Strangers riding my horse without permission

I have to say, I think OP handled this with incredible grace. I'm not sure I would have managed it.

You sound like an incredibly dignified and lovely person OP. Well done!
 
Personally for something as serious as this I'd have thought it would justify an out of hours knock on the YO door or phone call, the YO has a duty to other liveries and if this 'lady' did this to yours why not to others. While some things are best sorted face to face, others do need to involve the YO.
 
As above, YO needs to know what happened & also that you've spoken to offender & she has admitted using your horse but has not apologised for what she did. I would not make any suggestions to the YO regarding how they should deal with the incident unless you are specifically asked what you would like done. It is their yard & they are responsible for rules & discipline issues. I hpe all goes well.

Oh & congratulations for remaining calm & firm with your dealing with the offender. As has been mentioned earlier screaming & shouting is not the way to deal with it. You have dealt with this so far very well indeed. ;)
 
Well done you. If YO doesn't back you up though I would move, as it would be her who is instilling the grey boundaries. Thankfully I've always had fit endurance arabs, so when I was in livery no-one asked to ride them even though they were well mannered they were sharp.

Did happen once not long after I'd taken on a loan horse. She'd not been worked for 2 years (as she bucked people off if they were disrespectful to her - she was a lady & wanted to be treated as such). So our initial months were spent doing fittening work. In that time the owner asked if her ex-hubby could ride once a week, to hack out with his new girlfriend who had a horse close by. One week I came back to find her covered in dry sweat. I spent all afternoon cleaning he up, with what she had done that morning I couldn't ask her to work again that day. I rang owner to say I wasn't impressed at what he had done, to find out because she was getting fitter she'd given him a really hard time & taken off with him. He didn't want to ride her again. She obviously did it because she didn't like him, she never bolted with me in 10 years.
 
Well OP im another saying well done. Yes no doubt you want to scream punch her etc (as i would have done)lol but then you may have been chucked. I bet the sight of het squirming and wriggling was some what enjoyable. I would still talk to YO explaining what has been said but well done x
 
I would be calling the police for starters- even just to cover your own back. If the yard owner is involved in this I would be off the yard asap, however if they had no involvement and are as shocked by this as your are (which they should be) I would expect this person to be removed from the yard pronto.
 
Eboni said:
I also said that if it was so 'harmless' she would have told me about it, which she didn't, as she knew how upset I would be. Also asked her why she didn't use her own horses - she stated they were turned out at the time and mine wasn't , which is a feeble excuse to say the least. Now I am going to see how the atmosphere is tomorrow and then let the YO know, (who I haven't seen today). xx
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Didn't the woman mention that her child had ridden your horse SEVERAL times? So this other livery's horses happened to be out every single time and yours wasn't? Sounds bit fishy.
 
Just my pennies worth on insurance as I think AH's point is not being understood. While most insurers are happy for you to share and accept payment for your horse (but DO to check) I have not yet found ANY insurance company that will cover another rider for any accidents they may have...damage the horse could do to a 3rd party (I.e a car) would be a yes... Child coming off your horse...no.

Eboni, something else to discuss with your YO is that as your insurance would not have covered this child, it would have been very likely they would have gone after the YO if anything had happened.

And personally? My tack would be locked away and there would be a large notice in the Tackroom saying that for all avoidance of doubt, your horse is never to be borrowed by anyone else under any circumstance.
 
Wow that is disgusting, I would leave straight away and make it perfectly clear to the owner why I was leaving. Have you discussed with other people at the yard? They should be made aware.
 
Well done OP, you kept your dignity and got the job done, good for you! Agree you should also speak to the YO, this person really needs to be put in her place or better still, told to leave.
 
I hope that the yard owner puts this person in her place. It also makes me wonder if she's also been using other horses besides yours and if any other owners on the yard need to be warned about it.

As an aside, in the past I had a stallion who one spring went to run with a couple of mares belonging to a local man. He's been there a few days when I was in the car and met the mare owner driving my stallion down the road in his trap. He'd obviously been several miles with him and was full of praise for how he drove. I was pretty shocked, I had told the man I drove him but hadn't expected him to try him out. It's a good job it was this pony, who was quite relaxed about things and not my other stallion who would have been seriously cross at being taken away from his girls. I think I just said something on the lines of 'how to you expect them to get in foal if he's knackered from driving' though.
 
Eboni said:
Hi, just came on here for some advice really!
Have discovered from a stranger that their child has been riding my horse without my permission.

They were apparently taken onto yard and my horse was removed from his stable (after I had left) by another occupant of the yard- without my knowledge, and ridden. This person has NO involvement in my horses care or exercise- just one of those unfortunate people with a major sense of entitlement.(This other occupant has her own horses I hasten to add.)

It hurts and concerns me that I wasn't informed beforehand OR afterwards - I only found out by chance when I found child and parent at the gate, they seemed incredibly familiar with the whole place and more so -my horse. They were incredibly sweet and I know they were misled so hold no unkindness towards them.

If it wasn't for this chance meeting I wouldn't be any the wiser! They implied a few things, including shock after finding out I am the owner of horse, and not a stable helper as they had assumed or been incorrectly informed. I also got the impression they had been down quite a bit.

The thing that upsets me the most is that this has all been happening behind my back. Unfortunately has been on restricted paddock time for obvious weather related reasons and so Sunday is his pamper/stable day - but I never dreamed anyone would be letting him out and taking strangers to his back! They are lucky not to have been caught so far as I am the only occupant who does both morning and evening visits to my horse -unlike others who solely does mornings.

The very notion of someone even opening my horses door makes me seethe - I am a very independent horse owner and completely in love with my horse, I don't let anyone near him and very possessive I suppose you could say :) ! Everyone knows I like to do things myself, there have been zero occasions where I have allowed or asked anyone to handle my horse, not even holiday cover! I trust no one enough. So I know this riding situation isn't a case of loose boundaries set by myself.

I don't know how to handle what happens next without causing an argument, I have full insurance, however, where do I stand legally if this happens again? What if there is an accident?
Is there a definite legal issue here I can mention to stop her from repeating her actions?
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