What on earth can I do with my loan horse?

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Christmas Crumpet

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As I have previously posted - I have a little 15hh cob mare on loan for the season. She was due to go back in February originally but I heard nothing from her owner who lives abroad. I then got an email from her saying she wanted to sell her at the end of the hunting season (beginning of April) and she wanted £6k for her. She offered me her for £4k but as said I want something bigger which has more potential to do something else. She is a brilliant hunting pony but is very basic in that what you see is what you get. She doesn't ever surprise you if that makes sense.

Anyway she had a puffy leg a couple of weeks ago after the owner's son took her hunting and I got the vet after a week who diagnosed dermatitis and so we put her on steriods and the leg went down. However, he said he thought she was lame on both front legs or in both front feet. He recommended she was shod differently because she has very flat dishplate feet. Personally I couldn't see that she was lame because she is the same as she's been since I've had her and its much easier to tell if a horse is lame on one foot as opposed both front feet!! She did arrive with shoes that were slightly too big all the way round i.e the shoe stuck out about 1 cm all the way round the hoof (if that makes sense) which makes me wonder if the people who had her before knew she was lame in both front feet.

My problem is that I don't want to sell her for this woman if she's lame and won't pass the vet but I don't want to be stuck with her either. The vet said to make sure she was newly shod and on a strong joint suppliment before vetting her. What can I do? Noone is going to buy a horse that is lame for £6k and the owner won't take less than that. Its not such a huge problem to have her over the summer because she can live in the field and grazing is no problem. I dont' know what to say to the owner - what if she blames me for the horse being lame? She doesn't really agree with vets and the vet was quite honest saying he'd need to do xrays and scans to find out what was wrong with her. The mare is insured but do I really want to go down the line of trying to find out what is wrong or shall I just turn her out and forget about her?

Any ideas would be gratefully received!!
 
I would find out what is up with her as she is insured and you dont have to pay for it! You could find out if it is a long term issue. Sounds like the owner may potentially not be honest and would sell her on without letting anyone know there could be a problem.I think you have to be honest with any potential buyers, you dont want the horse doing more than it is capable and you dont want people ending up with a horse that isnt right for them, as the horse will get passed from pillar to post.

Tell the owner she will have to pay commision for you selling it too! Cheeky...
 
If you agreed she will stay with you until feb then its no longer your problem. I am worried that someone will buy this horse, take her hunting etc and it will cause discomfort for the horse if the lameness is 'covered up'.
 
Agree with PiebaldEaster its really not your problem, let the owners deal with it. We had a loan pony and the owner sold her when we gave her up. We helped show her as we were still looking after her when she was sold, but the owner dealt with the prospective buyers
 
Problem being that the owner lives abroad and isn't coming over till May! I'm looking for a new horse at the moment and only have room for one in a stable. The owner will be over for Badminton - hopefully she'll take her away then!!
 
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Not your problem, tell the owner she has to make her own arrangements re: selling.

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Absolutely agree. But I would also start charging her livery for the horse
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I agree it's not your problem. Send the mare back at the end of February when she was due to go back. It's their problem if they have nowhere for her to go not yours. It's not your job to sell someone else'shorse unless they pay you to do so.

AmyMay is also right - charge full livery from 1st March.
 
As a goodwill gesture you could give the owner a months notice that you want to end the agreement - I know you said until the end of Feb, but its now a bit close and I personally wouln't want to upset the owner too much as you could well end up stuck in charge of this horse, esp as they are abroad.

The owners need to put her in full livery and pay someone to sell her. This is in no way your responsibility unless you enter a seperate agreement with them which I would think might be a bit messy. Last thing I'd want to do is sell her for them, as it sounds like she'd be on your hands for a long time.
 
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