To think this house sitter was bloody cheeky?

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

My DM recently got a house sitter for 10 days whilst we all went on holiday. She had used her once before and all seemed fine. She seemed very professional - took detailed information about all the animals, signed contracts, she is fully insured etc.

She was supposed to sleep at my DM's house each night, although my DM was aware that she would need to pop back here and there to exercise her own dogs (she lives with her parents).

She was paid over £600, and for that she had to look after 2 dogs and feed a cat. There are also 2 horses at my mum's, my mum's horse who is a big cob, and my daughter's pony. She wasn't expected to do anything with the horses.

While we were away the house sitter emailed to ask if it would be ok if her partner's kids came to meet the horses. My DM said that was fine. When we got back, my mum had a good chat with her and the house sitter said that the kids had come over and groomed my mum's horse, but not my daughter's pony because she was grumpy (she is grumpy).

I was the first to go into the tack room, and noticed that the bridles weren't in the right place. I didn't really think anything of it. But today my DM said that there is grease on the bottom of her saddle, from where the saddle pad hasn't been put on properly and it has rubbed the horse, which she wouldn't do. Also her bridle had been done up all wrong. The stirrups on both saddles were at different lengths to how they'd been left by Us. She suspected that the house sitter had taken the kids riding on our horses. This was confirmed when she went for a ride around the village today and a neighbour (who has booked the same house sitter) said that the house sitter had emailed a picture with the kid sat on her horse!

Not only is riding someone's horses without their permission incredibly rude, it is also a really stupid thing to do. She knew nothing about our horses, they could have had any kind of quirks, and putting 2 kids on them (when she doesn't appear to know much about horses herself) was just bloody dangerous.

Not only that, but my DM said there's no way that the bed was slept in for 10 nights, so she suspects that the house sitter had left the dogs overnight which she wasn't supposed to do.

WWYD? I absolutely think that something should be said to the house sitter, but my DM is veering towards leaving it, and just locking the tack room if she uses her again! She was paid a lot of money, and in my opinion, took the piss.

I'm in the south west op and am looking at house sitters for August. I'm on the edge of Exmoor. I know you have a lot to be doing right now, but could I have the name please?

It's not so rare to use a house sitter..... We live rurally and wouldn't dream of doing anything but use a housesitter. It's nice for the animals to stay at home but it's also the most sensible solution from a security point of view. If you don't have immediate neighbour's and you are away it's an ideal opportunity for thieves / squatters/ travellers etc.

That said, £600 for 10 days is expensive. I think the going rate in the SE is around £35 per day.

The comments re the horses are irritating - I am not a horsey person but we do have stables and grazing which we have in the past allowed a rescue centre to use. They didn't come up every day. We had no responsibility for the horses but kept an eye and called them if anything didn't seem right. They were on our land (free of charge) but I wouldn't have dreamed of riding them!

Some horses live out all year (and it's more healthy for them to do so). At this time of year there is loads of grass - they don't need feed as well. We have a self filling water trough on our fields so quite honestly there is nothing to do other than keep an eye!

Re driving/ not driving, are people aware that humans can travel without motor cars?

Yes, but given that the OP's mum has horses it is a fair assumption that they are rural and a car might be the only suitable transport.

The cheeky git. Ask the house-sitter about the pictures of the kids on the horses. She had no right to do that. That IS a lot of money. I've just returned from a week away, paid a pet-sitter £105 to call in and feed my 2 cats, lunchtime and teatime (£15 for 2 visits, supposedly for 30mins a time). I explained that my son would be here morning and night.

The moron turned up at 8am on 2 days, then on a couple of days he was here for 4 minutes each time! Cheeky sod reckoned that he'd done the litter trays, fed the cats, rubbed cream onto the ear of 1 cat, and all in 4 minutes! Lying twat. When I got home, there was cat shit on the floor, the litter trays were absolutely soaked, and the cats' plates were empty (yet he maintains he'd been here 2 hours before.

Mummzymummy

Her duties were explained to her at interviews, all about the animals needs and that she was to check on the horses daily. And that she was to STAY in the house because of the animals needs which she patently didnt do judging by the mess left by the poor animals.

1. She left a cat to suffer without taking it out to the toilet for 10 days.
2. The cat had an abcess which she didnt even notice properly.
3. She didnt take the dogs out properly as there were stains on the floor.
4. She saddled up the horses and let her dp and his kids ride them, HUGE misteak could have been fatal, she had no experience with those horses and they didnt know her.
5. They used OP's mums clothes and their hats!
6. The bed was obviously never slept in as per the agreement.
7. She is using pictures of them on the horses to promote her 'horsemanship' for her business!

Which part of the above is down to miscommunication?

Seriously you think a sorry would suffice?

I would be getting a good lawyer and dragging her sorry ass through the courts for breach of contract, cruelty and neglect of animals and using property without permission, stress and emotional distress, vets bills and the cost of having the equipment checked and of course the horses checked over.

The woman is an overconfident yet lazy dangerous fool. What needs to happen before she realises she is incompetent and cruel?

Willow2016
There was no mention of that in the first message on here that I read. Clearly if animals were left to suffer then the police should have been called at once. If any animals of mine were suffering then I would still have confronted the women immediately but also the police. Clearly a sorry would not suffice if any animal was suffering.

Did you not RTFT then Mummzymummy?

Perhaps you should.

Clam: I read the first message which asked for opinions....I don't have time to read everyone else's opinions on the thread. If an opinion is asked for then all the details should be there...I based my opinion. On the first message. Thank you clam for your insightful help there. Doh!

MummyzMummy it's considered good etiquette to RTFT. I'm sure that your time is very precious, but after 21 pages and a couple of days, the situation has moved on somewhat (as real life tends to do over time) and now you're wasting your time making irrelevant comments.

And it didn't occur to you, in a thread with 500 posts, that there might have been some further information added by the OP?

Why don't you take the option of highlighting all the OP's posts in a specific colour. That way, you can scroll through the thread quickly, particularly if you have it set up as one continuous page instead of loads of separate ones.

Ive just caught up with this from yesterday. I'm saddened at the neglect suffered by your mums poor cat, just at the time in its life when it needed comfort and company

What an absolute bitch that girl is

Clam: I've only heard one side to this story. I try not to judge people until I hear both sides. It may be mis-communication

It's AIBU. Not Crown Court.

Why do people not read the thread? Are they so sure that what they're going to say is essential?

Iregret I might know of someone on Exmoor. Haven't used her myself, but have met her and she seems sound. Scared of horses though, now I think of it.

have just rtft and am appaled at this so called sitters behaviour-not only over the horses but the poor cat and dog

im a cat owner and even if my cat was ill andi went away i would assume the sitter would care fo it and take it to the vet if needed

how neglectful

I wonder if the kids' mother knows about their horsey adventure...
misses the point

For the people that can't believe so many people would use a house sitter, I presume you don't have many animals. I have two horses at home, three dogs, two cats and several hens, to pay for that lot to be boarded and looked after elsewhere will often cost more than a house sitter. I'm sure there are lots of people in similar situations. It's better for the animals not to be uprooted and it also means plants get watered and it's more security for the house.

Personally I'd just tell all your horsey friends what happened. If your area is anything like round here, horsey people love to gossip and the story will spread like wildfire. Much cheaper than solicitors!

And I'm a qualified instructor. I wouldn't dream of getting on someone's horse without permission, despite being a reasonable rider. For the non horsey reading this, aside from the danger to the novice riders and children getting hurt, an injury to the horse(which could easily occur from badly fitted tack or bad riding) can mean huge vets bills. You usually pay at least £100 for even the most basic vets visit, and a more serious call out can lead to £1000s.

I'd write a very sharp, short but polite note, telling her you know that her kids were riding your horses & exactly why that is dangerous. (If anyone tried anything on with my horses/ponies I'd have 10 fits - and so would my late Arab have done - and the rescue who'd been due to be PTS for trampling a kid (who died) due to abuse. I'd also say that she wouldn't be getting a reference or repeat business from your DM. (Surely your DM wouldn't ever consider hiring her again???)

Mummzymummy Mon 20-Jun-16 21:52:25

^Willow2016
There was no mention of that in the first message on here that I read. Clearly if animals were left to suffer then the police should have been called at once. If any animals of mine were suffering then I would still have confronted the women immediately but also the police. Clearly a sorry would not suffice if any animal was suffering.^

But it would do for her tacking up and riding someones horses and using their clothes and gear? How did she know that the horses were not recovering from a health problem? That they were even managable by someone other than thier owners. What would she have done if the horses had taken fright and bolted? Or threw her partners kid off?

Its so irresponsible its unreal, she clearly isnt 'horsey' she just thinks she is.

Then to use the photos for her business pages??

As others have said read the thread before adding a post, OP's usually have made more comments to reply to other posters or to clarify things by the time it gets to 20 pages!

stupid italics not working again!

What are the legalities about just saying her name? There is a name and shame in weddings that came up on active convos.

I'll bet the photos were without hats. How incredibly stupid. If her judgement is that bad, I wouldn't want her in charge of anything to do with my house.

You have all of us considering careers as house sitters at £600pw now. You were massively overcharged.

Is there any chance you could speak to the vet that had to put your cat to sleep - explain how it was found (bath mat/toilet issues, food etc) and get a professional opinion formally as to how likely it is that it was cared for properly?

The house sitter is an utter irresponsible twat. YANBU!!

I really hope your mother pursues this OP. I definitely feel a refund and an apology is not enough. There needs to be some sort of public acknowledgement of wrong doing. You need to protect other people and their pets from this woman. I also feel your gear needs to be inspected and/or replaced at her expense, at least the things like helmet where you can't be sure.

The cat thing is so very sad :( I know you said he was already sick but she had your contact information. She emailed about the horses. There was nothing stopping her from mentioning the abscess, or the weight loss, or the lack of urination via e-mail. There was nothing stopping her from contacting your mother about that.

As for the FB review, I'd let the legal team and the review people handle it for now :)

I can't believe she thought she'd get away with all this!

I think you should be using an agency like Trusted Housesitters, rather than a private individual. House sitters care about their reputation, without good references we don't get good gigs. Also, you don't have to pay! We stay in your house and take care of everything in exchange for accommodation and wifi. We are mostly long term travellers. Really, don't use the cowboys!