Loaning for dummies

charlimouse

charlimouse

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Since advertising my mare i've had people not turn up, very rude people, ridiculousy low offers etc. After nearly a month she still hasn't sold. I have a friend who is looking for a horse, and she would be perfect for my horse, but she wouldn't be able to afford to buy her, so i was thinking about the possibility of loaning my horse to her. I have never loaned a horse, so basically i want to know how other people's loan agreements work. The mare has BE evented and won, hunted, sj'ed to discovery level, so she is going to be giving my friend the oppourtunity to affilliate BE and BSJA and also hunt. So how would a loan agreement work for a horse like this, would my friend pay me a certain amount per month to have her??? who pays routine vets fees, farriers bill, dentists etc. Plus what happens in the event of my mare being injured???? Who should insure my mare???? Obviously i would need to draw up a contract, but what should be it this??? Sorry for all the questions, but wotsits and salt and vinegar snak a jacks to all you guys who get this far in my ramblings!!!!!
 
The BHS loan agreement is a good place to start as it prompts you to think about all the possible questions.

For a loan I would assume that the loanee takes on all the day to day costs of the horse, e.g. livery, farrier, dentist, routine vet bills, competition fees, training, etc. and there is also an agreement over what happens if there are more significant vet fees (i.e. there is insurance or an agreement over who pays what). I would not expect a loanee to pay you anything, as they would be paying for the horse. You also need to decide whether you would be happy for the loanee to take the horse to a yard of their choice or whether they would have to keep it at your current yard.

If you wanted money for the use of the horse, this would be a lease, where the loanee pays for the horse as above but also pays a fee for loaning it. It is certainly possible to lease a horse, but it might be tough to do in the current economic climate.

The biggest worry with a loan is that your loanee can at any time and for any reason return the horse. So if the horse is injured, needs time off, becomes naughty, or the loanee is fed up, they can just deposit your horse back on your doorstep (loan contracts do have a notice period, but sometimes loanees ignore this, but even if they don't you can't really ask for more than a month's notice at the best of times).

There are also horror stories of loanees stealing horses and selling them on, but if you know the person it is probably a safer arrangement.

Good luck!
 
BHS contract is quite good but doesnt cover everthing. you need to tweak it to suit your requirements. Set out from the start the value of horse. Make sure they get loss of use in casse they break it and not repairable! (so you get value of horse back!) Build in your own return clause (i like 93 days /3 months notice!) gives you time you make arrangements but do have an immediate claw back if YOU are not happy with the care etc supplied! Good luck! If you want paying on top of them paying all expenses then you need to get a lease contract. I know of some good horses leased for a sum per annumm and leasee paying all expenses!
 
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