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Discuss horse riding and ownership on our Horse forum.

Part loaner woes.....am I being unreasonable?

7 replies

lottyh · 01/06/2023 00:49

Looking for advice as to whether I'm being a bit unreasonable. Advertised a fabulous safe child's pony for loan around 5 weeks ago as he needs to lose weight and my daughter only really rides at a weekend due to afterschool commitments. A Facebook friend responded and agreed to loan pony a few days a week for her daugher who's on the lead rein still....pony is perfect on the lead rein. Agreed £20 a week for as many days as they'd like including weekends if my child wasn't able to ride and no jobs to do as I'm there every day to muck out, soak hay etc. They paid for the first 2 weeks and did ride quite a bit, including taking him to pick child up from school etc. Unfortunately pony then went lame with abscesses in 2 hooves due to the wet weather we suddenly had so couldn't be ridden for that 3rd week. Loaner didn't come up or pay any contribution that week which I didn't ask for. However pony has now been sound for over 2 weeks. Loaner hasn't been up despite telling me 3 times that they were coming but didn't bother and no communication to say they weren't coming up to ride, and obviously no financial contribution has been made. Had a message tonight to say they want to ride tomorrow but as its school holidays my own child can ride. Am I being unreasonable to look for someone else who is more reliable and committed? I know I should have put a contract in place but stupidly didn't.....

OP posts:
Lastqueenofscotland2 · 01/06/2023 08:01

Not unreasonable at all. I have sharers for mine and finding ones that weren’t maniacs or just awful is so hard. I ask for references now, which I appreciate with a child’s pony is quite hard. If the pony is very safe you’ll have no problems finding anyone

BanditsOnTheHorizon · 01/06/2023 08:17

Yanbu at all. I think some people forget it's a loan and not a riding school pony. You can't just turn up and ride whenever you want, and pay per ride. Owning a horse, even a loan horse, means you get all the shit bits, to be able to ride whenever you want.

I think I'd tell her that it's not working out, and you need someone who will pay and turn up regularly. Sounds like it would be a fair weather agreement and as soon as it starts getting hard work, either weather or work wise she'd disappear anyway

lottyh · 01/06/2023 10:32

Thank you for your replies. I feel sorry for the child who was riding him as she has become attached to him but he's not a riding school pony. Hopefully I'll find someone more committed and reliable soon.

OP posts:
XelaM · 01/06/2023 11:52

Not unreasonable at all! We had some real nutters as sharers. £20 a week is a steal!! We charged £25 per day. It very easy to fond someone else. We eventually got a really lovely sharer from Preloved

XelaM · 01/06/2023 11:53

It's very easy to find someone else*

overitunderit · 01/06/2023 16:10

She sounds totally unreasonable! I've got a part loan (I'm the loaner) and I wouldnt expect to have a discount on what I pay if I can't ride. The pony still needs to be paid for even if I'm not there.

Some things I would suggest for next loan:

  • ask them to set up a monthly standing order for £80 each month
  • agree a set day or days with additional ad hoc riding around that if you're comfortable with that. I will text my pony's owner to ask if she's free and if she's being ridden by someone else and it's not my usual day then it's tough.
Lastqueenofscotland2 · 01/06/2023 16:12

I agree set days are so important! The trade off is occasionally in school holidays your DD might want to ride on the sharers day and she can’t but I think that occasional disappointment is worth it for a reliable sharer

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