The lady who owns the tack shop i use alot, knew the situation i was in with selling my old mare and that i was looking for something to loan, knew what i was looking for etc.
She already had my number and someone she knew of started looking for a loan home for their pony. so she let me know. I went to view him that day said i would have him there and then, they dropped him off a week later and nearly a year later he is still with me
word of mouth. go into your local tack shops and leave them your no, ask the vets/farrier/saddler/hay man as they all see far more people and ponies! Also write a generic text to send to all horsey people in your phone. Good luck! Mine popped up from the most unlikely of places!
I had also put a wanted ad on horsequest and did get 3 responses but only a good few weeks after ad went up.
I had a heavy hint in my signature on here and on another horsy forum i visit. i also put the word out among every horsy contact i had, everyone at my original yard, people at the tack shops, people at my old RS, my farrier, vet, back lady, etc.
In the end, Ella's owner got in touch with me through HHO!
found mine on project horses, this is my third horse off the site. The first was an unbacked youngster that i backed for the owners, the second was given to me and is now in a riding school and charles is on permanant loan.