All those people considering Loaning.........

T

Twinkletoes

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Yes another loan related post.

But this time a positive one, to help people realise that Loaning a horse CAN work out fantastically.

We hear so many horror stories, and Ive witnessed a few myself, but I think its important that people who are considering it (either taking a horse in or loaning yours out) realise that, with the right preparation, backup, communication, and thought, happy endings Can happen. Don't rule it out.

Unfortunately there are so many sad stories and irresponsible people out there that loaning is almost becoming a taboo, and its sad in a way, because if done correctly, for so many horses it could mean just as happy & active & loved existance as the owner / loaner could imagine.

I wanted to put my pennys worth on here, share my story (briefly as poss without getting too carried away) and help all those people (deliberating the idea and rapidly getting put off) see that it Can all work out - With The Right Preparation. I guess, even with this, there is a risk, but anyway, lets have a couple of happy loan stories on here,
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I brought a wild, naughty, stroppy youngster off the New Forest, completely what I 'wasnt' looking for, and very quickly (his talent not my work necessarily) realised I had a Very talented little man on my hands with a bright future.

After I got married I moved to Cornwall, taking my Forester with me, praying that the sea air might help him grow an extra hand, we went on to compete him successfully down here. At 8 he was getting a name for himself, and was used for Many people as a little schoolmaster, bringing back peoples nerves, and giving people Lots of laughter. However, I had taken him to his limits, and then found out (yay) that I was pregnant.
I had always thought, (from stories like you hear on here, I'll never loan that pony out, ever, let alone contemplate selling.

Out of pure coincidence, a close friend to us approached us about him and said they had a friend and her very timid daughter who may or may not be a perfect match for him, if only for a year or two. After much persuasion, phone calls, references etc, things moved on, and the people came to see him. It was love at first sight, on all parts.

The little girl (10) had herself a readymade BSJA/Handypony/Sofa-hunter/M&M star, and my pony had a lovely, quiet handed, doting, lightweight jockey. I made them travel to him every day for a month, where i met them each time, and shadowed everything they did. They then asked if they could take him home, only 4 miles further, and I agreed.

The contract was drawn up, signed, witnessed, and verified by my solicitor. Had zillions of things built into it and at the time felt ridiculous being so pinickety but, it was peace of mind, and a good move I think. I visit every saturday, get invited to all his shows, and still remain the proud mum that I always have been. He now has countless Jnr wins, and lots of in hand experience, and is still the star that I was lucky enough to find.

The loaners adore him, and now, when I visit, I dont even get a neigh, he just sees me as 'original mum' who comes along with homemade carrot cake at visiting time. Ive never seen him happier, and many months on, the partnership is going from strength to strength.

Here are some recent pix. The last two were from last year, our friends son.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s230/Ashurstfella/George/070519familypony.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s230/Ashurstfella/George/1.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s230/Ashurstfella/George/DSCF0003.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s230/Ashurstfella/George/DSCF0746.jpg



One day, when his Loaners legs grow too long, I will have him back, and keep him ticking over at home for our baby (due nov) and the Veteran career he is destined for lol. I would definately consider loaning him out again, but think now it would be a lease.
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Sorry, told you it was a long one ! And good luck to those of you who go down a successful, responsible loan route.
xx
 
I to have had nothing but positive experiences of loaning!

After viewing so many not as described horses, and even ending up buying one, I vowed to only loan view to buy, which is what I did, and ended up with the perfect horse!
 
Lucky you, finding such a great temporary home for him.
Okay, sorry, but other side of the coin: my story.
I had an ex-eventer, about 10 years old, lovely lovely horse, who had damaged his tendons doing Windsor 3-day with me on rock-hard ground. Big lesson. Everyone else ran, and i was young and stupid and did the same.
He was a lovely horse, but just not up to competing any more. This was about 2-3 yrs after the initial injuries - he'd been treated, Adequan'd, box rested, walked out, and the tendons were as good as they were going to get, and as long as he was just used for hacking and light dressage, he would be fine.
Someone i knew from years before came along, wanting him as a hack. I explained in great detail about the damage, and that he absolutely mustn't be galloped, jumped, ridden on very hard ground at more than a walk, yadda yadda yadda. She had him on loan and all seemed fine.
Months later i went to see him, and his tendons felt terrible, really hot and puffy. I went and got him straight away, with her screaming abuse at me that i couldn't take him, why was i taking him, etc etc.
i took him straight for scans, to be told that she'd totally broken him down again, and his only hope was to be operated on. even though he was only ever going to be a hack again, i adored him, he'd been a great horse for me, so i chose the operation. total cost was about £2k iirc.
i was still getting tons of abuse, she refused to contribute anything to the cost of the scans or the op (which didn't surprise me tbh). eventually she said that while she hadn't galloped or jumped, she'd been doing loads of trotting on the roads. i thought EVERYONE knew that you shouldn't do that... evidently not.
she then told everyone that i'd lied to her and had him back for eventing now that she'd done all the hard work. not true, obviously.
he recovered, and lived another 12 years with me, as a hack, and i even let him on loan at my place, under my eye, but i'll never ever let one go out of my sight again.
there are wonderful people out there, but i think with a lot of people a loan horse is like a company car - they haven't had to pay for it, so it's worth nothing, if that makes sense. if people pay for something, they value it more, imho.
 
Absolutely Kerilli, but it can work the other way too.

Beau's owner, when we took him on loan in Feb, never once came to see him, and it was only me sending constant pics and emails that meant she even knew how he was.

She didnt check us out, and we moved him 4 hours north from her, after only viewing him once.

Luckily we were trustworthy, he was skinny and had been out of work a year when we got him, he is a difference horse now, and we have of course bought him, but if that was me no way would I let someone take my horse away, not without viewing the yard and going to see them regularly.

Beau has got the best of everything since day one, but you are totally right, lots of people dont see why they should treat a loan horse properly, and the company car analogy is very apt!

Ive sent his prevous owner pics since buying him to no reply.
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Im the same unfortunately. I loaned my old TB out to friends of my mothers. Explaining that although fit and well he was getting on a bit so to not work him too hard. The boy who had him doted on him, and I went to visit him evey week for 3 months (he was 2 hours away from me), he was loved and really well looked after! So my visits lessened to once a month... and all was well.

About 6 months in I get a phone call to tell me Zak (the TB) had spooked on the road and severed his tendon....... I will never forget the sinking feeling I had as I raced down the motorway to see what was wrong.

he had indeed severed a tendon, but we nursed him through it (thank god for insurance).... it took a long time, but we finally had the all clear from the vet to ride, gently again.

I then get a phone call from the boy who says he has decided to change uni's and cant take Zak with him so doesnt want him anymore.... fine I say when shall I come and get him... oh no he says we have found someone else whos got him (ERM EH?????? contract stated no one else was to ride him).
So I go charging off again to get my horse, when I get there I discover that actually the people who have him are BETTER than the guy I originally loaned him to... nice teenager, bit novicey but perfect for Zak in his last few years of work (he was 24 at this point).
So new contracts drawn up and I let him stay with her as she burst into tears when I said I would take him back.
BUT THIS IS THE WORST ENDING OF ALL

I sopke to the girl nearly everyday on the phone and all was so good..... UNTIL
I get a phone call saying Zak had a tendon sheath infection and............... had been put down????

I didnt know what to do with myself, she hadnt tried to ring me, but rang the original loaners who said yes go ahead... I will NEVER forgive myself for not being there at the end for a horse who gave me SO much!
 
I am so sorry for the sad story and as I said in my post I have had nightmare experiences in the past, & totally agree with the company car comment. Just posted it in the hope that some people can share some nice stories & positive thoughts, as there are some great people out there.
 
THere are good stories, I think maybe we just don't hear as many of them? I had my arab on loan for 6 months (was supposed to be long term) before buyingh im, and this was 4 years ago. His old owners still come to visit and I promised when I bought him that they would have first option to buy him back if ever I sold him (not planning to!)
Everyone around me knows if anything ever happenned to me, I'd want them to have him back even if they found him a new home as they understand him, and had over 40 enquiries and 10 people come to try him , most of whom wanted him, before letting him come to me! He was only for loan as she'd lost the drive to compete and she said he was too active to just hack out a couple of times a week.
They did very thorough checks and had references from YO, farrier and local saddler though. There are SO many people out there claiming to be looking for loan horses, I think owners have to be seriously picky....obviously not always possible eg cases above but equally, if you sell your horse on you have no say at all in their future, so at least loaning sometimes works out and means that you do, if that makes sense?
I have to admit, if I loan out any of mine in the future I'd like them to stay very close by if not on same yard. Especially as the only one I would loan is older with some arthritis probs, so would want to be sure of her workload.
 
I successfully loan my event horse from another forum member, I'm pretty sure she's happy! But a key point; either my loan horse's owner (or owners mum) comes and visits him on average once a month (we meet at competitions) just to see him and more importantly make sure he's being well looked after (Which I'm now sure they know he is!). I've been loaning him a year now, and treat him just like one of my own. We have a contract too, that makes it perfectly clear who has what responsibility. So a definite success story here. Thanks for posting Ashurstfella.
 
I have a beautiful Welsh A pony that I bought for driving. Unfortunately it did not work out. I adored him so much that when I was trying to sell him, someone asked if they could loan him, I agreed, but after a while they sent him back with a cock-and-bull story about him. They had allowed him to ruin his mane and was no longer show worthy. I then loaned him to someone else who my hubby knew. He didn't suit, so he came back. Out of the blue an old friend of Hubby's asked if she could loan him. I was a little worried by now, but as he was only going 5 minutes away, and we had her Welsh D on loan, I agreed. She is absolutely thrilled with him, her children are having a fantastic time with him and they are doing lots of new things with him. I saw him just on Tuesday and he is looking so well and happy. They have now agreed on a long term loan.
The point of this story is, if you find the right loan home, things can be brilliant.
 
I loaned my first pony out to a lovely horsey family and it was brilliant, they even ended up buying her after 4 years.

I have since loaned 2 horses myself, one was from the above mentioned family! I kept her till I outgrew her and I was devastated to give her back, but I knew she was going back to her own family again.

I now ride a horse for someone on loan and I have to say that I am much,much more careful with her than if she was my own. So much so that I get nagged by my instructors for being too soft!
I think it's awful that someone wouldn't take good care of a horse just because it didn't belong to them.
I love the fact that I have a great bond with April and I have even got her jumping, which she has never done well before.

Anyway I think it can be a great thing if you find the right person.
My loanee was found via a personal recommendation from a PC instructor who we realy trusted and I have to say it worked out very well.
 
lexie, that's an awful story. poor you. and how awful that they never even contacted you.
well, i've learnt my lesson, and i'll loan them on my yard, but i won't let them out of my sight. sorry to be so negative, but i have to sleep at night, and if they're not here, i can't!
 
I have had nothing but positive experiences with loaning - there's more of it about than you think! We have loaned both ways, but mostly 'in'. It's the worst of the bad stories which make people think twice before letting go of their precious ones.

Our latest horse came here on 'schooling loan' as a favour to a stranger
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I was as good as my word and gave her the best of everything while we got her back on track in preparation to sell her on. She was sold on - to us!!!!

Here she is trying to sleep in our field. Looks really badly done to, eh!

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And here she is starving to death!

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