very upset and disapointed

I know you must be upset about the condition of your horse but it does sound like you are over reacting. If she was delivered to you tomorrow and the loan over would you still have the vet out??

With respect most vets if you telephoned them to say you were slightly concerned about a previously dealt with injury would agree to come out, after all they are getting paid :)


Yes, as I am concerned that it is not healing correctly.

Lol! very true :D
 
OP I think I would be more upset about the weight loss to be honest.

Yeah, not really sure what is going on there either!
loaner said he is getting 2 feeds a day and a bale of hay every night (horse is stabled at night) so gave loaner some feeding and rugging instructions until his return.
strange because his eyes are bright and his coat is lovely! :confused:
 
I am a bit confused over what state your horse is in, you say he is not lame but not 100% sound which doesn't make any sense to me. Either it's a splint and he's sound in which case he doesn't need the vet, or it's a splint or other kind of swelling and he is lame in which case he needs the vet. In the first case the loanee is right, in the second she is wrong not to get the vet out.
 
I am a bit confused over what state your horse is in, you say he is not lame but not 100% sound which doesn't make any sense to me. Either it's a splint and he's sound in which case he doesn't need the vet, or it's a splint or other kind of swelling and he is lame in which case he needs the vet. In the first case the loanee is right, in the second she is wrong not to get the vet out.

He is not holding his leg up, he is sound in walk, in trot he is not hopping lame but just slightly uneven (he was even before leg injury)
I think it will result in a splint but I am not sure and in my opinion needs to have a vet check that the injury is healing properly.
The loaner agreed that the vet needed to return and have a look but then refused to pay for it after I had spoken to the vet regarding what they thought was the best next step of action if any.
 
Yeah, not really sure what is going on there either!
loaner said he is getting 2 feeds a day and a bale of hay every night (horse is stabled at night) so gave loaner some feeding and rugging instructions until his return.
strange because his eyes are bright and his coat is lovely! :confused:

& you believe her? Sorry, your horse is loosing weight & has an injury as well, id be getting it out of there pretty damn quickly if i were you! I could post pics of my horses that went out on loan, but i wont, both to "lovely people", what i had home was heart breaking. Dont mess about with it, at the end of the day things are going down hill with the loan, & quite honestly now the loaner knows the loan is ending the chances are things will get worse.
 
Is the horse still covered by the loaners insurance? if a claim was made for the previous vets fees the insurance would see a follow up visit as part of the same claim maybe?
 
Splints are a (usually) a harmless occurrence that can occur with any horse that is kept in the very best possible manner. Just one of those things. However, loss of weight and the numerous scars you mention are another matter, but as you say yourself, the horse does seem bright eyed and bushy tailed.

I would just get him home, cut your losses, and next time (if there is one!) keep up the visits even towards the end of the contract.

Agree with the last para. of this.......... basically just get your horse out of there if you're at all worried and argue the details later.

Re. the insurance; you say the person who had yours on loan paid for the insurance??? I would venture to suggest that this isn't normal practice: I've loaned my boy out in the past, both the equestrian college AND to a private person - and each time I was responsible for paying the insurance.

Had YOU been the person paying the insurance, you might have been in a far better position TBH.
 
Realistically, you will not be able to make the loanee pay the vet bill. Loan agreements are basically an informal agreement between you both as to who will do what. If someone goes back on their word you can't do much about it. Unfortunately a lot of people take horses on loan rather than buying, because it means they can give horse back in the event of major vet bills or if the horse needs retirement or PTS etc. These people often have the attitude that any problems with the horse are not their problem and will therefore only provide a very basic level of care, especially if they start having financial problems. I'm sorry you seem to have one of these loanees. They're not all like this.
 
To be honest if its a splint its not going to be a life changing amount of money, however if you decide to take the legal root the costs could soon pile up. I'd just be glad to get the horse back to you're care where you will have peace of mind he is getting the proper care he needs. Also have you checked his worming is up to date? May explain the weight loss.
 
Why should I pay the vets bill when there is a contract in place clearly stating that the loaner is liable to pay all vets fees if the horse is sick or injured whilst under the loaners care (vet also agrees that the loaner should pay the vets bill) the loaner doesnt want to pay the excess on the insurance.

Because at the end of the day it's your horse, regardless of what the contract says.

Get him home, treat him - and if the bill is large (unlilkely) pursue her through the courts.
 
So the unevenness in trot has nothing to do with the splint if it was there before? So its a sound horse with a splint? If you want a vet out for your peace of mind and no other reason then surely you should be the one to pay!
 
He is not holding his leg up, he is sound in walk, in trot he is not hopping lame but just slightly uneven (he was even before leg injury)
I think it will result in a splint but I am not sure and in my opinion needs to have a vet check that the injury is healing properly.
The loaner agreed that the vet needed to return and have a look but then refused to pay for it after I had spoken to the vet regarding what they thought was the best next step of action if any.

OK so he is lame. A horse doesn't need to be hopping lame to be lame, and sometimes mild lameness is due to more significant problems. The horse does need the vet and if your loanee refuses to pay for it there is very little you can do about it. Ideally take the horse back but if you can't right now pay for the vet.
 
Many moons ago I Loaned a lovely mare ( sporthorse) to a stud for breeding ... suppose to be living in Post and rail stud farm.
only 3 weeks later I got a call from a lady in the village whos 15 yr old daughter was left to look after horses whilst stud owner went on holiday. Found out my mare was turned out on the derby dales and fell into a quarry slicing her knee cap off (it was hanging on a 1 inch piece of skin.
Their vet was called and he told girl that unless she was operated on quickly she would have to be put down .. she thank goodness managed to track my contact details in the stud office ... Mare was suppose to be fully insured by them .. and I stepped in and arranged horse ambulance and vet hospital to operate.
Did successfully save mare but had £2,500 vets bill ... only to be told by their insurance the second I took mare off the premises I resumed responsibility for all costs ...LOANERS BEWARE !!!
 
Hmm, I think personally if you want the vet, then you should pay. Yes she had him on loan and costs then were her responsibility, but if you then came and stepped in and wanted a vets opinion that should be at your cost. If they were then keeping the horse on loan, and it was something that happened in their care, and they wanted to keep horse on loan, they should pay. If you want to take horse back, you will pay.

My horse was on a share - but basically a loan as the girl had him 100% - when he was needing put down, but it was ME that paid the vets fees as it was likely to be long term/end of the road kinda fees.
 
Many moons ago I Loaned a lovely mare ( sporthorse) to a stud for breeding ... suppose to be living in Post and rail stud farm.
only 3 weeks later I got a call from a lady in the village whos 15 yr old daughter was left to look after horses whilst stud owner went on holiday. Found out my mare was turned out on the derby dales and fell into a quarry slicing her knee cap off (it was hanging on a 1 inch piece of skin.
Their vet was called and he told girl that unless she was operated on quickly she would have to be put down .. she thank goodness managed to track my contact details in the stud office ... Mare was suppose to be fully insured by them .. and I stepped in and arranged horse ambulance and vet hospital to operate.
Did successfully save mare but had £2,500 vets bill ... only to be told by their insurance the second I took mare off the premises I resumed responsibility for all costs ...LOANERS BEWARE !!!

I hope you are sueing the stud for the costs worth a trip to the small claims court I think and add on a bit for the loss of value to horse your time and stress etc.
 
If the horse is insured, surely it will all come under the same claim, and therefore her insurance will be paying for it? I have had mine returned in not perfect condition, and have had him checked by my vet when I wasn't happy and paid for it myself. Although it grates to pay when someone else should be, the horses welfare will always come first.
Good luck, and hope it all turns out ok.
 
I'm surprised you aren't paying the insurance for the horse. My horse is out on loan as a companion and we pay the insurance for the simple fact that should he get badly injured and need to come back into my care any injury would have to be disclosed to the insurance company when I went to insure him again and I therefore would then be excluded on the injury which would be the reason he'd be coming back to me. Also I like to keep control regarding vets etc. I would also suggest if the horse is not lame and the vet visit is really for your peace of mind that you foot the bill. On loan or not, at the end of the day the horses welfare is YOUR responsibility, do what's right for the animal and pay the bill if needed.
 
Thank you to everyone who replied and I will have my horse home soon so it should not take me long to get him looking and feeling as good as new.

I will continue to work with the vet regarding this leg injury and decide on the next best course of action once the vet has been back on to check the injury.

Thank you to those who offered support x
 
I have had problems with loaning so understand where you are coming from. My horse got injured while on loan to a college and they paid for his treatment while he was there but as he needed to rest he came back to me and I then paid for any further treatment as it is just one of those things . He may have got injured while he was with me after all.

If he was unlevel before loan has this been investigated because his trot should not be uneven.A splint takes a bit of time but usually causes no further problems
 
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