How often do you visit a loan horse?

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Bunnymare

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I have had my horse on loan for 16 months now and his owner has visited us twice in this time, the last time being December last year. Just wondering if this is normal? As although I do send regular emails and photos I do feel like he has been abandoned on me. His owner lives half an hour away and regularly comes our way.
 
There are two ways of looking at this. Either your horse's owner trusts you completely and feels it is unnecessary to visit to check up on things, especially as you are providing regular updates, or they have lost interest and/or do not want or cannot have the horse back.
 
I go to visit mine usually every six weeks, but occasionally longer.
But she's on loan to a college so I just go to see her during the holidays (usually once every half term, twice over Xmas and Easter and a few times a week over the summer). I don't go up in term time because she works hard so the rests she gets, she deserves to chill and not have me faffing. I think if she was on loan to someone privately I wouldn't go nearly as often.
When I had a horse on full loan, I didn't see the owner once. Used to send texts and emails but they never saw the horse. Think it's normal....they must trust you!
 
She does say she trusts me and of course if there was any problems I would be in the phone straight a way. I feel that if it was the other way round I'd want to visit say every 4 months or so.
 
I had a horse on loan for almost 3 years and owner never visited. We sent Xmas cards with photos and a phone call very occasionally. I did think it was strange but we were a 2 hour drive away they had several other horses competing at home so I guess they were not as 'attached' to the horse as some owners.
 
Bunnymare, we often feel the same as you when it comes to the owners of our long term loan mare.

We have seen our owner twice in over 18 months, and both of those occasions were within the first 6 weeks of her coming to us. Despite making all the right noises at the beginning, and creating a fuss when we needed to move the mare, we have seen not a whisker. She only lives 30 mins away.

I post regular photos of the horse and her progress, but very rarely hear anything from her. Considering she has had 2 bad experiences with another horse, you would think she might make the effort, but that said she must deem us capable
 
I've had Orange mare on loan for 3 years now and her owner has probably come to see her in person 3 times. I stay in touch with phone calls, FB pictures and messages and we usually have a chat when I do, sometimes it's nice updates on progress, other times 'oh *%@£$, she's broken herself' and a discussion about treatment options and who gets to wrangle the insurance company. It suits us both that way. She trusts me to look after OM and I trust her to be there if/when OM needs both of us involved. Between work commitments and families, we'd both probably find it hard to make more time than we do but it's taken as read that we'll make time when its needed or one of us wants to chat/visit. I visited my blonde lad more often when he was out on loan, probably 3 times a year, since there were a few complications with his first couple of loan homes. Once he found M, though, I relaxed, because I could trust her to phone if there was ever a problem and she used to send letters updating us on how he was doing. She never let me down and when the time came for him to retire he came home to me. I guess I've been lucky on both ends of the situation for the most part!
 
Tiddlypom said:
Bunnymare and budley95, are you the same person? How odd.....
Click to expand...

No we're not. Not entirely sure where that's come from Tidlypom?

My sister's 12.2 pony has been out on loan for 3 years to my mum's very old family friend who also happens to live across the road. We see Charlie when she hacks him home once a week, weather dependant (she does a lot of roadwork), and her grandson rides him a lot through fields on a lead rein. The question was simply how often do you see a loan horse - when she hacks him to my parents is the answer!

For us the arrangement is perfect, I have spoken about it previously on "loan" threads. He has gone on full loan to a neighbour who adores him, and her young grandson thoroughly enjoys such a trustworthy pony to potter on. She often does mountain and moorland classes wih him and we are often at the same shows, so see him then as well. In the contract he will come back to us whenever she feels necessary - he will most likely come back when it comes to retirement. We trust this lady implicitly, but Charlie will never be sold as he has had such bad luck through life previously. He is a grumpy so and so on the ground and will kick, bite and do whatever he deems necessary if he sees you as a threat, but to ride is an angel. This lady understands this as we use dto pay her to muck out and sort out Bud and Charlie in the morning when we were at school. She's a lovely lady and has the tim o spoil him, so we allow her to treat him as her own. Depends on the relationship with the owner which unfortunately isn't stated in the post with the question!
 
Apologies Bunnymare and budley95, I misread the posts as a continuation of the same one, my fault entirely. Memo to self, engage brain before posting!

I have posted on a previous thread re visiting of loan horses that I would visit my horse very regularly and unexpectedly as I have had a loan go badly wrong after seeming to be working very well. I've had two ponies on loan from rescue charities, the first one didn't visit once in the five years I had him, the other visited once in just over a year.
 
We have one on loan,and the owner has not visited since dropping him off! We do stay in phone contact, and have a mutual friend.
We also have one out on loan, which we try to visit every 2/3 months or so, but it was more frequently in the early part of the agreement. Again, stay in touch bu text, email etc, but we do know the person who loans her, too, so have no worries if visits are less often.
 
if it is a full loan then they have full responsibility and obviously should be trusted, but personally i would try to visit every 3 months: my boy was on loan for a year, but it was a 2 hour drive away. we kept in regular email contact (every other week on average) and i would visit when could every couple of months. it would be pre-arranged but i felt confident that she wouldn't just suddenly clean him up for a visit! and obviously you can see condition/ weight easily.
i would not be overly concerned if they didn't visit their horse lots, as they have as such signed them over to you for a while. some people don't worry as much as others about their horses welfare and also hopefully tried there best to ensure it was a good home in the first place.
 
I have loaned horses out many times over the years. I currently have two brood mares out on loan and rarely see them but I totally trust the people they are with - they are as professional as myself.

I have twice been uneasy about ridden loans and turned up unannouced to be met with 'we did not know you were coming'. No that is why I have come and on both occasions I was absolutly right and I collected the horses within 24 hours.

As another poster said 'your loaner obviously trusts you'. As a loaner I have to trust my instinct and so far it has rarely been wrong!
 
My gelding has been on loan to my friend for over 8 years. I've not seen him since last December. I don't live anywhere near him now but he is kept on a field owned by my mum so she sees him now and again. She (loaner) has full control over what she does with him, decisions etc so he really is her horse now. I like to see him now and again, when I lived locally I often saw him once a week or so when I was passing, I would eat my lunch in his field gateway if I was working in the area.
 
I have a pony on loan to a friend, I've seen the pony twice in 18 months as she lives a fair few hours away, but I trust her 100%, I'm sent updates and see photos, so I have no problem letting her just get on with it. The pony is happy and healthy ( and goes far better for her than she ever did for me!!)

I also have a pony that is loaned to me, and the owner has never been to see him - but again i send her regualar updates, photos and consult her if I need advice, I like to think she trusts me with him and knows we love and will always look after him.

I think loan is a question of trust and finding the right home - easier said than done, and I appreciate I've been very lucky with the loan home my pony has found.
 
We have had my boy on loan for five & a half years now, his owner has seen him once in that time, about a year after he came to us. We don't keep in contact (not sure if we would know where to find her if we needed to as we think she has moved since he came to us). And I don't think any of us (being my mum, sister or myself) have ever even met her as he came on loan originally to a friend of my mums who was too nervous for him but we fell in love & took him over (the friend took her to see him when she came to visit but doesn't actually know her). So I'm not sure how she can judge what we are like, I just see it as her not caring very much. But it works for us & he's a completely different horse from when we took him on (in a good way of course). Luckily he's found his forever home with us.
 
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