Dilemma on costs of loaning - advice needed!!

[LottieJane23]

Help needed!! We have two ponies on loan - 1 we have had for coming up 3 years ( who was very green when we first took him on ) a cheeky little pony (pony 1) who my girls adore but have to work hard , great to hack, hard to school and another ( pony 2) who we have had nearly a year - ridden by my eldest only - can’t hack or show due to spookiness ( had been out of work for sometime) and has taken a while to gain some confidence as he bolted with daughter on and she had a rather bad fall but doing ok at the moment . We have them both on full loan and buy anything they need , rugs , tack etc. The yard facilities are a bit of a problem as there is only an outside sand paddock which in winter floods / freezes so often have a couple of months of no schooling in winter and pony 2 is so spooky that weather conditions set him off but will hack with pony 1 if conditions are ok. In summer sand paddock becomes very deep and difficult to work ponies in. We pay £80 a week for both and do get some assistance from yard owner during the ‘good’ months teaching the girls ( once a week or so) so £4160 over the year.I’m new to pony care but over the past 3 years have gained some experience in pony care , lunging , long reigning , loading et. My husband has had a bit of a freak out when he realised we pay just over £4k a year for maybe 6 months a year riding - is this the norm?

 

[Jessey]

It can be, riding can depend on weather, facilities, available daylight, etc. it’s not uncommon to not ride a lot in winter unless you have great facilities and many people don’t. I don’t have any, so there’s months I can only manage weekend rides.

 

[diplomaticandtactful]

In 1994 I was paying £25 a week to share a horse which I could only ride at weekends as i was working in London and got back too late to see the horse. He was in full livery. I have mine at home and often in winter we don't get out much, road frozen, foggy, peeing down with rain, I tend to ride before work and last winter we had a lot of morning frosts which didn't lift till 11am so i just turned everyone out. I have also one who has been off work for 8 months, so paying nad not using with horses is pretty common.

 

[LottieJane23]

In 1994 I was paying £25 a week to share a horse which I could only ride at weekends as i was working in London and got back too late to see the horse. He was in full livery. I have mine at home and often in winter we don't get out much, road frozen, foggy, peeing down with rain, I tend to ride before work and last winter we had a lot of morning frosts which didn't lift till 11am so i just turned everyone out. I have also one who has been off work for 8 months, so paying nad not using with horses is pretty common.

Thanks, I think the frustration of trying to keep ponies in work is getting to me. Seems to be like 1 step forwards 2 steps back.(And feeling like I’m busting my balls to be my kids stable hand) its diy livery so we do all jobs and we can’t ride in the a.m due to turn out - stable rules - or after 7.30pm

 

[LottieJane23]

Thanks it makes me feel better - I’m prob just frustrated - paddock fully freezes for months then floods in winter and now is too deep for little pony legs to work in so unable to even hack pony 1 as we can’t run them. And only being able to use paddock in the afternoon makes things even harder.

 

[Jessey]

It is definitely frustrating when you can’t ride and only seem to be doing jobs. Perhaps look for another yard that better suits your needs in winter?

 

[diplomaticandtactful]

I shared horses for 10 years before I bought my own, some worked some didn't. the first one the horse was sold and while i would have bought him heartwise, headwise it was a no go financially at the time. I then at the same yard was lucky to share three top class horses with a mad irishman - i got the ones he was currently not talking to. They were fabulous, £25 a week and do what i wanted with them. One he said didnt hack out but I hacked him out all over Epsom Downs and he was great. The owner only hunted and showjumped so they did a lot of school work and got sour, so my hacking them out was good for them as they didn't get much turnout. They were eventually sold and that ended. Then I shared Humphrey for a year, sole use, his owner had a toddler and no time, a 17hh older gentleman who would bolt with you if you cantered in the wrong place and given he could jump grade A not much point in turning him at a gateway or hedge as the old b would have jumped it! I was very lucky in that i got to ride some fab expensive horses for diddly squat.

 

[LottieJane23]

It is definitely frustrating when you can’t ride and only seem to be doing jobs. Perhaps look for another yard that better suits your needs in winter?

I could have lived with winter but I think it’s that now it is getting warmer yard owners have said paddock is too deep and it’s too hot to use for ponies leaving me with only a few months of the year for riding ( and two girls that desperately want to ) I think new yard may be the option - it’s just heartbreaking as I bloody love those ponies!

 

[diplomaticandtactful]

I could have lived with winter but I think it’s that now it is getting warmer yard owners have said paddock is too deep and it’s too hot to use for ponies leaving me with only a few months of the year for riding ( and two girls that desperately want to ) I think new yard may be the option - it’s just heartbreaking as I bloody love those ponies!

it's sad, I was heartbroken when Benjamin Bunny was for sale and I just couldn't justify buying him given the cost of full livery and how little i would be able to do with him. He went to a good home. But it hurt so much as his owner wasn't very nice - had a coke habit, chelsea babe - and she wouldn't even buy him a rug....which i did. He was just gorgeous.

 

[Jessey]

I could have lived with winter but I think it’s that now it is getting warmer yard owners have said paddock is too deep and it’s too hot to use for ponies leaving me with only a few months of the year for riding ( and two girls that desperately want to ) I think new yard may be the option - it’s just heartbreaking as I bloody love those ponies!

Can you not move the ponies to a more suitable yard if they’re on full loan to you? Or are they in some way attached to the yard? If so can you have a chat with YO and see if there’s perhaps a grass paddock you can ride in during the summer or if he can maybe drag and water the sand paddock to make it more functional in summer (dragging can help in winter to break up ice too).

 

[newforest]

My first thought would be to have a second pony that hacks out. I wouldn't want to be limited to just being in a school all the time.
I don't fully get why you need to run them first, are they youngsters that could be a bit full of beans initially?

 

[LottieJane23]

My first thought would be to have a second pony that hacks out. I wouldn't want to be limited to just being in a school all the time.
I don't fully get why you need to run them first, are they youngsters that could be a bit full of beans initially?

Well we have two , Pony 1 - young late to education, can be lazy but good to hack , Pony 2 - 13+ cracking jumper but feisty and spooky cant be hacked at all ! Great 90% but spookiness means he bolts. Even with 5 rides a week he needs a run ! Problem is probably 2 kids and part of the year only one pony that will hack out and keeping Pony 2 in work ( he is happiest when he has a job )

 

[LottieJane23]

Can you not move the ponies to a more suitable yard if they’re on full loan to you? Or are they in some way attached to the yard? If so can you have a chat with YO and see if there’s perhaps a grass paddock you can ride in during the summer or if he can maybe drag and water the sand paddock to make it more functional in summer (dragging can help in winter to break up ice too).

Pony 2 ( Spooky Non hacker ) we could buy and move Pony 1 attached to yard - although very much classed as ours ( and I literally love the bones of him ) - also ponies are V attached to each other so to buy 1 and move and not the other would make me feel awful. Im going to ask about the field as there is plenty of land - when we started a few years back that was the idea but has never happened due to field being mulched up by big ones. I'd rather go through trying to keep kids on whilst ponies attempted to launch them off to eat grass than them not ride and keep them both in work so i will broach. Paddock has been harrowed a while back so will mention again

 

[carthorse]

If I'm honest I can't see a lot of sense in loaning pony 2, he doesn't sound like a kid's pony and a lot of the time you can't ride him since he won't hack safely. He needs more education and you can't give him that when you don't have the facilities and, from the sounds of it he's too much even for your eldest. I'd give back pony 2, it'll keep your husband happy and be a lot less work for you.

 

[Jessey]

Pony 2 doesn’t sound like a kids pony particularly, looking for something more suited would likely get you more value for money.

 

[newforest]

If you are paying for use of the school and you don't have use of the school I would ask about using a paddock/reducing the livery costs as you are not getting what you pay for.

Personally I would walk away from pony 2, it sounds like it needs to be kept busy. Your daughter and you have both expedienced what can happen, I wouldn't want to be sitting on them without regular work and without regular instruction.

I had a pony run off with me when I was a beginner. I didn't have the skill or balance to do anything besides plop. Up until that point I had only read about vices in books.
Bear in mind you are making these decisions for your children and it will shape their confidence and riding for years to come.
I wouldn't still be trying with it if it needs running to be safe, it's not safe for their ability.