Loaning your horse to an equine college

DiablosGold

DiablosGold

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Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has experience of loaning their horse to an equine college (I was thinking Writtle because it's nearest to me but any experience in this situation would help).

I am thinking of going to university sometime in future, but would definately not be able to afford to keep a horse. However he is the ideal horse for me and I would want him back after the three years!

Full loan is an option but I would always be worried about the person giving him up and me being stuck with him and having no source of income. Working livery would seem much more secure.

Any horror stories welcome - he is my baby and I want to know the truth.
 
a girl at our livery wanted to loan a horse to a college, but she failed their vetting. apparently some of the riders are pretty bad, but if your horse is a reliable sort he probably won't mind... i wouldn't do it personally though, i'd rather loan mine to an approved home.
 
Some colleges actually charge you to loan your horse! (Bicton in Devon). Someone I know leant their experienced dressage horse to Callington in Cornwall and it seemed to work out alright.
 
I'd never loan one of mine to a college as they spend too much time stabled for my liking. Plus, (at most places) they will charge you in the holidays unless you can take him back for those weeks!
 
Sorry this might be a bit of a long one! I took my mare with me when I went to college and she was used in the school.

Bearing in mind this all happened in 1 term before I took her home - she was stuck in barn type stables with bars between, which she hated and was kicking at that other horses and lashing out. She was ridden in a straight bar rubber snaffle, which they said they don't allow, but I refused to change the bit. They cut her mouth open with it!

She is whip shy having been backed by a dealer so I can't use a whip while I lunge her. They were lunging her on my lesson and I was lunging another horse. They insisted on using a whip with her. She went nuts and was charging about on the end of the lunge line. Once she realised nothing bad was going to happen she just stared completely taking the p*ss. They ended up with 4 people trying to control her, including the staff, still refusing to get rid of the whip, she ended up tanking them through the next door riding lesson, by which point she is having a great time charging about like a total loone, but dangerous, so I took over.

She was used 3 hrs a day, 1 luning, 1 jumping and 1 flat. She ended up going lame. But they still kept getting her out for lessons and then sendng her back cos she was lame, I was told and went down to see her and someone was tacking her up!!

She didn't get better and the vet came out, did nerve blocks etc. They couldn't fnd out what was wrong with her so she had to go the the vets clinic for more x-rays. It took them 5 weeks to get her there. I was told she was permanently lame and that the only way she could be ridden was to be put on bute, and couldn't understand why I wouldn't pump an 11 year old full of bute and put her back in the school!!

While she was on box rest she was constantly pooring the ground, so I asked for the bed to be brought up to the door and every day it was swept back, this is even with a masive sign on her stable door and me pulling the bed forward myself every day. She went through her front shoes in 2 weeks on box rest.

Came down one day and she was stood in her stable wearing a sweat rug, both her stable rugs and a newzeland!! She ended up with a bad reaction to her feed and was totally down and was ill as well. She wasn't due her vaccination until after she went home, so I was leaving it until she was away from there. But they had it done without telling me and she ended up with her entire chest massively swollen. In the 18 years I've had her I have never seen her so miserable.

I was lucky my mum had her for the 3 years I was at college and she had a well deserved break in the field with her palls.

I know several people who took their horses and all of them had problems, most were lamed and were taken home.

But this is just one college, so if you find the right one you might be OK, but I would be very carful where. If you go to any open days or for a look round have a quick word with the students out of ear shot if you can and see what they say.
 
i put my horse on loan whilst i was at uni and it worked quite well. hough they are being used you will probably still have to pay a bit - i could have paid £40 pounds a term to put into full working livery but decided to pay a bit more so i could ride her on weekends.

she was treated well and always seemed happy and in good condition. she was only used 1 or 2 hours a day and they varied her work. also being a working livery rahter then one of theirs she tended to be kept for the better riders although some novices did use her as she was well behaved.
she also had a queue of people wanting to ride her in local competitions because she was one of the few that actually jumped. i had no problems with this and even split the competing with one girl - she did low classes and i did the higher ones.
i also found someone to loan her over the summer so she didn't have to keep moving yards.

my advice would be to have agood look around, ask what your horse would be used for and who would be riding it - be as nosey as possible. i was lucky enough to know the yard manager who had looked after my horse whilst i was on holiday before hand so knew exactly what my horse was capable of.
admittedly her groudwork did suffer a little as she wasn't always made to work properly but this was nothing major and easy to rectify.

hope this helps
 
One of our homebreds went to Warwickshire collage for a year (on loan to a specific student) and to Kingston Maurwood for a year (for general use). Warwickshire was great, he went to a reccomended person who competed him to BE novice level and loved him to bits, as a young horse it did him the world of good.

Kingston Maurwood was a few years later, he got very little turn out, students seemed to love riding him so he got used a lot and he became very sour. We had to collect him at the end of each term and return him when the holidays had finished. A lot of equipment was "lost" while he was there. I think they looked after him well, but the routine of lots of schooling and little turn out didn't suit him.

Since I've been at uni he's been loaned to our local hunt every winter as huntsmans horse and absolutely loves it. He's 21 now, they look after him carefully because he's an oldie and one of their better horses. He's turned away each summer, either at my parent's or with the other hunt horses.

Different things suit different horses, and I'd think carefully before loaning to a college again unless the horse was going to a specific individual.
 
I don't have any experience with loaning to an equine college but I just wondered if you are 100% sure you won't be able to afford your horse at uni. I've just started uni this term and I pay my own way completely (tuition fees, residence fees, car, horse etc). I have the maximum non income assessed loan you can have and I worked from when I finished my A levels to when I started here, and I still have plenty of money to meet all my expenses with some left over. Maybe it would be worth sitting down and working out on paper how much money you would need a week and how many hours a week you would be prepared to work whilst at uni.
 
I went to an equine college, 1 year full time, 2 years part time and I bought my last boy from a lday who had him on working livery at the college. Yes they did 2 hours sometimes two and half to three and they did only go out for half a day a week and yes I am glad he only did a year there but they looked after him very well and he was loved by all the students. I think it depends on the horse, how well they cope with being stabled, choose your college carefully, investigate all the options and keep regular contact and visits. With some horses they can actually improve at college, one horse arrived when I was there, an ex-racer, scrawny and having done nothing and left a year on, muscled up, schooled, jumping 3ft courses, used in BHS exams and a general allrounder so there are positives as well as negatives. Good luck
 
Mine went to one too.
He started off brilliantly being used by some people training for Beijing Olympics.
When the said students went he then went on to normal students and subsequently went lame.
RSI the vet told me from too much schooling.

Interestingly enough a friends horse died while on loan to this college from colic and another died from colic during the same time so I really wouldn't recomend it if you value your horse.

Private loan would be better
 
Please don't do it. I sent mine on trial to a very well known training centre. He was badly injured in week 2 and the way he was treated afterwards was shocking. Then I was told he wasn't what they wanted and went to pick him up and found they had been riding a very miserable and lame horse. 3 months of recuperation and £3500 vets bill and I have learned my lesson the hard way.
 
horsimous - same thing happened to me.
They wanted to start charging me £400 a month full livery for my horse that they lamed and then no donation towards vets bills
 
I let my horse go out on loan to a colledge, ive always regreted it, at the time i didnt have a llot of choice, personal reasons.
I wont go into details, but honestly i would never do it again no matter how desperate i was.
Debs x
 
My grey boy is on loan to Hartpury and I could not recommend it highly enough.
The students and staff adore him and take so much care ensuring everything is corect- if they arent sure about something they phone me straight away.
Maybe because he is one of their advanced schoolmasters he gets slightly preferential treatment- he gets turned out as much as weather allows, he has one of the amazing Monarch stables and only has the best students ride him.
It suits my horse down to the ground now that he's not up to competition anymore
 
Thanks Bossanova and Happy Horse, however mine would probably be used for the more novicey riders as he will put up with a lot and wouldn't be up to advanced work.

I am thinking that a sharer would suit us more.
 
After a lot of soulsearching Murph went on working livery to Reaseheath college in September. We asked a lot of questions and visited first, I then found someone I knew who had had a horse there and said they looked after them well. The yard manager came and tried Murph and said they would probably keep him for the better students. I visit him often and he seems very happy. He is used for a maximum of 2 hours a day, one in morning one in afternoon, 5 days a week.and has regular turnout (this was my main concern). Daughter came home from uni this weekend and as he had just had a week off went up to take him for a hack. She said he was very on his toes and seemed very well. He is very laid back so think his temperament suits the environment. He is not in the american barn though as he tends to kick the door for attention so he is in a smaller stable yard which is better I think, a lot quieter. It does depend on the college and I would do lots of research and ask a lot of questions, ideally from people who have horses there. We will be bringing him home for the longer holidays , hopefully he will go hunting at Christmas , but have left him for the half term as not worth him coming back and will have to pay £60 full livery for those weeks.
 
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