Real life MMD: Should she pay for my horse?

Zent

As a horse owner, I find it incredible that a 21 year old with 15 years around horses, and with a BHS qualification does not know the dangers of un-soaked sugar beet, or the difference in appearance between sugar beet and nuts. Surely it is drummed into everyone the first time they ever feed a horse under supervision. (And at least once a month from yard-talk thereafter.) You also say the bin was labelled.

I think there must be other factors you are not telling us - perhaps the mental capacity of the sharer? Drink or drugs problem?

If she really had never been taught about sugar beet, then how about a 50/50 split of the bill.

If she can make this basic mistake, I think you need to consider 100% supervision of her for some time to come. Is hacking-out involved? If so I would find that frightening.

To put the £200 in context, my horse costs me £3,000 a year, just for the usual expenses.

rachealmary - my horse is un-shod, but isn't "adequate shoeing" the farrier's responsibility?

milvusvestal

Has your friend admitted responsibility? If not, do you have any proof that your horse became ill as a direct result of her action?
Without this, the best you can hope for is that she pays half the vet's bill.

Allowing yourself a day off each week has its pitfalls, sadly, so unless you want to lose a friend you might have to put this down to experience. When all is said and done, a couple of hundred pounds is nothing compared with the annual costs of owning a horse - feed, insurance, vets and farriers bills, replacement tack, protective clothing etc - so in that context it's not worth getting hot and botherered over.

mindwave

Your responsible for your own horse and should supervise what it is fed.

Gillsx

The woman is an idiot feeding a horse sugar beet that even a novice would not get wrong never mind a supposedly qualified person. She could have killed the horse! Get rid of her and ask her to pay up. Accidents do happen yes, but this was stupidity that was costly and could have been fatal. Sorry, but this really annoys me that someone would be so stupid!

tallgirld

It's your horse so YOU should pay for it.

Moral of the story.........Look after your horse yourself.

jen1980

Hi.
I dont think you can ask her to pay for any of it unless she knew it would make ur horse ill. Unfortunately its the risk you take when you let someone else look after your horse - i would get a wtitten agreement in place quick to cover both of you in case anything happens in the future eg shes riding any ur horse becomes injured or she gets injured

pennypinchUK

RealLifeMoralMoney wrote: »

OK so I am the person who submitted the question ....

A few more facts.

What the horse was fed - as someone suggested along the way, it was dried sugar beet. The beet I have needs soaking for 24 hours before being fed as it swells in the horses neck (causing choke) and gut (causing colic)

Insurance - The horse is 23 and so can not be insured against medical bills

The sharer - has 15 years of weekly equine experience. She also has BHS qualifications and is studying Equine Sports Science at university where she is aorund horses daily and has been for years. Before I left her alone to look after the horse I invited her to come up with me to show her the ropes. She did this 8 times before looking after the horse herself

What happened - she thought that the dry sugar beet was pony nuts and fed the horse a bucket full. She phoned me saying the horse was ill. I went straight there and look in the bucket and pointed out out had happened.

Other Info - I have Sugar Beet written across the top of the feed bin, and I feed them course mix not pony nuts. She is a really nice 21 year od girl who is excellent with my horse. I do not want to loose her as a helper and a friend!

It's great that you've followed up with more information. Your sharer has made a daft mistake, which in horse terms is relatively cheap to put right. So it's not worth losing a friend and helper over £200. Pay up, quietly tell your friend/helper that you've paid and I'm sure if she's as good a friend as she sounds she'll put in some extra time on the chores to make up for it.

Billy_Bonkers

Given this girls' considerable experience, I'm wondering if it was actually her who crossed the feeds or is she covering for someone else? Maybe a boyfriend hanging around or someone standing in for her because she couldn't attend?

liz545

RealLifeMoralMoney wrote: »

OK so I am the person who submitted the question ....


The sharer - has 15 years of weekly equine experience. She also has BHS qualifications and is studying Equine Sports Science at university where she is aorund horses daily and has been for years. Before I left her alone to look after the horse I invited her to come up with me to show her the ropes. She did this 8 times before looking after the horse herself

She is a really nice 21 year od girl who is excellent with my horse. I do not want to loose her as a helper and a friend!

If you're happy with her generally as a sharer, and you're confident that she's learned from this, I'd chalk this bill up to experience, and pay it yourself. Definitely get a written sharers contract drawn up, and make sure you've gone through everything with her. As she's studying equine science I'd hope she'd be able to recognise colic etc, but it's still a good idea to just talk to her about being able to spot some of the issues that you'd need to be aware of.

Zent

Hi RealLifeMoralMoney.



I am still following this story, even though, upfront, I think it is really just a journalistic fable.



I cannot understand how a 21 year old, with 15 years experience of horses, and BHS Qualifications, and studying Equine Sports Science, has never handled sugar beet, and is not vividly aware of its dangers. For Gods sake, its written in big letters on every bag of the stuff. And the manufacturers make it to look nothing like pony nuts, for obvious reasons.



In eight get-togethers, you would have discussed the horse's feeding regime and quantities, and particularly the sugar beet, because of the need for it to be pre-mixed. Why would she give the horse "a bucket full" of what she thought were pony nuts if she knew it was on coarse mix?



And what's this "bucket full? This sounds like something from a novel, and makes me wonder about the story. The correct ration of hard feed (With some caveats) for a horse is 0.2% to 0.3% of bodyweight per day, so about 1 to 1.5kg per day, split into at least two feeds. A water bucket holds 10kg of pony nuts; most horses' feed buckets hold even more. And who-ever feeds pony nuts neat? They are usually, if not always, fed with something fibrous, such as chaff and/or beet.



If the basis of the story is true, I would suggest you read the Animal Welfare Act 2006, in relation to the requirement to have relevant experience. I think you need to treat your helper like a student, supervised at all times, until she has more practical experience. Is she going into a field of horses, alone? Is she going out on hacks, alone? Does she understand the basic mistakes that can cause horses to mob, or to spook? Does she know that horses kick?



I would worry about her claimed experience and qualifications if she doesn't know about sugar beet.



Finally, why is this on MoneySavingExpert, instead of Horse and Hound?



I have often thought Moral Dilemmas were largely made up. Now I am convinced.