i need advice please? Got myself into a sticky situation!

jadelovescassie

jadelovescassie

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About 5/6 weeks ago my good friend came to clip my mare, we don't keep our horses at the same yard.. However, she did not disinfect her clippers first (I just assumed she would have, did not even cross my mind). My pony got an infection and rash from the clip a few days after. She got some hefty raw sores to her side and was on bute, steroids + antibiotics for 2 weeks. As it was infection, am I correct in assuming that this could have definitely been prevented had my friend disinfected her clippers first?
Anyway, my point is, what would you advise me to do? I have a £400 vets bill, I am still in school, I pay for my horse myself, and I have 2 weeks to pay it. I really don't want to fall out with my friend but legally, should she be expected to pay the bill, or at least some of it?

Thank you for reading..
 
Could it be possible that it was a reaction to the clipper oil? I have read of other instances of that happening. Either way, I don't think you should make her pay. It's kind of one of those situations where you live and learn...

Will be interested to see what others have to say.
 
As above sound it may have started as a reaction to the clipper oil.

Out of interest was you 'good friend' clipping your horse as a favour or does she clip horses as a job?
 
I'm not sure about charging you friend for vet fees but I'm sure if you speak to your vet you may be able to come to some arrangement regarding paying your bill off in chunks rather than the full amount in one go?
 
if my friend had clipped my horse and the horse had a reaction, no way would I expect them to pay the vets bill.

As above, ask the vet about paying £50/month or something.

It actually sounds like your horse may have had a reaction to the oil (fairly common) so could have happened whether the clippers were disinfected or not.

Did the vet take skin scrapings and give you a diagnosis?
 
Are you sure this was an infection? What you describe sounds like an allergic reaction.

Either way I think that if you want insurance and comeback you need to use a professional who will charge you for the priviledge. I assume your friend did you a favour by clipping the horse (a fairly big favour in my book) and even mentioning the vet's bills would be very cheeky of you!
 
Unless your friend went directly from an infected (whatever infection you think your horse has caught) horse to yours without even cleaning the blades I can't see the risk. No one who pays for a set of blades would surely split and clean them before doing another horse as a minimum? They are not cheap to replace and clipping whilst they are filled with gunk just wears them quicker.
I don't 'disinfect' my blades each time. I clean, split and oil them and use as normal. I'm sure some professionals do but as you said, you asked a friend.
It sounds more like an allergic reaction, or even something that was already on the horse and only became apparent when he was clipped. Can you prove that was the not case? Can you prove the 'infection' came from dirty blades? If not, then not only will you lose your friend but you will cause a lot of upset saying that was the case.
Must have been some severe kind of infection to build up a bill like that. Ask your vet for time to pay, they are very accomodating.
 
Sounds like a reaction to the clipper oil, to me, too. No amount of disinfecting would have prevented that.

Even if she's been clipped before, using the same oil,she could have shown what's called Delayed (Type II) Hypersensitivity. A reaction would leave the skin more susceptible to infection, due to the inflammation.

You could ask your friend what oil she used and whether any other horses have shown a reaction. It may be that she has had somebody else's horse react and so can change oil (sorry, I don't clip horses, so am a bit naive about how many different oils there are!!). I don't think it would be fair to expect any payment from her, though.
 
I do not know of any "infection" that would pass from horse to horse in this way other than ringworm and by the sound of it, it is not that. It was far more likely to be a reaction to the clipper oil and sorry but that is your problem for having a horse with sensitive skin - next time do a test patch first.

I cannot believe you are even thinking of lumping this bill on your "friend" I expect she would very quickly become an "ex-friend"!!

If you cannot afford vets bills for your horse you either a. insure it or b. don't own it!
 
I would like to add I was paying my friend to clip my horse, it was not a favour. She has clipped quite a lot of horses as I understand this year.
 
I have her on full loan, her owner insures her, but she rang them yesterday and app they won't pay it. As others have said I can pay the bill off in chunks, that's fine, I may not be able to afford the 400 right away but over time is fine. I was just wondering if my friend should contribute that's all, as she didn't disinfect which you kinda expect someone to do when they're going round clipping a fair few horses!
 
To go back to your OP, it is unlikely that any infection, other than ringworm, would have been transmitted to your horse by unwashed clippers. It is more likely that your horse has an allergy to clipper oil and that the infection came about as a result.

As others have said, your most elegant way out of this would be to speak to the vets as soon as possible and arrange to make stage payments at a rate you can afford.
 
jadelovescassie said:
I have her on full loan, her owner insures her, but she rang them yesterday and app they won't pay it. As others have said I can pay the bill off in chunks, that's fine, I may not be able to afford the 400 right away but over time is fine. I was just wondering if my friend should contribute that's all, as she didn't disinfect which you kinda expect someone to do when they're going round clipping a fair few horses!
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You live & learn. I don't think this is your friends problem at all. I clip friends horses and I'm damn sure if one threw an allergic reaction my friends wouldn't even consider asking me for money!!
 
jadelovescassie said:
I have her on full loan, her owner insures her, but she rang them yesterday and app they won't pay it. As others have said I can pay the bill off in chunks, that's fine, I may not be able to afford the 400 right away but over time is fine. I was just wondering if my friend should contribute that's all, as she didn't disinfect which you kinda expect someone to do when they're going round clipping a fair few horses!
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I'm afraid I don't believe that. The owner will have needed to have filled out the relevant claim forms first, as will the vet, and then the insurance company will consider the claim and write to you to tell you if they will pay. You don't just ring your insurance company to ask if they will pay.

When did it happen? My policy has a 60 limit for claims on it.. ie, I can't make a first claim for an illness/accident more than 60 days after it happened. If you are within the time limit on the policy, the owner should be able to claim.

I would ask the owner what the time limit on the policy is and to put a claim in progress with them.
 
I don't think I would have gone through with asking her, I don't want to lose a friend. I was just wondering what people thought about the situation. Don't really think its fair people are telling me to get insurance when I have it though, I don't know why they won't pay it.
 
I think you need to take the "friend" element out of it, since you say it was not a favour but a paid service that is provided to other people (non-friends?) as well as to you.

Did you pay market value for the service?

Is this person insured to provide this paid service?
 
Ahhhh I see. Well it would be under 60 days as the reaction came up about 5 weeks ago, but her owner said that the insurance wouldn't pay because of when it happened, but I wasn't really too sure what she meant if I'm honest. As I have nothing to do with the insurance, I'm really not sure what else I can do in that respect.
 
Ok, she was going to clip her for £30. Since I have always had a friend do it in the past for me more free (she moved away so couldn't this year) I'm not sure how much people usually charge to clip other peoples horses. I don't expect she is insured to do it, but then again I'm not sure.
 
i agree with the others that it's most likely a reaction to the clipper oil but are you sure your friend didn't wash the clippers AFTER clipping the previous horse and BEFORE she got to your yard?
i wash mine before i put them away as i know that they are clean and ready to go for the next time.
 
This is much more likely to be a bad reaction to the clipper oil - or even to being clipped - than an infection. I've seen the same sort of thing in dogs that have been clipped. I'm sure your vet would accept monthly installments but I think you should get your horse insured. Vets bills are often unexpected and can be huge.
 
jadelovescassie said:
As I have nothing to do with the insurance, I'm really not sure what else I can do in that respect.
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I would suggest you sit down and have a serious chat with the owner of the horse about the vets insurance and ask to see the policy. Perhaps suggest that you should take over and pay for the vets insurance so that you know it is there if you need it. If your pony got a serious colic, for example, you are going to be stuck with a bill a lot higher than £400 and it sounds like you would have no way of paying it. :(
 
She told me she did not disinfect them between clipping the other horses and mine when I asked her. The vet did definitely describe it to me as an infection and not a reaction, he came out to see my mare 4/5 times.

Don't want people to think I'm being a terrible friend here, it would have been different had I not been paying for a service and I wouldn't have even thought twice then. Like I said, I wouldn't have had the guts to ask her for any money but I was just wondering what people thought about it..
 
But what did the vet say? Did they apportion blame to the clippers? I don't think you can blame your friend but have you told her what happened?
 
Its probibily a reaction to clipper oil. My mare, her first clip was fine, no lumps. Second clip, COVERED in hives and I mean covered!!! I couldn't ride her for about a week and 6 weeks on she is still itchy!
 
Yeah I told my friend, that's when she admitted she hadn't disinfected. All I'm going by is what the vet told me, that it was an infection and not a reaction.
 
jadelovescassie said:
She told me she did not disinfect them between clipping the other horses and mine when I asked her. The vet did definitely describe it to me as an infection and not a reaction, he came out to see my mare 4/5 times.

Don't want people to think I'm being a terrible friend here, it would have been different had I not been paying for a service and I wouldn't have even thought twice then. Like I said, I wouldn't have had the guts to ask her for any money but I was just wondering what people thought about it..
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I think there are more important things going on here than whether you come across as a bad or good friend TBH. TGM is right in what she says, above... what happens if the horse has a real emergency, like colic, or injures herself badly in the field? Will the owner immediately tell you then that the insurance won't pay and expect you to find a couple of thousand pounds?

You need to sit down with the owner and go through the policy - take your parents with you as back up. Do you have a loan contract in place? What does it say about insurance? It probably seems like I've overreacting since it isn't currently a large bill, but one day it might be and you need to make sure that you are covered. Unless you have gone beyond the time limit allowed on the policy, there should be no reason why you a) can't submit a claim, and b) the insurance wouldn't pay up. It shouldn't matter whether it was an infection or a reaction... ringworm is an infection, as is strangles, but you can still claim on your insurance for treatment for both.
 
TGM said:
I would suggest you sit down and have a serious chat with the owner of the horse about the vets insurance and ask to see the policy. Perhaps suggest that you should take over and pay for the vets insurance so that you know it is there if you need it. If your pony got a serious colic, for example, you are going to be stuck with a bill a lot higher than £400 and it sounds like you would have no way of paying it. :(
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Agree with this. Do you pay the owner for insuring the horse? It sounds a funny arangement, which leaves you in a mess.... Its hard to chase an insurance company up and query things if its not in your name..

As for someone that clips horses for money, they should have insurance, but it depends if it is just someone making a bit of extra money, or a professional.. Even if you were to claim, you would have to prove that it happened because of the blades not being disinfected, and it doesn't sound as though you do have proof. You just think that it must be because of the disinfecting.. As everyone says, it would be very very unusual for the infection to come like that unless she had clipped an infected horse before. Clipper oil allergy is most likely.

I do feel sorry for you, and think that you need to have a chat with the owner about the insurance situation. If you have no control over it, then I would seriously think about ending the loan and finding something else to loan that you can insure yourself... Tell the owner that you are thinking that way. She probably won't want to lose you. There are many people on here struggling to loan horses, so it wouldn't be easy to find someone else..
 
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