whats normal (part loan)

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swampdonkey

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Recently a lady with a little 12.2 pony moved on to our yard, well she asked if my daughter wanted to ride the pony as he needed the exercise and her children were only at lead rein stage. My daughter loves riding him so we had a chat about a part loan, mentioning contributing a small amount. (£10 a week)
Well intitially she asked for me to get his shoes done as his rent had already been paid for the month. He is only shod in front so £35. All good
Now she has sent me a part loan agreement to sign which states that I am to pay half of everything. Rent, Field hay, wormer, shoes, insurance and any vets bills.
Is this considered normal for part loan.
I wasn't expecting this level of financial commitment and to be honest I'm not sure I can afford it. I would feel terrible for my daughter if I had to call it off as she does love the little pony.
I probably could manage half of care costs, rent, shoes, wormer etc. but cannot commit to vets insurance and potentially half of vets bills.
Please tell me if I'm expecting too much. Don't want to upset daughter or owner.
 
I had my old horse on part loan and paid half of everything. But, the horses owner only had time to ride him one morning per week and I could do whatever I wanted with him the rest of the time. It worked well for us.

I suppose it depends on how much your daughter rides & cares for the pony as to how much to pay though
 
I would only expect this level of comitment if you half owned the horse! So no, it isn't normal!! After all, you are doing her a favour!! I would limit your contribution to a max of half livery and half shoes.
 
When I part-loaned it was for a flat fee with half of shoeing. The owner had had the horse for a long time and knew the cost of it's upkeep and asked me for half. This was NOT broken down into feed, bedding etc, because it didn;t need to be. I gave her £12 a week for 3 days, this went up to £20 when I had her for 5. The insurance etc was the owners responsibility as it is their choice whether to insure the horse or not, and with which company and for how much. If you are paying half of that I would want to know if it's the best value policy, what cover there is etc. The vets fees also are their responsibility. Fair enough if the horse injures itself while in your care, you would probably want to make a contribution but what if it suffers colic? Or a pre-existing condition? You couldn't be expected to chip in for that! Imagine if it pulled a tendon, would you be responsible for half of all the after-care as well? Or would you do what most loaners do anyway and cancel the loan agreement? I would insist the owner pay for a 5 stage vetting before you agree to be liable for insurance and/or vet fees.

But tbh I would just tell her you can't afford all that. She sounds like she is just trying to get money out of you. Remember you are doing her a favour by exercising her pony and possibly adding value to it. Are you doing stable duties on the days you have the pony? You will probably find the owner will back down if you call her bluff like this. If you are going to pay for all of these things you may as well just get your daughter a pony of her own!
 
I would expect half of everything other than vets bills if it were mine because although your doing a favour, shes doing you one too and if she has nobody riding him, hes potentially all yours to do whatever with.

HOWEVER, I wouldn't expect half just like that without it being discussed. I would raise the issue with the owner because if she is just going to add things in where she pleases you could leave your daughter more heartbroken by leaving it a while than calling it off now before it gets worse.
 
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the pony is kept at grass and we do either ride or check and feed almost everyday. she often texts to say can you do pony. We are happy to take responsibility for the pony everyday if required as her children are quite small so only come to the yard a couple of times a week on sunny days.
Thanks for your replies. I am glad that I'm not alone in thinking this kind of commitment (financial) is too much.
 
She actually wants you to become a sharer? This is what happend to me I started riding a horse for someone and paid the shoes as he couldnt be bothered to exercise it and in the end I did everyday as he could not be bothered to see to it or pay its livery bill.
 
I too think she is asking too much, and I don't like the way she came up with the loan agreement, as far as I can see she needs someone to help out, and you have met that need, now you are being asked to take on more than you want, I suggest you just say that you are happy to help out with the work as long as you are at the yard, but can't take on the commitment for another pony. Leave it at that and see what happens, I think she will go back to original, flexible arrangement.
She may have bought the pony on an impulse and did not realise the commitments, time, and financial and need for exercise and daily checking.
If she is not coming to see pony every day at this time of year, she will not appear at all in winter.
If I were you I would offer to pay for shoeing and for hard feed, as these variables are directly related to your riding needs.
 
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Bloody hell that's insane!
I no longer pay towards my share horse anymore as I give her owner lifts to and from work/try and help out with whatever costs here and there but when I did pay I paid 40 a month for 2 days a week!
Me thinks times are changing...
K x
 
All sorted. I am going to pay £10 a week and half shoes and will contribute to vets if he is injured directly as a result of my daughter riding him.. Think this is fair all round and we both seem happy with this agreement.
Thanks for all your opinions, gave me the confidence to say what I thought was reasonable.
 
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