Wow. I haven’t experienced this. I would literally hang up if a sitter asked for this.
Your last sitter said this ? Did you pay her ?
Or was this someone who sat for you previously via THS who you asked to sit for you another time that then mentioned a private arrangement?
My sister owns horses, trained race horses and even with her as my back up, I would never do a house sit which has horses.
I’ve seen a girl hospitalized by a foal kicking her in the stomach.
Does your insurance cover accidents like this, because the likelihood of a person with no experience getting injured is quite high.
That’s my opinion
Sitters are most definitely not allowed to ask for payment, and should be reported if they do. Why would you pay the expense membership fee, and than pay the sitter as well!
Completely agree.
I grew up with dairy cows and I am used to handling large cattle that can do some serious damage.
I would still not touch a horse sit. I think for everyone’s safety (human and horse) these sits should go to people with horse experience.
In Australia with all our deadly animals, the horse is no. 1 for people dying, most from falling from the horse, but still quite a few from other incidents.
Thanks for the feedback and nudge … I reported the sitter a few minutes ago. The $300 THS renewal fee hit this month alongside the sitters $1,200 payment and now I can’t afford to pay other bills. And my son’s milestone celebration trip cost more than anticipated so it’s going to be a long haul paying off credit cards this year. Inflation is happening all over the world. 
She was a new sitter to me … she applied for the sit through THS. A THS rep is now involved and investigating this matter.
Wow! $1200 to a sitter! Can you please explain more about how this happened? Were you desperate and without other options? How many applicants did you get? How long was the sit? I guess 30 days? How far in advance did you advertise the sit? We always sit for free. That is the THS model.
Whether or not THS allows payments, it sounds like a trip you couldn’t afford. When I was young and poor, trips were out of my budget, so I’d staycation and/or pick up side gigs to build savings for a buffer and to invest. And many people, even those with solid finances, don’t travel for a month and pay a sitter while doing that.
Not paying the sitter $1200 might have made a lot of difference to the budget.
I’m shocked that you would give a sitter such a large amount of money, just on her say so. Doubtful that you will get it back. Going forward, always read the terms and conditions thoroughly, she’s most likely done this before, and got away with it. Please let us know the outcome.
But that’s what credit cards are for. Simply pay and forget 
Haven’t you learned anything in school haha
Also, if you need another house sitter I could do you a discount and house sit for $800
They didn’t teach us personal finance in school. I’m self-taught and debt free, happily.
The world would be a better place if school taught taxes, finances, and business. Happy that you are debt free and happy.
But just to be clear I was just being cheeky about the credit card
I definitely agree with @Chrissie on this. THS may give the sitter a warning or cancel their membership but they are not going to play any role in getting the HO refunded.
I completely agree-I’ve owned horses most of my life and I’m experienced with a variety of equines, if they get ill the Vet would expect the sitter to handle the horse. Inexperienced horse lovers aren’t the right people to take on this responsibility and would they recognise signs of Colic, Laminitis, Strangles etc?
Many people actually live that way. And when I was in college decades ago, banks and other issuers actually solicited students aggressively on campus, offering freebies if they’d sign up for credit cards.
They eventually made it illegal to solicit on campus, because students were so susceptible to signing up and amassing debt.
Personally, I figured out early that avoiding debt is important, because when you amass it, it means you’re indenturing your future self.
Hey, don’t listen to @HouseSittersGuide, I’ll do it for $700 and I’ll wash your car.