Need some advice - Loan horse.

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Jynxed

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I got my current horse on loan with view to buy about three weeks ago - and he's perfect, a 16.1 OTTB. He's exactly what I'm looking for, he's a lovely horse and everyone loves him, but the problem is he pulled a shoe just before we got him. When his owners got the farrier out to him, it turned out that he had practically no wall left and was forced to pull all his shoes the morning before we went and picked him up.

We still got him, got some hoof boots, started him on a diet more suited to help his feet, but three weeks later he's still badly lame, no difference as to what he was before, footsore and hoof boots make absolutely no difference. We had a barefoot farrier to come out and look at him and she has no idea when he'll be fine on his feet, and that they're a complete mess and putting shoes back on isn't an option as there is no wall to put them on. I love him to pieces and completely gutted, but the whole point of us getting a horse was for me to ride more and now it's the summer holidays, I'm missing out on loads that I wanted to do.

He's probably best having a long period of work to regrow wall, but as much as I love him, I never wanted to be stuck with a horse I can't ride, which is what I am at the moment. What would you guys do..? Thanks!
 
If you can be 100% sure yourself that he is going to go sound then I say buy him.. In the end it will be worth the wait, no? If a rediculous price then possibly not but if he's a bargain then I say go for it.
 
I'm afraid I would send him back to the owner and keep looking. Why would you want to take on a lame horse? He is not fit to be sold, the owner has responsibility to sort him out before he is sold on.
 
He's £700 inc. tack, but I'm not 100% sure he will be sound as his feet are a mess, and I have a feeling when he pulled the shoe he did more damage in his leg/shoulder. He was meant to be 'sound and fit', and I know no one can help this, but we got him so I could ride and jump :(
 
Jynxed said:
He's £700 inc. tack, but I'm not 100% sure he will be sound as his feet are a mess, and I have a feeling when he pulled the shoe he did more damage in his leg/shoulder. He was meant to be 'sound and fit', and I know no one can help this, but we got him so I could ride and jump :(
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I think you need to send him back then. :( There are plenty more fish in the ocean..
 
Clare85 said:
I'm afraid I would send him back to the owner and keep looking. Why would you want to take on a lame horse? He is not fit to be sold, the owner has responsibility to sort him out before he is sold on.
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Really great and sensible advice.
 
I would send him back and keep looking, but, if you really like him, ask the owner to contact you again if/when he's sound. If you've not found another one then you could trial again.
 
Goldenstar said:
send him back .
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Why have a horse on loan that is not fit for purpose, you are considering buying him in this state which could all end up badly, you cannot even insure him honestly as he is lame, he may seem like a perfect horse but in reality you are not really going to find out whether he is a dream or a nightmare until you can ride him properly. Look for a sound horse that you can enjoy and let his owners spend the time and money sorting him out.
 
I wouldn't have taken him until he was sound.

You could easily get a lovely horse with that budget and be out enjoying it. I would be worried about buying a horse that can damage itself so badly by losing a shoe, I would worry about the state of his feet in general.. I would send him back and look at adverts.
 
He was meant to be sound and in work, we had no idea his shoes had been taken off until we got there to pick him up. We just hoped that in our loan period he'd come back sound and just footsore, but how lame he is still is worrying :( Thanks though guys!
 
£700 including tack is very cheap, so this suggests to me that he probably isn't sound at the best of times and they are trying to get rid! bless him, poor boy!
 
Bear in mind that it takes about 9 months to a year for a foot to grow down from the coronary band, so you don't know what happened that length of time ago for the hooves to be in such a bad state now. It only takes bad shoeing and/or bad management - and this has been a horribly wet winter which hasn't helped any horse's feet to be in good condition.

Having said that: I agree with others on here who say that this horse should not have been sent out for lwvtb with feet like this. It is placing you in a very unfair position as you are (obviously) liking this horse and now have to make a difficult decision.

IF you like this horse, I would personally ask for a full 5-stage vetting with particular emphasis on legs & feet. Yes OK it will cost you £££, but better to know now what you're taking on then to haggle for a cheaper price BUT be taking on a helluva lot more, longterm, with vets bills plus the frustration of not being able to ride. Yes its easy to fall in love with what is no doubt a lovely horse, but if you can't ride him for a lot of the time, or even worse, have to make a difficult decision about him some time in the future, then you are just setting yourself up for heartbreak, frustration, and expense.

I would also get YOUR farrier to take a look at this horse for an honest opinion as that just could be enlightening. You don't want something that is going to need expensive remedial shoeing for years to come.

Notwithstanding that there may be perfectly good reasons for this horse's feet being in such a bad condition, and accepting that some horses will always have dodgy feet whatever you do, IMO sending a horse out with feet in such bad condition that a horse cannot be ridden is a welfare issue. He should not have been sent out like this, it isn't fair on either you as prospective purchaser, or the horse.
 
There is no point in getting a vet out to do a 5 stage vetting, the horse is lame they will not be able to do anything other than say that, yes the eyes can be checked but not much else as it cannot be ridden, it would be a total waste of money, possibly arrange for a vet to see it regarding the lameness but again if the feet are that bad there will be little they can do other than advise shoeing it, if that is possible, then taking a look to see if anything else is going on, for a £700 horse it is not worth spending money pointlessly, it may come sound, it may be a lovely horse but it should not be the OP's problem to get it sorted out.
 
Honey08 said:
I wouldn't have taken him until he was sound.

You could easily get a lovely horse with that budget and be out enjoying it. I would be worried about buying a horse that can damage itself so badly by losing a shoe, I would worry about the state of his feet in general.. I would send him back and look at adverts.
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Ignore that! I read £7000 including tack. £700 including tack is very low, and as someone said, suggests it will be a horse with problems of some sort.

I would send him back, at least until he comes sound, and save up a bit more if you can. You will get more for that money at the start of winter..
 
As much as you like him he us the owners responsibility.
He is not the horse you wanted, yet.

You either agree a very reduced price and take chance now with him, giving him the time he needs.
But take lots if expert advice first about his prognosis.

Hand him straight back.
Owner could then contact again when he is sorted but they may still sell him to someone else before.

Maybe you could a free joint care, a loan or something if you really like him.

But as you said you wanted a horse to ride now.
 
No foot, no horse. Plenty of nice horses with good feet. Probably not the first times he's pulled a shoe and would be immensely frustrating in the long run. Send back, it's not your responsibility.
 
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