Loaning Broodmares

E

Endrete

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 November 2005
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77
Location
Bristol
www.severnviewstud.parks.officelive.com
Just some advice please from those of you who have had on loan or loaned out broodmares.

I am thinking about loaning a couple of my broodmares from next year, only because I dont want to sell them, I have a young baby and not enough time!! I dont have any in foal for 2011 as I have struggled with doing all the necessary handling with this years foals as it is. If I have any time next year I want to spend it showing a couple of my youngsters.

I would be happy to get the mare in foal before she goes to a new home as I am a qualified AI techinician, we have the facilities to AI and good vets but would expect the person loaning to pay stud fee and associated vet costs etc. Would this be what you would expect? (I do have a stallion available whom could be used to cover the mare for discounted stud fee)

So, what would you expect from a loan agreement? I had one lady enquire who got huffy when I said that I would want to visit her first and see the horses she has already and the facilities where she wanted to keep my mare. And that I would prefer her to come to me and meet the mare first as well. I also asked for a reference from her vet. Is this resonable?

I know I remember seeing an example loan agreement posted on here previously but when I searched it came up with loads of threads so if someone could pm or post a copy again that would be great please!

(PS if anyone might be interested - mares are TB or TBx - all proven mares - I have youngsters who can be seen )
 
Endrete said:
So, what would you expect from a loan agreement? I had one lady enquire who got huffy when I said that I would want to visit her first and see the horses she has already and the facilities where she wanted to keep my mare. And that I would prefer her to come to me and meet the mare first as well. I also asked for a reference from her vet. Is this resonable?
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If you PM me with your e-mail address, I'd be happy to send you a copy of the agreement I use. I have 3 mares on breeding loan this year - one hs been with me for 3 foals now and in foal again, one has a foal in foot and failed to get in foal this year, and the third I only took on this year - ruddy thing was in-foal at 35 days - then lost it!

ALL my owners visited me first - I would have been surprised (and concerned) if they didn't want to! (One visited pretty much every horse on the place - and commented when she'd finished that ALL their feet were in good shape! :D) And they all visit their mares at LEAST once a year - and get regular updates by e-mail from me in-between times, along with photos!!

None has asked for a vet reference - but I'd have been perfectly happy if they had. IF a potential loanee has any issues with a visit - or a reference check - then run a mile!

I have my own stllion and only take mares that will suit him - and I pay all vet costs. If, at the end of the loan agreement, the owner wants it then I give them a free covering with my stallion, but they pay associted vet costs for that pregnancy and of course take the mare home once she's in foal and 'my' foal is weaned.
 
I am just coming to the end of a loan agreement with Maesfen on here.

I went over to her and met Bea and obviously Pat as well! We got on well and it just went from there!!

Pat didn't actually come and see Bea until she was on the yard, but I run a rehab yard and have a website and 24hr cctv which she could log into to see Bea if she wanted so I guess it was slightly easier to trust that I would be looking after the mare properly.

We had a contract that Pat emailled over to me (although for one reason or other we never got round to signing it!!).

I think that I have been extremely lucky to have loaned off someone like Pat where the whole thing has run extremely smoothly and she has always been on hand if I need help. It has probably made things easier that we only live 40 minutes apart.

Had Pat have wanted a vet reference that wouldn't have been a problem for me, nor would a yard visit first. As well as covering all costs associated with the mare whilst in my care Pat also asked that she be insured (she sorted the cover I paid it).

My tips would be to go with your gut instinct as to whether or not you like someone and to make sure that the channels of communication are always open!

It might be worth PMing Pat (Maesfen) as I think she has recently rejigged her loan agreement.
 
Simsar on here currently has my mare on loan this year and all going great :) As everyone else has said visiting each other is normal, Simsar came and checked out Star who was with foal at the time then I visited them and met the other horses, stallion.

We have an agreement signed which I got from someone else on here...let me know if you want a copy.

Simsar regulary updates me and sends piccies, Star currently looking very fat and preggers lol and when I can I go and visit, they have no problem with me visiting whenever.

Hope all goes well :)
 
As above really, it doesn't seem like you are asking to much at all. We currently have two mares(one is Mrs Magoo on here, PM her for a loan agreement) on loan to us one with a view to bye, and we have no problems with the owners coming to visit (we even have previous owners of the mares we have bought visiting regularly) they have all since become good friends.

Good luck
:)
 
I think it is perfectly resonable to expect at least a visit to see the mare, and you to visit the loan home. I also would not object to giving out a referrence from my vet.

From my experience of a failed broodmare loan, I being the loanee :( I would firstly want to ensure the owner was going to allow me to have full right to choose whichever stallion I think is suitable. Although on saying that, taking on a mare who is already infoal (after this years disaster attempts) is very appealling to me right now.

I would also prefer the mare on a minimum of 2yr lease, that way if I dont get the mare in foal the first year I at least get a chance to try again the following year to recoop some of my investment, instead of it all going straight down the drain so to speak!
 
Sun said:
I think it is perfectly resonable to expect at least a visit to see the mare, and you to visit the loan home. I also would not object to giving out a referrence from my vet.

From my experience of a failed broodmare loan, I being the loanee :( I would firstly want to ensure the owner was going to allow me to have full right to choose whichever stallion I think is suitable. Although on saying that, taking on a mare who is already infoal (after this years disaster attempts) is very appealling to me right now.

I would also prefer the mare on a minimum of 2yr lease, that way if I dont get the mare in foal the first year I at least get a chance to try again the following year to recoop some of my investment, instead of it all going straight down the drain so to speak!
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If you are taking a mare on loan then I certainly would feel very uncomfortable imposing my wishes of my choice of stallion on you; it would be your choice entirely as you would be putting up the money UNLESS the stallion you chose would be such a mismatch with the mare that the quality of any resultant offspring would devalue the mare which could be a sticking point. Hopefully though, you find your mare first and then find a suitable stallion for her, not the other way around as it's been said many times before, not every stallion will suit every mare so that must be taken into consideration.

Another point relevant to your last paragraph is to check and make sure what happens if you are unable to get her in foal from both sides of the fence; I certainly agree that you should have the option of the second year if she doesn't go in foal if it suits the loaner as in some cases, it might not but the option should be there.
Presumably, the owner also wants to see her mare settled so doesn't just want her handed back when she's not managed to get in foal for any reason otherwise she might just as well have stayed at home in the first place as it could upset all of the owner's plans too say if they had planned on being abroad/at uni and so on. Yes, that is something you always have to be aware of when you loan out horses, that they can come back at any time but the idea of a broodmare loan is that the mare will be away for almost two years until weaning; to find the mare is coming back after only a few months away can be disconcerting to say the least. In those cases, I think it behoves the loaner to be as 'time generous' as they can be and not insist on an instant send back if it is awkward for the owner in any way especially if the owner is happy for the loaner to try again the next year. Although they might not want to use that option, they did originally take the mare on loan for that time so in effect, they are breaking the terms of the agreement because it hasn't worked out for them.

If you've read TE's reply above, you will see that I have been very lucky with my loaner, I couldn't have asked for more or my mare to be in better hands. I hope everyone else can be as lucky with their loaners/owners as it's a huge weight off your mind when you know they are being so well cared for and it really is worth doing all your homework from both sides of the fence. It also seemed a lot easier with us not living that far apart, perhaps that's something to bear in mind for future loans.
 
Very interesting!! I too am interested in putting one of mine on loan for the next breeding season IF I can find the right loanie!! I just need a break - partly due to this year being a really bad one for me but also now having to care for my in laws - time is non existent :(

Mine is an ISH (16.2hh 12 year old proven broodmare) with good breeding etc

It seems to be a bit of a mine field unless you know / have recomendations re loan homes or is that just me being hyper critical? :cool:
 
Thank you all for your detailed replies.

I sent the person enquiring my website address etc and said that I would be happy for her to have the mare covered by any stallion she wanted. I suggested that if she didnt want to use my boy then I could suggest stallions I thought would compliment the mare, depending on what she wanted to breed. I have a feeling that she thought it would be a cheap option to loan a mare and breed her own foal but I did detail the costs and tell her that the mares tranport etc would be her responsibility. I initially had an email from her every day but after that I havent heard from her!!

I have also now had four/five emails/text messages asking if I would loan them out as riding horses?! Surely, broodmares means just that, not a freebie riding horse! So frustrating!!

I would just like someone else to enjoy them next year as I have for the past few years, they are such lovely girls and are so good at thier jobs as mums. I feel its a bit of a waste having them stood around doing nothing. I am also worried about giving the two older ones too much time off as people have said that the longer I leave them the more likely it is that they will 'shut down' and I wont be able to get them in foal again?

can anyone suggest anywhere else I could advertise them - they should be in H&H on thursday along with some of my youngsters. Also on loan horses on horsemart.
 
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