Arabian Score v. Lasma Arabian Ltd.
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
814 F.2d 529 (1987)
Arabian (plaintiff) bought stallion Score from Lasma (defendant), with part of the price to fund promotion under a Star Stallion license, and obtained mortality insurance on Score; when Score died within a year, Arabian sued for the unused promotional funds under impossibility and commercial-frustration theories, though Lasma remained willing and able to continue promoting the now-deceased horse (a common practice), and Lasma Star (a non-party) never actually determined Score was ineligible for the program.
Whether a party may be excused from performance if performance is rendered impossible or impracticable, unless the frustrating event was reasonably foreseeable or that party assumed the risk of the frustrating event.