>>Anyone loaned their horse to a college??

I loaned out for showing my very nice Highland mare,the first lot..she came back like a thin Connie;the second lot kept her ok,but made up ridiculous stories about her bad behaviour..obviously in the hope I would be glad to be rid of her and sell her for a song to them. On return we waited for this appalling behaviour to surface..of course it did not ,and when shown she behaved impeccably and won well.NEVER EVER again,got the land ,so they can be field furniture if not working.
 
I have to say that on the whole I agree, I personally would never have my horse on workin livery at my college, but then I wouldn't have them on working livery anywhere.

This, I believe, is a small exception, people who are scared of their horses, like the fella I had to re school it's sometimes good for them, and one horse came to the college and a friend now has her on loan, she wasn't ridden by many students as she was young, my friend has been able to work wonders with her!!! I do stress this was quite a unique situation because she was part of a retraining project we had to do anyway, and the horse another group had was soooo nappy but the girls got her working SO well, the bad thing was that thy were still being used in the lessons so it was a case of 2 steps forward 300 steps back, I know one of he girls is still schooling that mare too! Infact she schools 2 mares that came through the college. These girls are extremely good riders, kind riders, which isn't necessarily the norm for college, as someone else said I've seen people put on horses they never should have been let near.

It's not even just the riding really, some people that go to college don't realise the yard work involved and that means horses not mucked out properly.

I can't speak for all colleges though, in my opinion also the horses are over worked, but then the double edged sword is that all these people need to have the lessons.

The long and short of it was I probably wouldn't unless you can scope out the college and perhaps get any opinions from people from that specific institution.
 
I wouldnt recommend it either.

I studyed at an equine college a few years back and the horses got no turn out through the winter, the saddles got swapped around between horses, bits changed frequently, spurrs used on horses that owner's specified not to be used.

The students had to muck out the horses as part of yard duties.Often, if students didnt wake up for morning duties, you and others are left to muck out their allocated horse which had to be done at breakneck speed to keep up with the 'industrial speed' meaning many horses were inadequalty mucked out on a daily basis.

Most horses overfed hard feed, but not enough forage = unhappy fizzy horses carrying too much weight.

The horses are also used for teaching competition preperation as well as riding.I saw on some occasions, horses left tied up in stables after a plaiting lesson,students long gone, plaits still in, unable to access hay or water.

Seen horses clipped fully returned to stable after riding lesson, sweating heavily standing shivering in the stable with no blankets or hay. Grrrrrrrrr.
 
No wonder colleges have difficulty in getting horses. I loaned my boy, who I have had since he was 3; he is now 19, to Lincoln University for 3 years. I had no problems. he was well looked after and loved the routine. He does have his quirks which I thought would be a problem, but apparently not. He was returned to me when he developed low grade intermittent lameness which meant he couldn't do the regular work required, but he's fine as a general riding horse. I could say "oh, they lamed my horse" but he's 19 and you expect problems to start at that age. He is looning around the field like a 4 year old at the moment and refuses to be caught to put a fly mask on!.

I do work for the University so could wander down at any point and did and watched lessons but I don't think that made any difference; they'd nothing to hide. I know that one horse, who would be considered elderly developed complications with colic and required several thousand pounds of treatment which they paid for.

Please don't rule it out as an option. My situation meant that loaning him was a life saver and meant I could keep him. Whether it suits your horse depends on your horse and your attitude. It suits some horses and not others. I knew mine was fly enough to look after himself; if he doesn't want to do something he plants himself and just doesn't do it and there's nothing you can do to make him. He has come back the same horse as he went and I am grateful that I had that option, otherwise I don't know what I'd have done at the time.
 
I sent my daughters PC eventer whilst she was doing her GCSE's - they loved him, and ended up buying him. A few years on I still get reports about how much they love him - good result for me!
 
I loaned mine for two years. He was very green when he went there and to be fair it gave him the basic schooling which he'd never had. It also cured him of his fear of traffic as there was plenty of tractors and stuff arouond the campus, which was good.

So overall, I'd probably do it again, depending on the horse and the college.

I remember there was a mare there on loan when mine was there and she didn't take to it at all well and was very hypo and unsettled and they had to take her away, so definately depends on the horse I think.

There was a distinct lack of turnout, my poor boy only saw a field for about two hours a week sometimes; also as an owner you obviously lose control of how you manage your horse - and I personally resented the way I was spoken to by one of the staff when I'd had to pop back to the yard to hand in a rug which they'd asked for, and I was in "business" dress rather than the requisite "hat, gloves, boots" clothing, which to be fair, is what they expect of you because of health and safety. I'd got earrings on - mortal sin!! and I was spoken to quite severely because of it, but fair enough coz they've got to set standards and I appreciate that.

IF you send yours to college, make sure that YOU take responsibility for making sure his saddle fits tho' coz mine was fitted by the staff with a saddle that didn't fit him at all and in fact caused his back a lot of problems and he started cow kicking whenever anyone approached him with a saddle which isn't like him at all. So you need to be quite strict with them about stuff like this; also you have to be a bit of a bitch sometimes, for instance mine had some issues solo hacking and some student tried to get him out on his own and basically thought the solution to the problem was to beat the ***** out of him; tho' to be fair staff handled this very sensitively and I was able to insist that I was the only one to hack him out solo (or staff).

Would I do it again? Mmmm, probably, with reservations, but not my horse coz he went a bit sour towards the end and just didn't want to do any more inside the school.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I can tell you much more off-topic.

It can be a good solution for some horses but not everyone's; the cobby types seem to be able to cope with it better, TB's and mares less so, but basically if your horse is any good they'll work the sh@t out of it; you can ride your horse and I managed to ride my boy at weekends plus one afternoon in the week, but one day I saw his programme of work and then started to feel guilty coz they do work them hard if they're half decent.

Anyway, PM me if you want to know more. I can tell you about how it works financially too.
 
Mine is a Selle Francais x TB racehorse, but the thing with him is he does like routine, which he got. And yes, I think there is a certain amount of responsibility on the owner to speak up if there's something you really don't like, as the colleges could not function without willing owners. But having said that, you have to place a certain amount of trust in them. It's like putting a horse on loan; you can't say I can't cope and then expect to retain day to day control over how your horse is kept at loan. You can't do it; you won't sell, so there has to be a compromise. The quickest break down of a loan I have come across was two days, but when the owners asked me to draw up the loan agreement I knew it wouldn't last 5 minutes as they were unrealistic in their expectations. I did say this, but they wouldn't have it.

Make your requirements very clear at the outset and if they're not met, then remove your horse. But you do need to keep an eye on them. If too many owners remove them, then the colleges and universities will not have enough horses, so they'll either have to change their ways or give up. The horses remain our moral responsibility, I'm afraid.
 
Yep sorry the other thing I meant to say was that after the "trial" period, they do expect you to commit your horse for the duration of the academic year, unless the horse has behavioural issues or whatever.

Also you have to either have it home during the hols, OR pay their livery fees; which where mine was at, was £80 per week for full livery, £35 for DIY.

During college terms, you pay half the shoeing (which was £25 as they've got a discounted rate); plus general vets things like teeth/inoc's. Livery is free if they're using it for college stuff, so financially it is an attractive option, but bear in mind what others have said, good & bad. I'd be inclined to go and have a look for yourself and if possible have a good chat to the other owners.

I personally don't think it would be fair to any horse to have it loaned to a college for anything more than a year, possibly two. There was one horse there when mine was there who'd got very sour and obviously fed up with it all.

I know many colleges are struggling to get horses at the mo: and its not really surprising perhaps if you read what people's experiences are. For me as an owner there needed to be far more information before I sent my horse to college: i.e. perhaps an open evening where I could meet staff/students & look around to get the general feel of the place; then I think when the horse was there, there should have been much more liaison/contact with staff at the college so that issues were addressed far sooner and the owner knew about how their horse was doing.

In hindsight, I would have appreciated regular (perhaps every term?) meetings between staff and other owners - certainly advice on things like the dress code would have been appreciate coz I inadvertently fell foul of it!!!! But I just didn't know!!! (tho' appreciate that I should have coz it was a BHS training yard - but when you've kept your own on DIY you just don't realise things, only to get *******ed by someone for wearing something inappropriate!!!).

As an owner, I did feel a bit sidetracked and I think if colleges want owners to put their horses forward they need to get their act together a bit better TBH. At the yard where mine was at, I felt that supervision was maybe an issue, in that the person who was supposed to be "managing" the yard was probably put upon too much and never got the time to "manage" things effectively. Quite often students were left to manage on their own without anyone (seemingly) being around .............. a case of the lunatics running the asylum; be afraid, be very afraid ..........!!!
 
I wouldn't no.

Overworked, under rugged when it's cold, over rugged when it's warm. Overfed with hard feeds and underfed in forage. Poorly mucked out or barely any bedding. They say you will get turn out, but after a couple of weeks this stops, as most equine colleges don't actually have enough land for the number of horses, and can't risk it getting churned up.

It can suit some horses however. I did know of one mare who had colic about 12 times in one year due to the stress of a busy yard...and she STILL wasn't sent home, but a few horses can thrive in this sort of environment.

I loaned a mare when her year at college finished. She was green but chilled out...so they had used her for the complete novices. Because she was a bit hard to canter on her right rein, for the whole year they only cantered her on the left rein so it was easier for the novices. She had NEVER been on a hack until I got her.

If you do loan to a college I would lay down your ground rules, what they can and can't do with the horse etc. Be prepared to make unscheduled visits as in my experience after a while the college will start to ignore your requests and do as they wish, change tack, put complete novices on, use whips and spurs etc.

Make lots of calls to find out how they are doing, visits etc. My friend works at a school with equine facilities and loan horses, and I know of 2 horses there that are for sale by the owner. The ads say good to jump, hack out etc, however when asking my friend as I was interested in these horses....both are on box rest for tendon injuries. I thought the owners were lying about their horses etc (they want £3000-£4000) but turns out the college hasn't told them they are injured and off work for months!
 
Last edited:
I have had mixed experiences. Horse was green and went there for 2 years - and loved the work and attention and essentially was a happy horse. But there was a brilliant head groom.

But the equine college got bigger and now the whole ethos is that you can treat the owners like sh** - and I suspect the horses get treated the same when you aren't around. The fields are too far away (?) to bother to give the horses turnout, tack wasn't returned, horses overjumped.

So my advice would be to really really check out the head grooms and if you don't think you can have an honest working relationship with them, don't do it.

Also, regardless what your contract says turn up randomly, see how you horse is, the staff attitude and ask questions. Just remember you priority is your horses health and happiness - in my experience the staff's priority can be that they have a cosy life, unless they are particularly well managed.
 
My horse nearly died at one of the top training schools, their aftercare after the accident had alot to be desired (they didn't seem to give much of a stuff and were too busy) and they began riding him again too soon. The riding I saw on the day I collected him had a lot to be desired (one of the instructors!) and he was lame while being ridden. There was very little common sense and consideration being displayed. Never again!!!

A later loan to a BHSII was just as bad and now I won't let anyone BHS near my two unless I know them personally and have seen them ride on numerous occasions.
 
Well unlike most of these posts I had a fantastic experience loaning my horse to the local college and regularly recommend doing this. He stayed for 4 years and went back for a year when I was expecting my first child. He wasn't an easy horse to ride, but lovely natured. He loved it was very happy there and settled quickly each term after his holiday at home.
The bonus for me was no cost during term time at all, he was always fit for me during the holiday and I could hunt him during the Christmas holidays and I could ride at weekends when I was home too.

I tried a private loan first - hideous would never do it again. Took my horse away and refused to send him back - the college took him at 2 weeks notice in the middle of the year. I still meet students who looked after him 25 years ago, they always ask how he is.
 
Can anyone PM me on Hartpury College? Good and bad experiences please! Am thinking of sending my mare there as have hit a personal crisis and it would really help me out but need to sit down and have a proper think about it! Thanks x
 
i think it depends massively on the college and on the horse, some will snap back into plod mode work mode competition mode quite easily but some can be trahsed quite badly and quickly and if they are a realtively chilled and quiet type will end up being used a lot and by not so good riders

my old horse though had been a school horse at my college for two years before i bought him as he was getting abit old for all the work, he had previously been schooled quite well and quite quickly got back into the swing of doing things properly and working well, but he was the type that could really adjust to the rider on him and would put on his beginner hat, jumping hat and manage to do a really good job but not all are like that
 
My best friend sent her horse to a small equine college and it worked really well, he was very well cared for, it suited him and he improved alot. He's going back this year.

On the other hand i was a student at another equine college for two years and would never send a horse of mine there. I have to say they were looked after in terms of rugs, clean stables and thick beds etc but they had very limited turnout and hay. A few horses were sent home because they became nasty, hardly surprising when they had a full haynet tied outside their stables in sight but out of reach and only had 1 or 2 hours turnout a week.

I would do as much research as you can on the specific college
 
I loaned my lovely cob to my local ag college when I had to have a back operation so couldn't ride or look after him and I wouldn't do it again but only because it didn't suit him.

He was well looked after in terms of mucking out/grooming (he was a white grey and positively shone!)/tack cleaning but they did seem to not understand basic things like he had a dust allergy and even though I provided the haylage they still managed to feed him hay. He was a very forward going cob and they assured me that they would only use him for their advanced students but sadly they didn't and as they also rarely hacked out (health and safety issues!) and never turned out in term time he became very depressed and totally switched off from life.

Eventually he went down with a major chest infection and the college seemed surprised I wouldn't take him home (to a livery yard) with a raging temp and pouring snot!!!

It was a shame as he was very popular with the students and it should have worked out well for all of us but I do feel the college didn't keep to their side of the agreement.

I also had issues with not all of my rugs being returned and finding my tack on other horses.
 
RunawaySally said:
Can anyone PM me on Hartpury College? Good and bad experiences please! Am thinking of sending my mare there as have hit a personal crisis and it would really help me out but need to sit down and have a proper think about it! Thanks x
Click to expand...

My Father and stepmother had good experiences with Hartpury, but the horses were suited to the lifestyle. Their beds were always clean when we went there (would pop in to see them when there at comps, so the didn't know we were coming), they were relaxed and happy. Only bad points - you have to sort something out for them during the hols, your tack gets worn out and they expect you to replace it when this happens and the don't keep the horses trimmed and pulled.
 
My friend sent hers to a local college while she went travelling. The YM was her mate so she knew she'd be looked after well but even so it worked out really well. Horse was very marish when she went. It got her much better behaved in social situations, chilled in company, stable manners improved no end and her jumping got much more confident. She only stayed for 6 months approx and when my friend came back she rode her as much as she liked until she had a job to pay for her livery again. Win win there.
 
I found the replies to this very interesting because the products of these colleges will be coming to a yard near you! We have a lot in our predominately full livery yard.
To be fair, the overall care is good and they handle mine nicely because he is very easy and he is an easy ride too.They can get rough with some of the others when the owners are not around.They do not seem to realize the link between the liveries monthly cheques and their pay.They can be quite defensive and rude at times (although not all the liveries are perfect either).
Schooling consists of riding the horse round in circles.Very little warming up or cooling down.If fairley forward going, the neck is ratched in (get it on the bit!) and its cantered in endless circles.If a bit behind the leg, its kicked in the ribs, called a lazy so and so and loud complaints are made about it to anyone listening so long as the owner is absent.
They hate outside instructors with a passion, mainly because, without trying in the least, they show them up.The lazy useless horse they rode yesterday becomes round and forward the minute they sit on it.
hey regard all the owners, without any exception, as being useless numpties because they choose to earn their livings in other jobs apart from horses.A lot are doctors,solicitors or quite powerful business women!
 
My horse went on loan to a smaller college for a year and I had no problem with it at all. I could turn up at any time and I never had any worries about what I found. Sometimes he was turned out, other times he was in lessons but the instructors were excellent and although sometimes the riders were not as experienced as me, I never saw anything that I was not comfortable with.

He was able to do cross country which he loved but I was too nervous to do. At the end of the loan year he was returned in great condition with all his equipment and a new pair of stirrups as his had been lost.

I was at Warwickshire College myself and all the horses were very well looked after albeit with little turnout.
 
@ OP would the horse do well loaned out / on working livery at a riding school? If so then I'd say go for it, the college I went to did their best by the horses, if not then no as it is essentialy a riding school situation. The horses are handled by different people daily and ridden by different people of varying abilities. If the horse can jump it will be jumped again by people of varying abilities.

The college I went to was pretty good when it came to the owner's requests but farriery / hay ect was on a budget - adequate but not fantastic.

However I would not send a horse to a college to be backed or buy one backed at a college unless I was prepared to start again from scratch though. The students have a fixed ammount of time to get the horses to a pre-determined level and are not given a vast amount of guidance. They tend to be hurried by lecturers and often the aim is to be jumping within the 4 months available so slower learning horses may have steps skipped to get to that stage to pass the module rather than produce a well rounded, well backed horse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top