Horse loan!

H

happyhorse!

New User
Joined
29 April 2010
Messages
1
Visit site
Hey im new,

Thought id post as I went to collect my horse off a 6mth loan yest and when I got there he was locked in a little dark stable looking really sorry for himself and very underweight! Im so upset, when he went he was looking so good and now he just looks awful!

Has anyone else had a bad experience loaning their horse out? It has definately made me realise I will not be doing that again!! :(
 
There are probably plenty on here that say not to loan, but please remember not ALL loaners treat horses like that!
I had a TB mare on loan and I spent a fortune on farrier fees and supplements (she had bad TB feet!!) and a saddle (didn't get one from owner!) and I loved her to bits!!

I hope your pony is OK soon!
 
It's people like that that give all loaners a bad name, for gods sake if they are struggling why not just ring you up!!

I have had my current horse on loan for 3 years, owners never call but they also no exactly where she is & they can drop in unannounced whenever they want. As far as im concerned she is in my field with my ponies so she will be looked after as if one of mine!!! I know its hard after such a horrible experience but don't rule out future loaning altogether! I hope your horse hasn't suffered too much & is back to full health soon.
 
I have had a bad experience loaning where after giving notice to wanting to send him back i was accused of not caring for the horse, this was completely untrue and was confirmed by a vet, his owner was 3 hours away and didn't see him at all while he was with me.

I have also had a very good experience of loaning for a year and have just bought the pony i was loaning :)

I also have successfully loaned a horse out in the past who was then sold.

Not all loans go wrong, sorry to hear about your bad experience though.
 
Yes we had a beautiful TB mare, 6 years old. She went out on a loan with view to buy, should have been 3 months, kept getting extended due to money matters (must have mug tatooed on my forhead). She was fine wnen we checked at 1 month and three months, then I fell pregnant and didnt get round to checking her, thinking, well they want to buy her so they will treat her well. Nearly a year after taking her they informed us she wasnt going to make the grade for their daughter to advance her jumping career.

They brought back a stressed, skinny, dull coated, matted haired thing that wouldnt have looked out of place on a truck to to the meat marklet, plus she wouldnt even put a foot over a pole. The farrier didnt recognise her and the saddler couldnt get over the wastage on her back, the templates were so different.
It took severla months to get her physicaly and mentally back to normality
On the other hand we have loaned several companion ponies and got on very wll and had no problems. The onluy sad thing is when you have to say good bye to them. Hopefuly it wont happen with our current loan as she is a WHW pony.
 
My mare was on loan for a year to a groom at the yard i kept my 2yr old at. I kept an eye on her and she was looking fine then went lame (never been lame in her life). After 2 months of her being on box rest and nothing being done i interveened and took her to my farrier who immediately spotted what was wrong and shod her accordingly, after which she came sound straight away.

I have now spent probably in the region of over £800 in the 6 weeks i have had her back in corrective shoeing/physio and now a new saddle (being fitted next week) as her feet were so badly shod that they were what was making her lame (which i knew hence i took her back to my old farrier to rectify). Her back and neck were so tight that she could hardly move forwards properly let alone in a straight line, but now after lots of physio and lunging she is finally able to start bending through her body again. Her saddle was supposedly checked by the loaners fitter at the beginning of March, when i had my fitter check it it was far too narrow. Saddle is now sold and i am picking up my new saddle on Tuesday. This is a horse that has a National and Reserve British Dressage title. Heartbreaking to say the least.....

As she was on the yard where i was (both mine are now on a lovely new yard) i did check on her weekly when i was down, apperance wise she looked fine, but physically she obviously wasnt :( I trusted loaner (as she was a friend aswell), but have learnt my lesson the hard way, i would never loan out a horse again.
 
Last edited:
Quite often it’s the other way round though as well, the person taking the horse on loan ends sorting a hell of lot of the problems out, owners are not always as honest about things.

I think its important to communicate with the owner/loaner on a weekly basis, as a person that has a horse on loan and one in the past, I go out of my way to update the owner on everything because its my duty to do so and I they should be taking an interest…whether they like it or not, it’s their horse at the end of the day, just because its out of sight, it shouldn’t be out of mind.

Sorry to hear about your horse, I'd be very upset also.
 
Yes, I think it is important not to judge all loaners/loanees as uncaring. I have both loaned my pony out, and had a horse on loan and both have been very positive experiences. The pony went to a lovely girl who adored him and although I kept regular check-ups, I could rest assured in the knowledge that he was enjoying himself teaching a child to ride - which was what he was good at! The horse I had on loan was an eventer and really taught me alot about competing horses rather than ponies and I was very sad when he had to go back to his owner as my studies took up too much time and I couldnt do him justice. Please don't think all loaning experiences are bad!!!!
 
Yes, we have one on loan and she is a totally different horse, with a much higher value, with some miles on her clock, money on her card and no expense spared. She came with a bridle. She has a full, clean and fitted-to-her 'wardrobe', the roomiest accomodation you can imagine and the same love and attention our own get.

These careless people make my blood boil. I have to say that if I was to consider loaning OUT, no inspection would be to thorough for me and I'd expect to be able to make unannounced visits - and jolly well make them, too!
 
happyhorse! said:
Hey im new,

Thought id post as I went to collect my horse off a 6mth loan yest and when I got there he was locked in a little dark stable looking really sorry for himself and very underweight! Im so upset, when he went he was looking so good and now he just looks awful!

Has anyone else had a bad experience loaning their horse out? It has definately made me realise I will not be doing that again!! :(
Click to expand...

Did you visit at all during these 6 months? if you did was he well then? from your original post it sounds as if you saw nothing of him from leaving him until collecting him 6 months later?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top