To give back loan pony

[QuestPip]

I loan a mare, had her 5 years, love her to bits but lost confidence because she can be mareish.
I am working 40hrs a week so horse is on full livery 5 days a week. I am also a single parent and would like to reduce my hours a bit at work to be there more for my children.
I am really struggling because I love horse but dont have the time and also want to do other things with my spare time now like paddleboard, fitness etc but every weekend is taken up thinking about horse and riding when I can.
Selfishly I hate it that I feel I dont have the time for the responsibility but I hate the thought of not having her anymore.
I just dont know what to do for the best and need some guidence.

Yes it sounds like you should. She's a loan so there was always a chance you wouldn't have her in your life. Full livery is expensive and you don't have time anyway.

Do you know anyone who may take over? Owner would obviously want to vet them but would probably be pleased they werent suddenly having her returned. Then you could ask whether the new person might like some occasional help caring for her.

What about speaking to the owner to see if they’d take 50% of the costs back or another person to share the loan who might want weekdays. At least if you knew she was being ridden in the week you wouldn’t feel obligated to ride her at weekends.

She is a loan if you don’t want to have her anymore then give the owner notice and give her back