Worst people you've had turn up for a loan/share...

TommyTwoShoes

TommyTwoShoes

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Following on from the loan WVTB thread, I was just wondering if people had some horror stories about people they've had turn up to loan/share their horses.

I'll start...

Our lovely sharer was moving away and we wanted to find a replacement to share our forester, or, if their riding was good enough, our cob. Current sharer met someone at work who said she'd previously rehabilitated racehorses etc and was looking to get back into riding after a break to have kids. We said come down and we'll see how you get on...

She turned up, 4 kids in tow, wearing jeans, trainers and without a hat. I handed her a head collar and we went off to catch the ponies. It took her 5 minutes to wrangle our bemused pony into the head collar and we got them on to the yard. She didn't know how to tie up correctly, wasn't sure which brush to use and just generally looked very nervous.

Handed her the tack and she attempted to put the bridle on without undoing the throat lash and by standing in front of the pony and just trying to force it over his head collar. Luckily pony is a saint and stood rock solid, looking very confused! In the end I tacked up for her and took him out to the field. (Although why we still thought it was a good idea to let her get on, I don't know! I think Mum felt sorry for her and wanted to give her a little pony ride. :rolleyes:)

She got on (the only thing she managed to do well) and immediately held the reins in her fists under her chin like she was begging for a bone! Mum shouted from across the field "We hold the reins properly here, no cowboy riding!" and I had to show her how to hold the reins.

Luckily after a plod around the field she got off and we never heard from her again! And, during all of this her children, ranging from about 10 to 2 years of age, ran riot around the place, shrieking, shouting and just generally behaving badly, despite us saying very firmly that this was not the way to behave around horses!

So, over to you...
 
Can't say the worst try out but the worst 'sharer' if there ever was one.

Came, tried the horse etc. not a problem. The share started, had messages everyday to say how it was going. The share started that day. I asked 40 euros a month.

She gave me 10 euros, said that she prefered to pay weekly, ok not a problem.
She came and rode the horse everyday all week. Did the 2nd week, and hadn't paid upfront now, so on the sunday I asked her for the weeks rent that she owed (10 euros) for the 2nd week she had spent riding.

She then totally vanished out of thin air !! Tried calling, emailing, everything.

She had actually spent the whole 2 weeks riding my horse everyday, gave me 10 euros and ******ed off !! :mad:
Never heard of her again.
 
One that turned up in healed shoes, jeans with diamonte all over them and no hat !

Lots that said they could 'ride' but looked totally lost when handed a snaffle bridle with martingale with all the ends done up through throat lash

Lots who came once 'loved him' then never to be heard of again

One who came for a month, then didn't turn up (car broken) then didn't return calls (phone stolen) I gave up after that

Two that shared for a few months then got pregnant (still friends and I've met their babies so I know it's true!) - my OH suggested we should rent the place out to people struggling with getting pregnant after a run of those

Worst - girl had been sharing for 4/5 months I'd taken her completing loads rode like a cowboy (from PC games) and knew everything (!) but pony didn't mind. They'd been in for a month with bad snow on the ground and when it went I asked her (and other sharer) to take it easy and build up exercise for a few days as they hadn't even been turned out. Next day she schooled him hard inc. jumping and then told MY OH that she was going to ignore me as she wanted to ride to catch up on missed time and that she would just ride when I wasn't around !!!!! We parted company shortly after that (quite why she thought my OH wouldn't mention that to me I've no idea)
 
I know ! I was so angry I actually wanted to hunt her down and give her a talking to, but never ever heard of her again.

I was tempted to put an ad out on the site saying to avoid this person etc. but I'm not like that.

Was good for her to get 2 weeks of riding for 10 euros though ! Would have cost her 12 euros for just one hour at the riding stables !
 
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Very rude!

Luckily our forester is a saint and just let her try and force the bridle on. If it had been any of our others I doubt she'd have even caught them.

I've just remembered another one!

Different sharer this time. She seemed a bit clueless, but harmless and very willing to learn, so we though what the hell, if she wants to come up a few times a week and groom our cob and have a sit on the forester why not?

...

She'd turn up on days when we'd said she wasn't needed. Other days she'd just go down on her own and we'd get a text to say she'd bought various horses in and groomed/lunged them! Baring in mind our cob was being restarted after a disastrous spell at a 'breaking yard' (before we got him), this wasn't the most sensible of plans. Especially considering she didn't actually know how to lunge, and when we tried to teach her, her 10 year son grasped the concept better than she did!

She turned up one day and asked to ride out with my Mum, when Mum said actually she'd rather just whizz round the block on her own, but that she could ride when she got back the woman kicked off. Cue screaming, tears, hand gestures etc. She then marched out to where I was fixing the fencing and said she didn't know what she'd done to upset my Mum but she wouldn't be coming back!

Loony woman, it took us months to get our cob out of the bad habits she'd let him develop. A few months later we saw her advertising for a loan pony and greatly exaggerating her abilities!
 
We have had two bad sharers!

First one was a 9 year old girl who was brought by her nan most of the time, she made her nan do all the mucking out whilst she groomed and rode. When she couldn't ride as the pony went lame she demanded that she rode one of our others which wasn't in the contract and none were suitable for her.


Second one - she came and tried him, told us that she'd got more experience than she had but that wasn't a problem as she could learn along the way. When stabled he had to have a thick wide bed with matting at the front so he wasn't standing on concrete as had a previous knee injury which we told her off and always made sure she did it properly. One day we were at a show so she went up on her own and brought him in for the night at about 5pm so she said, we got back to the yard at 6.30 and he was standing in his stable with his bed banked up and no mats down, with a pile of horsehage on the floor. Rang her and she said that she'd done his bed - apparently she thought you left it banked up and just sprinkled a bit of clean straw on top of the banks, then he would pull the bed down himself! Needless to say she went but she does have her own horse now :s
 
Myluckystar your number 2 sounds harmless!

I've had several batty people enquire via email/text etc.
1). Asked if I'd move my horse to their local yard 15 miles away and they'd do it 3 days a week but I'd have to come up the other 4 (wtf!?).
2) a girl said she'd come up at 11. 12pm came and went, so I rang several times and got no answer. At half 5pm I got a text to say she'd fell asleep, had no credit, was ill and couldn't be that bothered that day but could she come up another day!!! Erm like I'm going to trust you after that!
3) said that her mum had said 10 pounds a week was 'rediculously expensive' but that she'd give us 5 pounds on the condition that I gave her at least an hour lessons a week!!!!!
4) mother contacted me and said her daughter could do Tuesdays and Saturdays. But Saturdays the mum was busy so I'd have to collect her in the morning, no earlier than 8 but no later than half 9, and keep her until at least 2pm. The girl also had no stable experience. So basically I was picking up and babysitting a 7yo on a Saturday so her mum could have a chilled morning and my jobs could take me twice as long!!!!

Needless to say I agreed to none of the above!
Had a nice woman come today to meet pony for her daughter so alls well that ends well :)
 
I dont want to read these horror stories as I am considering a sharer :/

My friend did have a loopy sharer once. Friend is relatively new to horses so I offered to place the sharer add, vet the potentials and be there when sharers came up to try. A nice lady sent a million messages and called a lot and said she was very experienced, but had been out of the saddle a while and wanted something safe and sane (which is exactly what was on offer) she arrived and she must have been in her 70's. She needed a mounting block high enough so she could lower herself onto the horse as she struggled with mounting. Rode OK at walk and a tiny trot as she ached. She liked the horse and my friend was happy for her to start as she knew horse wouldn't be bombed around and more likely just be pampered. Afterwards she harassed me something chronic! She rung me every time she was at the yard. Bare in mind I wasn't at this particular yard and every time i'd tell her to ring my friend. It turned out the lady's parent had died and left her some money. She had planned to buy her own all along so wanted something to practice on short term. She only completed about 3 weeks before just leaving and ringing me to tell me she wasnt coming back! This was a year ago and she still sends me random messages asking if I want to go and ride her horse ?!:eek: Crazy lady!
 
Elsiecat said:
I've had several batty people enquire via email/text etc.
1). Asked if I'd move my horse to their local yard 15 miles away and they'd do it 3 days a week but I'd have to come up the other 4 (wtf!?).
2) a girl said she'd come up at 11. 12pm came and went, so I rang several times and got no answer. At half 5pm I got a text to say she'd fell asleep, had no credit, was ill and couldn't be that bothered that day but could she come up another day!!! Erm like I'm going to trust you after that!
3) said that her mum had said 10 pounds a week was 'rediculously expensive' but that she'd give us 5 pounds on the condition that I gave her at least an hour lessons a week!!!!!
4) mother contacted me and said her daughter could do Tuesdays and Saturdays. But Saturdays the mum was busy so I'd have to collect her in the morning, no earlier than 8 but no later than half 9, and keep her until at least 2pm. The girl also had no stable experience. So basically I was picking up and babysitting a 7yo on a Saturday so her mum could have a chilled morning and my jobs could take me twice as long!!!!
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... wow!!!
 
Don't let this thread put you off HaffiesRock we've had 2 great sharers. One has now bought the horse and she's thoroughly spoilt. Our other sharer moved away, bought her own horse and the horse has now come back to us for a little holiday so we still get to see her.

It can be great, but horses do seem to attract the nutters! :rolleyes:
 
Was going to loan H, had been backed, needed bringing on, someone to have fun with her for a couple of years as college is getting in the way.
Had a really nice girl come to see her, get on, rode her out, really liked this girl. She had an Arab and wanted a youngster to bring on for a while.
Super, agreed she could move her to her field. Would have to wait a few weeks though for space as their was a pony in with hers, but was no problem. Then when time came to get H moved, she needed a saddle for hers, so borrowed my really good leather one to try.
Next day she bogged off to Leeds :eek: with my saddle.
Then discovered she had loaned an Arab mare not long since and had left her unattended for some while, resulting in a hatrack and subsequent loss of the mare.
Lucky escape, I just lost a good saddle....
 
I think the problem is that a lot of people who would be conscientious/good sharers wouldn't consider themselves to be good enough to share somebody else's horse/pony.

It does take some brass front (and if you have owned in the past, you see it from the owners point of view) to think that anybody would trust you with their horse.

I've often ridden for people (backed a few as well, taking them from unhandled) but still find it surprising that they wanted me to.
From owning my own, I see it as an incredible amount of trust.
 
Aarrghimpossiblepony said:
I think the problem is that a lot of people who would be conscientious/good sharers wouldn't consider themselves to be good enough to share somebody else's horse/pony.

It does take some brass front (and if you have owned in the past, you see it from the owners point of view) to think that anybody would trust you with their horse.

I've often ridden for people (backed a few as well, taking them from unhandled) but still find it surprising that they wanted me to.
From owning my own, I see it as an incredible amount of trust.
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Exactly. That's why it amazes me that these sorts of people think I'd even consider letting them loose with my animals, especially without supervision. If you can't even manage to put a head collar on a stationary horse then I dread to think how you'd react if there was actually a problem!
 
From the other side, I answered an advert offering an ID on full loan whilst owner was at Uni. Short term loan which suited me as I only had my unbacked youngster and nothing to ride at the time. The dad of the mares owner got back to me and all sounded great until he mentioned his daughter would still want to ride regularly in the holidays! Erm no - i will not pay to keep your horse for you to ride when it is convenient for you!!
 
One woman turned up to try my cousin's TB who had been advertised as needs an experienced rider. Anyway she came, we got him ready, got into the school and he did a little jog as he walked in and she decided he was 'too fast' and refused to get on, total waste of time lol
 
Loads of nutters out there aren't there! Been looking for a sharer or loan for my mare since September. Had a million emails/texts/calls of people wanting lots of info. I've replied as quickly as possible stating everything about her (she's cold backed and not a novice ride). People these days don't even have the common courtesy to reply and say she sounds too much for me!

Had a lovely lady share for two months but she just wasn't confident on her fair enough. Then had two others try that wanted the world for a fiver a week and in the end never even got back to me!

Then had a girl that turned up telling me how she'd just lost her job alam bells ringing immediately. How will she contribute to my lovely horse without work! Rode for hours jumping over and over until my mare pulled a shoe off! Great stuff it's now actually cost me money tolet her ride. Now she wants to come back and hack next weekend so I text to arrange and never hear back from her!

So basically it cost me £15 to the farrier for her to ride my horse until she was in her knees. Please someone restore my faith that I can locate a lovely sharer in the Hampshire Berkshire area for a well schooled forward going horse lol .

Needless to say I've now just placed another advert to try again x
 
Can't quote but ImpossiblePony you are totally right!

I would say I am a very conscientious, sensible and responsible person. I am lacking in the experience department but I would love to help somebody out with even just mucking out/general chores as a way to further my own knowledge and learn the ropes. I see ads looking for sharers from time to time but I never even consider applying for fear of being laughed at/looked down on etc. I definitely wouldn't feel good enough to help look after some bodies pride and joy and I would need advising/observing for a few weeks which I think would put people off. Catch 22!
 
kat2290 said:
I definitely wouldn't feel good enough to help look after some bodies pride and joy and I would need advising/observing for a few weeks which I think would put people off. Catch 22!
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Personally, a sensible responsible person that is honest about their abilities is much better than a know-it-all cocky person who has inflated ideas about their abilities!
A lot of people would fall over themselves to get an honest sharer! :)
 
Elsiecat said:
Personally, a sensible responsible person that is honest about their abilities is much better than a know-it-all cocky person who has inflated ideas about their abilities!
A lot of people would fall over themselves to get an honest sharer! :)
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Agreed. With our last sharer she fully admitted she'd only ridden at a riding school and had never actually looked after a horse on her own. That was fine, she was willing to learn and once we'd taught her the way we did it she was great.

The thing that annoys me is when people turn up, lie about what they have/can do and then think you won't notice!
 
I've had one text me to say they were stopping the share as she was getting her own. Fair enough, when I enquired. Oh today she replied when it was her day to ride. Luckily my mare was on part livery so didn't balls up my day. She then had the temerity to email me a few weeks later to say her new horse hadn't worked out so could she share again. Umm no!

Like others get people asking a bajillion questions then going cold when invite them up to meet me and ride her. Bear in mind this is a free share, no chores and horse is true all rounder with no vices. Gahh!
 
We're currently trying to find a sharer/full loan for my sister's tb as she can't ride anymore. We're quite happy to do part loan where they don't pay the full costs of him but can ride as much as they want (exercise for the horse is the most important) We do need an experienced rider as he's a very green tb

The first lady that came apparently had previously re-schooled an ex-racer and sounded very good etc. When she came had fashion suede boots on, no hat etc. Well we fetched in and tacked up and she got on and omg talk about a complete novice - I wouldn't even have put her on my cob! There's no way she could cope with riding on her own, never mind schooling a green, occasionally fizzy tb. Then just to be thorough we talked a bit about money (we're asking about £25 pw but flexible depending on appropriate person) to be told she had a 9 month old baby and was on income support!!! How on earth did she think she could afford to pay for a horse! She was told before coming to see him that we were looking for a financial contribution.

Just want to find someone suitable for him! It's not like we're going to have someone do all the schooling and then take the horse back as my sister's health condition that measn she can't ride him any more is not going to improve to the point she can ride him. argh
 
kat2290 said:
Can't quote but ImpossiblePony you are totally right!

I would say I am a very conscientious, sensible and responsible person. I am lacking in the experience department but I would love to help somebody out with even just mucking out/general chores as a way to further my own knowledge and learn the ropes. I see ads looking for sharers from time to time but I never even consider applying for fear of being laughed at/looked down on etc. I definitely wouldn't feel good enough to help look after some bodies pride and joy and I would need advising/observing for a few weeks which I think would put people off. Catch 22!
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See you're the sort of person we'd love (depending on your suitablity for the horse ie can you cope with the riding) - most people starting a share or loan are happy to be around for the first few weeks while you get to grips with the horse's routine, whats normal etc.
I fully encourage you to answer some of those ads - you sound like you'd make a really good sharer.
 
Thanks guys! :)

I think I would be a good sharer too! Riding ability definitely lets me down though...I'm only on my third lesson :o Something to work towards though!
 
I had one answer an online ad claiming to be an experienced rider who would love to share my 14.3, forward, sometimes spooky horse. I replied asking for more details, only to be told that the person who had replied was the BOYFRIEND of the "experienced rider" getting her a horse share as a surprise!

And even worse, she then told me she'd had a bad fall 10 years ago and NOT BEEN ON A HORSE SINCE, but she was sure she'd soon get back into it if I gave her a go.

Erm....no:rolleyes:
 
Had one that said they were 12.5 stone and a competent rider....turned up and she was more like 15st...5'9 and a size 18 so not at all suitable for my TB. I was more annoyed at the bare faced lie!
 
kat2290 said:
Can't quote but ImpossiblePony you are totally right!

I would say I am a very conscientious, sensible and responsible person. I am lacking in the experience department but I would love to help somebody out with even just mucking out/general chores as a way to further my own knowledge and learn the ropes. I see ads looking for sharers from time to time but I never even consider applying for fear of being laughed at/looked down on etc. I definitely wouldn't feel good enough to help look after some bodies pride and joy and I would need advising/observing for a few weeks which I think would put people off. Catch 22!
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I have a fantastic sharer who was considering buying her own horse but knew absolutely nothing and wanted a share to learn and help her decide whether or not horse owning was for her.

As she was introduced to us through someone I work with I was happy to give it a go and it's working out really well. She's decided that it's too much of a commitment, so she's happy to stay with us for the foreseeable. At first I felt guilty about taking her money because it seemed like she was doing all the work and not having any fun because she started with me late autumn, but her attitude is, she'd have to pay for a specialist training course. And I'm told it'll soon be summer so then the fun can begin!

Luckily she's a very confident person, and my yardmates are a lovely helpful crowd, so she's not scared to ask for help if she gets stuck, so I never have to worry when she's on her own.

Have you considered advertising your services rather than be nervous of replying to an ad? I'm sure most people are like me and would rather train someone up from scratch than risk having their horse ruined by someone who overstated their knowledge and experience, and if you're a confident rider, you'll find that's the most important thing for an owner.
 
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