Is the owner messing me about?

Jaycee

Jaycee

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I am having to return my loan horse to her owner, I gave her what I thought was the right amount of notice but find out today that no it should have been 3 months, I only gave her a month but as I pointed out to her I couldn't have forseen the bombshell that hit me forcing me into having to give her up. She told me a couple of weeks ago that she does has a place for the horse to go but it wouldn't be ready for 2 weeks as it needed some repairs. Now I took that to mean that she would be going at some point over this weekend. This is not the case, I find out today that the repair has not been done yet and she doesn't know when it will be. In the meantime she's told me that the horse is still my responsibility. I don't disagree, but what I am finding hard to understand is that she seems completely oblivious to the fact that I do not have the finances to provide anymore for this horse. What happens if she continues to fob me off? does she still not have a legal and moral obligation for her horse? How do I get her to take her back?
 
What did your loan agreement say?
1 month is pretty standard to be honest.
I'd suggest saying you are prepared to look after the horse on the owners behalf until the stable is ready but that the owner will need to cover and fees after the month notice is up.
 
For us (the Forum) to make a judgement and to help us on this, you need to let us have more details of the term of the agreement you had the horse on loan for......Clearly there are issues on both sides and the horse seems to be caught in the middle of it all......
 
It does state 3 months - but under the circumstances I had no choice but to only give her a month, she said she sympathised about my situation. But as I pointed out to her I couldn't have seen this coming 12, 6 months let alone 3 months in advance!
 
Ok so here goes!
As previous post says contract does state 3 months. I have had the horse for all but 3 years. She came to me in poor condition from another loan home and it's taken hundreds of pound to get her right. Owner all along has been very grateful to me for taking her on and all that I've done for her etc.
Horse is on permanent loan to me, I pay for everything.
Fast forward, husband walks out on me leaving me penniless, now having to claim benefits (short term) as I don't work, have a disabled son to care for. This is when I give her notice and the reasons as to why I have to return her.
The livery is paid for until the end of this month, but I do not have funds available to pay for anymore, she would also need more hay, straw etc. Owner is fully aware of this
 
Surely if you loan out a horse you ought to be prepared for it coming back if something went drastically wrong with the loanee?

Rubbish things can happen to anyone at anytime, such as redundancy, family issues, accidents and ill health, even death. What would the owner do then?
 
If I owned the horse I wouldn't risk it being neglected by OP and would take it back.
But OP, that doesn't change the fact you are breaking a contract and to say the 'owner is messing you about' I think is a little insulting
 
The initial owner has to take responsibility as it is their horse - so whilst a loan agreement might have gone pear shaped - that is the risk that the owner took when loaning the horse out - maybe she / he should have tried to sell it in the first instance? Loaner simply has to drop the horse back to the owner......and terminate the agreement.
 
Well you could see it coming to be fair, when you agreed to a 3 month notice period but as already said, the owner can't really do anything other than take it back. Agree you can't say they are messing you about however!
 
What if the OP had been in a car accident and would be unable to continue loaning the horse? As much as I sympathise with the owner, these things do happen, and we all should have a back up plan for these eventualities..
I often wonder what would happen to my horse if something happened to me. My Oh would be left handling a horse he would only know how to feed, muck out and give water. He's not even a horsey person. I have an idea what I would like to happen, but at the end of the day, he'll just see my horse as something to sell on, at whatever price he could get for him.
 
Ok so maybe I shouldn't have said messing me about, but she has told me that she does have a place for he and it should have been ready by now but doesn't want to appear pushy by nagging the farmer to get a move on in fixing the roof.

If she was "my" horse I would have found another home for her during this last month which I have managed to do with my other horse and he is leaving tomorrow.

I can't just drop her at her place as I have no idea where she is taking her even if I did I couldn't afford to hire a lorry to do it.

I don't think she would be able to sell her as the horse is 23 and has kissing spine along with other issues.

This has broken my heart to have to do this, but I really didn't have any other options, I know I have broken the terms of the contract in not giving her enough notice, but like someone has said, surely she has to be prepared for the unexpected and make provisions should something like this happen and as I've said it wasn't something I had foreseen coming.
 
Owner isn't messing you about, its permanent loan & there is a 3mnths notice period. To play devils advocate, she might be equally unable to support it. Best solution would be for you both to work together & try & find a new loan home asap. Would it be suitable to go on loan to a rs or college, even short term till something permanent arranged? Fwiw, I sympathise with you both, you breaching the contract is clearly causing issues for the owner, & you're having a tough time too. Other compromise might be finding grass livery or a field & chucking it out for 2mnths, & both split the costs of rent & hay, & maybe a trim if needed. But that would make it harder to loan than in work. It might actually be legally the owners responsibility, but I think after 3yrs of a loan that's meant to be permanent, you have a moral obligation to do more than just brush it off as the owners problem.
 
I feel for you.

I took a loan horse back within 3 days when the loaner had a crisis...

I believe all owners, if horses are on loan....need to have this in the back of their minds that situations change.
 
I had two mares out on breeding loan and the loaner got into similar problems. She really wanted to keep them and put them in foal the next year and assured me she would be able to manage that. In the December, with snow forecast, I was made aware by a third party that these horses were turned out 24/7 and that the loaner was struggling to feed etc.

Within 24 hours, I arranged for a haulier to collect the two mares at my expense and bring them back to me - a 5 hour journey each way

I have no hard feelings for the loaner - her life was turned upside down. Her only fault was to not admit that she would never be able to either feed them well or pay for their return.

They were my horses and my responsibility. QED.
 
Never mind all the recriminations :p is there any way you can help each other? It seems you are both in a bind but there must be a way because the horse is a common bond for you both and he/she is in the middle. Sorry for your situation OP it must be hard - can a compromise be reached at all?
 
I have loaned out several of my ponies, infact I have two out on loan now. The shortest notice I have ever had is 3 days, despite it saying one month in the contract and it was collected in two.
If she has really has now where to put it safely I can understand the delay, but no matter how long they are on loan you have to think all the time that they will come back its just when and to plan accordingly.
 
Horse is not suitable to go out on loan due to health issues, that is why the owner has agreed to have her back.

I'm sorry if people think I'm just trying to brush this off as the owners problem that wasn't my intention.

I am well aware that I've broken the terms of my contract, I was only really seeking advice as to what to do if she keeps telling me that the stable isn't ready?

The horse is Ok to stay where she is for now and my current YO is prepared to help out where she can, but it can't go on indefinitely.
 
While the owner is not technically messing you about, they are not being very sympathetic or showing much concern for their horse, which has a loaner in financial difficulty who may not be able to feed the poor thing!

I also think three months notice is a bit OTT, and would never had signed up to that. I don't think its fair to dump a loan horse back with no notice (had someone want to do that with my pony once while I was abroad) but three months is unfair.

When you send a horse out on loan, it is not forever, it is not sold, it will more than likely come back - often when old and needing more care. People who loan horses out should always have that at the back of their minds..

In this story I just feel sorry for the old horse (and you too op, as you sound to have a lot on your plate). I think the owner is hoping to hold out til spring when they can just dump it out in a field somewhere. Poor old horse.:(
 
Can she not take over the costs for the short term, after all, it is her horse?

I feel for you, sometimes you dont know what life has coming around the corner, but what i would say was, do you not having any savings just to cover for the time being and put her on basic livery? As for the owner, it is grossly unfair to brandish her and messign you about, from a devils advocate pov, you are messing her about.
 
I would do my level best ro appeal to the owners better nature and stress you need some help from them

I don't think posting on a forum asking if she is mucking you about is a textbook way of asking someone if you can break a contract!

Good luck with it, hopefully the owner will help you, I know I wouldn't want to add to a loaners problems by not taking the horse back promptly
 
DragonSlayer said:
I feel for you.

I took a loan horse back within 3 days when the loaner had a crisis...

I believe all owners, if horses are on loan....need to have this in the back of their minds that situations change.
Click to expand...

Agree and if Jaycee owned the horse she would be able to make other decisions about the future of the horse that she can't do as the horse isn't hers.

I'm afraid if you don't want ultimate responsibility for a horse don't loan it, sell it.
 
Yes I took mine back within couple of days when my lovely loaner was having cancer treatment. I know as an owner the buck stops with me & believe a little humanity is called for when someone is going through a life crisis..not being pedantic about every term of a loan agreement.
 
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