Loaning out young horses

SatansLittleHelper

SatansLittleHelper

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As many of you will know I have Rex who has just come home after 9 weeks away at the trainers being started under saddle. The plan was to hack him out over summer, turn him away over winter and start afresh next spring. Obviously the CV-19 stuff has put the kybosh on these plans. Plus I'm still fatter than I would like to be ???
A friend suggested I loan him out for a little while for an experienced rider to bring on and have fun with. But I always assumed that you just paid people to do this and can't imagine what a loaner would get out of it..??? I can't afford to pay anyone to do much with him as much as I love the idea, so the current plan is for me to just spend time in hand getting used to leaving the farm without the others, the general scenery etc on hacking routes so he feels (and therefore I feel);more confident once I'm riding him. Although, on that note, how much would it be likely to cost if I got someone to come and hack him twice a week..??
I'm not scared of him, he's the most level headed chap I've had...I'm just too fat to ride him currently. I'mnearly 6ft and 15.7st and aimingto get back down to 12st in the long run. I don'tactually think he'dhave any real trouble carrying me...he's a solid boy but only 5 so I don't want to break him..!!!
He's not for sale and (hopefully) never will be so I'm not in a rush with him but I'm stressing that I could be delaying his education with my current plan.
 
If you know someone then great, but it would be too much of a risk otherwise IMO. Especially if it's only short term, the loaner is going to have to put a lot of time into a very green horse and is not going to get much out of it at the other end
 
I reckon you would find someone willing to share or loan him, it just might take you a bit longer to find the right person. The horse I share was advertised because his owner was too nervous to get back on him after a nasty fall in which she broke her arm and fractured her cheek bone. He was just turned 6 at the time though not as freshly backed as your boy, but very sharp and needed bringing on. I've been sharing him for almost a year now and he's turned into a lovely hack - I pay £20 per week to ride as much as I can. On these grounds, I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibly that you'd find an experienced rider keen to do what your friend suggests. I'd be inclined to look for a sharer and keep him on your yard, but I'm not very trusting!
 
Thank you. I'm also not very trusting to be honest lol.
He is such a lovely, lovely boy I don't want him screwed up. I suppose seeing if there are any good riders who perhaps don't have a horse currently and are bored etc might be interested in hacking him out..?? I could probably pay them something and certainly wouldn't expect them to pay me..!!!
 
personally as someone who sold their horse for uni and is now stuck at home for months on end Id jump at the chance to ride anything! I love youngsters and Im sure there are likely to be more out there similar to me so now might be the ideal time to find someone to help bring him on
 
Normally I would say you would struggle to find someone suitable would do that but with it being summer and lots of people being off work/uni you might get lucky. I would put the word about and see if anyone is interested.
 
A sharer would be the only option he stays on your yard but you allow a suitably experienced person to ride / look after him x times a wee. Either for free or they help with costs. The alternative would be to pay someone to ride him at your convenience and pay the rate would depend on your locality maybe £20 + a time.
 
When I was between horses I took on a "project" loan horse for what turned into two years. I wouldn't have paid to work with the horse and equally didn't expect any money. I brought experience and commitment and the owner got his horse looked after and trained and competed. We parted ways amicably when he decided to sell the horse. He did offer her to me first for a very affordable price, but I helped hims ell her to a nice new owner instead as I already too many of my own either retired or growing up in the background!
 
Personally with a young horse I wouldn't want to send them away to another yard, not unless I trusted the person 101% would I do it!! You could easily end up with a horse that's totally ruined for the rest of its life.

I'd feel much safer with someone coming in to your yard to ride; that way you would be able to keep an eye on what goes on.

Be fussy, be very picky indeed! You'll get a whole lot of Hopefuls who think they can ride but patently can't! When I offered my boy on loan - and in the advert said prominently that he wasn't a novice ride, I got every soppy girl who'd had one riding lesson and thought they could ride, turn up in shorts and flip flops! Seriously.

Probably the best thing would be to not advertise and use word-of-mouth. Hopefully you will find a nice light confident rider who can bring-on your youngster firmly but sensitively.

Good luck!
 
if you want someone to ride him I’d suggest looking at wanted ads as opposed to advertising him. Then you can approach who you deem suitable, or turn him away for a bit. Won’t do him any harm!
 
An example of it working . . . .
I took a 4 year old on loan a few years ago I found on a Horse Quest advert. His owner had bred him herself & wanted him to replace her cob to hack & pootle around on eventually, but being a rather welsh bred WB felt she wanted him to go out on load for a few years & see some sights before taking up that job. He was just over an hour from home & I went down for lessons on him with her trainer & hacked him out etc over a few weeks so she was 100% happy with me & him getting on before I took him home. It worked out really well! I had a horse to have fun on & he got some miles under his belt.
 
I think it’s worth exploring. I’ve nothing rideable at the moment and if I had the time I’d be interested in something like that. You could be very prescriptive and say 1 x hack, 1x school and 1 x lesson a week. I’d love to be getting lessons from a good instructor at the moment, but the riding schools nearby haven’t really inspired me when I’ve tried them, so having a horse that you could get proper coaching on would be very attractive to me.
if you do it, I’d suggest a 2 month trial and then review, that way you’ve a pre-set exit point if you’re not happy.
 
It's a bit like what I do with supercob, I answered an ad looking for someone to school their horse. The ad was riding and no jobs but quite like doing jobs so I do jobs, I dont pay for keep etc, but I do pay for my own training- owner offered to pay half, but in reality as she drives us around I pay it all rather than give her fuel money.
I wont pay as I'm a pretty decent rider but I like not having pressure and expectations so I dont want paying either
 
i would be very careful who you let ride your nice horse, he has been started properly and he wont forget if you decide to turn him away or just do in hand with him for a while. he will not be fully grown yet so it wont hurt to let him have a year off....you could choose someone who forces his head in an outline and lets his hinds trail behind him, that would take quite a lot of sorting out if they rode him for any length of time. if you really want him ridden do you have an instructor who you are happy with? maybe pay them to ride him once a week...you say you need to lose weight so why not do leading out in hand or long reining, you would kill 2 birds with 1 stone, get fitter yourself and keep him educated and also get to know him even better....i am a control freak so would not have a sharer so maybe i am biased....
 
It’s possible you might find someone so it is worth asking around but equally, the people experienced enough to bring on a young horse one to one are usually either charging for it, have their own horse or are already very busy riding others. There is a chance but personally I would not count on it, I would plan to do in-hand work and perhaps pay someone once or twice a week, and then if a suitable person does come up you can be pleasantly surprised.
 
I found the perfect rider for my youngster on Facebook of all places She rode I paid for the pony and did most of the work so was sort of like a share except until I was sure I was pottering around in the background. She was marvellous so was soon doing her own thing on our yard and even lookng after her, No money changed hands we transported her about for compeitions etc and we all had great time. I should add she was at the time at uni and had sold her own
 
Thanks everyone. I have had a good read through the replies and had a chat with a friend about it all today. I've decided I'd rather let him chill for a bit than risk ruining him. I'll take him out in hand twice a week and/or long rein him.
He's just turned 5 but I think he has a little height to gain maybe and just some general physical maturity needed.
 
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