Friends borrowing your horsebox

i would only lend my trailer/lorry in an emergency tbh - thing is its fine until something gets broken or there is an accident - totally not worth the hassle.
 
I would not lend my trailer to anyone. I don't want it damaged and nor do I want to fall out with anyone. Most of the liveries on my yard have trailers or lorries anyway. I would tow someone's horse in the event of an emergency and have moved a friends horse for them using my trailer but I always drive and take fuel money if necessary. Always happy to help someone out that way
 
I had my trailer for over 10 years in great condition, lent only a couple of times to a 'friend' and it sustained more damage in those couple of times then The previous 10 years! Now I have a 3.5t and I won't lend that to anyone. I find that because it's not theirs they seem to have less respect for it? When I questioned them on the damage I was told 'it's just an object!' Grrrrr
 
One bit of advise I was given when we saved hard for and bought our ancient but much loved Rory the lorry was "just say no from the outset"
As bad as I feel saying no the amount of requests to borrow or for lifts we had the first year was unreal. Worse for my daughter as all her horsey friends were her best friend and thought of all the places we could go!!
I said no- due to insurance and stuck to it.
 
Bernster said:
Do you do it and, if you do, what sort of arrangement do you have? Do you charge any kind of fee?

And for those who don't let people borrow it, is that because of insurance, hassle factor or something else? Or maybe you just don't get asked?!

Am a bit torn at the moment, have lent mine to a friend a few times but they are now asking to use it nearly as much as me. I feel mean, and part of me thinks - if I'm not using it, why not lend it out. I know how rubbish it is not to have transport. But then again...
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NO

I brought it - I pay for the maintenance - I pay up keep- I paint it - I drive it.

Not lending it to anyone, they want one they have to buy one. end off.
 
When we had a lorry I was happy to lend it out, when we moved to the trailer not so much call for borrowing, A friend took our mare to a competition once when our trailer was off the road - I was mortified to discover upon the return that our horse had caused damage to our friends lorry. I immediately offered to pay for the damage in full. I also paid for all the fuel, their lunches, and a couple of bottles of wine and chocolate as thanks.
 
I didn't lend mine out, ever, I was quite happy to take people to shows with me, on the understanding that they would contribution towards fuel.

I do remember one day going to Great Bookham with mine and a friend's horse on the back, when the friend turned to me (when we were nearly there) - "Oh, I haven't got any money for fuel, but I made you a sandwich for lunch". WTF!!! A sandwich - one round, it was ham, I HATE f-ing ham. For driving you 80 miles round trip AND waiting around for your last class to finish which wasn't until 7pm (we'd been on the go since 7am). Fuming!
 
I have one friend who I'd trust with my lorry but she has her own trailer anyway. I would help someone out in an emergency and I do take others with me to stuff for a contribution towards fuel but never just gaily loan it out to anyone who asks.

Most people at the yard I'm at have the same attitude and once I got my own lorry I completely understood why.
 
I used to now from experience I don't, people don't look after things that aren't theirs. However I did used to share my box with a friend all running costs split down the middle, worked well until we were no longer at the same yard.
 
Hexx said:
I didn't lend mine out, ever, I was quite happy to take people to shows with me, on the understanding that they would contribution towards fuel.

I do remember one day going to Great Bookham with mine and a friend's horse on the back, when the friend turned to me (when we were nearly there) - "Oh, I haven't got any money for fuel, but I made you a sandwich for lunch". WTF!!! A sandwich - one round, it was ham, I HATE f-ing ham. For driving you 80 miles round trip AND waiting around for your last class to finish which wasn't until 7pm (we'd been on the go since 7am). Fuming!
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Sorry but that did make me laugh! Some people just don't have a clue.

I used to lend my old girl out as she was insured for all drivers and always sent her off with a full tank just asking that she was returned full - until the one person who used her the most complained to me about the price of diesel and how expensive it was to put fuel in! This after a 5 hour round trip to which the only payment was topping up the fuel.

My current truck is only insured for me and OH to drive but haven't even let him have a go ;)
 
Hexx said:
I didn't lend mine out, ever, I was quite happy to take people to shows with me, on the understanding that they would contribution towards fuel.

I do remember one day going to Great Bookham with mine and a friend's horse on the back, when the friend turned to me (when we were nearly there) - "Oh, I haven't got any money for fuel, but I made you a sandwich for lunch". WTF!!! A sandwich - one round, it was ham, I HATE f-ing ham. For driving you 80 miles round trip AND waiting around for your last class to finish which wasn't until 7pm (we'd been on the go since 7am). Fuming!
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Jesus christ some people take the pee!!! I'd have paid for ALL the fuel, cleaned the wagon out afterwards, bought you a decent lunch and given you a gift of wine or chocolate or turned out for you so you got a lay in etc, whatever I thought you would appreciate the most!
 
I leant mine out once, years ago, go a friend for a long distance vet's appointment.

Lorry came back in the dark and was abandoned on my driveway without a thank you. Checked it in the morning - sandwich wrappers left in the cab, large muddy footprints on the living floor, and the steps had been left down and caught on something and cost several hundred to get fixed.

No apology, no explanation and no thanks.

Never again.
 
I am on the opposite side as a good friend has offered to put me on her insurance so I can borrow her lorry when she isn't using it. I sold my trailer as new boy didn't fit in it and am now saving for a lorry so do have an appreciation of the costs involved. I do see it more as an opp to go out for training and keep it local though.

But even when travelling together, the unspoken rule is lunch if poss, fuel and muck out lorry.
 
FrankieCob said:
Jesus christ some people take the pee!!! I'd have paid for ALL the fuel, cleaned the wagon out afterwards, bought you a decent lunch and given you a gift of wine or chocolate or turned out for you so you got a lay in etc, whatever I thought you would appreciate the most!
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If I ever get another lorry again - you can be my first customer! The annoying thing was that she could have taken her OWN TRAILER but decided at the last minute to come with me in my big lorry - would a single ham sandwich have fuelled her 4x4, I wonder??
 
I could probably count on one hand the number of people I might be prepared to lend my lorry to as a one off, and they are people who already have lorries and would do the same for me. I have in fact turned down offers of lorries when mine has been off the road as I wouldn't want the responsibility.

When I had a 3.5t I did lend it to one friend fairly regularly so they could go to shows as they didn't have transport and packaged that as their birthday present. My lorry was always returned spotless - cleaner than when I gave it to them in fact. There was damage once and it was easily fixed and sorted by them. I have also dropped everything to take a horse to the vets in an emergency, most recently last weekend when one at ours needed to go for emergency colic surgery.
 
Good thread! One of my clients has offered to lend me hers on a 'replace the fuel you use, if you dent it mend it' basis. I will also pay her in trims for her 2 horses. If I had a lorry of my own I must admit I would be fussy who I lent it to!
 
I do not openly offer or lend it out, I did lend it on 2 occasions, both times I regretted it!!
1) Friend rings me whilst i'm at a Wedding in North Yorkshire to tell me she had been stopped by the Police for no insurance and can I give them the policy number so they can check it out - we are both Police officers so I know this was bull***!!
I spoke to the ins, got the policy number and in the mean time the officers had contacted the MIB and confirmed it was insured!
When I got it back it had a hole in the partition where she had travelled her horse tacked up (perfect stirrup shaped hole!)
Same friend on previous occasion also broke the hazard warning switch and the door handle....... I have NO idea how, but she mended it with super glue gggggrrrrrr, I have politely made excuses why she can't borrow it again, he horse was PTS a few months ago so requests stopped - then she wanted to borrow it to move house!!

2) Friends box fails it plating and she has 3 days full of clinic's lessons etc, my horse is out of work and the old girl only hacks so I was a very nice friend and offered up the box.
She rings me 'Babe the box won't start' que lots of faffing and me having to arrange recovery from outside her house = get the thing lifted back to the yard, put the key in and switch it on, nothing wrong with it!!
Its the most reliable little box ever, never ever fails me!

So no, never again will I lend it out unless I am driving and its an absolute emergency.
 
I don't have a box now and wouldn't ask to borrow one. I don't compete these days anyway but if I did, I'd buy my own. Weirdly, although I'd baulk at the responsibility of borrowing someone else's, I probably would lend one if I still had one but that's just how I am with vehicles. I've lent my 8 seater to friends of friends before now without a second thought. They were stuck and I wasn't going anywhere that day. I didn't really know them but I find it hard to feel possessive over tin - even if its my possession ��.
 
I used to have an arrangement with a friend to share my old lorry when I wasn't using it. IIRC, she used to pay some of the MOT and put fuel in it. Occasionally it was a bit awkward if we both wanted to do something that clashed (though I'm not shy of going "my box, too bad, you lose"), but that lorry was unreliable if it wasn't regularly run, she was a responsible person and the build of the box was solid enough to be hard to damage. The box I've got now doesn't pack up if it stands a few weeks, now I do endurance I use the lorry much more myself for training trips than I used to and this box isn't made as "tough" as my old one - its perfect for my little arabs but a big thug stropping on it would be likely to break stuff. So the answer is, no, not now, but I do take friends' horses out and give lifts to people with not too destructive horses.
 
In the past I let a few people borrow my trailer. However after lending it to a friend to take their sick horse to the vets she failed to tell me it kicked constantly. Next time I went to check it, it had a soft spot on the back ramp, which I had to get replaced at a cost of over £200. Needless to say I no longer let it be borrowed. In a dire emergency tho I probably would, on the "u bend it u mend it" principle.
 
Would you let people borrow your car?

I would rather offer to give them the run myself, like with a car :) If they were stuck and needed say picked up from the airport, wouldn't say "here have the keys!" :)
 
I am insured with NFU, myself and other half are the named drivers but it is insured for anyone over 25 with no more than 6 points on their licence. they also require any other regular driver to be declared - it is in the small print. They do not insure the lorry with other people's horses in it unless one of mine is also in it ( also in the small print) and I cannot charge anything as that would be " hire and reward" which would also render the policy void i.e. no insurance. If I drive anyone else's horses in my lorry for any sort of fee ( even extra diesel) I need an Operator's Licence and face having my lorry confiscated if I do not have one. This a legal minefield I would suggest you read your insurance policy in great detail. Also if you breakdown with other people's horses on board their horses are not covered for onward transport or stabling under the Breakdown cover. I have, twice , taken other people's horses to the vet but both times have rung NFU and agreed cover with them so that none of the above happens, good job too because we broke down once and the breakdown driver checked the identity of the horse by its passport. Good job I had complied with everything that was required!
 
Hexx said:
If I ever get another lorry again - you can be my first customer! The annoying thing was that she could have taken her OWN TRAILER but decided at the last minute to come with me in my big lorry - would a single ham sandwich have fuelled her 4x4, I wonder??
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I dont have transport and to hire a wagon for a day costs me £100 plus fuel, so I appreciate the costs involved! Tomorrow I've got a box plus driver coming to move the cob 15miles. Shes charging me £55 and I think its a bargain!
 
Farcical1 said:
Mine is only insured for me and my husband to drive. This was done on purpose so I can legitimately say no to requests to borrow it.
I have taken a friends horse to the vet hospital but am not prepared to let others drive it.
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We did the same including taking a friends horse to the horsepital, so not uncommon it seems.
 
It's just a completely alien concept to me. I don't lend clothes, horses, cars, make up, houses and in the same vein don't loan the lorry out. I cannot understand why anyone would, horse boxes are expensive. TNF.
 
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