Go Fund Me for horses

abbijay

abbijay

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Call me old fashioned but I don't believe in asking anyone to pay for my horse except myself. If I can't afford something I go without and I have been in that situation of telling a vet I can no longer afford expensive treatment so euthanasia may have been the next option if current treatment is unsuccessful.

What do others think? Is there ever a time to ask others to donate to the upkeep/medical bills/showing expenses of your horse? I'm not talking about legitimate charities but I've seen a couple of posts in the last few weeks that made me think. I didn't approve of the "Jonny & Art" funding and that was for an Olympic level horse, when we're talking about someone's pet it feels absurd or worse still the upkeep of a "rescue".
 
I'm with you, largely - I fund my horses myself and wouldn't dream of asking anyone for help. If I can't pay for them, then they have to go.

The Jonty & Art thing did pull at my heartstrings though, having so enjoyed watching them together at Badminton and I made a small donation. I expected nothing in return, I made a corresponding donation to PFK at the same time. And I've enjoyed being part of the FB group set up to follow their progress subsequently.

The crowdfunding to replace a dressage trainer's indoor school stuck in the craw somewhat though :wink3: that seems to have run out of steam a bit?
 
I would never dream of asking others to fund my horses - they're my responsibility (although would perhaps borrow from family if necessary).

However I think the Jonty & Art thing it quite different to what are IMO irresponsible owners scrounging off of the general public. This was a great publicity stunt that's given us the opportunity to watch a fantastic partnership develop and although I couldn't afford to spare anything to contribute at the time, I enjoyed watching the progress and was glad to see a positive outcome. It's too often that money talks and good riders lose their horses.
 
I donated to Jonty and Art and I like being part of his family. I thought it was interesting just how much support there is out there from the equine community to be able to raise that much money in a fairly short amount of time.

But generally no I wouldn't fund day to day stuff for us normal equine folks. Cheeky!
 
Have to say I found a certain bloggers funding for a 3.5 lorry pretty awful. The reason behind it was that they had had a trailer accident, yet a few weeks after that funding page was posted a photo of the horse in a trailer going somewhere was posted so clearly not that bad. They’d also just bought a new Voltaire saddle.

The outcry was so huge that the blogger (admirably) took the page down.

Horses are a luxury not a right and I cannot comprehend the idea that anyone should fund someone’s expensive hobby.
 
No way, my responsibility to fund my own horse. If I couldn't afford it I wouldn't have one, and knew that I would always be in a position where I could so I did if that makes sense!
 
It's looking like I've got a rather sizeable vet's bill adding up for the fat appaloosa, so if it's ok with you lot I'll post the link for her crowd funding page in a bit!

Whilst I'm at it, can we try and raise a bit for a new horse for me? About 15h, decent jumper, hacks alone etc. ☺

Thank you!
 
abbijay said:
Call me old fashioned but I don't believe in asking anyone to pay for my horse except myself. If I can't afford something I go without and I have been in that situation of telling a vet I can no longer afford expensive treatment so euthanasia may have been the next option if current treatment is unsuccessful.

What do others think? Is there ever a time to ask others to donate to the upkeep/medical bills/showing expenses of your horse? I'm not talking about legitimate charities but I've seen a couple of posts in the last few weeks that made me think. I didn't approve of the "Jonny & Art" funding and that was for an Olympic level horse, when we're talking about someone's pet it feels absurd or worse still the upkeep of a "rescue".
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Yep couldn’t agree more with you. Could have written this post myself!
 
It seems to be increasingly common to ask for other people to fund your hobbies. I'm going on a trip-of-a-lifetime in a couple of months, and I'm amazed how many people suggested I crowdfund for some of the cost. I'd no more ask somebody to pay for my holiday than for my horse!

I can understand to some extent the panic at the thought of losing a much-loved animal, but that's why, if you don't have access to enough funds to cover vet bills yourself, you insure them.

When it comes to competing costs, I think I could see a business model for it - something along the lines of Patreon, where people who contribute at a certain level get, eg, regular written reports (if you're an engaging writer), photographs, invitations to come and meet your horse, etc. However, this would be dependent on competing at a high enough level to be interesting, and it would involve patrons getting something in return.
 
There's a huge difference in the Jonty & Art fund and somebody just after a bog standard horse for nothing. There's no doubt that Art will receive the utmost in care and will want for nothing - both in terms of general care and veterinary attention if he needs it. Keeping him was never Jonty's issue, buying him was. If people are having to resort to crowdfunding to buy a cheap low quality horse how are they every going to afford to keep them or get them the vet when they need it?

Buying them is the cheap part. I've easily spent 20 times what I paid to buy A in caring for him over the 13 years I've had him.
 
milliepops said:
I'm with you, largely - I fund my horses myself and wouldn't dream of asking anyone for help. If I can't pay for them, then they have to go.

The Jonty & Art thing did pull at my heartstrings though, having so enjoyed watching them together at Badminton and I made a small donation. I expected nothing in return, I made a corresponding donation to PFK at the same time. And I've enjoyed being part of the FB group set up to follow their progress subsequently.

The crowdfunding to replace a dressage trainer's indoor school stuck in the craw somewhat though :wink3: that seems to have run out of steam a bit?
Click to expand...

ha I saw that one too, although there was a message saying that it wasn't actually set by the trainer herself and she took it down?
 
I cant stand begging on any level. Beg for a scrappy rug for a pony you cant afford to keep or beg for money to buy a really expensive horse so you can win lots of money on it eventing .. its the same. Begging is begging!
 
On another forum many years ago people clubbed together to get a horse out of a nightmare into a decent home, as a rescue. It all went horribly wrong when the "decent home" tried to sell her on, there were all sorts of legal issues about ownership, return of investment etc. I suppose you could do it on a shares sort of basis but it would still be fraught with who has the final say problems

And I just heard the people in the almost £500k house across the road from me tried to get crowd funding to buy a £100 sheep :o
 
Farma said:
ha I saw that one too, although there was a message saying that it wasn't actually set by the trainer herself and she took it down?
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Hmm i saw that but then saw further posts suggesting it had been reinstated. There's still a live justgiving page for it.
 
Nope, I don't agree with it, either.

I used to work for a riding school which doubled as a small rescue centre. They would take in rescue cases and if not too bad, would rehabilitate the ones that could be ridden and use them in the riding school whilst the rest would be rehabbed & loaned out as companions etc.

A few months ago, one of the horses that I cared for and rode whilst I worked there sadly died after colic surgery. Being a charity, they put an appeal with a go-fund-me/justgiving type page asking for donations to help pay for the vet bill. As I knew this horse and was quite fond of him, I was saddened by the news and wanted to make a donation.

In the same week, the lady that runs the place bought her daughter (who also works in the riding school) a horsebox - albeit a small van conversion. They were both posting about this on FB at the same time as posting asking for donations for the vet bill.

This really didn't sit right with me at all, so I decided not to make a contribution. In fact it made me quite cross.
 
I agree with this if I was really desperate I would try and borrow money off family etc then pay them back but that would only be in the extreme circumstances I wouldn't ask people to fund me.

Call me miserable but I also didn't think much of the Jonty and Art thing if I was to donate to anything it would be a charity for sick animals rather than something like that. And I do have a monthly direct debit to an animal charity set up so I'm not completely heartless I just wouldn't support something like the Art thing I'm sure I'll get slated for this view though!
 
Crazy_cat_lady said:
Call me miserable but I also didn't think much of the Jonty and Art thing if I was to donate to anything it would be a charity for sick animals rather than something like that. And I do have a monthly direct debit to an animal charity set up so I'm not completely heartless I just wouldn't support something like the Art thing I'm sure I'll get slated for this view though!
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I'm miserable too then, as I didn't think much of it either! :p
 
This has always confused me....People get all upset about others telling them how to look after their horse yet expect others to pay for it? Urhm... contradictory much? :confused:
 
Oh I hate this so much. So, so much. I can't afford a horse, so I don't have one. Simple.

A colleague's dog got hit by a car and needed an operation which maxed out their insurance limit. When the op was unsuccessful and a second one was needed, they set up a Go Fund Me to pay for it. I was so tempted to comment along the lines of "surely the vet must have made you aware that you may need a second op.. Why have you spent the last six weeks spending every penny on drugs and alcohol instead of saving for this eventuality?" but didn't want to make work awkward. Then when the target amount was raised pretty much overnight, another colleague says to me "X has done really well, getting all that money, hasn't she?" Well? She hasn't done anything? Needless to say I did not contribute.

I think while GFM etc can be a useful tool for individuals to gain sponsorship when doing something for a genuine charity, what it's become just epitomises everything wrong with my generation: "I want this, I want it now and I don't want to work, save or sacrifice for it" seems to be the attitude du jour. And the way people always start their sob story with "I wouldn't normally dream of asking others"... Why are you then?!
 
Yes, I really can't stand these crowd funding for the perfectly ordinary type things.

I did donate to Jonty and Art, but I didn't see that as a donation to an individual, but a donation to equestrian sport, because they are a great combination. It's the same reason I buy lottery tickets.
 
My US friends call it "GoFraudMe" In the early days of horse forums (pre GFM) I got caught out a few times donating to various causes that were either enabling very irresponsible behaviour or were not what they seemed. There are very few horse related ones that i would give to. I feel miserable, curmudgeonly even, but the majority of them seem sketchy at best. I am not familiar with the Jonty and Art one so I can't comment on that one specifically
 
the only time i agree with the crowd fund thing is for someone to get medical treatment that the nhs is unable to provide, especially the children. there is no way i would pay any money to someone to keep a horse as the responsibility is the owners, if they cannot afford a horse they shouldnt have one.....my old mare who i lost in 2016 suffered from cushings and therefore over the years i built up a huge cr card bill which i am still paying off but its my problem, no one else's
 
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