Is my Horse suitable to go on loan? pitfalls of loaning?what are your experiences?

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cumbriamax

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Hi all,

I'm considering putting one of my horses on loan (not saying too much cos I don't want to be accused of advertising), don't shoot me down for trying to offload horse tho... i only want to loan as I have had him for 5 yrs but he was ridden by local girl who is busy at uni now.

I don't loan horses cos of the pitfalls, but am yhinking about being the loaner not loanee.

How do you go about putting horse on loan- eg advertisement/word of mouth

contracts- what should I be including in contract

is he suitable for loan- not been in work for a while but capable of BE, but would need brought back to work?

has anyone put horse on loan (friend told me that no-one looks after someone elses horse as good as they would thier own horse- not sure about this as am looking after horses for friend at mo and they are treat same as my guys)

loan insurance??
 
Hi,
I can give you a few answers from the point of view of someone who has a horse on loan:
Advertising wise, local papers, tack shop, the usual websites where you'd advertise a horse for sale. I got mine through word of mouth though, this seems to be most common around here.
There is a good sample contract available on the BHS website - this is what I use, and what most other people will recommend on here. You can tailor it to your own requirements. I took mine to my solicitor to look over with a pair of fresh eyes to make it a bit more soild (although she said it was pretty good in the first place).
The horse I have had only been back in work for a couple of months when I got him but has competed all over the place at a very decent level in the past so see no reason why yours wouldn't be suitable, long as the loanee is aware of what needs to be done to get him back to fitness or what he is capable of at the moment.
I definitely look after mine like he is my own - in fact maybe more carefully than I would because I know he's not mine, so its like a bigger responsibility! Wouldn't think that is particularly logical, what your friend said.
And as for insurance, the family who own mine have kept the insurance they had before. I pay them every month for the premium, and have my own insurance through the BHS for accident and third party.

Hope that helps :)
 
Hi Cumbria,

I think in this instane it wouldn't be a case of you offloading the horse as the horse seems to be sound and you sound like you simply need someone experienced to do him justice. The ones people have issue with are those in pain, not sound etc and would be better, if you can't keep yourself then PTS is best option for said horse.

There are some brilliant loanees out there and it could also be argued that because the horse isn't theres, they take more care of the horse, than if it's there own.

The BHS have a sample loan agreement that you could have a look at.
I would prefer word of mouth as generally it's someone who someone etc rather than a complete unknown.

I had my highland on loan for a year before buying and I was so careful and cautious with her.

Regarding insurance, I took my own horse insurance out for her.


Good luck x
 
There is a example loan agreement on the BHS website, I will try too find a link.
I know when I had horses on loan they were looked after as if they were my own.
Some owners like to insure the horse themselves so you know they are definately insured and what for, others will let the loanee do it so its up to you really.
I'm sure your horse would be suitable for someone.
 
First loan ended badly with mine [she soon learnt to take the mick as wasn't getting used enough and extremely overfed]....came back to me in somewhat a different state to what she went in. [With contract]

Very gingerly put her back out on loan when she got sent back to me. Luckily, is now in the most perfect home and honestly couldn't have found her a better match! [No contract]

It's pot luck. I do think I'd rather sell than loan from now....but she's just one I could never let go of [first pony, blah blah blah! You know the soppiness.]

Just have to find the right person :)

As far as not looking after it as well as your own/you would.....what a load of balls lol! I'm always under the thought of expecting the owner to be able to turn up anytime, with no forewarning and be able to see their horse in a good state that it would always be in regardless!!!
 
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We put our pony out on loan this spring by advertising him in the local paper under 'livestock'. We were very honest about his abilities and quirks :o.

We had loads of calls but the first person to call came to see him. Her daughter rode him and they just gelled. He has now been with them for the best part of a year; they have a one-year contract which we downloaded from the BHS website and tweeked it to fit our requirements.

We contact them regularly and visit. We continue to insure him; the loanees transfer this money to me every month and I continue the insurance, I contacted our insurance company and they confirmed this is okay on the policy we have with them.

They send us photos of what he is up to - they recently took him hunting and had a lovely day out. I went with my gut feeling; I felt they were nice people and would appreciate him, but we have the option to bring him home anytime and still have ownership and responsibility. If anything goes terribly wrong or his health deteriorates, we still have the power to decide what happens to him. :)
 
Speaking as someone who has taken a horse on loan. History: Bought a horse that was very nappy and so I sold her, in the meantime a friend of a friend mentioned they had a horse who was a failed eventer that I might like to ride. Ultimately the woman wanted the mare back to breed from, but not for a few years. So I had this lovely young TB mare who had been doing nothing in the field for the past 18 months. I had her for 3 years and then persuaded the owner to sell her to me. I owned her for a further 7 years and sadly she recently died. I usually prefer to own my horses. But I would consider a horse on loan especially if there was a chance I could convert to a purchase at some time. I can assure you that horse had the best of care from day 1. The owner never checked on me, or my home and never visted the mare. I always made sure she aware of what was going on and insured her to the value the owner stipulated. It worked for us, but if I was loaning a horse I would want a written contract and I would visit my pony regularly.
 
My friend has a 17.3 TBX mare whom was coming back into work from injury...

1st girl to loan wanted to rush her and in the end we had to cancel the loan !!

2nd girl is amazingly patient loves the mare for all her quirks and is bringing her back in very nicely !!
 
I have had horses on loan in the past...last one I ended up buying and am again looking for another one to loan with view to buy again in future should it be suitable and I always always give the horse the upmost of care my animals want for nothing, but I have found since looking that people are not loaning horses out as much these days which is sad to those genuine people that can offer a great home....

Good luck though in finding your horse a home, should that be what you do, but would also recommend contract.


Oh almost forgot.....I know of someone that also had her loan horse taken back by owner that was clueless as loanee was doing soo well with horse had built up muscle worked really hard on the horse used to update the owner with pictures etc, so loanee had notice that horse was being returned.....it gutted the loanee we even tried buying the horse...sadly it went on to an equine college where he sadly went back to terrible state....
 
Sadly a number of horses disappear while on loan.

Always ensure that your horse is freezemarked on it's shoulder and also micro-chipped prior to placing the horse on loan.

Also ask to see the original copy of the persons passport, driving licence, rates bill or a utility bill and photocopy them so that you know who you are dealing with and you have a record of their true identification.

Another precaution for both parties is to have the horse vetted so that both parties know it's medical condition at the time it is put on loan.
 
PeterNatt said:
Sadly a number of horses disappear while on loan.

Always ensure that your horse is freezemarked on it's shoulder and also micro-chipped prior to placing the horse on loan.

Also ask to see the original copy of the persons passport, driving licence, rates bill or a utility bill and photocopy them so that you know who you are dealing with and you have a record of their true identification.

Another precaution for both parties is to have the horse vetted so that both parties know it's medical condition at the time it is put on loan.
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I'd be more than happy with this!have tried adverising but people just say they would loan him but won't agree with this as I want loan person to get to know him first.

I will get a local instructor who knows him well to give loan person lesson on him to help them get to know him.
 
My boy is out on loan.

I advertised mainly locally in tack shops as i wanted him to stay in the area. If you're not fussy then just on all the normal sites. I got a great response of horsequest in the past.

They pay everything including his insurance, but you may prefer to continue paying this. We have agreed to go halves on vet bills for things that werent caused by them if you know what i mean. Luckily touch wood nothing has arisen. I adapted the bhs loan contract and you can pretty much put in what you like!

I would ask for references and check home if it is not someone you know/know of though, just in case.

Good luck :)
 
I have my little old pony out on loan, I found his current Loanee word of mouth, friend of a friend type thing, they have had him now for 4 years. I visit him approx every 6 weeks to check he is ok and give him a cuddle (I've had him for 18years so he is very precious!) I think he has found a loan home for life (they have a string of small kids!) so I am really lucky to be able to keep my old pony without the financial strain. Just to add - whilst he is an old man, he is very fit and active and got very depressed when I tried to retire him before!

As everyone else has stated, get loan agreements sorted, and agree who is going to pay what before the horse leaves. My loanees pay for everything he needs, I provided them with full tack and extensive wardrobe, and we documented every item and its condition between us, and took photos. So we have the written agreement that tack and rugs can come back with fair wear and tear, but not damage from not taking care of them. If anything breaks, they have to replace with similar brand.

I also made them agree to using my farrier, dentist, vet etc, which they do, so it allows me to keep extra tabs on him, as I can ask them how he is doing when they come to my yard!

I know how you feel with the worries, but there are some successful loan stories out there....I am looking to loan one for myself at present so now on the other side of it all!

Hope you find someone lovely :-)
 
I have had ponies on loan and loaned my pony out twice and all went well during the loans. I think there are plenty more positive loan stories that bad ones but it's only the bad ones that you hear about!

DO make sure you have a contract. Make sure you check out where the horse will be kept. Ensure you have permission to visit the horse if you so wish. I would advise not to give them the passport but i am unsure how these things work these days with vaccinations etc as when i loaned it was before the days of passports.

Just do the checks - I think sometimes the best loans are those that occur through word of mouth so in some ways, unless you really need to loan him desperately i would get ads in your local tack/feed shops and maybe your local PC/RC sites if you can as opposed to advertising online etc.
 
I have 2 horses out on loan and to be honest i could not wish for better people inthe world to look after them.
Yes i did have one bad loan home with my boy and really worried about ever letting him out of my sight again, then a girl on here aproached me and after loads of chats and visits he went to her whilst still recovering from his previus home, that does sound harsh but she loved him so much and i knew she would adore him and with the care and attention she gives him he has come on leaps and bounds.
So not every loan home is bad but there are afew out there.
but saying that not every horse owner is good either
 
Pitfalls- if i had a pound for everytime i have heard 'I am not going to buy a saddle/new rug/pay for shoeing/.....etc because my horse is only on loan' I would be a millionaire.

There are good loaners out there but they are few and far between. There are far more who want a free horse and dont see it as their responsibility to pay for the general upkeep beyong shoeing and feed.

I have known countless people hand a horse back after it has been injured or diseased, ridden it for months/years in ill fitting tack, gone 10 weeks between farrier visits and so on.

So, if you do want to loan get a contract, do several home visits and be prepared for trouble. I loaned a horse for a friend and even after references (including from their vets and a well known trrainer!), numeroushome visits, phone calls and them seeing the horse several times before he left he still came back like a hat rack, totally depressed and with thankfully repairable psychological issues.
 
teddyt said:
Pitfalls- if i had a pound for everytime i have heard 'I am not going to buy a saddle/new rug/pay for shoeing/.....etc because my horse is only on loan' I would be a millionaire.

There are good loaners out there but they are few and far between. There are far more who want a free horse and dont see it as their responsibility to pay for the general upkeep beyong shoeing and feed.

hmm, this is what I worried about, thing is he is high maintenance type and he would really go down if someone didn't shoe him / feed him enough, I have also heard of people saying they won't buy tack or get vet out because said horse was on loan. Its seems to me that lots just want 'free horse' and not many genuine loaners as you say. People say they would have him on loan even when they haven't seen him and me thinks they are type to want ANY free horse.
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Harper_Gal said:
Only loan a horse you hate, because your loaner won't treat it like they like it either!!!
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Thats a terrible thing to say, I've looked after my loan horses exactly the same as my own!
Lets not tar everyone with the same brush!
I know about more rubbish horse owners than I do loaners! IME most loanees look after the loan horse BETTER because they're paranoid about something going wrong and having to tell the owner!!
Sounds like you should've vetted your loaners a bit better ;)
 
Just a thought but when you say yours is capable of BE - does that mean he has already done that? because if you actually have a competition horse then I would consider leasing which is a whole new scenario.

Try word of mouth (riding club/pony club newsletter/instructor), if you are deep down really worried, then how about looking for 2 sharers to cover the livery costs - which is what my friend does for one of her horses.

I did download a contract when I loaned out my mare, but took up vet references on my sharer which worked for me.
 
Harper_Gal said:
Only loan a horse you hate, because your loaner won't treat it like they like it either!!!
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I have several out on loan and they are all happy - horses and all involved 'owners'.
You may have had some unhappy experiences but tarring all with the same brush is pretty short sighted. Any of mine that go on loan can be returned at anytime. I can see them anytime, and I get updates when needed. We are all happy with the arrangement. I've had a couple that came back for various reasons, no questions asked, i'd rather they did that than hid a problem and the horse suffered.
So yes, it CAN work, you need to follow your instincts and try and do your homework. Then if you're honest the horse should suit. Best of luck, it is a lovely feeling when a horse you care about is giving someone else pleasure!
 
Boot on other foot.......

Dappy livery has had this horse on loan for just over 5 years.
In that time the owner has been to visit the yard prior to horse coming, and then once 8 months later (under pressure from dappy burd, cos I nudged her to ask the owner to come & see how he was doing).

Since then - nowt. Dappy burd phoned every 6 months - but for the past year since November 2009 has had no response/ anyone in for calls at all.
Dappy burd went down to owners (35 miles away) in Sept - and nobody there. Knocked next door & was told that they (owner & OH) had moved house last January in between the heavy snow spells - no forwarding address given!

So, dappy burd has a horse that is not hers, is now coming 22 which now has a couple of age related problems...........and no owner to refer to! (yes, she is still following up this - as are 2 other loanees who have her other 4 horses!)
 
I have loaned my ponies out several times over the years, I would say they are all schoolmasters.
You do have to think about if the loaner will 'spoil' your horse. My loaners have looked after the ponies really well mostly with a couple of hiccups. Usually its because they or somebody else( the friend on the yard )thinks they know better than you. One thing i have noticed even with my schoolmasters is they have been allowed to get away with things and ridden one sided. When they come home they go to boot camp for a month or so.
If yours is capable of BE it may come back not as it went unless you are very picky. I have a 14.2 competion mare that I tried to loan last summer but as she is not for a novice I gave up in the end. You may have better luck as it's a horse.
 
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