Has anyone loaned out a horse thats ended up been neglected?

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MyLuckyStar

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Just wondering really.
I’ve loaned horses for a good few years and have always treated them as if they were my own. They’ve always had everything they’ve needed (and not necessarily needed!) and I’ve kept in regular contact with their owners including uploading & tagging photos on facebook etc.
We’ve also loaned horses out both at our yard and off our yard, which hasn’t always worked out.

The first been December 2011 when my boyfriend decided that he needed a bigger horse so had my friends stepdads 16.1 on loan, as the mare he owns loves her work he decided to advertise her for loan. Someone local (who we kind of knew and had brought a horse off in the past) responded to her advert, came to try her and had her on loan from November 7th, by December 1st we’d got her back. The loanee (a lady in her 50s) informed us that she couldn’t afford to keep her any longer as she was costing quite a lot been a big horse (15.3), we said we’d had her back but would possibly have to advertise her for sale as my boyfriend couldn’t afford two horses and she was too small for him to ride now, the lady then said she’s definitely buy her if she was up for sale – which is when alarm bells started ringing! He decided he couldn’t bear to part with her so we had her back and the lady delivered her back to ours (in a full neck turnout rug). We unloaded her, had her stuff back and the lady went. We took the mares rug off and found her very underweight and covered from head to toe in lice . She was also very reluctant to be stabled for any amount of time, no matter how short! We later found out that she’d been stabled for 22 hours every day with 2 haynets and a small feed whilst out on loan (we did go and check on her but everytime she was out in the field!).

We tried re-loaning her off the yard once she was better but she wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink, would walk backwards and would just either stand still or walk in constant circles so again we had her back. She now won’t settle anywhere other than our yard so is on part loan to a 12 year old girl and is very well looked after.
I just wonder what goes through peoples heads when they take horses on loan? I’d never dream of doing anything like that to any horse and people who do now make it difficult for people who can’t afford to buy outright 
 
How awful for you and the horse! :( ...especially now as it has resulted in you not being able to sell her!

Some people absolutely anger me and I will never understand what goes through their mind! ...I also have a horse on full loan who I treat like my own and she would never go without, her owner is fantastic and so lovely and it's a shame that people like the one's you have mentioned give the rest of us such a bad reputation.

Anyhow...sorry again to hear of your situation and all the best for the future, hopefully in time your mare will come around.
 
One of my horses is very special to me, he had retired from competition and I was finding myself short of time to really give him any attention. I tentatively advertised him for loan as a companion/light hack and had a response from someone reasonably local.

When they came to visit they were fine but I had a little niggly feeling about the situation.
When I went to inspect there place is was obvious they were running the set up on a shoestring. I think I knew in my heart I shouldn't let him go there but my head was saying that I was being a complete snob, and that there are plenty of people/places with a rough exterior that really love and care for their horses.

So I said they could have him on the priviso they met 2 conditions 1) they cleared the ragwort in the field and 2) they repaired/made safe an area of fencing. I delivered him a week later and they had done what I asked.

A week after that I checked up and it was 'ok' although I wasn't convinced my horse was happy.

A did an unnanouced spot check a week later - I arrived on a slightly wet but mild August at about 11am. I found one of their horses still in it's stable deep in s*it and with no hay/water. I found my horse in a 450g full neck turnout plastered in white foam, depressed and with shocking weight loss ... for a fatty that evented all his life on chaff & balancer.

I drove home, got my trailer and removed him from their care.

I'll never go against my gut feeling again, whether I'm being snobby or not.
 
Never had a problem but I have been accused of neglecting one that I had loaned to me which was very upsetting and complete rubbish
 
One of my horses belongs to a friend who lives in another country. I was not looking for a horse to loan (having 2 already) but knew and loved him so when she phoned to say that the loan home he was at didnt want him anymore I jumped at the chance.

Well, he was in such a state - in fact owner flew home to check him over. They claimed his state was due to the fact he as a TB (yeah? so), old 17 (really?) and not really a good doer in winter (it was October!). The horse was a hat rack - he had been rugged but with a high wither and rug never being removed he had a septic sore on his wither, they claimed he had been wormed - he was pot bellied and his coat was dull and you should have seen the worms that came out of him but the worst thing about it all the horse was depressed! Never seen him look like that. He would walk into paddock dragging his feet and not move from the gate all day. About a month later I asked our YM if I could put him in with our mares (there was a no mix rule but ours were on their own and knew this horse from before). From the day he joined them he got his spark back. Took six months to get his condition right but he has never ever looked like that again.

I have had him 3 years now and he is not 100% sound but I do all I can for him to keep him comfy and happy till she gets back as I love him dearly and he owes me nothing.

It made me think twice about loaning a horse out though even though I am sure there are other people out there like me who are good loanees.
 
I loaned out my horse of a lifetime, CCI* eventer to a good friend.

He came back (via a 4month stay in horsepital) with severe injuries caused by their inadequate fencing, and soon after died as a result of those injuries.

I don't think I will EVER get over it, and its certainly made me think twice about loaning.

:(
 
Yes, I put pics of my boy on here when he came home from loan in 2011 in a state.....& yet again at the end of last year i was caught again, sadly by a friend, so i was more complacent with the situation than i should have been. Im sure people must see me coming or i am just a really bad judge of character.
This is my boy i had home a couple of months ago.

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& this is other chap from 2011.

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Its sad really because the minority ruin it for the majority, if i loaned again i would do things so differently, regardless of whether the loaner was a friend or a friend of a friend, or provided me with a long list of references.
 
Not me personally but a friend has :( she sent her boy off to be rebacked on loan to a "friend" when she went to vist he always had two thick rugs on. She decide to take rugs off one day, saw she had a bone bag of a pony, whisked him home striaght away. He was in a real sorry state :( god knows what she done to him but he is unrideable now.
 
I haven't loaned out a horse, but I have 2 on permanent loan to me. One of these came from a previous loan home where she had ended up being neglected. The friend that picked her up was horrified when I unloaded her and took her rug off! It has taken me a good 18 months to rectify all her problems, her owner doesn't live close by and hadn't seen her horse at the previous home for sometime, she was in touch with the "loanee" who assured her all was well. It wasn't until she announced that she no longer had the time for her that the situation became clear.

It never fails to astound me that people see fit to treat horse's in such a way, but it also saddens me that there are so many horror stories out there as it puts those of us who do our utmost for our "loan" horse's appear to be in the minority.
 
This sort of thing gives loanees a bad name, I loaned for years both the loaners I had went back in the same great condition I got them in. Granted the owners would drop by time to time with no warning but I didnt mind that, I mean why should I? When I took on a horse i treated it as my own, if they needed something I got it, and many things for them they didnt need :/

I understand alot of people want references but for a first time loanee that is impossible, and alot of first timers are fantastic, I would just say visit regularly. :)
 
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Yes I have loaned, I don't know if he was neglected actually, he just disappeared into thin air never to be seen again, this was in the pre-computer/internet days so it was a lot harder (read impossible) to trace him, I learned that the same mother and daughter team had loaned quite a few horses which also vanished. Presumably the horse/s were sold on/stolen in other words.:mad:

Lesson learned, as someone said, the minority spoil it for the majority.

Never again will I loan a horse. People can part share (and pay for the privilege - on my terms) at my yard, but otherwise the only way they leave me is in a knacker van or when they are sold.

Neither will I ever consider loan with view to buy (unless part share here) and I most certainly will not let a horse go away from me on trial.
 
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My mum put her first pony out on loan, one night they received a phone call to say the mare had collic and the loaners had returned her to our yard. They rushed to sort the mare and found her tied to the yard gate down a lane. She was a tough old mare and lived into her 30s. But some people shock me.
 
I have loaned from and to several people over the years. We let our 12 hand Welsh B to a family in Cumbria many years ago (pre mobile days) I became concerned when the contact stopped . I took our box to the address where they lived and found no one at home except a teenage boy still in his bed and when I asked where my pony was and where his mother was I was told they were at a pony club rally. After driving round country lanes in Cumbria for an hour I found the rally but no pony. He was apparantly in a field miles from their home at the back of a rural police station! I found him eventually, on the verge of laminitis. He had gone on loan with masses of gear which I never got back. The only thing in the box was a rope which was hastily turned into a makeshift halter and he ran up the ramp. Incidentally no one from the police station came out to ask why I was taking the pony!
I also let a stallion go on breeding loan go to someone recommended to me as being a knowledgeable person. She got him in September, looking more like a brood mare than a stallion, he was a tad round. He was dead by the following March. He was skeletal. She had put him in a stable and never fed him. She was fined £500 and banned from keeping horses for ten years. Big deal. I will never loan anything again unless it stays on my yard and I can monitor the loan.
 
Yes I loaned out my boy years ago. I advertised him, had a contract in place, vetted the home, got character references for loanee (woman in her 50's).I thought everything was good. I visited fortnightly - sometimes unannounced. He went with new tack, rugs etc.

I was told he would be used to hack about the estate, which was fine as he was only 5 and I thought hacking would be great for him. He was to have a stable - which was newly built, a field which would be his alone.

Anyway about 3 months down the line I get a phone call from livery yard owner that the lass had not paid any livery, he was being left in his stable most days, the field was not being poop scooped when he did get out.

Contract stated that livery bill was not my concern etc Livery owner was very understanding. So I went to pick him up and it became obvious that he had never been ridden as tack was green with mould, his rugs were minging from muck in stable etc. When I visited he was never in his own stable - she had popped him in to another liveries....

Surprisingly loanee was unavailable that day. The one good thing though was that the livery owner had ensured he was fed and watered.

Never again will I loan out... I ended up feeling so guilty. I thought I had done the right thing - contract, vetting people, checking up - didn't make a difference...:(
 
My friend loaned her horse out and then two weeks months later got a call to say they were bringing her horse back as it wasn't suitable
When they dropped her off she had leg bandages on over her knees and hers hocks, after people had gone my friend removed bandages to find her mares hock was twice the size it should be. Called vet who came next mornin (by then was lame) turned out she had been given Bute to hide the lameness when she was dropped off. Horse was left with permanent damage and nasty blemish!

My other friend loaned his horse out came back four months later a bag of bones and with a nasty injury to her side

It's a shame cos spoils it for the genuine people out there x
 
I let my boy out on loan two years ago; the terms were that he'd be kept by the loanee at a riding stables, on working livery, which was in retrospect a big mistake from the word go as it meant that basically there were two "loans" in operation, i.e. mine to the loanee, then she in effect was "loaning" him to the riding school to be on working livery.

Anyway, my boy's got sweet itch, and both the loanee and the YO/YM were aware of this, it was in the contract that he had to wear his sweet itch rug at all times whether turned out or just standing in.

The first weekend he was there, it was very hot, and some kids who were just hanging around in the yard "helping out" (who, bless them, didn't know/weren't made aware) turned him out without his SI rug on - during the space of the weekend he'd rubbed his mane raw, it was horrible and bleeding, and he was just frantic, didn't know what to do with himself.

YO said that he'd had SI and been sent up to the yard in that condition; I said that the horse had been sent with a FULL mane and I could verify that with not only my own vet if he care to speak to him but also farrier and many other people too, plus photo's to prove he'd had a full mane.

I was heartbroken, I'd spent so much effort looking after his sweet itch and always being so careful, and over a weekend my poor horse was in an awful state.

Anyway, I couldn't have him back home immediately as just hadn't got the room at the time, but the numpty girl that had him on loan notified me after only five weeks that she couldn't continue the loan for various reasons; by which time I was in a position to bring him back home again, which is what I did. THEN I found out that she hadn't paid a penny for his livery since the day he arrived :(

So I'd never ever loan a horse out again. He was at equestrian college for two years and was kept in tip-top condition - and that's the ONLY loan I'd ever consider doing again TBH.

But a private loan, nope, never again.
 
I have had mixed experiences. I loaned out my little welsh b to two seperate loan homes, who were both fantastic. Both done on word of mouth and with a contract. In fact I sold him to the second loaner and get regular updates, and can visit him whenever I want. A fantastic result as this little man had been neglected at the start of his life, by the people that bought him from the breeder, he took a lot of turning around but was a fantastic pony on the end.

The other story is sadder, we loaned my OH old school master pony, used to be full up 14.2hh and had done EVERYTHING! He was going to be a light confidence giving hack and help a young nervous teenager learn to ride. We visited him nearly every month and the first two years were great, then things slipped drastically. Long story short we brought him home pronto. He came back with his saddle, it was a beautiful Dever saddle it had been completely trashed, and two rugs which were knackered and didn't fit him, and this boy left home with a full wardrobe, he was mega spoilt. But the worst thing was we brought him home at the end of the summer as thin as a rake. Never fed a pony so much in my life. Glad we kept an eye on him.
 
Such sad stories. I have had 3 horses on loan and felt more pressure if anything to keep them in tip top condition. My last loan horse sadly proved to be unable to compete at the level I wanted to due to existing leg problems but went back back to the owner fit and well. She took him out competing Novice dressage several times and he won each time out. They loaned him again, loaner had problems - he was a sharp competition bred horse whose body sadly couldn't keep up - and he came back to the owners half the horse he was with massive behavioural problems and ended up being put down'. I feel so sad to think of how he left me in Feb, fit, schooled and loving life - by the following March he'd been put to sleep. He was only 11 :(
I had two great loan experiences in my teens, lovely older horses who taught me so much and I turn kept them at a fantastic riding school and got lots of help and learned lots
 
Yes :mad:
I loaned out my late mare to a BHS approved riding school when I relocated and was looking for work.
I could just about forgive the lack of feeding and worming, but could not forgive the neglect to her feet. Her shoes were barely hanging on to her feet when I got her back, it must have been going on a while, and all the time that they were letting her feet get long, split and damaged beyond repair they were jumping her round cross country courses :mad:
It took years to get her feet looking 'normal', sadly they had damaged them beyond repair as she suffered some rotation due to this lack of care in one of her front feet.

Conversely, I did loan her in my final year of uni and they cared for her impeccably, that was at a University mind you, not a riding school
 
We have had one loan pony and one LWVTB fall through for the complete opposite reason - we looked after the horse better than the owners and they didn't like us arranging vet, back man, dentist, saddler etc. Getting professional advice on a problem with loan horse - youngster, and changing his tack to something that didn't hurt him!

I know how it looks - that we must be awful horsewomen and have been doing something seriously wrong in both cases, but we discussed, and asked advice on each and every thing we did, took advice from professionals and long term owners, and really really tried to do right by both these boys. It has been incredibly upsetting, and has completely put us off ever loaning again! I think we just had the bad luck to meet 2 bad owners in a row - 1st loan pony has been sold on twice since we had him - he's 3yo, we offered to buy him but teenage owner refused, presumably out of spite. 2nd horse is now back on 2 half filled haynets to last him 14hrs (he's 17hh!!!), and will probably not have the back man, dentist and saddler that he desperately needs. His owner went to huge lengths today to avoid even having to meet my eye (long story), but says it all really!

We are now saving up all our 'horse maintenance money' and will buy outright when the right one comes along!
 
I had a pony on loan when I was 10, we had him for several years, until he was outgrown and he had a good life and was a fab pony. My 14.2hh was loaned out twice and both times he was fine and well looked after.

I loaned a pony when I was 16, he was a 15 yo odd looking little 14.2hh TB. He was poorly before we got him with a virus but he was on livery at a yard and basically being looked after and ridden byt the girls on the yard, his owner barely saw him. I had him on initial loan for 6 mths. This weedy looking TB turned out to be a fantastis jumper (you wouldn't have thought looking at him) although he wouldn't bother jumping unless it was over 3ft at least! He was very laid back but put fence up to height and a spark ignited. He put on a good lot of weight with us and started to finally look good - he had a broken nose so always looked a bit funny. His owner even came over to ride him and was happy with how he was and she was perfectly pleasant.

towards the end of the loan (maybe half way through) she asked if we wanted to buy him. At this point we didn't know just how good he was. We declined as she wanted £1500 which, back then was a lot of money for a 15 yo. What we'd also quickly realised was he hated being away from other horse - if in a stable and he couldn't see the others he was stress really badly. When travelling to a show he would stress and would drop weight ridiculously quickly.

The owner moved form Yorkshire down to Oxford and the loan was up so she arranged for a transporter to pick him up and we were to leave him at a local livery yard for the transporter to pisk him up. Now we knew he would stress (it still upsets me now thinking of when we left him there) as the stables would stress him, the travelling (5 hrs approx) would stress him and he would lose weight. I supplied my travelling boots and off he went the next day.

Will, later that evening we got a call form the owner saying how WE'D neglected him and how he was emaciated!!! We were so angry and upset about this - she reckoned her vet had said he had been neglected and she was looking to actually take action against us!!! IF this woman had known ANYTHING about her onw pony she would have never have arrangd such a journey for him. I wish to this day we'd bought him and I dread to think what happened to him and how he ended his days. :(

He probably had the best 6 mths with us than he'd had for years so it was horribly upsetting for this so called owner to accuse us of something that was completely untrue.

Thought I'd just put this story in to show another side to it really.

I never got my travelling boots back either!!
 
These are my horses, I've got the bay on loan from a friend I met through Facebook. The cremello I had on loan for 2 years before buying her.

She lives out 24/7 rugged up so took her rug off specifically to take photos of her naked to show her owner.
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This was taken when I had her on loan, the bottom photo is of her before I had her and been ridden by her owner:

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What a lot of horror stories - why can people be so neglectful. The moral of this seems to be to only loan with a massive contract and to keep a regular eye on things.

I was considering loaning out MJ when he was in work, but couldn't find anyone I was happy with - although I didn't look too hard. Now, after hearing these, I'm glad I didnt.

It gives loanees a bad name and tarnishes everyone. I might look to get a horse on loan in the future, and wouldn't dream of treating it any different from my own, in fact I'd probably be so paranoid about it being someone else horse.
 
Patterdale said:
I loaned out my horse of a lifetime, CCI* eventer to a good friend.

He came back (via a 4month stay in horsepital) with severe injuries caused by their inadequate fencing, and soon after died as a result of those injuries.

I don't think I will EVER get over it, and its certainly made me think twice about loaning.

:(
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Oh my how awful :( :( so sorry to hear.
 
I think these stories are nasty but a real shame as they will put people off loaning. My oldie is in a lovely loan home, he's getting more exercise than he would with me which keeps him ticking over and the lady really enjoys the gentle hacking a few times a week.

My farrier knew her, she's only 20 mins away so I went monthly to start with then cut down to 3 monthly after a year, I drive past at random times when I'm in the area and peek at him over the hedges (she knows I do this), contract in place and she knows if there is any problem at all I'll pick him up in a heartbeat.
There are good ones out there.
 
An awful lot of horror stories here, it must be awful to find your horse in the state some of these are coming back. I dont condone any of the treatment by the loanees on here, but, surely if you are loaning out your horse, you should be keeping an eye on it? I know if I ever loaned a horse out, I would be checking every so often. When some are saying the horse came back like a hat rack, surely that didnt happen overnight? maybe if the loaners kept a better eye on the horses loaned out, some of these problems wouldnt occur?
 
navaho said:
Yes, I put pics of my boy on here when he came home from loan in 2011 in a state.....& yet again at the end of last year i was caught again, sadly by a friend, so i was more complacent with the situation than i should have been. Im sure people must see me coming or i am just a really bad judge of character.
This is my boy i had home a couple of months ago.

2012-11-08-251_zps47dab925.jpg


& this is other chap from 2011.

007-3.jpg


Its sad really because the minority ruin it for the majority, if i loaned again i would do things so differently, regardless of whether the loaner was a friend or a friend of a friend, or provided me with a long list of references.
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Your photos are horrendous poor horses :( It must be enough to put you off loaning for life.
 
Im looking at having something on loan to share with mom. She's an instructor, I've been on or around horses since before I could walk (26 now!), moms OH, where the horse would be kept, is hugely knowledge, good land, sheep for company, lots of hacking... Its people like those you folks have encountered that makes finding a loan that doesn't have to stay on its current yard near impossible!
 
Some real horror stories here. However, there are just as many neglected horses that are OWNED by their abusers. Once you sell a horse, it is totally out of your control. At least with laoning, you can go and check it regularly and remove it should you be concerned. I have had four horses on full loan. All have been cared for as well as my own horses.
 
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