AIBU not to want to pay a random bill??

[Miracularity]

Some weeks ago I needed somewhere for my pony to be for a few weeks and my mother's housekeeper very kindly offered to have her in her field with ten other ponies (could have 10, 11 or 12 - there were a lot!) Obviously I was very grateful and we agreed a grass livery price. She has since stopped working for my mother (unrelated).

All she had to do with my pony was feed her. That is literally it. I left feed when she arrived and took a bag of feed up once during this time (pony is several hours away from me). I had been feeding her this feed for several months prior to moving her and therefore knew how much she ate. She actually doesn't need hard feed, especially when she's in a field, rugged up, not working and has plenty of haylage. Anyway, this lady texted me to say her feed had run out (?!) so she was feeding my pony from her own supply. I said ok, fine.

The time has now come to move her and this lady has presented me with a bill for £180 (excluding livery) for water, hay and feed. I could not for the life of me see why I should have a bill of this size and queried it, and she has now kicked off badly saying that she's not dishonest or greedy but they've had loads of hay and she's been using her own feed. And she'd added £20 for her time and fuel! I said that I took the livery costs to include her time and fuel. I honestly cannot see how my pony alone has eaten £160 of hay and feed - when I'd left enough for her.

She keeps hassling me for money saying that she's desperate and I'm suspicious that she's asking for a vastly inflated sum of money. My mother has said that this lady is trustworthy and just to pay it as it's such a small sum of money. Well it isn't to me! I think she's saying it to avoid any embarrassment; she's quite insecure so she needs everyone to like her.

Was I BU to query it? Should I just pay it?? I don't want to get into an argument with this lady and I don't want to dodge bills that I'm responsible for. But neither do I want to have the piss taken out of me and it seems like they've conjured up a fictional bill because they need money. I'm at a loss. And she's kicked off so quickly that it makes me suspicious. If the situation were reversed I think I would have been upfront about the costs as we went along and kept receipts. But maybe I'm in the wrong......?

Forgot to add ask for breakdown of costs..

So you left dpony in the same rug for 9 weeks, without taking it off daily to check for rubs and random bits of greenery, you didn't organise for any foot care or daily hoof picking out [shocked] this woman was in sole care and so the bill is very much higher than DIY grass livery. added to that even my sons 13:2 cob is currently guzzling her way through 1/3 of a Big bale of haylage every week ( out all the time). I get this at bargain prices but it would still cost me more than £120 over the 9 weeks as you mention taking up a sack of feed but not haylage. Then low energy feeds eg happy hoof are around £12/sack, half a sack a week for a very small feed, it seems to me like a pretty good bargain tbh. She might be ripping you off, they might have had half a small bale amongst all 10 once a week but I doubt it. She is probably upset because she has looked after your pony at short notice, as a favour for a very bargain price and you still will not pay.

I agree with Flame. There's no way the woman could have fed one horse in a field without catching and either bringing it out of the field or into a sectioned off area. I have 2 horses and have to bring one in for hard feed as the other will wolf it in the field. It's a no brainier really. You would also be paying for grass livery and daily field checks. The woman has clearly been doing field checks as you mention she called you re a ripped rug. 9 weeks is a long time to leave your pony in a field and expect someone else to keep an eye on it for nothing especially in winter. Basic grass livery where I am is £15 a week and that's only DIY. That would be £135, hay at £5 a week would be £45. There's £180 before you start paying for field checks.

£180 for 9 weeks doesn't seem that bad (£20/week or just under £3/day) for someone to be checking on your horse and sorting out feeding it (even if you're providing the feed), over and above livery.

I guess the lady would want to get close enough to your horse to check it is okay, rather than just eyeballing it across a field (I know I'd want to if I was caring for an animal other than my own), so this would take some time. Maybe if your feed was used up as other horses were muscling in and eating it, then she could have been spending more time there feeding your horse separately.

YANBU to have not known the extra cost beforehand though, although from your OP it doesn't seem that you clarified extra feed costs when this came up. Unfortunate, but spread over 9 weeks, seems a small weekly cost.

Over 9 weeks, that's not bad at all. Feeding would mean either removing her from the fieId, or feeding all the horses. Plus putting hay out.
I don't think she should have been left 9 weeks in her rug either... Maybe pay more next time and have her looked after properly. She doesn't need her hooves picked out daily though

9 weeks? Then it's not bad at all. I was imaging a few weeks meant two or three at the most.
I'm a bit at her rug being left on for nine weeks though! I couldn't leave my horse like that.

I might be wrong but didn't the OP say the bill was on top of the livery price - i.e. that she'd already paid the livery that was agreed, and this bill is over and above that?