Am I being unreasonable?

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phoebe.and.bonnie

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I posted a while ago about being unhappy with the condition of my horse Bonnie who is out on loan while I'm at uni, and being unable to contact her loaner in order to get anything done about my concerns.

Good news is - she is willing to have her feet done more regularly (they were very long and cracked), she is going to have her teeth done (her teeth grow quickly and they have now not been done in over a year) and she will be reducing her grazing (she is obese!). Bad news is, she is still getting very grumpy with me on the subject of insurance.

I had said from the beginning I would prefer Bonnie's insurance to be kept in my name. The main reason for this is that if anything happened to Bonnie requiring any kind of vet care than would warrant an insurance claim, I would take her back and foot the bill myself. I have checked and with the insurance in my name, she is covered to ride Bonnie, Bonnie herself is covered for vets fees and her tack is also covered. Yet she is still going on about how she doesn't feel sufficiently covered without the insurance in her name. As a result, I've been paying for Bonnie's insurance for the past year that she has been in her loaner's care.

What do other people who loan out their horses do with regards to insurance? She has made me feel like the most unreasonable person in the world, but I really don't feel comfortable with her named as the 'owner' on my horse's insurance policy.
 
When my horse went out on loan (to a BHS approved riding school) I kept her insurance policy going in my name. If she had a claim for vet's fees (which she did, a couple of times over the six years she was on loan) loaner paid the excess and I put a claim through my policy for the rest of the vet's fees.

Although my insurance would have covered a named rider to ride my horse without increasing the cost of the policy (and have done this when my horse was on loan to one girl for a year which was also fine) when she was at the riding school this obviously wasn't a solution as they wouldn't cover their clients riding her. So the riding school took out insurance for their clients to ride and I insured for mortality, 3rd party and tack etc. Everybody was happy and protected.

I think that you are being perfectly sensible, reasonable and responsible. Your loaner should be well covered by your policy - if she wants extra protection for herself then she can take out rider only insurance in her own name. She does not own your horse, she is loaning it and therefore it is more sensible that you insure it. In fact she is getting a good deal because you are paying the premiums for her.

If you're still not happy with the condition of your horse though, take her back. Good luck.
 
well personally I would have taken the horse back immediately. I would not trust someone to care for my horse that would let her feet get overgrown and that I had to REMIND to get the farrier out to!!! There are much better homes out there.

I personally think the owner should insure the horse when it goes out on loan. At the end of the day YOU are the one who would receive the benefit from it if the worst should happen, not the loaner. (and good luck getting the money from her from the sounds of this woman). Also if the horse got injured and was returned the policy is then already in your name and you would be covered. If it is her name she could just cancel it and then you would be up the creek without a paddle!!!
 
I do still feel like taking her back to be honest. Her loaner has been having a lot of work done on her house and that seems to be the reason that the care/riding of both Bonnie and the pony she shares a field has suffered a bit. Trouble is now, if I do take Bonnie back I'll ideally need to find her a new loan home before the start of the new term, which I think I would struggle to do in her current condition. As I said she is VERY fat, has apparently become very spooky out hacking (I blame this all on her lack of consistent work - she was always fine with me!) and has started pulling back when being tied up?! Seeing as I would be advertising her as a hack/companion I'm not sure potential loaners would be willing to cope with the problems she's developed. I'm going to also get her saddle and back checked as this behaviour seems very out of character for her.

Arggghhh times like these I just want to quit uni and go back to looking after my lovely marey how she should be!
 
phoebe.and.bonnie said:
I do still feel like taking her back to be honest. Her loaner has been having a lot of work done on her house and that seems to be the reason that the care/riding of both Bonnie and the pony she shares a field has suffered a bit. Trouble is now, if I do take Bonnie back I'll ideally need to find her a new loan home before the start of the new term, which I think I would struggle to do in her current condition. As I said she is VERY fat, has apparently become very spooky out hacking (I blame this all on her lack of consistent work - she was always fine with me!) and has started pulling back when being tied up?! Seeing as I would be advertising her as a hack/companion I'm not sure potential loaners would be willing to cope with the problems she's developed. I'm going to also get her saddle and back checked as this behaviour seems very out of character for her.

Arggghhh times like these I just want to quit uni and go back to looking after my lovely marey how she should be!
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I can understand you may worry that you could struggle to find her a new home, but I don't think I could leave her where she is not being looked after properly.

I would take the chance and take her back. Her hacking issues may be easily sorted and if she is only going to be a happy hack she does not need to be super fit.
 
Would it not be possible for you take her back and just find her a grass livery place nearby your Uni until you decide what to do next? I personally couldn't (and didn't) leave my horse with someone who thought me unreasonable. She should be very grateful you are paying the insurance. Let her get BHS membership if she wants personal cover.

Unfortunately SOME loaners have the knack of making you feel like you are the most unreasonable person they've ever dealt with, even though they have YOUR horse.
 
I wish there were grass liveries in London! :)

I reckon I'll give her a chance to try and sort things out, she did seem very apologetic about the lack of contact over the last few months and the issues I had. I'm hoping it all turns out ok, I'm hopefully going to be visiting her a lot more often now I'm home for the summer so I can keep a better eye on her. I'll be riding her too while her loaner's kids are away at camp with the pony so I'll be able to assess whether she truly has turned into a crazed spooking machine :)
 
Jeez if someone had to be "reminded" and/or gee'd up about any aspect of looking after my boy I'd be getting him back PDQ. Whilst I appreciate its difficult if one is at uni, there has to be a better solution.

OP: have you considered sending your horse to equestrian college? Its just a thought and might provide you with a very viable solution to your problem? He'd be used in termtime (when you're also studying) and you could have him back in the holidays.

Just an idea anyway. Normally about this time of year they're looking for horses for the autumn term.
 
There is grass livery in london and the surrounding areas, which uni are you at? It would be easy for you to get a well paying sharer in / near london and then you could still ride and keep control
 
I had considered loaning her to colleges or riding schools but with her joint problems I'd rather she did less work than that would require of her really. She was a riding school horse before I had her and she really didn't enjoy it, she is definitely more of a one person horse :)

I'm in Camden at the Royal Vet College so there's no grass livery anywhere near enough/cheap enough for me to consider keeping her around London.
 
phoebe.and.bonnie said:
I had considered loaning her to colleges or riding schools but with her joint problems I'd rather she did less work than that would require of her really. She was a riding school horse before I had her and she really didn't enjoy it, she is definitely more of a one person horse :)

I'm in Camden at the Royal Vet College so there's no grass livery anywhere near enough/cheap enough for me to consider keeping her around London.
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Fair enough - from Camden you'd be looking North and I dont know what options you have up there. I do know there is grass livery in zone 4 SW London at Osterley (someone on here told me about it and I went to speak to the owner) which is £28 a month!

Good luck with whatever you decide
 
I would not trust to her to keep paying the insurance if she cannot be trusted to remember to get the horses hooves trimmed or teeth done.

Catlips in Chorleywood do grass livery for £23 a week it is a bit further out but it is north of London there are a lot of people there on grass livery who might be able to help with checking etc, and you might be able to get a sharer to help you - though they do have a lot of grass so might not be ideal if you need a diet field.
 
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phoebe.and.bonnie said:
£28 a month! :O That would do nicely! :)

I did investigate a while ago on livery yards in Barnet etc. but nothing really seemed to offer grass livery :/
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It is difficult - I only graduated a couple of years ago and understand how difficult it is keeping a horse on a budget near London! I'vw moved my mare out into surrey on assisted grass for the fab hacking.

Osterley is just a field with no frills, small grass area to school on a common. No hacking unless you ride 1/2 hour through busy London streets to Richmond park - but if your horse is good in traffic the park is amazing riding! I didn't go for it as I live slightly further out into Surrey but its my backup incase I loose my job! Farmer hays them for £1.50 a day in the winter too.

Don't know how far it is from Camden - its on the picadilly line. The person to message is MontyandZoom who told me about the grazing, she had two horses there. :)
 
You are being perfectly reasonable, and actually possibly too reasonable IMO. If I loaned out any of my horses and the person failed to look after my horse properly I would take it back straight away.
 
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