I Really Need to Hear some Positive Loan Stories

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Dublinhorse

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Hi everyone from a long term lurker

I need to hear some positive loan stories folks!

My Long term loaner (who up till now seemed to be fine, regular visits horse looked well) called me three weeks ago and said they wanted to finish the loan due to finances and no longer being able to cope. I said "Fine I totally understand and will come and collect him this weekend" They then went totally postal on me and I was being slagged from here to Christmas time as the ex loaner had apparantly "had thier heart ripped out" that I have taken him away :confused:

I can only assume I was not following the script that had been written in the ex loaners head and was actually supposed to say "no problem I will pick up all the bills for your hobby and you just carry on ".

I have spent the last three weeks sorting out the fallout, having to pay the 12 weeks livery owed to the YO where he was stabled which needed paying off before I could move the horse back home, poor chap needing the dentist badly even though ex loaner and I had had a long conversation on my last visit to the horse about the Dentist coming out, what he had said, the treatment the horse had received and the request for the money as loaner was a "bit short" which I stupidly gave:mad: My Dentist said on doing him that if he had seen a Dentist in the last 2 years he was a Dutchmans Uncle and if he had to get the name as whoever it was deserved to be struck off.

Missed innoculations despite the reminders and the fact I have always sent over the money for innoculations to be done so they are kept up to date :mad:

He is now back home safe and sound and settled with feet, teeth, back and jab done, slightly overweight as he was not being ridden regularly and being given two huge feeds a day. And accornding to my back lady "the sorest horse I have ever dealt with.

I am also discovering on unpacking my equipment that all my nice kit appears to have dissapeared and has been replaced with total tat.

All text and calls to ex loaner are being greated with "Go Away you nasty woman" or words to that effect ! And to be frank now he is home and safe I just want to move on.


So positive stories please as at the moment I am wanting to wrap him in bubble wrap and never let anyone else touch him again ever and I really can not afford to keep 4. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
 
Oh my goodness. Sounds like this person cannot anywhere near afford a horse. I do feel for you. Its bad enough trying to find a decent sharer let alone a loan home.

At least he is home safe now.
 
Oh dear, sounds horrendous - did you have a formal agreement in place? Positive stories I can help with - I have rescued numerous horses and ponies and most are happily in loan homes. Only two have boomeranged on me, and I have asked to current loaner to find them a replacement loan home - I just can't do it all with so many. It has worked quite well, either I get someone else to do the initial homecheck (from a forum quite often if it is a long way from here) or trust the loaner who is givingup to do it when they have found a new loaner, then I get another check later. They are so fond of the horse they want him/her to go on to a good home. One other local one I fetched back because I wasn't happy with her management and condition, and she is now in a forever home where she is absolutely doted on. But mine tend to be waifs and strays who worm their way into peoples hearts, they are as much pets as performance horses, maybe that is a different ball game.
 
I've got an amazing loaner!

She started part loaning my horse 4 years ago now I think. Under 2 years later my horse was kicked in the field and broke his leg - she was there with me through his whole recovery; 3 months at the vets and months of box rest afterwards. I simply could not have done it without her - emotionally or financially.

Now 2 years on our horse is sound (and 19) and while she doesn't see him as much due to being busy with other stuff she is 100% committed and I would consult her on all decisions about him. I consider him to be 'our' horse now.

She is now also a good friend and we have lovely hacks with our horse and my pony together. I think people often think we are sisters as we look quite alike too!
 
Well, we loaned a lovely pony for 4 years when I was younger, mum dealt with it obviously but she had a contract and when he returned one of his rugs needed replacing and another mending I think, but aside from that there was no issue.
I loaned my pony to a riding school for 4 years, he was treated well although jabs were not kept up to date and when I picked him up I was told that I didn't leave him with any tack or a headcollar (!!!) but no actual harm came to the pony I just had to buy new stuff.
 
I have had a couple of loans that worked but yesterday had to collect my donkey from a loan home that suddenly didn't want him. He's riddled with lice, feet are in terrible condition and he's taken to kicking with back legs, which on a 14hh donk is accurate and dangerous! Oh, and he has 3 untreated sarcoids! He was only away for a couple of months!
Hopefully he'll be back to his old gentle self soon.
Never again!
 
I know of a pony club pony on loan initially to one member - he is a fab pony who has been on loan for possibly 10 years and has been passed on through various members. Pony does everything and is a bit of a schoolmaster so as soon as a new loaner is needed the owner has a choice of good homes, pony himself always looks fab and enjoys himself too.
 
We loaned GreyMare from our then instructor.

I think we loaned for about five-ish months, then bought her as D1 loved her and I didn't want to risk her being taken away. I don't think her then owner would have taken her, and the horse was certainly well looked after so no cause for concern there, but it was nice to be able to tell D1 that she was ours :D
 
Sorry to hear that things didn't work out for you. If it helps, I have had quite a few on loan now and they are always taken care of as though they are my own. I found my last loan horse online, and when I turned up to see him the owners were so clueless and the poor horse was so malnourished that my trainer called a horsebox and insisted we take him then and there. I wasn't even able to try him, and I was less than impressed. The first couple of months were very rocky, but he turned out to be my horse of a lifetime. The owners didn't want him back so when I had to go to university we found a home for him with another livery at the same yard and he went on to be a fabulous schoolmaster for her. He spent the rest of his life with us, and died peacefully in the field about six months ago.
 
Well thanks folks for the positive stories not sure if they make me feel better or worse that I managed to get the lunatic:o

Jilla - yes we had a formal agreement in place but my lawyer friend says no point in pursuing the money I have had to pay out as it is obvious this person does not have two pennies to rub together so it would just be more money thrown at it......His suggestion is a Voodo Doll and some sharp pins;)

He is home now safe and sound and has had all his vet, teeth, back and farrier checks. I have ridden him and he needs a fair bit of schooling put back in but that is not a biggie and can be a summer project.
 
Sorry you have had a bad experience. Your loaner sounds like a nightmare.

I loaned Manni (in my sig) for 3 years and treated him as if he were my own. I had to start his vaccinations from scratch as they were out of date, at my own expense. He needed the dentist badly and again all at my own expense. I got his rugs and saddle repaired etc, etc, etc. and I am pretty sure his owner was not aware of any of this. I didn't ask her for money towards any of it as, as far as I was concerned I had taken him on full loan and so I expected to pay for everything he needed.

When I returned him after 3 years, the owner had to go out and find livery but she collected him on the date set and we are good friends on FB.

Us loaners aren't all nutcases!
 
Dublinhorse, our Tb was loaned by a lunatic prior to us and your experience sounds eerily familiar!

We found lovely loan homes for our outgrown ponies and I like to think we take great care of the horses we have on loan. Somehow I feel extra- responsible for them; esp the Tb as he was so neglected in his previous loan home.
 
OP I feel for you, unfortunately some people are very strange and obviously the loaner can only see the situation from their point of view. Glad your horse is now home and safe.
 
I'm a nice loaner :-) I have a lovely private yard with only one other gelding and they are kept in the lap of luxury with all needs met and more, our trouble is we can't find a pony 13 to 14hh to loan !!!!!

So we are out there :-)
 
I loaned my boy initially as his owners weren't sure if they wanted to sell him and I had a huge loss of confidence so wanted a chance to get to know him before I committed. The loan was originally for a year but after 4 months they were so happy with how I looked after him and we had formed a great partnership so they asked me to buy him which I was only too happy to do so. I would treat any loan horse as if it was my own and it is so sad when people don't do this as they ruin it for the genuine caring people who are desperate to loan!
 
Goodness that didn't end well for you :-( being pretty out of pocket and all the lies, I guess you can learn from it if you ever loan again, like send receipts for the dentist or vet (most vets will send a copy to owner), only send minimum equipment required. When I contemplated a loan the person wouldn't want to send her saddle with the horse, and although I found that a bit inconvenient I totally understood why!

I have a pony on loan as a companion, she doesn't really require much of me but whatever she needs she gets, I have my own rented land so no worries about livery... Well as a loaner I guess you'd have to see it to believe it but I look after her like my own (or even more cautiously than my own perhaps!).

I don't understand how anyone could not be mortified upon having an owner not happy with their standard of care really!
 
I got a great loaner, my boy has done more with her in the last 3 weeks than I've done in a year! However she is a friend and neighbour and I have seen him a few times and wouldn't hesitate to go down to check on him at any point and she knows that. He will have the same farrier, EDT, McT people and I will book the appointments and pay if necessary. I don't think I could loan to a stranger.
 
I loaned out an old horse some years ago, the first loan didn't work out and I had to go and get him back. The second loan was just brilliant. She kept him at the yard I was at with my other horse even though it wasn't convenient for her but he liked it there, they were so happy together that I eventually gave him to her. When the time came, she made sure through a mutual friend that I knew what was to happen (she was too upset to make the phone call which I totally understood and i had moved yards by then) and both I and his previous owner (who I contacted) had the chance to say good bye to him.

It can work, keep faith.
 
it can turn good after a bad experience, a mare got abandoned on my old yard, who had been taken on loan from Yorkshire to bucks, to be brought back into work after 2 years off. the loaner couldn't handle her, then fell out with people at the yard down the road, so took her to my old yard and promptly left her. don't know the full story, but she had been hit hard on the head, had become very head shy and a nervous wreck who reared coming out of the field, within a few months with the loaner (so example of very bad loan ) but the YO kept an eye on her and then I got involved. we contacted her owner who was shocked. she has done all the paper work, but the person appeared to have changed address and wouldn't answer phone calls. she was miles away with no money to transport her back or keep her. so I agreed to take her on. it took 9 months of ground work to gain her trust and then get back on board. after one year of looking after her I ended up buying her, have had her 3 years now. I'm in contact with her old owner.
her story makes me very wary of ever loaning a horse out. think I would only do it via friends or friends of friends.
 
Gosh I can't believe some of these loan stories, how dare people do this to other peoples horses!! I have a lively mare on loan who I treat as my own. All costs are covered by me and she is kept up to date with all vacc/shoes/worm etc. if any of her tack or equipment was damaged I would certainly replace and if I ever had to return her then everything would be cleaned and returned as I was given it. I have a good relationship with the owner who has open access to visit the mare whenever she likes, even unannounced. Am I so rare?!
 
Glad you got your horse back OP... loaner sound hellish..
There are good loaners out there. My loan horse wants for nothing. I've spent time and money bringing him on, bought tack, rugs etc had jabs, teeth, back etc done and basically I treat him as if he were my own . Sorry your loaner was such a nightmare but there are good ones out there :-)
 
I think I'm a good loan home ;) my horse is loaned from a charity but I think it still counts:D
We've been together for 9 years and she is possibly the most pampered horse I know :p

I had a private loan before her which was also a good arrangement. I ended the loan because I wanted something more permanent but it was all on good terms.

Don't let it put you off, the right person is out there somewhere.
 
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