Is this a good enough reason???

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horseylass

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Really need your advice and opinions on my situation.

My old man left us about 6 weeks ago to go on companion loan, everything was going brill until, his loaner said he had starting kicking and biting her other horses, for no apparent reason.
I had owned him for 9yrs, and he's never once bitten, kicked or bullied anyone, or any horse, so this seemed very strange.

So i went to see him last week, and he looked like a completely different horse! He looked grey (and he is jet black) and had a really dull looking coat,,,Looked like he'd hadnt had a groom since he has been there, his back looked even more dipped than it did when he left us.
She hadnt started rugging him up yet (which i no some people leave to the very last minute, but he is TBx and late 20's) and the field he is in, is on the top of a huge hill!

You might think im just being over protective, but i just felt so sorry for him, he looked miserable.

Then that night i got a message from his loaner, asking what i thought of him??

what would you do?
 
I'd be honest it may be she isn't aware of how to care for a veteran. I have an aged TB and its amazing how quickly they can go down hill, mine was fine until about a month ago and he' s really aged quickly in that time.
 
Take him back.

We did the same thing with one of my old ponies once - she went out on loan to a lady we knew and trusted, to be ridden occasionally by a very underconfident and nervous young girl. When she left our place, she looked the absolute picture of health - you'd never have guessed she was 32! Yet when we went to see her two weeks down the line, she was a different pony. Skinny, poor and very sad looking. We took her back straight away, but TBH she never really recovered - she was PTS about two years later, having never really picked up
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I think he'd be coming home! Sounds like she isn't happy with him. Our loan horse (inwards) has a lightweight turnout on already and she's only eight! She looks happy and although we have had one or two 'settling-in matters' to resolve, we have worked closely with her owner and sorted the issues with a bit of thought and effort.

And we communicate on the phone.

ETA now I have read the other replies (and now I think of it) we got a pony on loan at 20 and when she 'left' us in January this year at 28 and a half, she looked every bit as beautiful and loved and cared for (which she was, most devotedly) as she did, I'm betting, at ten. So loaners come in two sorts - those who are superb - and those who are not.

I wouldn't dream of taking someone's much loved horse or pony and not lavishing every care and attention required upon it. But that's me.
 
Hi,

Honest opinion?

He doesn't sound like he is a very happy horse at all
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Be blunt, tell her what you've told us. If you want the best for your horse no point pussyfooting about, this is about him, not the loaner.

Personally I'd be telling her exactly what I expected her to do and go back and check on him in the very near future, if he wasn't up to scratch (allowing for age and weather conditions etc) then I'd be hauling him back home sharpish. If he was downright miserable I might just be doing that anyway, if you are looking for a tactful getout then saying that he didn't seem happy and it obviously wasn't working out might be a good way to do it without ruffled feathers.

Did you provide rugs for him? Make stipulations as to his care in the contract? Having had some really rotten experiences loaning (including one horse vanishing into thin air) I just don't do loaning at all anymore.

I hope things work out for him and you.
 
If he's been with you for nine years and then he's had a change of home he's bound to react differently around a new set of horses.

How long has he been out of work? Horses can deteoriate quickly when they have been retired.

If you're not happy with the way he's being looked after I would bring him home. If the owner has asked what you think of him I would tell her the truth. She may be thinking the same thing herself.

It's a difficult situation to be in, I hope you get it resolved.
 
I would be totally honest! at the end of the day it is your horse and if you feel he is not being looked after very well then you need to take him back.

They may be taking good care of him, but he may not be happy there and that could be a contributing factor on why he looks miserable.
 
I would have taken him back there and then ! My Horse is 30, he is turned out at night in the summer so he's been rugged all summer, I would say out of the whole summer he's been naked maybe twice, I am a very protective mummy. We have now swapped them to in at night, out in the day, he is rugged in a light weight rug until he is clipped then he will be in a medium weight. You know your horse, you can tell if there is something wrong, if he looked that different I'd be gutted. People say to me he's a woos, I say I dont' care and thats why he's looking as good as he does because I look after him. When I say his age to people they find it hard to believe. He is spoilt but he's my boy, I want to enjoy what time I have left with him which is why I take every opportunity I can to take him to the beach, hack etc he loves it !

Maybe she's not doing much with him so he's taking out his excess energy in the field, I would ask her what she's doing with him, feed, forage etc, at the end of the day he's your horse you have the right, if its not to your satisfaction take him back, when it comes to the welfare of the horse
 
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