My eldest daughter wants to join pony club. We are dairy farmers and haven’t a clue about horses.

My daughter started riding ponies with her best friend about three years ago, when they started going for lessons every Saturday morning locally. My daughter enjoyed it, but now she insists she wants to join pony club. A lot of her friends from riding school are members and she talks about nothing else.

She says that she needs to get her own pony, but has found somebody who will “lease” her a pony for a year. She tells me that, in the meantime, she is going to save enough money to buy her own pony. She says the pony can ‘winter out’ in a rug and will cost very little to keep.

We used to have old stables, but last year my husband knocked them to make space for the cows and used the stone as infilling for a new laneway.

I queried this, but he said his farm advisor told him the buildings were useless to a modern farmer. His farm advisor says there is no place for horses on a modern dairy farm.

The truth is, I know that if I agree to my daughter’s request, it will be me who will be doing everything, and I’m worried what it will entail.

I am also worried about the ‘horsey’ crowd. My husband says they are people who live off somebody else’s money and let on they have more than they do.

My questions are:

1. Can you lease a pony?

2. Are there any legal requirements when keeping a pony?

3. Will an outsider like me fit into the pony club world?

YOUR letter reminded me of a quote from a collection of essays published in the 1970s by E.F. Schumacher called “Small is Beautiful: Economics as if people mattered”.

He wrote that “Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology toward the organic, the gentle, the elegant and beautiful.”

I am not sure how wise your husband’s farm advisors are. He is told to make space for cows by knocking a stable his daughter might have found use for. He is told that agriculture is a purely commercial activity by people who don’t acknowledge it as commerce practiced in the context of family.

Doubtless he has received from a previous generation much of what he holds, yet there is no consideration that his daughter might be due from that which he received a portion for her own enjoyment?

My view of the modern Irish dairy farmer is similar to King Lear’s self-inventory “more sinned against than sinning”. They are driven by an agri-industrial machinery that requires harder work and longer hours, often using technology that requires even more borrowing to achieve larger outputs on more costly expenditure.

This system makes of them Dickensian factory workers living in a countryside progressively denuded of its social and historical character. Government policy, which guarantees cheap food for western consumers, has produced systems of production which steal, by stealth, the joy, hope and meaning that countryside living gives us all.

In my view, these systems are unwise because there is no dataset to measure the return on investing in a child and her pony – yet we all know it to be organic, gentle, elegant and beautiful.

Leasing a pony

To answer your first question, you can of course lease a pony. In fact, it is not uncommon. There is no requirement to have anything in writing. However, I would strongly recommend you reduce an agreement to paper, because this process will force you and the pony’s owner to consider what ought happen in various scenarios and who is responsible for what.

An agreement to lease a pony can be set out in simple language as a list of points in a text message to which you both indicate agreement.

Some things you should consider are:-

You must also ensure that the passport is provided to you in any lease agreement, as there is a legal obligation when moving an equine to ensure that they are accompanied by their passport at all times.

Requirements on keeping a pony

If you keep an equine full-time, you have a legal obligation to register your premises under the register established by the ‘Control On Places Where Horses Are Kept Regulations 2014’.

You must also identify the animal’s ‘keeper’, which is not the owner; this will be you or your husband.

This is a once-off application and has no cost, though the Minister has various powers to refuse registration, attach conditions and/or suspend registration. As a registered premises, you will have to provide certain information (referred to as “returns” in the regulations) to the Department of Agriculture when so requested, such as the Equine Census.

You will also need access to a horsebox and a suitable vehicle to pull it. Doubtless your husband has a suitable jeep with four-wheel drive, which you can borrow, but ensure you have a full BE licence, as otherwise you are driving illegally and your insurance is voidable.

I agree with your daughter that most ponies can be left outside through the winter in a good all-weather rug, so long as they have good access to water, roughage, and any extra feed they may need.

Pony Club

Pony clubs are fantastic for children. They make friends for life spending time outdoors engaged in a healthy activity, which exposes them to new learning, friendship, challenges and plenty of opportunities for growth. I say support your daughter 100%.

I have no doubt that you will be welcomed to pony club with open arms.

As for clothes, I have no expertise on this subject, but am reliably informed that it’s all about dressing shabby/country chic - a look that’s a bit scruffy, but always expensive. Pony club will be a good opportunity to spend some of the money from those large milk cheques. You deserve it.

The above comments are made only by way of academic commentary to assist The Irish Field readers better understand the legal norms and rules applicable to common equine-related dilemmas.

These comments are not ‘legal advice’ as per section 2 of Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 nor is the author providing ‘legal services’ pursuant to the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. Always consult a solicitor.

Seán D. Rafter is a Kilkenny-based barrister. He practices in criminal and civil law with a special interest in equine and agri issues. He is an enthusiast of hunting, racing and a good book.

Have a legal query for Seán?

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