Best way to find a sucessful loan home

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mariond

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I would be interested to hear how sucessful loaners/loanees found their horse. We would like to put my husbands horse out on loan but obviously want to keep him within travelling distance. Are we better to look for a wanted advert or advertise him as available ? Are there people wanting to loan a horse to compete or do you think that most capable riders buy something to bring on and sell ? He is excellent in traffic and has a bold jump but can be strong in company so needs a capable rider. My husband bred him and doesn't really want to sell him but at 8 he really needs to be doing more.
 
I've had 2 on loan, both found through adverts.
Yes there are people out there that want to compete but for one reason or another would prefer to loan. Only thing I would be wary off at this time of year is the people that want to loan but then decide to return horse at start of winter.
We are currently looking for another horse for my wife (to buy) so if I decided to have another of my own (instead of just competing for others) I would have to find a loan due to limited funds for 2 purchases.
 
All loan horses before I bought P were all kept on their present yard at the time. I think this is the best way for a loan because you can keep an eye on the horse, there have been so many horror stories on here of people getting thin loan horses back
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I found mine just by the local newspapers and local advertising, on the Isle of Man we also have a website that you can post horses up for sale/loan onto, I don't know if you have this in your area though. Scrutinise the potential loanee as much as possible! I know I was interrogated and had a few rides and then a trial before I agreed to loan my ones!
Good luck, hope yours is a sucess story!!
Izzi xx
 
We advertised our pony at local show venues, as we wanted her to go to someone who would compete her, but also didn't want her to go too far away. Funnily enough the person she went to lived only about 3 miles from us, but saw our notice at the farthest away show! When you do put him on loan make sure you have a comprehensive loan agreement drawn up.
 
I found my loan horse on here
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In the past I've placed my own ad and people have rung with horses that sound suitable for what I want.
Look for people advertising for loan horses, as you know what they are looking for before they know about your horse, and you'll have an idea if your horse is suitable for them.
When its the other way round, I think some people are so desperate to find something that they will convince you that the horse is suitable for them, even if it isn't.
Good luck
 
I had a fab loan of a pony many years ago (about 14 years?) he was great, owner seemed nice but never reallygot chance to rode him so he was just on livery and the kids at the livery rode him. Although when we took him he'd been poorly and v underweight he soone put on weight and turned out to be a fab jumping pony. Owner came to visit and we went for a hack and she was happy.

Owner then moved further south and offred to sell him to us (£1500 she wanetd at that time which was quite steep for a skinny, underweight 15yr old pony). Anyway we said we couldn't afford that for him based on his ae but she wasn't taking any less so it was agreed she'd take him back after teh loan term.

We should have changed our minds, he turned out to be an exceptional pony. Howver it came to giving him back and the owner just proved to us how little she knew about her own horse. She organised a transporter to take him the few hundred miles to her new place. Fine you may think but we learnt in the short time we had him he was not a good traveller and would just drop weight and that was on short journeys not ones that would be about 5 hrs long! She didn't come to travel with him and didn't send anything to travel him in. I sent him back with my travel boots - the least I could do and basically bawled my eys out all night!.

She rang us when he arrived at hers absolutely fuming saying he was underweight and how she was going to sue cos we'd mistreated him etc etc! Honestly it was unbelievable. We explained the pony was bound to have dropped weight with that sort of journey and she knew damn well we'd looked after him as, when she'd visited he was looking great. It was soo upsetting she turned so nasty and we just wished we'd bought him. I dread to think what happened to him, it upsets me to think about it.

I would be wary of loaning again now in case the owners turned out to be similar!
 
I have a horse on loan at the moment which I found through placing a wanted ad. From the other side of the fence though I had plenty of emails from folk with 'problem' horses... Good luck with finding the right person.
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I have a 17" medium havana Lux dressage saddle and a black wintec dressage saddle looking for new homes...
 
Found ours of ad trader and the owner lived 2 miles away.We knew her instructor as we used her as well and that really helped.Been a great exp and I still keep in contact with prev owners of out grown ponies.
 
I responded to a wanted add when Bails went on loan, it was within an hours drive and the loanee was the secretary of the riding club, she kept in touch and consulted me over anything significant we visited occasionaly and he came back with all his stuff in pristine condition. I'd had sharers and in the past and think I'm a good judge of peoples suitability so usually go with my gut instinct and its worked.
 
I found my horse on Equilink when I got him (initially on loan). I think there are definately genuine people out there wanting horses on loan - I had just finished uni and wanted to get back into competing , had the funds to keep 2 horses (older mare semi-retired due to arthritis) but not the purchase cost at the time, my options were to loan a horse or buy a youngster. Glad I went with the loan as still have my boy 5 years later having bought him after a year, and lve him to bits! Still see his old owner regularly despite them living 2 hours drive away.
 
I would advertise with as many details about the horse as possible, i.e. what he is like to ride, what he will and will not do, what he is like to handle, etc. I would also include details of the kind of home you are looking for, e.g. what kind of distance away from you, what kind of yard (big livery, private home, etc.), length of loan, etc. You should get quite a few inquiries and you should be able to eliminate the most unsuitable ones over the phone. Then it is a matter of seeing people face to face, seeing them ride, etc. before going over to see where they intend to keep the horse. It takes quite a long time, but I think it's worth it as you are more likely to find the right person this way.
 
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