Loan pony problems

[Jenny2303]

Hello everyone

back again with some more probs.. lol

so my sister started part loaning a pony on the same yard which I loan from, a small pony for her son back in March. At the end of April, pony has came down with lami. She pays a lot for the part loan, splits costs 50/50 with the owner. The pony will soon have been lame longer than she has been ridden for the loan period if that makes sense. He’s gonna be on box rest for another 4 weeks at LEAST.

she has to walk for miles to get to the yard and back during this pandemic as she can’t drive - needless to say her young son is starting to detest walking for miles 4 days per week and no riding, he’s only 6.

what would you do in this situation? I know that things happen and ponies can’t be ridden all the time, but with it being a new share agreement which the lameness spell is going to overtake how long she’s been able to ride him, and her son rapidly losing interest on a pony which is costing her a fortune every month..

I’m not sure what the best advice to give her is??

thank u! X

 

[AmyMay]

I’d end the loan.

 

[Red-1]

She is free to walk away, but then she can't expect to be able to pick it back up again once the pony is sound again.

If I were her, I wouldn't feel too guilty about leaving though. Horse ownership comes with that risk, but many benefits. A part share comes with less risk and it is easy to walk away.

If she likes the pony and it is usually fun to have, then maybe she could change the agreement for now? Pay 10%, visit once a week? That way channels would be kept open for later on.

 

[Jenny2303]

The first thing I thought was to end it, but they do both love the pony and I had a browse here for any similar situations and the consensus seems to have been keep paying, which she has done for 6 weeks, but there’s no real date in sight for him being back in work, he’s just on box rest for initial 6-8 weeks - the vet only came out after a couple of weeks of lameness.

she feels really guilty about walking away from it as the owners rely on sharer to keep pony, he’s quite old and has been with the owner for a long time so is just a v expensive pet really. If she knew for a fact he would be sound in a few weeks, she would be happy to keep going however it would actually cost her about half of the amount she pays to keep her own pony. Owner is happy for her to cut down days but never mentioned anything about paying any less.

 

[Jenny2303]

She gets on with the owner really well they seem like nice people and she definitely doesn’t want a sour note and just wants to do the right thing for everyone

 

[HashRouge]

The thing is, they may both love the pony, but if the 6 year old is hating the 4 mile walk (is it 4 miles round trip, or 4 miles there and 4 miles back?) then he may well lose interest altogether and not want to ride at all, even if/ when the pony comes sound. How many days a week do they go? I'd speak to the owners and explain the issue - they may well understand (I would!) and be happy for there to be a temporary pause on the loan. Alternately, if your sister is keen to stay involved, could she suggest that she and her son stop visiting the pony for a bit and she pays a token amount for another month to see if the pony comes sound? Or, her and her son could cut their days back to once a week, so they're still involved but he's not having to walk quite as often?

 

[Jenny2303]

that’s the thing she’s worried about but also understands these things happen and if they owned the pony which obviously one day they would hope to own and this happened they’d have to be doing the journey? he’s already losing interest and she sometimes has to just go herself in the evening when his dad is home which isn’t what she signed up for as she rides a horse at a different yard once a week this was supposed to be for the little man. they are due there 4 days per week but have been doing 2/3 for the past couple of weeks, I guess she doesn’t want to seem like she’s being unreasonable and them to think they just disregarded the pony, but I think suggesting a token amount next month to see what happens is a good idea and hopefully they won’t take offence to it!

 

[Widgeon]

The thing is, they may both love the pony, but if the 6 year old is hating the 4 mile walk (is it 4 miles round trip, or 4 miles there and 4 miles back?) then he may well lose interest altogether and not want to ride at all

Yes, I'd go with this POV too - almost regardless of what the "right" thing to do is, I'd say it's completely understandable for your sister to make the decision based on her son. Six is very little, you don't want to put him off for good, and I think it would be a rather unreasonable owner who didn't understand this to some extent. If there is no real end in sight to the laminitis, then with my brutally honest hat on I would say walk away and find a rideable pony for her son to enjoy. I probably wouldn't say quite the same if it was an adult who was sharing the horse.

ETA, token amount is a good idea.

 

[Shay]

I would echo that. Tough though it is there is abolutely no gaurentee pony will come back inot work at all, let alone stay in work for any length of time. 6 is very young and you want only positive experiences at this point - as much as you can mke them. Far better to look for a suitable share that he can actually ride. Also - and I am sorry to be brutal - much easier if pony does not come right and has to be PTS.

 

[PSD]

Having just lost my pony to laminitis, I wouldn’t even dream of allowing a child to continue a part loan whilst the pony is recovering. It’s a long, hard emotionally draining recovery, as others have said the pony may never come sound and may not even get through it. I would end the loan, search for something else or take the child to a riding school where he could do own a pony days. 6 is very young, if he were to get attached and the pony was to be pts he would be heartbroken I’m sure.

I can’t imagine why the owner hasn’t terminated the loan whilst the pony is poorly, I don’t really think it’s fair to be expecting you to help with nursing a sick horse when there are plenty of others out there that are fit and healthy that you could be enjoying.

 

[Jenny2303]

thanks everyone, I’m glad most people seem to be in agreement! he’s already done rs for years, mum shares and was hoping for him to share to get a proper taste of the hard work with a view to them having their own maybe next year if he kept interest, it’s been quite crap as during lockdown they could have been having loads of fun she’s self employed not able to work but instead it’s been a bit of an emotional and financial drain

 

[Jenny2303]

sorry to hear about your pony pictus, that would indeed be a really heartbreaking outcome too. owners seem confident he will be sound but I’m not sure whether they can’t afford to lose the share with racking vets bills I wouldn’t like to think so but you just don’t know

 

[PSD]

sorry to hear about your pony pictus, that would indeed be a really heartbreaking outcome too. owners seem confident he will be sound but I’m not sure whether they can’t afford to lose the share with racking vets bills I wouldn’t like to think so but you just don’t know

thank you. You can never be too confident with laminitis, I would hate for a child to get so attached and the ending not be a good one. It’s a tough situation but I don’t think your sister should be expected to continue when the horse isn’t in full health. Had it been that your sister was loaning/riding the pony and not a child, my view would be a little different. But as I say, having just been through a horrific 5 months with mine, I wouldn’t want a child going through that.

 

[Leo Walker]

My pony got lammi and the first thing I did was stop his sharer. I allowed her free access to visit whenever she wanted, but I didn't take any money or expect any help from her. I think she did give me £50 at one point, but that was more of a lovely gesture from her than a payment.

A share is just a share. The owner can get rid of you in a heart beat and you are not under any obligation to keep paying for someone else's horse. A week or two is one thing, but long term lameness? I'm horrified the owners are still allowing this to go on.

 

[southerncomfort]

As above, the owner really shouldn't still be taking money from your sister. Not for this long anyway.

However, if your sister is reluctant to give up the share and doesn't mind continuing to pay, could she at least drop down to 1 or 2 visits per week until the pony comes sound again? Hopefully then the long walk will be less of an issue.

I'd definitely put a time limit on it though as their are no guarantees that this pony will come sound enough to be ridden again.