Loaning horse to riding school

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forever broke

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Due to some changes in circumstances I'm considering loaning my boy to a local riding school. The school is managed by a good friend of mine so I know he will be well cared for and we've discussed his management and how the school control their horse's work levels and rider weights etc. What else do I need to think about? What is the usual set up with loans regarding vet fees for illness or injury? Who usually insures the horse and if that's me, do I need a special policy for him to be used in RS? I've never loaned a horse out before let alone to a RS so want to make sure I've considered everything before I let him go.
 
Cross posted There is a lot of information about loaning on the BHS website.

I would read it carefully. I was once pressured by its owner to share a cob kept on a neighbouring yard. I didnt want to ride her horse but it was the insurance small print which let me off the hook as I was over the age limit.
It happened again, and again came to nothing when another RS suggested I "share" my favourite hack so that I could hack her solo. In this case it was local authority regulations for licencing riding schools which prevented me riding a horse of theirs without a member of staff being present.

However, the legal language is important. Is this really a loan? A horse owned by an individual like yourself might be kept at a RS on working livery. I dont know who pays the insurance then but it is not an unusual situation.
 
Do you live close enough to the RS to be able to make regular checks on his welfare?

Also you are saying that you need to loan him due to changing circumstances. In that case do you have a backup plan in case the RS loan doesn't work out and you need to remove your horse? Will you be able to afford and manage to care for him in that case or would it be better to consider selling him now instead of a loan.
 
The riding school will have to put your pony before their vet for a heart, eye and soundness examination, the soundness and fit for purpose certificate will then have to be sent to the licensing authority, together with description of pony, UELN and chip numbers. The LA can then add him to the licence and the school can hire him after they have assessed his usefulness and level of safety. The licensing authority will inspect the premises annually which includes a horse health check by their appointed vet who will be on the riding school inspectors list from BEVA, effectively the pony will have a health check every 12 months.

Many schools have working liveries where owners have access to their ponies for a set time and a work plan is in place for hiring the horse to third parties in addition to ponies whose owners have nothing more to do with the pony. If you plan to loan to a school make sure they hold a high star rating on their licence. The BHS loan templates are useful and you can tweak it to your needs for use in a riding school to include who is responsible for vet costs, routine health work, teeth worming etc, level and intensity of work, notice period for both parties and procedure if a catastrophic incident happened. Your privately owned insurance policy will be null and void as soon as the pony comes into a hiring situation and you will need to speak to the riding school regarding health insurance. Their riding school insurance policy will cover an injury incident to a rider whilst on the hired horse but is very unlikely to give any cover to the pony.
 
Having had ours on working livery before, I would make sure you have a really clear agreement about what level of rider will be riding your horse. Is he the sort that will cope with the occasional novice, or would you prefer it if he was ridden by more experienced clients.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies, I'll definitely have a look at the bhs agreement and see how we can tweak it to suit. He'll definitely be close enough to visit regularly and check up on him. I plan to look into all your suggestions and check everything suits before I go ahead with anything and I don't get any nasty surprises further down the line.
 
Trouper said:
Just one other thought - we all concentrate on the "legal" aspects of loaning and horse management but how do you think your pony will take to being ridden by many other people (of various abilities) and doing very repetitive work in a school? It is not for all.
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This. I'm very sorry about how rude this sounds to anyone who runs a riding school, and I know that people have to learn to ride in order to become riders, and how horse owning will die out if they don't, but putting them into a riding school is absolutely the second last thing that I would do to any horse of mine.
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forever broke said:
Thanks everyone for your replies, I'll definitely have a look at the bhs agreement and see how we can tweak it to suit. He'll definitely be close enough to visit regularly and check up on him. I plan to look into all your suggestions and check everything suits before I go ahead with anything and I don't get any nasty surprises further down the line.
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Please make sure that the school follows the protocol set out by @AdorableAlice .
 
Trouper said:
Just one other thought - we all concentrate on the "legal" aspects of loaning and horse management but how do you think your pony will take to being ridden by many other people (of various abilities) and doing very repetitive work in a school? It is not for all.
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Very true.

I wouldn’t do it again now, but my then horse did cope well enough at the time. Not least because I was permitted to ride him for up to one hour a day even on the 5 days a week that the RS used him, and I always hacked him out - the hacking was brilliant.

One full day a week he was all mine. Mondays were a compulsory full day off for all RS or working livery horses.
 
ycbm said:
This. I'm very sorry about how rude this sounds to anyone who runs a riding school, and I know that people have to learn to ride in order to become riders, and how horse owning will die out if they don't, but putting them into a riding school is absolutely the second last thing that I would do to any horse of mine.
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But some horses/ponies take to it very well. When I started volunteering with RDA, the equines were used in the RS, where they did mainly hacking, did up to 4 sessions per week with RDA riders and were ridden by the family hunting, sj-ing/hunter trials, team-chasing and showing. They had a very varied life and I think that is the key to their happiness. I did once buy a mare from a RS, who had hated the experience and didn't like to find herself in any situation that reminded her of it.
 
A friend does it, the pony is ex riding school anyway so used to being ridden by lots of kids. However he’s only used about 3 days a week for a maximum of 2 rides a day, plus he then gets ridden by the owner on the other days and sometimes she has a lesson on him too there. He seems to be loving it!

Yes it definitely depends on the horse and if they are able to cope with different and less able riders. I would suggest a months trial first, that’s why my friend did x
 
The school will assess the suitability very thoroughly and they will soon know if the pony is not enjoying the routine. A pony not enjoying the lifestyle is a liability to the school. Falls have to be recorded and the insurance companies take a very dim view of repeat offenders.

As owners we automatically think sending our horses into a riding school would the work of the devil, 2 of mine would happily bury a novice rider, one of which would stamp on them on the way down. Another one would adapt and do his best.

The vast majority of school horses lead a very natural life, living in herds and working in groups. You will very rarely see a riding school come on to the market, they are simply too valuable, many are remote control safe saints. Testament to the outstanding care most schools give their inmates can be judged by the horses reaching grand ages. We need to support and respect the schools that keep going in the face of crippling costs, many are sadly closing, in my area 4 have gone in the last 12 months.

The Op's pony will be given every opportunity to become a team member hopefully.
 
ycbm said:
This. I'm very sorry about how rude this sounds to anyone who runs a riding school, and I know that people have to learn to ride in order to become riders, and how horse owning will die out if they don't, but putting them into a riding school is absolutely the second last thing that I would do to any horse of mine.
.
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That depends on the riding school surely? I wouldn’t think twice about having a horse where I was training at. Far better environment than some livery yards…
 
ycbm said:
This. I'm very sorry about how rude this sounds to anyone who runs a riding school, and I know that people have to learn to ride in order to become riders, and how horse owning will die out if they don't, but putting them into a riding school is absolutely the second last thing that I would do to any horse of mine.
.
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You must have had some bad experiences, which is a shame.
Of course riding schools and horses vary but even just for starters all year herd turnout, seen daily, regular farrier & vet checks, not fat would put a good RS way above a lot of private homes.
A good RS that is careful of variety & working hours would be some horses' dream home. I would be very happy to loan a horse of the right temperament to the one I'm thinking of.

Edit - cross posted with teapot.
 
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teapot said:
That depends on the riding school surely? I wouldn’t think twice about having a horse where I was training at. Far better environment than some livery yards…
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Not for me, sorry. I would not send a horse I cared about into any environment where it would be likely to be ridden by fifteen different riders with fifteen different weights, fifteen different balances, fifteen different abilities, fifteen different sets of aids in any one week.
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Not a riding school but I loaned my absolute saint of a horse to a college when I come in to financial problems a few years back. Like I say he was a saint of horse but absolutely hated college life. I don’t think he enjoyed lots of different people caring for him/riding him and I quickly pulled him out.

With regards to vet bills, I was told I had to pay for any vet treatment and he did end up having to have the vet one time he was there, I was billed for it so make sure you find out if you’re responsible for vet fees before you do it.
 
Thanks again for your input everyone. I'm confident he'll actually enjoy the work, I've allowed a few novices to ride him in the past and he's enjoyed looking after them. There's a big country park next to the yard and there are escorted hacks as well as lessons so he'll have variety. He'll also get to jump which he LOVES but I'm less keen so he doesn't get to do much at the minute. I do realise it's not an ideal life for a lot of horses but I wouldn't be considering it if me and my instructor friend (who's known him since I bought him as a yearling and loves him like I do) didn't think he'd love the life. He'll live out in a herd in a big field when he's not working which will be great for him. If I was looking for a new yard to livery at this one ticks all the boxes you'd look for (all year turnout, good hacking, indie and outdoor arenas etc) I could just never afford it!
I know about the licencing inspections and that the school have just had theirs and had all the horses inspected so I do expect them to need to inspect him too. I've asked to be sent the contract so I can go over it carefully at home without feeling rushed to make a decision, just waiting for it to come through now.
 
forever broke said:
Thanks again for your input everyone. I'm confident he'll actually enjoy the work, I've allowed a few novices to ride him in the past and he's enjoyed looking after them. There's a big country park next to the yard and there are escorted hacks as well as lessons so he'll have variety. He'll also get to jump which he LOVES but I'm less keen so he doesn't get to do much at the minute. I do realise it's not an ideal life for a lot of horses but I wouldn't be considering it if me and my instructor friend (who's known him since I bought him as a yearling and loves him like I do) didn't think he'd love the life. He'll live out in a herd in a big field when he's not working which will be great for him. If I was looking for a new yard to livery at this one ticks all the boxes you'd look for (all year turnout, good hacking, indie and outdoor arenas etc) I could just never afford it!
I know about the licencing inspections and that the school have just had theirs and had all the horses inspected so I do expect them to need to inspect him too. I've asked to be sent the contract so I can go over it carefully at home without feeling rushed to make a decision, just waiting for it to come through now.
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The licensing authorities vet won’t need to see him until the 12 month check or full renewal comes around. The schools own vet will have to do the health check and email a certificate of soundness to the school who will then send it on to the council, who in turn, will amend the licence and add him on to it.
 
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