Part loan

[Clothnappybum]

Hi, I want to part loan a pony or horse for Dd and me, one lady has said they will show us how to do any chores etc and I’m a novice rider but have had lessons previously, Dd is having lessons and I’m due to start next week.
My questions are, one pony at a stable is £40 a week where as another lady has said £85 a month for part loan, why such a price difference?
The £40 a week one is at a stables we used to go to and they are very helpful there whereas I’ve never been to the other lady’s stables.
Also any other information you’d like to share?
Thanks

It depends on the running costs of the horse/pony and what they expect you to do etc.
For example, my horse costs me around £250-£300 per month for his basics, so £85 is very cheap!
Feel free to ask any questions as I've been riding for the past 20 odd years

Thanks mrbay, I weigh 15stone what hand should I look out for, the £40 a week pony is only 13 hand but my daughter is 9 so she’d be ok with her but the £85 a month horse is 14hand. I might have to just do my lessons and let my Dd have the part loan until I lose some more weight.
Thanks

Sorry edit that the horse for £85 per month is in fact 15h

A part loan costs what the owner asks for and what the loaner is willing to pay. I have had sharers in the past and never charged anything because I keep my horses at home and what I needed was the help rather than the money for livery.

The most important question is which pony is suitable for what you want to do? A 15hh horse is going to be far too big for a 9yo even if your DD is very tall. She may well struggle to cope with a horse and needs a smaller pony. The pony should also be suited to her riding level. If you overhorse her she may get a fright which will put her off riding. Can her riding instructor help with advice on whether the pony is suitable?

It is difficult to imagine a pony that would be suitable for a 9yo child and an adult unless the adult was truly minuscule. As a general rule a rider should weigh no more than 10% of the horse’s weight although a novice, unbalanced rider will have more of a negative impact on a horse’s back than an experienced, balanced one. To give you an idea a 15hh will weigh about 500kgrs so suitable for a 50kgr adult. A heavy weight horse can be shorter and heavier, e.g. my DH had a HW cob who stood at only 16hh but he weighed 800kgrs, he was a Suffolk Punch cross.

I would suggest that at 15 stone it will be hard to find a share horse to take this weight ( as someone who has had to loose several stone to get back riding myself) I’m around 12 stone now and have a lot more options open to me. It is still hard to think of a horse that I could ride that would be suitable for a nine year old?

As the others have said, unless it's a saint of a horse, you'll struggle to find one you both want to share.
Perhaps, it would be worth sending DD to the riding school to do yard work, I exchange for lessons. She gets her horsey kick and then you can look for a suitable pony once you are both a bit more able.

Thanks for the advise, we met the smaller pony today and the lady said she would show us what to do and to try her with a lesson, she’s a stocky built pony and I think Dd is very taken with her, if I can’t ride her I could just stick with my lessons.
I’m on slimming world shakes and snacks and fruit so I’m determined to lose some weight.

I would advise you not to allow your 9yo on an unknown pony if you are not horsey without your instructor present. People are stupid and unscrupulous. My friend, for example, who is a even a vet, ‘saved’ a pony from he meat man. When it came to getting the pony started she could only afford 2 weeks with a professional which is nowhere near long enough, so when she went to ride the pony she got promptly bucked off. What did she do? She advertised the pony for a share for a child! Luckily they could never catch the pony so the child hardly ever rode her but it was an extremely dangerous situation.

There are genuine owners out there, but, for example, have you seen this pony ridden? By a child similar in ability to your child? It doesn’t matter how cute and lovely the pony looks, a pony that is scared, is lacking confidence in its rider and experience in life can behave in dangerous, unpredictable ways.

Thanks for that advise, we’ve decided to go with a different pony in the future and only ride with my daughters friends mum who has 3 horses and teaches, she is going to come look at him and do a lesson to see how he does and what she thinks. I don’t trust that at the original place they said I could ride a 13 hand pony I think they’re just trying to get money out of it I just felt so bad that they’d risk putting my weight on the pony being that small maybe I’m wrong but it didn’t feel right and when we’d got near she’d put her ears back and her anxious.
My daughter and me are continuing our lessons which is good for now until we have more experience, and the slim fast is going well ;)

Excuse spelling mistakes

Shocked that they advertised that pony for a child!

That sounds like a good plan. A pony that pins its ears back when you approach is likely to be in pain.

I think the problem is that horses cost a lot of money and can quickly become dangerous if not handled correctly. So people find themselves with a scary, expensive pet and they will do anything to get rid of the responsibility - well, anything other than sensible things like paying for professional help.

What are the signs of this going on?

Well you need to ask a lot of questions and see if the answers make sense.

The owner must always be willing to get on the horse first, never ride a horse the owner is not willing to ride. Be prepared for last minute excuses “I would ride him but I just hurt my back so why don’t you get in first...” is one I would walk away from. With ponies it s a bit more difficult as there might not be a child around but why do they own a pony without a child available to show him off to potential loaners?

Be more weary of any horse that has had a long time off work. Was it because of an injury? Or because of behavioral problems? Whatever the reason the horse risks being very fresh after a long time out of work.

Always try the horse in a safe, enclosed area. Look out for tricks like the owner walking next to the horse on a hack, she is effectively giving the horse a lead.

A lot of these things are more of an issue when buying but they can come up with loaning as well.