Your opinions, would this be unreasonable?

[wattamus]

Right- this may be a long one
I've been occasionally riding a horse for an aquaintance on the yard, she is absoloubtley lovely and im quite a nervous rider if im not riding my horsey. But her owner never comes down and it is always left to he neighbour to do the horse. Neighbour is getting fed up of this (understandable- she doesn't get paid). So poor horse ends up standing in filth, doesn't get brushed, in the same rug all day and is getting hopelessley overweight and feet are getting long. Owner refuses to sell but wants to loan but no takers- not surprising, she's not a looker and has thrown everyone else off
I'v had this idea that i might propose to said owner. I would either take care of horse for a small fee (cheaper than asking YO to do it- and tbh YO doesn't want to do it) OR i would ride/ take care of her if she continued paying livery, i would pay farrier but she would be responsible for wormer/ vaccs/vet bills and if anything went wrong etc. I would pay for any broken tack but if horse needs new things she would pay or we could go 50/50. And she would have to give me 30 days notice if she wanted her back.I don't, personally, feel that this is unreasonable of me, as this is what people are doing at the minute for her but i would take better care of her. (arrogant but true).
What do you think?

 

[nikCscott]

I may agree to a share on those terms, but I wouldn't pay for you to have her on loan, but then I wouldn't let my horse stand in his own filth either so put it to her- the worst she can say is no.

 

[paddi22]

If someone is unreliable and selfish enough to ignore her horse and leave it to others to look after, there is no way in HELL I would get involved with them. I would foresee nightmares down the road, especially around money.

There is so much splitting of costs involved that you would need to pin down EVERY option so you don't get screwed. What would happen if the horse got injured due to you riding him, would she expect you to pay as you made it happen? What if you change feed and the horse gets colic? Is it your fault for changing feed?

No harm to try asking her, she might surprise you, but be clear on the terms!

 

[indie999]

Why on earth wont she sell if she isnt interested? Sound too complicated. You could offer to ride without any contribution at all, I think thats what you do already

 

[Rose Folly]

The owner sounds a nightmare. Why doesn't the YO have a go at her?

If you enjoy riding the horse I would offer to do that and to look after her needs, but I see no reason why you should put your hand in your pocket for ANYTHING, especially as it sounds as though you've got your own horse too. As the others have said, the owner can only say no, and who knows, you might rock the boat into her giving the poor horse to you.

 

[SophieLouBee]

Hmm, I think that if the horse is already being neglected, then it will fall on you to pay for everything, no matter what she says/signs, because she knows that out of sympathy for the horse, you'd pay!

Be careful, get it all down in wrinting, clear as day if you do go with it!

 

[skint1]

I doubt she'd pay you-may be worth offering to take horse over if she carries on paying livery (assuming she is paying it now of course)

 

[MerrySherryRider]

If someone is unreliable and selfish enough to ignore her horse and leave it to others to look after, there is no way in HELL I would get involved with them. I would foresee nightmares down the road, especially around money.

There is so much splitting of costs involved that you would need to pin down EVERY option so you don't get screwed. What would happen if the horse got injured due to you riding him, would she expect you to pay as you made it happen? What if you change feed and the horse gets colic? Is it your fault for changing feed?

No harm to try asking her, she might surprise you, but be clear on the terms!

I agree with this. Tread very carefully, you'll, at best get screwed for the bills, and at worst, get your heart broken.

I'm currently in a similar situation. Had to take over the care for a old horse that would have starved to death due to owner stopping coming to care for it after owning it a few months.
Now buying feed, rugs, wormers etc myself while owner refuses to accept offers for the horse she bothers too see just once in a blue moon.

She has a good deal, I spend money and time caring for her horse, she gets to be a horse owner.

 

[Jesstickle]

I had something like this arrangement with BH's owner. Only started as I thought he could do with a bit more love (although he was never, ever mistreated as her daughter was looking after him the best she could with no money and no time!) She was meant to pay the livery bill and I would pay the rest of him and do him (DIY livery with no hay or anything thrown in) so she was getting a pretty good deal to begin with, effectively full schooling livery for £80 a month! Anyway, she didn't pay the damn livery bill and eventually YO threatened to boot the horse off the yard. She finally agreed to sell him to me to settle the debt. It was all really rather stressful and I wouldn't do it again. Tread carefully!

 

[trojanpony]

Owner might well agree but beware of what happens if you become attached to this horse and in the end she won't sell. This happened to someone I know and after several years of caring for and riding the horse she had to move house.owner wouldn't let her buy or take the horse so she had to abandon it when she left and hope someone looked after it.

 

[LaurenM]

Stay well clear in my book unless you want to buy. You'll end up stuck with all the bills and hard work.

 

[wattamus]

Thanks for all the opinions, if she did say yes i would obviously get everything down in writing. I'll suggest it to her and see what she says. I would pay for farrier though, then i could get it done when i wanted and not once a season like she does but yes i intend to tread VERY carefully and will defo get it all down in writing thanks guys, your wisdon knows no bounds xx

 

[angelish]

i wouldn't get involved at all i'm afraid

i was once involved in a share/given to me/taken off me sort of situation and it ended in heartbreak (mine)

cut a long story short ish
i grew up with said horse ,she was no good for anything and was a loony - formed a bond with her made her slightly less loony etc and the owner basically used her as a blackmailing tool , if i didn't give up my day to help muck out goats/chickens/7 other horses etc i wouldn't be allowed to ride/see horse
she used to constantly give her to me / take her off me ask for the passport changed back into her name it was a night mare

eventually she was found dead in the field (twisted cut) that horse was my life and i was devastated and all the "owner" wanted to do was argue over who got the £1000 insurance money

i paid the insurance as she wanted her insured if i was riding her on the roads (fair enough) non of the other horses were insured and mare wouldn't have been if i hadn't insured her ,at the time i'd paid £200 a year for 5 years = all i would get would be my money back less /postmortem/desposal fee's/vet fee's etc

she went balistic demanding the money (horse wasn't even cold) my mother wouldn't let me give her it (i was happy too as i didn't care about the money i felt like my world had fallen apart )my mothers point was if she had been killed/fatally injured when i'd been riding i should give her the money but the way she went she'd have got nothing anyway and would have the costs to pay for

this was a long time ago and it still upsets me now and i will never ever get that involved with another horse unless it was 100% mine

that is just one example of what can and will go wrong ,if you feel you must do something i'd offer her some money and buy the horse if it means that much to you other wise walk away now before it gets messy

 

[Kenzo]

Hmmm, I'd day either take the horse on full loan and pay for everything or don't get involved at all.

 

[Kenzo]

Sorry I meant say not day...silly phone.

 

[moodymare123]

I'm 50/50
For one I think you should do it for horses sake.
But not for your sake.