Loanee Rights

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Emms

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Hi,

I was just wondering about lonaee rights, unfortunately a contract wasn't signed as it wasn't given when I picked up the horse and the owner wanted him out of the current situation asap so as a genuine person I agreed to take him.
As we haven't reached a mutually agreeable contract she is now to take him back.
As the loanee I have now spent nearly £1000 on livery and other costs such as shoes, travel costs to pick him up etc.
Am I entitiled to any compensation for this as I feel like I have been used as a free schooling and livery service while she has been away.
Moral of the story, always get a contract even as the loanee, or you will end up sad and without a horse!
Any info would be great.
Thanks
 
Sorry, i don't think you do have any rights as such. You could try pursuing her through the Small Claims Court for the schooling and livery costs (can you produce receipts for what you have paid?), but you don't have any actual rights.

How long have you had the horse? This is jsut me being nosey, but what could you and the owner not agree on when it came to continuing the loan?
 
i doubt you have any rights at all as it is her horse.

you agreed to loan not to have the horse on schooling livery and it is her perogative to have the horse back.
 
I may be wrong but i don't think you have any rights to compensation or similar as there was no written contract to have been broken.
I was in a similar situation a few years back no contract, paid travelling £200 there £200 back and 2-3months livery etc, horse turned out to be a rearer in school and on roads and she then said she was thinking of moving abroad and selling him.
All i tried to get was for her to pay travelling costs back but she threatened with court for some reason.
All i think you would get is for her to pay traveling of him back as she is taking him back, still breaking a verbal contract in a way.
sorry not much help.
 
I really dont know to be honest.

I have both loaned horses and loaned out my horses in the past and to be honest , contracts are never set in stone. when i loaned my gelding out years ago i had a contract drawn up and witnesses to sign it as well. He was kept on the same yard as i was with my other horse. The loanee was to cover all costs. There was a clause in the contract however that if i was not happy with the care of my gelding i could tack him back. Also both parties could cancel the contract giving a months notice, it worked both ways. They here not looking after him properly and i decided to take him back. It was hell!

They used the excuse that they had spent loads of money on livery, ect. However at the end of the day the horse was not looked after properly and i felt i was within my rights to take him back. They obviously played the victim, about the situation. In my case they bought a yearling whilst they had my horse on loan. Once they bought the yearling the standards of care dropped. i had words with them that i was nto happy prior to cancelling the loan. They where not prepared to change there ways. I woudl find my horse being ridden at times 3 times a day, wwith no feed, and withotu being cooled off or groomed afterwards. Just chucked out into the field. He was only 5 and started to loose weight and became depressed. They started to bring all sorts of people up to ride him. TThere where a load of things that i dissagreed with. Dont get me wrong i tried to give them there space, and not interfear. However other liveris where comeing up to me and statring there concerns.

I currently have a horse on permanant loan. The contract says as such. However the owner or myself could cancel the loan at any given time giving 2 months notice. When i took the horse on, he was a hat rack, he needed a lot of attention to his feet, other wisehe would of been lame. He had to have his vaccinations restarted, his tack didint fit him, his rugs that he came with where ripped. He needed expensive suppliments witch he never got with his owners. I have spent a fortune on getting him to where he is now. He is an older horse with issues as well. I woudl be pretty naffed off if they took him away from me now. However there is always that risk. I have him insured, something they never did. I have also spent money having the vet check him over and i treat him with the best care possible. You coudl say i treat him better than most people do on the yard with the horses they own.

The thing is, that regardless of weather the horse is on loan to you, or owned by you, these expensises, would still be there. Even if you did have a contract, it still would not stop the owners from taking the horse back.

In my case the owners are delighted with the care i am giving there horse, and they have admitted that they coudl not afford to keep him to the same standard i am. The bottom line is though, that i dont own him.

I dont weight up the amout of money i have spent on him, i just enjoy him while i can, and hope he will be with me for years to come. There is never any guarentee.
 
agree with king charles. i have a horse on loan to compete, but would not dream of asking the owners for any money back when they decide they want him.
like you i took him on as she had personal problems. looked at him on a saturday he arrived at mine the next day. we do have a contract but we can both give 6 weeks notice if things change.
the sad thing about loaning, contract or not, is the horse is never yours, and the owners have that right to take the horse back and anything you have spent out is down to you, as they did not ask you to spend it.
i suppose its just a lesson learnt, but not all loans are like this, and if you find something where the owner wants a permanant loan, you can have a horse for life!
i think maybe let the horse go back (i know its heartbreaking), then look for something that is more permanant.
good luck with things x
 
I'm afraid it is just one of those things. "Live and learn." If you had bought the horse you would have had those same expenses, so from the owner's point of view you have had a free horse.

Sorry, not what want to hear. Contracts protect both sides, and even if it is in a hurry it is always best to get SOMETHING in writing.
 
I really do feel for you, as a similar thing happened to me, however I only had the horse for 6 weeks. He was given to me on 'permanent loan', but the owner decided she then wanted to sell him - this was after I had spent 6 weeks slowly bringing him back into work, paid for new shoes, 2 visits from a McTimoney specialist as he clearly had a back problem and for having his saddle reflocked. So yes, I felt aggrieved. She decided she wanted £3000 for a very fat 16 year old cob with a sore back who had literally sat in a field doing nothing for the last 5 years. My lower offer was refused and he went back. 5 months on, he is back to being in a field doing nothing, poor boy. I didn't really have a contract either. It was upsetting and will make me very wary in the future, but at the end of the day, sadly he's her horse and it was her choice.
 
The only way you might have been able to get any money back is if you had signed a contract stating that the owner will cover some off the expenses etc...however normally with a loan the loanee is expected to pay all the costs.

I have had a few horses on loan...I have never signed a contract as at the time I was younger and didn't realize you needed one, and the owners knew me and trusted me. With a loan you will find yourself feeling like a free schooling and livery service when you get the horse fit and out competing, then the owner gets him back and in my case all my hard work goes to pot....but that is loaning tbh and you run that risk.

My loans have been lucky in that the owners have continued to pay for the insurance as I only had a part time job during college etc, but you are expected to pay all the costs and should not expect any money back from the owner!
 
Im lucky in a sense that my loan horse is not really saleable, becasue of his issues. The main reason why he is on loan to me is becasue the owner dosnt want him to be sold and passed round. They could of sold him, they could of put him through the sales. The main reason the owner wont sell him to me is beasue she wants to hold the strings as to where he ends up. The aggreement we have is that he spends out the rest of his days with me, and then in the end she will have him PTS. She dosnt want him back, she dosnt get on with him, and becasue of his issues he could be dangerous. As it is he is perfect for me, i have not problems with him. I have been very lucky. No one els eon the yard can do anything with him. Not onyl that, he is 18 this year and there is no saying how many years he has left in him. He would not retire well. he isnt a candidate as a companion. So its a win win situation. owner gets to offload her conscious knowing he is somewhere safe and loved, with out having to pay for him. I get a horse that in its day was probably a cracker, and still has plenty of life left in him. He knows his job, has been there done it all and is still very talanted. i also get that nice feeling knowing i have given him a chance and that he gets to have a lovely life before the end.
 
Some people do seem to use a loan as a way of getting their horse schooled, i couldnt do it, but thats me. I have two ponies out on loan a shetland and a Welsh c, the Welsh was unbacked and i think it did make them wonder if thats what i was doing, using them to school her, but 4yrs later she is still there, and we are all very happy.
Always get a contract!
 
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