A question for YO's. How far do you step in to help a livery ?

classicalfan said:
I would bite the bullet and expalin that she needs to find alternative livery or sell the pony. A new owner may be the best solution for the pony and she would be relieved of obligations that are too onerous for her. As a YO you only have so much time and energy and some people are a drain on both.
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Agree with this. If she can't even afford to have his feet done (just a trim - so £20ish?) then really she shouldn't have him at all. What if he needs the vet?? And before people jump on me for hinting that people shouldn't have horses unless they have huge lumps of cash sat around to pay for the unexpected - I'm not saying that; just in this case it's the final straw.


Re the feet- 6 weeks might be a tiny bit over-zealous if he's living out and has good feet that don't grow very quickly so there might be room for compromise there. Although also recognise that this might lead to his feet becoming overgrown if she keeps on putting it off.
 
Do you have a livery contract in place stating what you expect from your liveries?

If not I think you need to put one in place and state in it things like all horses must be seen to twice a day, wormed in the yards worming program, had their feet etc seen to on a timely basis. If any of this is seen not to be done this is the list of prices for you doing it for them.

How many other liveries do you have?

I feel for you, but it is her choice to have this pony and is being very unfair putting on you like this. If she doesn't have the time and the money, she needs to sell him.
 
I would work out an average cost including farrier and worming and any field checks/feeding and make a monthly charge paid in advance to make sure you get the money.

If at the end of the month she has been able to do some of the care herself then deduct this from next months bill perhaps?

Alternatively maybe there is another livery who be willing to do a rota so on some days she can do help them in return for them helping her on other days.

If the problem is she has no time and no money then I would say though, it is difficult as she can't do some odd jobs around the yard in return to help out on days that she is able come.

If you carry on doing all the extras for free then she will probably take advantage of your good nature and the situation is unlikely to improve in the long term.

Is there any other livery who lives near her who might be able to car share and take her to the yard in a return for a small contribution towards petrol.
 
There was a pony at my yard (im livery not y/o) who's owner never did anything due to work commitments etc but said she loved the pony and would never sell her. As a result the pony suffered as my y/o didnt step it (not her job!).
At my suggestion
y/o spoke to pony owner about me and i took over the pony on a loan type thing, No contract or anything formal but i paid for the bits the owner considered "extras" ie feed, hay, wormer and feet trims and in return my daughter rode her.
We had 2 happy years and never saw the real owner. Could you find someone who might want this type of arrangement and then introduce her to the owner of your pony? It could benefit all parties?
 
Oh dear, I feel for her - life has a horrible habit of biting you on the arse just when you least expect it. It can be very very difficult to draw a line under a phase of your life and move on, even when it is very obviously the right choice.

I cannot believe that this lady does not know that it is all too much for her physically and financially - perhaps she just needs sitting down and it pointing out to her in words of one syllable.

Good luck.
 
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