligned with the client’s charitable aims. The client had recently carried out a project to streamline the rehoming procedure and as part of that Birketts were able to drill down in the practicalities of the client’s procedures and provide a bespoke agreement that encompassed the practical rehoming process and also ensured ongoing welfare of the horses and ponies going forward.
We were instructed to deal with the acquisition of a site which was to be developed to provide a high level dressage training facility.
The matter required discussing the client’s practical use of the land to ensure that the necessary rights were in place. One of the main aspects of this matter was ensuring that the access to the land was sufficient for the size and type of traffic that would be entering and exiting the facility which required liaising with the client’s planning consultant to find a practical solution for all parties concerned.
Key Clients
Key Contacts
The rural team are experienced and provide concise and sensible advice and, importantly, are easily accessible.
Legal 500 [UK 2024]
Equine Insights
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