Argh!!Finding a loan! Why its so impossible!?:(

Christmas Magic

Christmas Magic

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28 February 2011
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Hi everyone! Rant alert!
After our little one's loan pony was suddenly taken back(long term loan,good friends,close family connections blah blah blah) i was in a search for a new pony.
Not a problem,i thought, with all the kids going back to school i will find new pony in no time. Hmm.. Browsing through adverts...Must stay at the current yard-well,no mate,it must stay at MY yard! Nice 4 yo,just backed,need further education, that's why its up for loan -well no, i dont think so! Finally found a couple what sounds good. First pony gone already, ok not a problem I'm thinking, will phone another. Next-oh,must be shod all around every 4 weeks and stabled all year round as got bad sweet itch(again not a word in advert),oops sorry but no! Another sounds very good,5 minute into conversation, oh sorry we forgot to mention this in advert, pony is lame without a bute and have to stay on bute. Khm khm....no thank you!
Found another one, went to try, very nice lovely pony but more stay on lead rein than off it, all attention on leader and child ignored. Anyway,tried it, was not too bad at all, was happy to take it on, lady never contacted me back as promised. Oh well, keep searching then.
Another try, lovely, if a tad too tall pony for my 6 yo, but he w/t/c on both reins ,lost a stirrup on canter and regained it back no problem(smooth gaits!) and popped a jump, that's where the problem started, as said pony was so enthusiastic my poor Pete had no brakes at all. Hence that we cant have it as its too forward going.Pete devastated, me to, because they suited each other very well, but probably for good as it was Forward Going:)Well,it was advertised as 2 pony anyway.
My poor boy only wants a pony,any pony to ride, hack and jump!He will be happy with a donkey or just a big dog!!
I honestly never though what finding a loan pony for a child going to be so hard:(
The end,thanks for reading!
P.S. I looked at Horsemart,H&H,Horsequest,DD,Horsehunter,Preloved and couple more i cant remember. If you know where to find 11-12hh pony who can live out all year and good on/off lead rein, please let me know, i dont know where else to look!:(
 
I think it's worth giving them a call or if near enough going in for a chat, nice first ridden's would get snapped up and not make it to the web site so you need to be on their waiting list.

It's a bit like the dogs trust or battersey online they have the less popular crosses, if you go in they have purebred labs, retrevers, dalmations etc.
 
The problem is you are looking for a perfect pony, they are hard enough to find and usually have a high value so most will be sold on to fund the next pony, the exceptions are if there is a younger sibling or there is something wrong with the pony so the owners want to keep control of it's future, there may be one or two available but you will have to be really pro active to find one, I would put a wanted ad on the PC site and you may be lucky or accept that it may be less than perfect physically which is why it is for loan not for sale.
 
I think they are all 'up north'! And that is probably going to be a problem as a lot of owners would like to be able to pop round to check up on their pony.

We have a 12hh 8yr old pony that has been desperately outgrown. Done LR/FR/WHP/CS/SJ and represented PC at area competitions, won the games at PC camp, hacks alone or in company and can be galloped in open fields without any worries about stopping on request. It has been to Keysoe with byrds twice and is a native so winters in or out. Even though we haven't got a younger child waiting in the wings we would never sell because we can ensure a safe future at home.

Our DC suggested we advertise for loan on the PC website because we can get references from the other DCs and if someone is looking at PC site then they are likely to be interested in joining so tend to be considered more 'traceable'. Therefore I would seriously consider putting an advert on the PC website.
 
I feel your pain having just taken one on loan for myself that had to go back! the sane sensible pony who was ment to be a little bit green but good to load/clip/travel/trim/live out with anything broke free and tried to escape the trailer on the m1. kicked when you did his feet and relentlessly mounted and chased a young filly in the herd.

Owners suggestion? give it ACP!!!!

its such a mine field hopefully you find something soon
 
Also try your local children's activity centres - PGL etc - I know they used to loan out their horses and ponies over winter and they will definitely have quiet types who are great with kids! It may mean you have to give it back come summer, but then again, you might be able to negotiate... Worth a try :-)

Do you know anyone who hunts locally? Worth chatting to them to see if you can get a pony that someone has grown out of - they rarely advertise them, it's all word of mouth.

Good luck finding one! Took us 3 attempts but finally got a cracker :-)
 
Definitely worth putting up wanted ads if you haven't done already. I was searching for a loan horse around 2 years ago and was checking websites everyday but without any luck. Eventually posted a wanted ad (thought no one really paid much attention to them but had nothing to lose!) and had nothing but phone calls and emails for months afterwards - I was amazed to find all these horses hiding away. Unfortunately the website I used completely ignored my many emails asking them to remove my advert as i found a loan horse within two weeks, and I still received calls a year or so on from people hoping i'd still be searching. Not the same situation that you're in but i definitely underestimated the power of a wanted ad so really worth doing - as others have said, a lot of brilliant ponies get loaned via the pony club so it's worth giving local ones a call to see if there are any as they rarely get advertised. Good luck!
 
carthorse said:
Why not buy one, good ponies hold their value. Expecting someone to just lend you a good pony is expecting a lot. Good luck with your search
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Dont think really its expecting a lot, so many people only loan they horses and ponies and quite good ones!!!We do loan Huge Horse aka Teddy!
When i was looking for loan horse for myself i found Magic for very silly money,so i bought him:)
Please fingers crossed everyone,i think something may work out!:)
If not,Sunshine, where abouts are you?:)
 
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Christmas Magic said:
Hi everyone! Rant alert!

Another try, lovely, if a tad too tall pony for my 6 yo, but he w/t/c on both reins ,lost a stirrup on canter and regained it back no problem(smooth gaits!) and popped a jump, that's where the problem started, as said pony was so enthusiastic my poor Pete had no brakes at all. Hence that we cant have it as its too forward going.Pete devastated, me to, because they suited each other very well, but probably for good as it was Forward Going:)Well,it was advertised as 2 pony anyway.
(
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if this pony had not been too small then i would have given it a go, it takes time to learn what makes each pony tick and brakes can be worked on.
 
Christmas Magic said:
Dont think really its expecting a lot, so many people only loan they horses and ponies and quite good ones!!!We do loan Huge Horse aka Teddy!
When i was looking for loan horse for myself i found Magic for very silly
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I agree with this. I have a perfect pony (not what you are looking for as 14hh and cushings) and when I went abroad, gosh ten years ago now I lent her to my friend's riding school rather than sell her. She had to go all the way from London to Cornwall but to me it was worth it to keep a hold of her - I think once you have a horse like that, you will never replace it, so you would be mad to sell it. She is back with me now and here she will stay but I would have done the same thing over again, and I can't be unique in my attitude.
 
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