Plan B

I have had Sofie back home for a few weeks now, and I love it. Yes it is entirely illogical, terribly expensive and very short sighted but having my Sofie back makes me so happy. Sofie has settled back in and is sharing a field with another horse. The grazing is almost non-existent due to a recent drought but this does not do Sofie any harm. The sweat itch is getting better now she has rugs and we have been using ‘stinky stuff’ which seems to be working well. Sofie has come back to work brilliantly. A friend has been riding her and absolutely loves her. Super Sofie was trotting around in a collected outline almost as soon as she got on, amazing given she is had no schooling and hasn’t been ridden . What a lovely pony I have.

Still given this whole pregnancy thing I still need to be realistic. Worst case scenario dad will pay the livery, but I desperately don’t want to have to ask him to do this and also it is no good for Sofie having 6 months of no visits if I can’t take baby to the yard during the winter.

So it is time for a plan B. I advertised her on some low impact FB groups – the yard group and the haffies for loan group. My adds wouldn’t reach that many people but given all the upset of only a few weeks ago I couldn’t face going global just yet. I have also been monitoring the internet for cheap livery options as a plan C.

My adverts were for either a share or a full loan.

Almost immediately I had interest for a full loan to stay at current yard. Fantastic. The mum seemed lovely and the daughter rode beautifully and it sounded like Sofie would be perfect for them. Unfortunately they were a little worried about her ligaments and so decided no on the full loan plan, but we agreed that they could do a pay-as-you-go share whilst they were looking for the perfect horse. Secretly I am hoping that they will fall in love with Sofie and realise she can do everything they want, but I shouldn’t count on that. So it’s a short term win but I still need to find something more permanent.

I have had a couple of lovely people contact me for full loan, but they are all about an hour away and I think I am coming to accept that I am not ready for her to be on full loan just yet, especially if she is out of visiting range. I have said I would get back to them if nothing more local comes up. I do feel bad for wasting people’s time.

I also talked to a lady about a cheaper livery arrangement sharing a field with her convalescing horse. Again the lady and the field were lovely, but realistically I won’t be able to look after Sofie over the winter months so actually a share is a better plan.

I also talked about Sofie in my works ‘pet of the week’ using this as a sneaky advert. Amazingly something came of it. A colleague has a daughter looking for a pony to share. My colleague is an experience horsewoman and the daughter sounds terrible sweat. She also has a friend who could also share Sofie (thus covering most of her costs). However, I am too kind for my own good and suggested finding another pony for share at the yard so the girls could ride together. It doesn’t fix my woes entirely but I think they would be much happier with two horses. The trial is next Sunday so I am desperately hoping it goes well.

If it does go well then I just need to find one more person for share, or hope that the current girl sticks with us. Still, even if it is just one sharer that is still tlc for Sofie and reduce costs for Dad. Better than nothing.

Fingers crossed for Sunday.