Help - I have a situation!!

cobmum

cobmum

Member
Sep 13, 2009
702
19
18
Middlewich
Sorry this is a long one, tea and biscuits maybe required!!

Basically i have recently moved area. I found out where the local tack shop was so i was brave and introduced myself to the lady behind the counter lets call her 'tack lady'. I explained that i was new to the area and i was hoping she maybe able to give me details of a local livery as i am planning on getting a horse within the next few months.

The 'tack lady' was so friendly, she arranged with the shop owner to take a quick break and showed me two of the shop owners horses that were for sale (i wasnt interested in either) then she kindly showed me the livery yard she is on and introduced me to the yard manager.

The yard was great and everyone was so lovely.

We returned back to the shop, the 'tack lady' then introduced me to her best friend. Turns out the best friend had to move off the yard due to a berevment and loss of income. She has the kind of horse i love.

Off i went with her to look at her horse who was lovely. We chatted about me part loaning her and moving the horse back to the yard.

The follow day we agree on a date to move the horse and also agreed on the fee of £25 a week to be paid on the 1st of each month.

The next day the owner called as she was worried that she would move the horse back (only down the road) only for me to want to stop loaning her after a few weeks if i found a horse to buy.

I advised that i was thinking that this could be a long term arrangment however my ultimate goal was to buy a horse of my own. We recomfirmed the date that the horse would be moved again at this point.

A few hours later i get a call to say that she was moving the horse there and then, as someone else was moving on the yard and she was worried about losing the chosen stable.

I was at a concert so only spoke for a few mins but expressed my suprise at the horse being moved a week early. The following day i visited the yard ans spent sometime grooming the horse and leading her out with the owner.

The day later i get a call from the owner to say that she is worried about money. I recomfimed our conversation and that i was happy to pay on advance for the month and would be paying the £100 for August this weekend. The owner then asked when i would be paying for this week??

I advised that i wasnt expecting to pay until the weekend we had arranged to move the horse and that it was not my choice to move the horse early. In addition i also advised that i was unable to attend/ride or look after the horse in anyway this week due to work commitments.

The owner didnt seem very happy but i remained firm in that i wouldnt be paying for a week. However i offered to go and do the horses water and heynet on Thursday (tomorrow) before work as i was on a slightly later shift and felt this would help her out.

Now i find out the weekly yard charge is £37 however i have been asked to pay £25 a week plus half costs for shoeing and worming.??

I feel that i should not have been asked to pay an extra week and that i am being ask to contribute more than half. I have a very very bad feeling about it all now and dont wish to continue with the arrangement.

The only problem is that i do not want to leave things on bad terms with her, as her best friend runs the tack shop and also people on the yard would dislike me (they are all very good friends with her). I dont know about any other livery yards in the area so would be stuck if i wanted to get a horse.

A friend has suggested i go tomorrow and leave her £100 with a letter to explain that i no longer wish to go ahead with the loan - is this the right thing to do?
 
How many days are you part-loaning?

In all honesty I think you're worrying a bit too much. The amount she is asking seems reasonable to me. It may seem as more then half but it probably isn't. for example, the yard rent is probably £37 a week but then the hay is probably another £10-£15 a week if she is in overnight, plus shavings or bedding if in overnight is probably another £7 a week. then there's vaccinations...about £1.50 a week and Dentist visits proably about £1 a week and saddle fitter maybe £1 a week. Feed probably £5-£15 a week. It does all add up but sometimes I agree it can be seen as paying more then the livery is until you break it down.

Real cost is probably about £67 a week, it doesn't make the £25 a week seem so bad when looked at like that:redface:

Anyway hope that helps a bit, I'd continue if the horse is exactly what you're looking for..owner just sounds concerned.

I personally wouldn't pay for the first week though, think that was just chancing her arm lol.
 
Can understand yo not wanting to pay the extra week, but if you were happy to pay £25 per week before, why are you not now? Presumably the owner has other costs like insurance to cover? Did she actually state that she was asking you to pay half? Do you get more than half the week with the horse? Seems shame to miss out. Can't you agree to try for a limited period & see how you get on, as the horse has already been moved back?

ETA sorry cross-posted with LF
 
What does £37 cover, is it just basic diy costs, or bedding and feed/hay.

Its up to you really, but I think paying her a months notice is fair.
 
I thought £25 was reasonable - i just should have asked how she can come to that amount my mistake.

Mostly, i dont want to go ahead because i feel very uncomfortable at being asked for a weeks payment when clearly i shouldnt have to pay anything. She was extreemly off with me on the phone when i refused and in my mind its bl**dy cheeky!!

Looking back on qestions she has asked during conversation, i feel the owner prehaps thinks i have money to burn and i am the golden ticket to get back on the yard.

I just really feel close to tears about it all to be honest, i know in my heart that if things are uncomfotable now and the owner is trying her luck then it doesnt bode well for the future. I will stomach losing a £100 but will probably have to kiss goodbye to ever going back on that yard or ever going into the tack shop again!
 
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I would think that while livery costs £37 per week the overall costs are much greater than this as already said. I doubt hay and straw and hard feed are included and as already said there is also the cost of insurance to be taken into account.
If I were the horses owner I certainly wouldn't be happy about you wanting to give up the share after such a short period of time especially when the horse was moved onto the yard to suit you. Are you worried about the financial commitments or do you feel that the owner is somehow using you or that the horse is not suited afterall? In all fairness if they have suffered a recent bereavement they are going to have more than enough on their minds without any added stress especially as they phoned you beforehand to check that you were sure you were going to loan this horse for a longer period of time than just a few weeks. I really think you should give this a chance and see how it goes.If after the first month things don't seem to be working then fair enough go ahead and give them a months notice
 
I can see what you are thinking about the half cost thing,but agree with others that actually when you take other things into account like insurance,feed,hay and bedding,supplements etc then it soon adds up and is probably more of a fair price than it seems at face value.

I can also see how you would be feel pressured and a bit annoyed with her pestering and changing the plans,I would be right hacked off at that as well.I am guessing either she is just hard up for money,or is just a bit of a money grabber,just carry on what you are doing and stand your ground would be my advice.

If you really like the horse and the arrangment suits in other way's then maybe stick with it for now,and see how it goes,would be a shame to miss out on a good opportunity just because of a bad first impression of the owner.

Might be a good idea though to get a contract drawn up stating exactly what's what just in case owner decides to try her luck again further down the line.
 
I honest feel i am going to be used for money. Its not the financial commitment £100 a month, it is extreemly reasonnable and totally affordable.

I got a gut feeling after the phone call asking me for the weeks money that this isnt going to turn out well. I really really hope i am wrong becaue the yard is ideal and hopefully the horse will be too but i cant shake off this gut instinct.

I think i will get a loan agreement set up and see how she reacts to it, i want to be a position where she and i both have it agreed that a months notice can be given either way.

I work hard for my money and wont have anyone trying it on with me, she has done it once and i was polite but firm another time it will be a different story. I am extreemly sympathetic to her situation and could identify greatly as my granfather and dog recently passed away in addition to my best friends mother who i am very close to dying slowly and painfully of a brain tumor.
 
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As an owner, I would charge £20 a week.. that's half towards total horse care..

Per week
£25 for stable
£10.50 ab lib hay
£6 per bag of shavings

£41.50 per month £166

every 3 weeks
£10 happy hoof
£11 chop

£21.0 divided by 3 = £7 per month £28

per 6 weeks

£35 Farrier divided by 6 = £5.83 per month £23.83

Total per month = £217.83

That's just a break down of what I pay for one horse, hope it helps CBm
 
Thank you. I am sure she has worked it out and its all fair and i agree with everyone that its a reasonable amount to ask.

I just feel that i shouldnt have been asked for money 3 after meeting somone for the first time, when they have chosen to cause the additional expense!!
 
When I've had sharers, I've always felt awkward when it comes to dealing with money, but I used to ask for it weekly and starting the following week.. So with you that should have been the end of the first 4 weeks (month).. Why can't she just bring that week forward, so you're still only paying for 4 weeks, not 5? The mind boggles:smoke:
 
Hmm.. though people have said go for it , you dont want her putting the price up all the time like first it was 25 then 37 ...

I will tell you what i pay for poppet:) AKA loany pony

£20 per week towards livery/hay etc
£33 on top of that whenever she need shoes

So i pay either £80 a month or £113 weather she needs shoeing.

I would be be a little cautious but you might aswell try it out , like others have said if you dont like the horse/ yard etc etc then you can always stop loaning.
 
I agree with the others about cost, £25 seems a fairly standard weekly rate I see in lots of adverts..

As for the owner, when I went to see a share I can remember I really liked the horse but not the owner as much but I was sharing in order to cover days that the owner wasn't able to do and give them more time with their other horse so once things settled down I saw them maybe once a month or so? Also I think it was probably nerves on both our parts at the start too.. I would maybe suggest a trial period or something to see how it goes?

Also I was paying £45 a week for 3 days - what a joke - the cost saving of owning her is great!!! :giggle:
 
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Dark Storm said:
As an owner, I would charge £20 a week.. that's half towards total horse care..

Per week
£25 for stable
£10.50 ab lib hay
£6 per bag of shavings

£41.50 per month £166

every 3 weeks
£10 happy hoof
£11 chop

£21.0 divided by 3 = £7 per month £28

per 6 weeks

£35 Farrier divided by 6 = £5.83 per month £23.83

Total per month = £217.83

That's just a break down of what I pay for one horse, hope it helps CBm
Click to expand...

You haven't even included insurance, vaccinations and teeth in your calculations!
 
I don't think that it really matters how much it costs to keep the horse. The horse belongs to the owner after all and she has asked for a set price of £25 per week which was agreed in advance. The owner retains ownership and overall control over the situation and I don't think that just because you share a horse 3 times a week then you should be expected to pay half the costs. You should pay the amount you agreed to pay before the loan started.

I am abit confused about this £37 per week. Has she suddenly decided that you now have to pay £37 instead of £25, or is the £37 calcuated by adding the £25 to half the costs of shoeing? Is it now £37 per week plus half the shoes?

It does sound like she is using you for money, but then that is the reason why many people do share their horses and it doesn't mean the situation won't work. I have had experience of several shares, some were excellent and some were a disaster. What I have learnt along the way is that totally honesty is the only way to make a share work. If you have concerns about the way the owner is treating you, or that you are feeling that you are being used for money, then phone up the owner and tell her how this is making you feel. She is probably stressed about the situation (as it is new to her as well). If you don't try to sort things out then you may be letting a potentially good share slip through your hands.
 
Personally cobmum, I think she may be right asking for the weeks money. If she had made this agreement with you, she thought 'great, I can keep my horse there as before and all my friends are there, and with help from my new sharer'

Then she may have been told the stable may get taken, and maybe she thought this would ruin the agreement and everything else, so thought the best thing to do was move back right away, to keep your agreement and the livery place.

I don't think she has been that cheeky to be honest, would you have been disappointed if you lost the place at that yard? Being as nice as you say? For the sake of £25?

I wouldnt let her asking for 1 weeks share money, sour what sounds like a good agreement between you, chance to make new friends in the area and enjoy riding her horse.

I would get the share agreement done and be on guard if anything happens again, but this time, I would give her the benefit of the doubt..:happy:
 
£25 does seem fair for a share, i was going to pay that for a horse i was going to share but then later bought my own so wasn't an issue.

I certainly wouldn't be paying for this week as the agreement was to pay from 1st Aug and it was her decision to move the horse early.

Don't feel pushed into anything you are not sure about. I can pretty much guarantee there are other tack shops and livery yards in the area, you just have to put some leg work in to find them :)
 
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