My dd's favourite pony is up for part loan....

[seeker]

...please talk me out of it! She would be still kept at livery at the stables she rides at and still used for some lessons. I know thatit's a bonkers idea, but dd would love it....

Yeh dont do it, I had a friend who used to loan one of the riding school ponies and even on days when she was there the pony was given to someone else to ride.

In short you will be paying for the keep of a pony that your daughter wont get to ride alot of the time anyway.

what are the actual terms?

we do this now and then, and can say when and how long we want the pony for (within a reasonable sort of time, like an hour or two a day) - it's something like £40 or £50 a week, just have to plan in advance the days and times we are going to be there so the pony is not used in a lesson

Agree with Mystery. You need to sort out the hours and days etc. No good finding out the pony is used in the riding school all weekend so your DD can't ride then. Get a contract stating the amount of hours and days also exactly what you pay for. You don't want to suddenly find you are billed for shoes/vets bills/tack repairs etc.

Our pony is on working livery and it's always worked out fine (though there are, of course, days and times he's not available for us to ride, but that's the compromise, as she whole 'loan' thing makes having a pony just about affordable whereas for us it wouldnt be any other way.)

I'd say 'go for it' - you can always give up the whole idea if it turns out she's not keen after a few months of it - or 'upgrade' to your own pony if she loves it and you can afford it.

My friend has a pony on load for her dd, and gets priority on the pony (does that make sense)
She has been told which lessons the pony will be used for (and it is only 2 a week as this pony is a grumpy little mare) and the rest of the time the pony is my friend's dd's to use.
So the dd gets to ride much much more that she normally would and her parents are only paying I think £15 more a month than they would on 4 lessons for that month.

Check out the terms of the part loan, it may well work out in your favour

A part loan/share can work out really well but you do need to get the ground rules set out first. If you get (in writing) which days she'll have the pony and which days they will be using the pony (don't forget it'll need a day off too), plus who pays for what, then you should be in a good position to have a go! It's a very good way to try out horse ownership without going the whole hog too.