HEROS- re-homing ex racehorses

Dottie

Dottie

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Anyone have and experience with this charity? :)

I am looking for a horse on loan, to no avail, and i saw an ad for them in this weeks H&H and wondered whether they were worth contacting?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. :)
 
Hi Dottie,

I was in touch with this charity about 4 months ago.

They take a lot of details from you over the phone and then invite you down to their site. You must make a donatation of £30 per visit.

You then ride the school master and they assess your riding and match you to a horse.

The horses are completely rehabilitated and you make a donation of £1500 when you take the horse away.

Hope this helps!

Kay
 
What sort of loan are you looking for? HEROS are looking for a home for life - are you able to offer that? If so, fantastic. If not, you may be better looking for loan horses on specific websites - horsequest seem to have quite a big section - or at local saddlers, word of mouth etc. Loans can be great but depending on your level and what you want to achieve, having a time scale of loan is often quite useful! Be patient - you will find one!
 
Thank you! Did you find a suitable horse?
I must admit i was going down the loaning option because i can't afford to buy one at the moment!
Oh well, back to the drawing board!
 
Yes I did, it wasn't with the charity though, they didn't have anything that could take more than 12st and I needed something my OH could ride.

Try preloved, horsehunter and equineadverts. A horse on part loan will cost you about £125, a horse on full loan will cost double it.

Good luck!!
 
I looked at them years ago and decided not to as you had to pay out to loan it, which completely defeated the point of loaning! You can buy a half reasonable horse for that anyway! As it's turned out, I've recently bought an ex-racehorse straight off the yard for peanuts.

If you're looking for a loan, try horsemart, horsetoloan, horsehunter, nip down to your local feed merchant/tack shop and either put an ad up or look at the ones there. You will find one, im sure! Put a post on this forum asking for a loan and what you're looking for - put it in more than one section though as I know some people don't venture out of the competition or breeding section etc!
 
you can BUY ex-racehorses for next to nothing, a couple of hundred quid and they're yours! Ascot sales are usually the cheapest, but go around your local trainers and point to point trainers and see what they have for sale - you'd be more likely to get the truth about the horses temprements from the yard rathger than at the sales.
 
Rowenna said:
you can BUY ex-racehorses for next to nothing, a couple of hundred quid and they're yours! Ascot sales are usually the cheapest, but go around your local trainers and point to point trainers and see what they have for sale - you'd be more likely to get the truth about the horses temprements from the yard rathger than at the sales.
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I agree with this. I'm so happy that I got my mare. She's 5 and bought her for 1200, she is green and has driven me round the bend over the past couple of weeks but she's so inteligant and the easiest horse I've managed to bring on lol.

She plays tricks on me but what horses don't when you first get them lol. Never tried the sales when looking for one though. Great horses! Best thing I've ever done was bought her lol xx
 
I agree with buying straight from the trainer. I have two - from different trainers. Both are lovely horses and I was told the truth about them and what to expect, and both are as described.
 
Whoopit said:
I looked at them years ago and decided not to as you had to pay out to loan it, which completely defeated the point of loaning! You can buy a half reasonable horse for that anyway! As it's turned out, I've recently bought an ex-racehorse straight off the yard for peanuts.

If you're looking for a loan, try horsemart, horsetoloan, horsehunter, nip down to your local feed merchant/tack shop and either put an ad up or look at the ones there. You will find one, im sure! Put a post on this forum asking for a loan and what you're looking for - put it in more than one section though as I know some people don't venture out of the competition or breeding section etc!
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Just that you are slightly missing the point of Heros - their horses have been retrained and are a known quantity. Absolutely agree you can buy a cheaper option directly through a yard but you are taking more of a risk - the risk and groundwork has been put in by the charity and that is what you are paying for. I have bought 2 un raced well bred TB's from Ascot - both cost me over £2500 each and both turned out to be really nice horses and totally not what I wanted for eventing. Also, realistically took me best part of a year, being an amateur, to change these horses from racehorses to going out and competing happily. It was something I had always wanted to do but I did a lot better when I put monies away and then bought a mare who had already been out eventing!
 
Probably worth adding "other retraining yards are available", sounding a bit like those TV programmes when they don't want to be seen to be advertising..... for those who don't want to take on a retraining-from-scratch project (becuase lets face it for every success story there is one that is tricky to do!) and want a guaranteed horse with the basics programmed.
 
I bought an ex-racer and completely turned him around! He was a lot to handle when I first bought him tho so be prepared for what you might be in for. He's ace now and really excels at cross country (he was point to point). He is still a very stressy horse and can't be left on his own as he weaves but I love him to bits :D
 
I think someone has already pointed this out but...HEROES shouldn't be disregarded. They completely rehabilitate race horses so they are ready to ride away. The agreement is on a loan basis but that is only to stop someone paying £1500 a piece and flogging them on. You get the horse for life.

The OP has also mentioned she doesn't have the money to buy a horse and is just looking to loan
 
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My ex-racer was bought by my work directly off the trainer, he wasn’t suited to our job so I bought him off my boss. I paid £1,500 for him and my boss paid less than that.

Best thing I ever did, not the easiest thing but I wouldn’t change him. I have to say, owning a tb is like having manic depression… you’re either up or down, there’s not usually a middle ground! :D

(On a high at the moment, went for our first solo hack yesterday, took the OH on foot and horse was perfect, even though the scary farm!)
 
Luci07 said:
Presume they must be a charity as the £100 won't even begin to cover their costs...!
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no they are not a charity....i have full ownership, you have them on a 3 month loan period, then they come out and you get the horse signed over to you (including passport) they only thing is you have to sign a non racing agreement and tell them if you ever sell the horse but thats it, whereas the HEROS horses always remain the property of them.
as fair as im aware darleys is just a racing yard, that is predominatly owned by sheik mohammed (excuse the spelling!) and all he wants is good homes for his horses when they cannot race anymore. my boy i currently have just was not fast enough, but is bred out of the sire dansilli (after reading up on him he was a amazing racehorse and now makes thousands at stud). have a look on their website, as they are a fantastic place with excellent staff, and great facalities.
 
i went with a friend to HEROS, as its about 5 miles from us. If im honest, i wasnt overly impressed. They are not as schooled as I thought they would be, some only a few weeks. the agreement if I am right is £1500 then an amount per month. It just left me cold really.

Darley looks really nice, I would think that if an owner sends a horse there they have to pay a donation which would help with the costs.

there is also greatwood, and Moorecroft
 
I have never paid for a horse yet, i have found them through word of mouth or local tack shops/free ads advert. Advertise wanted everywhere you can, if you have horsey friends on facebook post in your status you're looking for a horse to loan. I have had a grade b showjumper, an ex advanced eventer schoolmistress, an alrounder and a very genuine ex broodmare from Germany brought back into work, all from people looking for a good home for their horses.
 
Seahorse said:
My friend works in a racing yard and was given a smashing little mare for nothing!
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I work at a racing yard and the 2 girls i work with both had their favorite horses for free when they finished racing- both have proven to be amazing and really lovely horses.
Its certainly worth asking around at any local trainers. You get the good ones where rehoming their horses to a good home is a priority rather than money.

I on the other hand paid for mine and he has been nowhere near as easy!!
 
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