Where to look for a loan horse?

[Slightlyconfused]

Friend is looking for a loan, her one has to be retired, and I was wondering where to help her look?

She basically wants min of 15.2, just nice personality, hack alone and in company, can jump and able to do low level riding club stuff.

She has a stable at a nice yard lovely facilities.

Any ideas of where I can point her to look?

 

[splashgirl45]

i got mine through word of mouth which IMO is best. would be worth contacting the local pony club /riding club to see if anyone is looking to loan. also look at feed merchants and saddlery shops to see if anyone advertising and if not put up a wanted ad ....to be honest she is looking for a popular size and also wants to compete so she may find it difficult as lots of loan horses are put on loan because they cant compete and owners want a happy hacker home for them.. mine was a hunter who had to be retired and owner wanted her kept fit by mainly hacking and maybe low level dressage but no jumping except for logs etc...

 

[ihatework]

She wants what most people can’t find to buy......

Word of mouth is everything, she will get one in loan from someone, or a friend of, that knows she will offer a top home and will be easy to deal with

 

[splashgirl45]

if your friend is a confident quiet experienced rider there is an andalusian in the loan section on horsequest, she is for sale at £3250 but it says long term loan may be possible for the right home.....from the description i would say your friend would need to be pretty good.to cope with this mare..

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Thanks all. Her current loan was 17.1hh so height is not an issue.

She doesn't want anything tricky as she needs a bit of a Confidence giver as it has been knocked.

 

[Shay]

As ihw says - she is looking for the type most struggle to buy. As the summer comes to an end she might have some success with kids going off to Uni and having to put a beloved horse on loan until next summer. PCs / RCs are teh right type of place to start.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Horses like OP wants are like hens teeth to find - at ANY price, let alone going for a freebie basically (no insult intended!).

IF prepared to take a punt on something which has "issues", then there's the "Project Horse UK" website, but you basically need to be prepared to deal with something that is at worst dangerous and at the very least you'd have to deal with an undesirable trait like bucking/rearing/what-have-you; for anyone to advertise their horse as being up for loan (or sale) on this website they do ask you to be 100% honest about the horse you are offering, so anyone taking on a "project" should be fully aware of what they may be dealing with. (Edited) having read OP's comment re the rider this horse would be intended for, I wouldn't say this would be the best place to go for a "confidence giver". Sorry!

Come the autumn, there may probably be a better chance of getting something as teenagers go off to uni and/or people don't want to keep something for the winter. Tho' anything good will get snapped up quickly.

It might be an idea to ask around at local pony club and/or hunt, tho' again decent horses are rare and anything good is already spoken for!

I don't know whether such a situation exists in OP's area, but in my local area there is a riding school that offers a "share" arrangement for designated horses - something like this might suit? As there is no commitment to buy and if the horse isn't suitable, you can always change to something else.

Sorry can't be more hopeful!! There are a lot of horses around, but sadly, to get anything half decent, and certainly something like OP is after, isn't easy! Not even for sale. I know, as looked for a very long time - and then after all that a little pony "found" me and that was that!!

Good luck is all I will say.

 

[Quadro]

I have one I couldn't get anyone for! So if you find good loaners let me know!

 

[be positive]

I agree, most horses, not so much with ponies, will be a project one way or another, they are going to have something that prevents them being sold or it could be a short term loan while owner is pregnant/away traveling or off to uni so not a project as such but will need to be handed back.
Otherwise it will be a green horse not necessarily a young one, possibly with issues the owner cannot deal with so hopes loaning will be a way of getting it sorted out or it will be an older one with some signs of needing to slow down so it would not pass the vet and may already have exclusions on it's insurance which needs considering before taking it on.
I think it would be hard enough to find what the OP's friend is looking for if they had a decent amount of money to buy it so looking for one on loan needs plenty of patience, probably an advert on a site such as Horsequest and a bit of luck.

 

[Julia0803]

We’ve just taken one on loan and I’d agree with everything everyone else said.

We needed something big as the horse was for my son- a 6’3 beanpole. So that ruled out anything under 16.2 really. Also not a nutter/dangerous issues.

We found one through word of mouth, he was at the same livery yard as a friend. He was up for sale as owner couldn’t cope financially or timewise. He’d been up for sale but failed the vet on lunging on a hard circle, 1/10th lame, but his feet were very overgrown at that point it was 12/13 weeks since he’d been done. He was/is also very poor.

However, we’ve had him 3 weeks now and he’s very sweet and improving every day. But it will cost a lot of money getting him back to his former glory. He’s eating more than my son which is a feat in itself! He’s also due all the routine things all at once, in the next two weeks I’ve got physio, dentist, and saddler all coming.

He will be super, I think. My son is smitten but I think it will be the end of the summer before he’s at a decent weight and fully fit.

I’d keep an eye out on local Facebook groups and put the word out with horsey friends and local professionals- your farrier etc.

 

[OldNag]

I have had most of our loans through word of mouth - via yard owner or farrier, physio. One came via preloved and two via Pony Club website classifieds.

 

[Penny Less]

Just be careful about the owner ,I speak from bitter experience