How much notice to visit a loan horse?

When I put a horse on loan at first id show up an-announced so nothing could be hidden. The lady who loaned him was ultra nice and I was pretty certain she had nothing to hide, she also kept him at home so id call in having "been in the area".
When I was happy he was as loved and cared for as I had done I would then call and check it was ok. They didn't mind me calling in anyway though even if they weren't home.
Id be the same if I loaned a horse. I would always care for it properly and would welcome the owner any old time as long as they were happy that I might not have hours to chat if they showed up out of the blue.
 
I have a companion pony on loan, I told the owner they are free to come and visit whenever they want (unless they want me to be there in which case just phone) its on a public footpath anyway so pony is on display for anyone that knows her to see she is doing ok. She had a couple of friends help deliver her so I said they were also welcome any time. As yet I have not had any arranged visits but I post pictures on facebook at least every couple of weeks anyway and have occasional updates over there :-)
 
I have two on loan from WHW and one on loan from a relatively local lady. The WHW horses will get visited with no notice, and a note left on the gate to say the inspector has been. If they have concerns they will then contact me to arrange a meeting at the field I assume. I'm not too sure if the pony will be visited by her owner, but the field is by a road and I have told the owner she can jump over the gate to see pony whenever she likes. If she wants a chat she will no doubt ring me first to arrange to come over, but we are friends on FB and I put lots of pics on there for the owner to see.

I have no problem whatsoever with the owners of the horses going to check on them with no notice and with me not being present - I have nothing to hide.
 
No notice required - at least not with horses I have borrowed. Their owners are welcome to come, at any time, without notice. If you suspect something is wrong, and give notice, you can bet your boots your horse will be all dolled up for your arrival - full haynet, nice grass, groomed well, whatever.

If you are loaning, my strong advice would be to tell his new home that that's how you will operate - you needn't put it as cynically as I have - just say "When I'm along your way I'll drop in" or words to that effect. If they are good loaners you will have nothing to worry about anyway. If they are bad loaners, that may keep them on your toes. But you would not let your horse go to a home like that anyway!!!
 
We used to need a little bit of warning so we could let the people who owned the yard know someone they wouldn't know was appearing because otherwise they'd have been refused entry. And we liked to be there so we could have a proper chat about what was going on and what our plans were so they could see if they wanted to come to any shows with us. We loved it when our pony's owners came to shows to cheer us on, especially my old horse's as she was so nice and funny (and understanding that Cheeky quite often used the dressage to showcase his ministry of funny walks!).

Now, Reg lives with his owners and Al manages their yard so he's seen by them every day and they clearly trust her to care for him well. Tango, who is on schooling livery, can be visited whenever and his owner comes to the odd show to see how he looks.

I think it helped (we rarely got any home visits, and let alone surprise ones!) that we would send regular emails/ letters/ texts and phone them and send photos and let them know what was occurring and who was competing where... It was so open I think owners knew we were looking after their horses very well!
 
I haven't got a horse on loan but if I did I would be ok with the owner popping over whenever, as long as they knew we might not be there so it could be a wasted journey if we are out riding or competing.
Also, I wouldn't want people going in the field unaccompanied if I'm not there so would be best to let me know if they are coming, but if the horse was stabled, no problem.
I've had someone else's horse before and the owner came when she liked, sometimes I was there sometimes I wasn't, but that was someone else's property and insurance so made no difference to me.
 
If I had a horse out on loan, I would carry on making regular spot checks for the duration of the loan, although I would possibly word it in a less threatening way, such as 'I'll pop in when I'm passing.' I had a loan go badly wrong when I went away to uni, for the first year all went really well and I stopped visiting as often. Then unbeknownst to me the teenage loaners mother left home, and my mare was virtually abandoned. First we knew of it was in a phone call from the teenager asking us to collect the mare ASAP as 'she has got really thin', we and the vet got there with hours to spare before the mare would have died of dehydration. A horrible, horrible experience all round.

I recently fostered a youngster from one of the big rescue charities as weaning companion for my home bred youngster. She's gone back now to find her 'forever' home after 15 months with me being treated as one of ours. They only visited once that I can remember, and that was with a fortnights notice, but I kept in regular contact with them and I had the vet out to her 3 times for various things (rescue charity picked up vets fees tab, I did everything else inc dentist, farrier, worming etc.) so they knew she was seen by the vet, so were perhaps quite relaxed.

My sister had a companion pony on loan from HAPPA, they did random spot checks., which I do think are better.
 
Agree with everything that's been said so far. When my chap was out on loan, his loaner was fine with me dropping by to see him whenever I was in the area, whether she was there or not. In practice, I think I only did this once. Usually I sent her a text and asked when we could both be there, we'd go and see him, sometimes ride together, and just have a chat. The girly I have on loan now, her owner has always texted to say when she'd like to come - sometimes it's a few weeks notice, sometimes the next day. I'm fine with her dropping by to see Orange without me (though it helps to be able to text my YO just to let her know that someone else is going to be up and handling 'my' horse). I think you need the 'without warning' clause in a contract, but for courtesy's sake - and assuming you've never had cause for concern - it's nice to give a bit of notice.
 
Lolo said:
We used to need a little bit of warning so we could let the people who owned the yard know someone they wouldn't know was appearing
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Yes this is something to think about, and important ....... though as a YO if I knew a horse on the yard was on loan, I'd very likely liaise direct with the owner (or catch them on a visit or whatever) and tell them to "help themselves" and to feel free to visit anytime if they needed.

I've got a mare on loan at the moment; the owner and I have known each other since schooldays, and she basically leaves me to my own devices - but if there's something I need to involve her with she's always right there, which is nice. She and I still both live in the local area and know lots of each other's mutual horsey friends and contacts; again a safeguard if you send out a horse on loan, always good to make friends with the (new) farrier, YO, vet etc.
 
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