How to navigate loan situation

[BlueyAndBing0]

I'm very very new to this (30year old).
I've started loaning a pony that is 12 and been sat in a field getting fatter and fatter by the month.
I'm paying £30 a week (£130pcm) for 2 days a week.
Before riding I have to poo pick her field (shared with 2 other ponies) and a tbs field. Clean the water buckets (x6) and refill, these are in different places. Feed the cats. Feed and clean and water the chickens (hate this as they try to escape and peck you but i can just about deal with them).
2.5hrs the above takes if I really really crack on. Fine. Then when I've groomed and ridden I have to feed hay to all x5 horses in different fields.

There's no arena, basic facilities. So it's road hacking only. Now I have found a coupe of bridleways and have been for a sneaky explore. But I do get the impression anything other than a ride down the lane is a little bit out of the norm (that's 15mins). I've found a loop around the village which takes an hour. Ive not been told I can't do this but I very much get the impression the owner doesn't like it. If it looks grey I'm getting messages asking if it's started raining, it never has but I think she would then say I couldn't ride.

Since my last visit, I've had a message saying I need to make sure I get all the poo up as the owner went the following day after me and filled 3 barrows. I did too. 4 horses do shit a lot in 24hrs. And that I have to actually scrub the buckets, not just top them up. I did. So I politely told her this. And she was fine and said "I'd get there". There's cctv so she could have checked, I'm very confident I did a sufficient job.

On the plus side, the pony is lovely and pretty much perfect for my needs and wants, on my doorstep etc.

I just don't know how to navigate it, I feel like I'm paying quite a lot for a pretty crap yard job and I'm feeling cheeky for riding.

Before this I hacked out with a riding school so always 2-3hrs a time. I'm not sure if just a half an hour ride down the lane is the norm when you own. I had my own as a teenager and I'd lunge if I couldn't ride and used to be out on the moors for hours at a time. I understand this little fat cutie would need to work up to this but she's not completely knackered lol.

Any advise

I think you’re being taken for a ride (sorry!). You’re essentially paying for the pleasure of being exploited. I’d either go back to hacking at the riding school or look around for another share which might offer you a bit more enjoyment.

this is an absolute piss take. Just reply saying sorry the arrangement isn’t working, best of luck finding something new.

For context I have a sharer, she pays me £20pw for two rides, in terms of chores I ask that she fills a hay net and puts the feed I will already have made outside her stable before she leaves if it’s winter and she’s in at night so it gets chucked in in the evening. I felt bad asking her to skip out when she was in for a week when our fields froze in January!
We also have access to off road hacking within about 90 seconds of road work, 2 schools, a set of jumps.

I don’t think I’m a saint at all I think what I offer/my sharing set up is far more the norm

I agree with the others that it’s a piss take , when you have a share horse/ pony you should only be responsible for the jobs associated with that pony not maintaining the entire yard plus chickens . Utterly ridiculous, she should be paying you ! It’s also not worth the hassle if the owner is being so restrictive about where you ride . I’d give notice and look for a new share .

Absolutely ridiculous, you're being taken for such a ride (sorry!) here. Does she know how much it would cost a freelance groom to do all that work, and she's got you paying her? And she has the audacity to complain about the standards of your work? And she's not even offering you good facilities or to ride out with her, doesn't sound like a good deal at all, I'd bin her off and fast, look for another share or go back to the riding school.

Tbh the length of your ride is the least of your worries, with my sharers I've always said they can ride as much as they like within the limits of the pony's fitness, for schooling or jumping or fast work I wouldn't want them doing more than 45 mins at a time and with a pony that's been out of work/unfit you might have to be mindful of that, I wouldn't want someone taking a fat unfit pony out for 3 hours galloping around but then again I would factor that in to the cost of the share (or TBH more likely do the work to bring pony properly back into work myself as I'd want it done properly then get a sharer once pony was fit and ready). And of course you can ride in the rain FFS (sorry not swearing at you, more astounded at this woman's front), ponies don't melt in the rain 🤔 if it's very cold and the pony needs a rug on I guess it's a bit of a pain getting them dry afterwards, or I have had to nag my sharers on occasion about not putting tack away dirty and soaking wet if they've been out in the rain, but again I always just assume other people will never take care of your things as well as you would so factor a bit more wear and tear on tack and other kit as part and parcel of having a sharer...

Thanks for the replies. It's what I thought to be honest. I just really like the pony and never have loans come up near me. I've paid a month up front and she didn't charge the 2 first weeks so I'll continue until the end of the month in the hope things improve and she's just setting boundaries and will chill out a bit.

Ps I'm not allowed to jump and there's not really anywhere to canter so i don't feel I'm over working her. I have found the secret bridle way that I can potentially have a canter on. But the owner doesn't actually know this. lol I Darent even mention it

No that’s ridiculous
i loaned a horse that competed (dressage) but would also jump/hack etc
i paid £250 a month, no chores and as many days as i wanted, no restrictions except no eventing! I hacked for hours on her, did lessons, competitions etc etc and loaned her for 10 years

They're taking the piss. I'm tentatively looking for a sharer and I'd be looking to cover the cost of a set of shoes a month (under £100) and there'll be an expectation that the sharer covers poo picking and feed one end of the day (single horse only) on their day and that's it. No limitations on how long they can ride for/what they can do etc. I'd sack it off and find something else, OP. Maybe ask on a local horsey FB group? Most share arrangements are word of mouth, not advertised.

Asking you to do chores for the horse on your days is fine. However you should not be expected to do the chores for all of the animals. Poo picking for one horse should be a 10 minute job 1/2-3/4 of a wheelbarrow full. Scrubbing and refilling all the buckets, sorting out chickens etc is absolute bollocks and piss take.

She should be paying you for looking after her horses and chickens, and exercising her fat wasted pony. Honestly, you are being taken advantage of.

I hear you, it's so hard wanting to ride when you don't own your own, but honestly you have to value yourself and your time more than this. Your £30 per week ought to buy you a lesson or a hack most weeks at a riding school (or nice riding weekend away a couple of times a year) with no jobs at all, never mind trading 6 hours of hard labour for barely 1 hour of riding and being patronised and criticised into the bargain. If you're desperate for more saddle time but cash poor, I'd honestly take your 6 hours work and get a paying job on a yard or as a freelance groom/pet sitter, even at minimum wage you'd earn enough for a nice bit of extra riding. Also if you got a job as a weekend girl on a yard I bet you'd be offered rides, so many people I know would love a reliable, responsible adult sharer but would never advertise because they can't be arsed sifting through the parade of chancers , lunatics and novice 12 year olds they'd get. It's not even that they want an amazing rider, just an ordinary, sensible person which it seems you are, you just need to get yourself into the right places!

This is true. I would love a sharer for my youngster, just to gently give him a few more miles each week and get him used to other riders. But last time I had a sharer for my old (barefoot) boy, she ended up trotting him for hours on roads and making him lame. She was also photographed standing on his back :(

Nope. I'd pay or I'd work, not both. Either pay money and just do the loan ponies jobs or do jobs for all of them but don't have to pay.

Atm you're being taken for a ride but not on the pony!

Echoing the above OP!

I pay £150 a month to share 3 days a week, sometimes 4 days. On my days I muck out his field (individual turnout so its usually only 1 barrow full at most), refill his water and put a hay-net out jobs wise. The yard has a school and it’s a 10 minute walk down the lane to bridle paths and some of the best hacking in the county so we normally spend our days ambling around for at least a couple of hours.

I appreciate how hard it is, this is my first share out of a riding school as an adult beginner. It was the third one advertised that I got in contact about, the 2 before weren’t suitable and so it does take a bit of time to find the right fit

I agree with everyone else - the owner is taking the p*

The loan you are paying for is for the pony and other duties involved with looking after her - not all the other horses and animals too. From what you have said, it sounds like they are treating you like a member of staff, and from how you are being spoken to, they are relishing the situation.

As for the riding, what you are getting is minimal compared to riding schools you have previously used.

Loans can, and do, work very well - but it seems like this one really isn't for you.

I hope you manage to sort an alternative soon.

The jobs you do I pay someone £37.50 for and then you pay to loan? Madness.

This is insane - you are giving free labour and paying £30. Stop immediately- this is really taking the piss

My 3 horses do 2 wheelbarrows a day between them. How many days poo picking are you doing and who is poo picking for the other 3? This sounds too much to me Xx

On reflection I think I was the only one poo picking on my days and no one inbetween because that was so much shit

I took some special treats and made last week my last visit. Sad it didn't work out but like a sign the riding school were doing a 4hr hack last Sunday so I signed up and got to ride my fave horse and had some fantastic gallops.

A weight has been lifted.

Good decision @BlueyAndBing0

Unsure if anyone is still following.
But I have a loan update that no1 in my family really cares about
1 cob and 1 Shetland. 3 days a week. On a small (sheep I think) farm.
Price. £0. Only love (and poo picking) required. Wish me luck!

Sounds great! Good luck, and let us know how you get on :)

Hope it goes well @BlueyAndBing0

Ah well done for changing! Enjoy!

This sounds like a much better arrangement for you! Hope you enjoy it!