Accidental damage advice.

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tilly212

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May 11, 2025
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A lady on the hard kindly allowed me daughter to take her pony hacking.

Halfway up the yard on the way out, the horse spooked and the saddle slipped on the ponys side

My daughter came off and pony turned round and cantered back towards her stable.

The saddle didn't fall to the floor and on inspection there was a scuff on the cantle.

I notified the owner of the accident. Pony absolutely fine just a bit shaken and rider also shaken.

Fast forward to a few months after the incident the owners had the saddle fitter out to check the saddle as she has ready for an adjustment.

The saddler has advised the tree is damaged and waiting on repair quote.

We have BHS gold membership however on asking them for advice, it didn't cover us to cover the costs.

Saddler believes the tree could've been bent from the stirrup potential getting caught on something ( could well have been my daughter's leg as she fell off)

Where do I go from here as I can't afford to pay for the damage in one go.

Quote currently at £500
 
My feeling, and it's simply my feeling not legal advice, is that it's been a few months since the accident and anything could have happened to the saddle in the meantime, or indeed it may not have been right before your daughter rode. A well fitted saddle shouldn't slip that badly because of a spook unless the girth was far too loose, likewise I wouldn't expect a rider falling off to damage the tree unless she was dragged a signoficant distance (and even then I'm not sure it would).. My feeling is you're being made a scapegoat here.
 
Thank you, I'm a genuine person who wants to do the right thing and not upset anyone but at the same time wanted some other opinions because my insurance won't have it surely I can't be expected to pay for this
 
tilly212 said:
Thank you, I'm a genuine person who wants to do the right thing and not upset anyone but at the same time wanted some other opinions because my insurance won't have it surely I can't be expected to pay for this
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My gut feeling is that they're trying to take advantage of you. As I said before the gap between your daughter's fall and this is too great for me to feel it's credible, plus for that much money you're talking a level of damage which I wouldn't expect to go unnoticed. Tell them a flat no, you won;t be paying because I'm sure they don't have a leg to stand on. If they get pushy mention that you'll be putting in a claim for a new hat for your daughter and the damage to her connfidence and see how they feel about that.
 
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Ask yourself this. When your daughter fell off did she get dragged or was her foot hanging from the stirrup for a length of time?
Or did her foot release straight away as she went out the door.
If it was the later then most likely not to blame.

How heavy is the regular rider? If they are heavy could they be causing the twist.

Youd need to contact a couple of master saddlers and ask advice as to how much impact it would need to cause a tree to twist. Or how much weight constantly applied would cause the twist.

Do you know has the horse got any back niggles. Niggles you were told about when your daughter first started riding this horse.
I was told when i brought my horse + tack, that the saddle was newly brought and fitted to the horse. New to horse ownership at the time i trusted the seller and never had it checked. I rode in this saddle for several years before i had it checked and was told it had a twisted tree. My horse also showed signs of pain in the saddle region. It ended up having long term back issues. My horse also lacked shoulder muscle one side. So did the twisted tree cause this lack of muscle. Or was it the lack of muscle that caused the tree over time to twist to the horses shape. What im trying to highlight is if you know of the horse having prior back/shoulder issues then you could argue theres element of doubt that your daughters fall caused the twist.
 
If the weight of a rider could twist a tree, every saddle would be twisted wouldn't it. Did the stirrup get hooked on a solid object like a gate/stable wall as the pony spooked? which side are they saying got caught on something? and which side did your daughter come off? As months have past since the incident I suspect they are on thin ice (at best) blaming that incident with your daughter for the damage to the saddle, unless it has been locked away unused since then, and they can prove that.

Your BHS insurance might not cover you, but their legal assistance team will, they can tell you where you stand on this in terms of liability, they are very helpful and it is def worth a call.
 
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That's a tough spot to be in. Since your daughter's wreck was not recent, it's very possible the owner did something to the tree. I don't think you'd be legally responsible for it but how important is your relationship with this person? If it's important, maybe offer to pay part of it?
 
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