College and loan horse

Sparsholt college in Winchester (not sure where you are)? I'm hopefully going there in September and am considering taking my mare too!
 
There are some previous threads about loaning to equine colleges which should be in the forum archives so I'd have a good trawl through if I were you, before making any decision.

I loaned mine to an equine college (PM me if you want to know where), and there are pro's and con's to it. It might suit some horses for definitely not others; ditto owners.

My local equestrian college is full to bursting apparently - last year horses were very thin on the ground there; I guess the recession is the reason as many people don't know what to do with their horses right now.

My advice would be to think very very carefully on whether it would suit your horse and/or you. Talk to people who've done it if you can and don't make a hasty choice.

I can tell you much more off-forum, so PM me if you like.
 
Holme Lacy - Hereford College of Technolgy. Herefordshire. The staff work really hard to keep all the horses and owners happy and healthy.

Steer clear of Walford and North Shropshire College. Put my nice, well behaved, well schooled mare on loan their - came home 4 weeks later depressed, with a sore back and all my hard work undone >:( Gave her 3 months in the field to be a horse again and she was fine. But never again would i go there.
 
ummmmmm

depends very much on the individual horse but i wouldnt recommend it. From what i've seen, little to no turnout, and if they are a good jumper they are likely to jump AT LEAST once a day - although some horses may suit this lifestyle I saw many horses arrive at my college and leave a completely different horse. And not in a good way
 
Colleges are apparently very good for horses with separation anxiety. The constant coming and going and regular work sorts them out, i'm told.
Our ex-racer is an easy ride but wasn't suitable for novices so he didn't get the very poor riders. He came back better schooled and balanced. He was used for stable management for special needs group because he was so quiet in the stable.
Although the contract said he could be used for three x 1 hour lessons a day it was usually just 2. With changing riders, tacking up time, warming up and cooling off he had about 40 min real work. He came home for the holidays really fit.
Down sides were nice tack going missing (we now have seven odd stirrups and leathers!) and I thought they kept him a bit thin - more racing fit (4) than riding horse fit (5) - but he wasn't neglected or abused. You do need to be prepared to let them do things their way.
Nearly forgot to say - that was Moulton College.
 
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