Part Loan Questions

[hby9628]

We have found a lovely horse for my 14yo daughter to loan 3 days a week. Family seem lovely they just need more help. We've agreed a financial contribution. I'm just wondering if anybody has anything in mind I should consider/ask

We've covered holidays - we will pay livery when we are away which is fine
It's a great yard which we know well
DD can ride the horse in lessons
Logistics are fine
I'll obviously need to get insurance

I do want to check about any liability if the horse gets injured. I know on full loans it is usually the loaners responsibility but I'm unsure on part loans so need to clarify around this.

Any other things we need to consider?

I’d ask whether what your daughter can do on her days is restricted - can she hack alone , box up and take to a clinic etc . Also do you have to contribute to shoes ? What is the notice period for stopping ?

@Floralnomad thank you we've covered activities already

I've got the other 2 items on my list

You've covered holidays but worth covering/discussing what will happen in the event of illness of you/your DD or family emergency or even bad weather meaning you can't make it to the yard - can the holiday livery cover be put in place at short notice or would you be relying on owner to care for the pony?

Also expectations re short term illness/lameness of the pony meaning your DD can't ride for a few days or weeks, I think generally the expectation would be in the short term sharer would go on contributing/doing chores, but if the situation becomes more medium/long term the arrangement would end, but worth checking you and owner are on the same page re that (hopefully it won't come up but who knows).

I'm guessing you have emergency arrangements covered (if you get to yard and find pony colicing or injured what you do), useful to have a sense from the owner of their personal threshold for worry e.g. would they want you to call them/involve yard staff if there is anything at all wrong at all or would they want you to treat minor lumps or cuts or whatever yourself?

Insurance wise you should def get public liability/third party and personal injury cover for your DD. Through the BHS or similar. You shouldn't otherwise need to insure the pony.

@maxelly great advice. Thank you

I've got a sharer for my mare. She gives me a contribution of £10 per day she shares.

Vet bills are mine alone.

I don't charge her on days she can't make it.

Re lameness she comes up anyway but if she needed a long time out I imagine we'd re-gig our arrangement.

If anything goes wrong or is serious I trust her enough to make a call re calling a vet out, again I would pay this. Only exception would be if she did something that meant the vet was needed but she's very sensible so I can't see that happening!

I'm happy for her to do whatever really but obviously I've let her do more and more as we've gone on. She's been sharing her for nearly 5 years and has been brilliant.

@lastqueenofscotlandagain thanks for your post. Sounds a lovely arrangement. I think this family will be good to work with and we are open & honest too so hoping it will go well. It's been hard to find something suitable to be honest.

I know you've said you've covered activities but just thinking back to the issues that arose when DD loaned a horse
What if your DD wants to do something that isn't on one of "her" days, would it be possible to rejig the schedule? And what if there is a clinic/camp that means the horse needs a rest day or two afterwards, again, can this be dealt with?

Costs and timing of clips.
Cost of annual dental float.

New tack or saddle check - who pays or contributes to this
What I wish I'd done is to set up a check in 4-6 weeks in where any issues or potential issues can be aired in a cooperative environment. For example, if your DD is inadvertantly putting a wet rug in the wrong place, or not cleaning something, there needs to be a place where this sort of thing can be dealt with rather than festering.
Stable maintenance/removal and cleaning of mats/poo picking fields- worth asking now so there are no surprises in spring when you're perhaps asked to clean and repaint the stable

Thanks @OhMrDarcy definitely some good tips here