Right, need honest answers please (loaning)

C

Coffee_Bean

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 January 2007
Messages
11,653
Location
In a stable...
www.horseandhound.co.uk
Do you think someone is realistically going to want to take this horse on long term loan, I'll be totally honest.

15hh mare, 10yo, trakehner mare.

Good points:
Excellent to hack out in all traffic- cows, tractors, lorries, she is fine with.
Will go along and in company
Forward going but never strong.
Can canter in an open field and know she will never p*ss off.
Happy to go at a plod, or have the odd canter
Will live in or out happily.
Good to catch/load/clip.

Bad points:
She has a slight (1/10 on a circle) unresolved hind limb lameness, we have ruled out certain things, but can't continue investigations for many reasons. Therefore she is only suitable for light hacking.
Will take max 9.5st
Currently needs sedating for shoeing BUT I have every confidence that it will not take long to get her back to normal, honestly I think it just needs some time (which I don't have) and patience.
She eats a lot, therefore isn't a cheap to keep horse.
She can pull some grumpy faces, but never kicks/bites.

You all know what she looks like. Would anyone take this horse on loan or is she totally unloanable? Honest answers please, good or bad.
 
Yes, people are queuing up for free(loan!) horses. If she's safe and a sound enough hack, I'd think you'll be able to take your pick where she goes. The only problem with loans is that if the horse breaks, it can be dumped back home as your problem. As long as you remain aware she might get sent back when you least expect it, and stay prepared for that, it sounds like a plan.
smile.gif
 
I think I would be happy to loan her. If she is good in traffic, hacks out happily alone and has a kind, generous nature, she would do everything I need a horse to do. Obviously you need to find a lightweight person who can afford to keep a horse with her requirements but personally, her good points outweigh the bad points. There are a lot of people out there, myself included, that are happiest just enjoying looking after and hacking their horses. We dont all want to run and jump, you dont bounce so well as you get a bit older. Unless Ive missed something, she sounds as if she might suit a slightly older rider just looking for a fun hack.
 
She has a lot to offer as a hack. Every horse has some negative points, someone looking for a perfect horse shouldnt own a horse IMO.
 
Atm full on vet sedation. But I can fully explain why she's doing it, and I am over 99% sure that she will get over it, particularly with a new farrier. My farrier is fab but she had remedial shoeing and her feet were cut back a long way, as they needed to be, and she was very sore for a few days, hence she remembers him as pain and is a little reluctant to let him shoe her. But we're working on it, but I just don't have 6 months to sort it out
frown.gif
 
honestly? id be in two minds..

been here - loaned a horse a few years ago that had some sort of unresolved hind limb lameness - he was fine to hack out but it did get worse and he got quite unhappy and he ended up dropping quite a lot of condition. I forked out LOADS for farriers, vets, physios, feed, etc but in the end i had to give him back - i was gutted because he was a LOVELY ride and gave me OODLES of confidence, but i was making myself almost bankrupt trying to keep him comfortable and not a hatrack. i heard hes retired now anyway.
 
I think perhaps it would be better if you could hold onto her a little longer to work through the farrier issues if I'm completely honest. But saying that she does sound ideal for a small mum to hack out on. Have you thought about roughing her off for the winter and then coming back to her in the spring to see whether the lameness can be resolved?

But yes back to the original point, if you are careful you may be able to find the right loan home for her. I would be keen to monitor home closely at first to make sure she is being treated as per her needs.
 
im sorry if anything i said upset you in any way, coffee bean
frown.gif


but please remember im just one person and this was just one horse who just didnt cope with his lameness very well. I guess it would be different if you knew what it was and its likeliness to get worse?

I have no regrets about loaning this horse because of the good stuff he gave me, but i did have to also outline the bad points.

good luck in whatever you decide to do x
 
No no you didn't upset me at all
smile.gif
To be honest I was expecting a load of " no way in hells" so I'm actually pleasantly surprised, though I have no doubt that it'll be hard, and I will make sure I find the right person, but got the vet coming to her again tomorrow anyway, so will have another talk with him about things then
smile.gif


gold- its not really an option to rough off, we cannot afford two, and a) I've outgrown her b) I want to be doing stuff. As selfish as it sounds, its horses for courses really, and I have to accept that chances are she will never be what I want
frown.gif
I don't want a ready made comp horse, I just want one I can ride in the school, so I'm not just plodding about twice a week through winter. She's next being shod in 3 weeks and I am going to try ground work etc, and see if having me and another horse there makes her behave any better, and will chat through things with farrier- it is very much a work in progress. Trying to wean her off sedation, and onto sedalin, but obviously have to make sure farrier is happy with this
smile.gif


Thanks again for all the replies
smile.gif
 
lml- she is a bit of a skinny minnie, hence why i've outgrown her
tongue.gif
(my legs are practically at her knees bareback
frown.gif
... it's an awful photo but you see the problem!!
P1011042.jpg


However I'm not in a desperate rush to get rid of her, feel free to pm me if you want.
 
Personally if I was looking I would say that I do think she has a lot of good qualities the only thing that would put me off a bit is needing a full vet sedation in order to shoe her. However as you said you believe it is something that can be worked on and you are already trying to wean her off sedation. I do think her good qualities outweigh her bad ones by far but as I said if it were me I would certainly have questions regarding shoeing but wouldn't turn her down because of it if she was what I was looking for.
 
id think about it she has a lot of good points as a hack
grin.gif
but the only 1 thing that may sway me away is vet to sedate her to shoes but over all she sounds realy nice
 
I'm afraid I'd the opposite of most.

I know a coupleof people who are looking for a horse just like her, hacking wise, but wouldn't be interested in her lameness or difficulty to shoe: I don't know anyone who wants to do ONLY gentle hacking (if she's not up to a little schooling then she won't be up to going for canters or longer rider), nor anyone who would want the expense and hassle of having to have her sedated every 6weeks (plus expensive remedial shoes)

A lot of people SAY they'd be interested if they had time/no other horse/were lighter/closer/enough money etc but that's rather the point - they don't and they aren't.

The difficulty shoeing wouldn't bother me as I'd have her shoes off and deal with her foot problems barefoot, but that's not an easy option and required time, effort and knowledge. The lameness would make her a total no-no though.

There are plenty of horses up here for loan who are both sound and good to shoe.

I think you will find her a nice home eventually but it might take a bit of time.

Having said that - have a look on Project Horses- there a woman in the Wanted ads looking for a horse just like her, possibly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top