Does this sound reasonable/do-able-loaning riding school horses

charlie76

charlie76

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We are looking into the possibilty of loaning out some of our horses and ponies to stay at our yard. We would still use them a bit but we would work around what the loaner wanted to do.

They would be offered as if they were their own on a DIY, PART or FULL Basis
DIY- means they have sole charge and they pay for everything other than vets bills.
PART- they catch, groom, general care and pay for just hay, feed and bedding
FULL- we pay and do everything and they just ride
The charges will vary depending on type they choose and size of horse.

They will also get 10% discount in the saddlery and 1 free group lesson per week.

They can take them off the premises to compete on the understanding they are insured for vets bills and public liabilty. We would need to see a copy. We also would insist they have accident insurance for themselves.

We would provide tack and rugs

The only stipulation is that they cannot let a third party ride the animal
They cannot hack alone if under 16 yrs
They must report injury, illness or shoe problems straight away- failure to do so would result in a contribution to the bill
They must warm up and cool the horse down and not over work it.

The loan would be on a three month basis where at the end they can renew it or finish the loan.

So do you think there would be an interest? We would offer it to non clients as well following an assessment and a trial period.
 
Do you think? Brilliant. There doesn't seem to many people doing it so I thought it would be an idea to keep things ticking over and keep the horses fit and well.
What kind of pricing do you think?
 
A place near here does this.
It is an excellent way to step up from riding lessons before actually buying a horse.

On the other hand I know of dodgy places offering "free loan" where you pay full livery for one of their horses to get around reguations.
 
We would offer them another horse if it was a serious problem or stop the loan if there was nothing suitable. We would be quite amenable in that situation.

we are fully BHS approved, ABRS Approved, a Where To Train Centre and council licensed- this would not change in anyway.
 
I think it sounds like an excellent idea, I would make sure you get a solicitor to write up an agreement for you to you can be sure its watertight and all parties are covered.

If i was horseless I would definitely snap your hands and arms off!
 
It sounds good although I'd have thought it would be cheaper to pay for a lesson than full livery - although I guess it would be dependent on how often they rode. :)
 
I used to do this with my riding school horses and I found that you need to keep a very close eye on them as horses would be overworked, not cooled off properly, tack would get ruined.

I offered a month trial period initially before signing a contract and I made sure every horse had one total rest day a week. Also draw something regarding tack and any other equiptment into your agreements
 
We do something similar at our riding school. We have 2 options:
Full livery loan - just come groom and ride
DIY loan- they muck out fill 2-3 haynets for their horse, groom and ride.
They have no control over feeding, hard feed is dealt by us and so is haying up although loner prepares nets, this makes sure the horses usual routine is maitained regarding feeding times.
They may ride for 1 hour on their loan days longer only by advanced arrangement.
To hack out must prove they have insurance, if able can show.

Upside -
contribution to costs and some labour/staff saving costs
horses kept fitter
enables people to bridge gap between lessons and owning.

Downsides
loaners esp teenagers but have to say all riders not always do best for the horses let them get away with things
late notice on diy loan ie just got message ten minutes ago to say couldnt come now we have to suddenly fit that horses jobs and exercise in (would have been his only exercise today)
spending time redoing or continuingly showing how to do jobs (some people can be hard work)


If I think of more will let you know.

Have had brilliant loaners over years but some not so good or damn right hard work!
 
Sounds fab!

I loaned a riding school pony for a month one summer for £160. As it was summer the pony wasn't wearing a rug, was only eating grass etc but it did include one 1hr group lesson per week. Anyone under 14yrs had to have an adult with them to supervise. It was our responsibility to groom, muck out, tack up, clean tack, fill/clean water buckets etc for the pony we had on loan. We also had to poo pick the field for half an hour a week.

The pony I had was pampered but there was one girl who although was 14, had a friend riding a pony without the yard owners knowledge or permission, was jumping 0.75m + without warming up (on a pony who wasn't really suitable for jumping that height repeatedly), would leave the pony dripping in sweat, didn't pick out the pony's hooves daily as instructed by yard owner and didn't skip out the box as requested by yard owner. She was a right brat i'd like to add!


Just need to be selective with who your loaners are:D
 
Fab idea, my daughter started off loaning a riding school pony - I made her start in the winter - that way I could see if it was a genuine interest - getting up in the cold, dark, wet, not always being able to ride etc, she stuck with it and we have now owned our own ponies and horses for her for 10 years. I personally found it the best thing to do, although I am a 'horsey' mum and have been riding for over 40 years I will quite freely admit I don't know everything and it was good for her to loan under an expert eye, (She will listen to someone else but not me - 'cos I know nothing' ). Perhaps if this opportunity was available to more people then we wouldn't have so many horror stories of loans going wrong.
 
I did this when younger and actually ended up buying the pony :).
The owner was quite cute, realising which kids liked which pony and would pair them up in lessons. She would then work on the parents to loan the pony and hopefully eventually buy it.
Worked a treat. Happy one owner ponies and the riding school stock refreshed regularly.
 
I think its a great idea. When I lived abroad it was really common there (I think becasue of lots of expats only going for a few months or years).
 
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