advice please

[joeanne]

appologies if this seems a bit rambling but here goes.
what do you personally class as full livery?
a lass at our yard has lost interest in her horse, not long after she got it in fact.
the horse came back from the hospital friday before the kids broke up. she hasnt seen the horse since.
i have fed the horse twice a day, rubbed her down to warm her up (she is a tb x arab) when it rained over that weekend, and had to borrow a rug for her so she didnt die of cold (they keep her at grass full time).
now i know i have to go do my little lass but i am so fed up i am billing them for my time but what do i charge???
i even had to go and buy feed for the horse when it ran out,so obviously that goes on, but do i charge them time and petrol for getting it? and if so what should i be charging??

jo x

 

[YorkshireLass]

I would send them an itemised bill for every expense you have sufferd, plus your time... whatever you value that at.

You could add that you would be happy to explain the bill if needs be.

 

[flowerlady]

Is their horse on full livery (at grass)?

If its on diy do you not have a policy that they must come up twice a day to check on the horse etc?

Is this a child or adult that owns the horse?

If a child speak to parents and explain (as they may not know anything about horses). If an adult ring them and ask why they have not been to see the horse. Explain what you have had to do and the price of full livery will be charged for any day they do not sort their horse out. Re rugs feed and all the everydays tasks like hoofs being picked out grooming. Surely they must have been to even pay their livery?

I think I would get a contract drawn up so can't say they didn't know. State what is their responsibility and get them to sign it.

 

[joeanne]

its all very hit and miss unfortunatley. this girl (she is 16 and old enough to know better) and 3 others (myself included) rent grazing from the field owner (who is herself an elderly lady who just wanted a few field mates for her elderly pony).
because of this we are all solely responsible for the welfare of our own animals, however myself and the two other girl's all club together and help each other out.
i go up to see my little girl at least twice a day (sometimes more as she is too cute for her own good) but its been 11 days since they last even saw the horse!

 

[itsme123]

[ QUOTE ]
its all very hit and miss unfortunatley. this girl (she is 16 and old enough to know better) and 3 others (myself included) rent grazing from the field owner (who is herself an elderly lady who just wanted a few field mates for her elderly pony).
because of this we are all solely responsible for the welfare of our own animals, however myself and the two other girl's all club together and help each other out.
i go up to see my little girl at least twice a day (sometimes more as she is too cute for her own good) but its been 11 days since they last even saw the horse!

[/ QUOTE ]

how do you know it's been 11 days??

 

[flowerlady]

Hmmm difficult that one. Do you know where she lives? I think I'd go and have a word with her parents and explain that the horse should be seen at least twice a day. If they are not interested then tell them someone may report them to the RSPCA as people are begining to worry about the horse and maybe they would be better moving to a proper livery yard and have full livery??

 

[joeanne]

i know its been 11 days because got very very cross earlier this evening and phoned them. the mother's attitude was "well we went tonight"!!!! what about the days preceeding????
they seem to think because she has access to grass 24/7 she will be fine.
if you had seen her sunday morning i would defy anyone not to have cried.
it had rained all night, it was cold, and she was shaking so badly you would be forgiven for thinking she was having some kind of seizure.
in the end a rug was borrowed to see her through.
flowerlady the r.s.c.p.a dont want to know (because i feed her she is almost back to being ideal weight so therefore not in need of rescuing)

 

[flowerlady]

I didn't mean to actually contact them just say someone may. It sounds like none of them have any idea about owning a horse. Could the owner (elderly lady) not ask them to visit their horse daily? If you explain what is happening then she may ask them to find alternative livery for the horse? Although I suppose (and I know this is not your responsibiliy) but with you to look out for him at least he can be watched over? But deffo send them the bill for your time and the feed etc.

 

[Maisy]

To be honest, I'm not sure you can bill them for anything, as harsh as that may sound.

Over the years, I have found that this is one downside of seeing other people's horses day in day out. I have seen all sorts of things (lame horses, thin horses, fat horses, horses living in sh*t etc), and have tried to help out or advise, but it gets you nowhere. As you say, the welfare people wouldnt be interested as the horse is standing and has grass to eat.....

I think you should, as hard as I know it is, to stand back and let them learn from their mistakes. They wont see it is cold and thin if you have warmed it up and fed it.....if you see it like this again, I would ring them straight away and tell them rather than doing the work yourself.

Obviously, if they *want* you to look after it on a part livery basis (which I consider to be everything but exercise) then I would get a contract drawn up and decide on a price.

If it continues as it is currently, I would visit the owner of the field and get her to sort it out or evict them.

Sorry.....I'm sure this doesn't help.....I too am one of those people who would do someone elses horses as I cant stand them being mistreated/neglected.

 

[caemar1]

I have to agree with Maisy here. You can't just send someone a bill for things you have done/bought for their horse if they haven't asked you to do this first. No matter how well meaning you are.

As hard as it is I would leave the horse alone. Now they know you are doing things for it they are even less likely to come down.

 

[trundle]

maybe it would be better to phone the girl and/or her parents everytime you notice the pony looking distressed. if you become enough of a nuisance to them they may take action, either moving the pony to full livery somewhere or selling it.

The RSPCA are hopeless but you might get better luck with the ILPH, particularly if you know the owner. The ILPH people have much more of a clue about horses, and would hopefully speak to them and explain the necessity of checking horses daily, etc.