your loan success stories

weesophz

weesophz

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after having a think i feel the best option for me right now would be to put fox out on full loan. however im still really wary as ive heard so many horror stories about peoples horses being abused or sold without them knowing among other things!

so please share your successful loan stories to reassure me its not a horrific idea...

ETA i do have a sharer but she is unable to take him for full loan, i used to have 2 sharers but it didnt work out so im not sure what to do about this either
 
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Mine oldie has been out on loan for almost 18 months, we're all very happy with the arrangements. Mine works becasue:

1 - I was very choosy about who he went to and was in no rush
2 - he is only 8 miles away so I visited her yard before he moved, went to her house, formally visited him often to start with (weekly for a month, then 2 weekly, then monthly - now ever 3/4 months) - but I drive past and glance at him over the hedge whenever I'm in the area
3 - I was honest about what he could and couldn't do and made the lady try him here 3/4 times before she (and her friends) decided he was OK.
4 - I've a detailed contract in place (not that these are really worth the paper they are written on but it sets the tone)
5 - my farrier knows her so I get updates from him (the horsey world is small!!)

finding the right person is 95% of getting it right - be prepared to turn a lot of people away.
 
My boy has had two wonderful loans. First for 10 months to a lovely lady who did a lot of hacking with him and adored him; we are still in touch. Now to a girl who also loves him and is doing a lot more, he is enjoying the extra attention and more jumping.

In the middle though we did have one that lasted a month and went wrong. He just wasn't happy and started misbehaving. No idea why - perhaps the individual turnout in little paddocks didn't suit him. He was nervous even with people he knew when he came back so although I wouldn't say they were cruel to him something wasn't right.

He was so happy to be home that I insisted he stay with me this time. It's harder to find someone and you have to get lucky, but it might be a good compromise. Otherwise, a sharer?

Go with your instinct on the person, and make sure they are local so that you can keep an eye on them. In the contract keep the right to turn up at any time and to take him back with no notice if you aren't happy with his care.
 
I loaned my ginger mare.I loved her like she was my own and when she went home (to be sold as she just wasn't what I was after buying) her owner and I kept in touch. Everything was lovely and easy and no hassle and worked out really well for me and (I hope) her owner :)
 
I know I posted it yeserday, but my sister's 12.2hh pony that's been outgrown has been with the same loaners now for 3 years. He goes out competing and doing XC with grandma at the weekend and he takes the toddler for walks and is teaching him to ride during the week! I see far too many pictures of him, get to see him whenever I want (he's at a yard down the road, so even occasionally hack together and go to competitions together).
A person close by with a wealth of knowledge that just couldn't afford the initail outlay of a pony. Plus grandma lives opposite my parents...

Local PC/RC might know someone more than capable that are moving up but can't bare to part with pony, so are looking for a loan - if they spend a lot of time out and about it's a good way to keep you in the loop as to how Fox is doing and means you can go see them at competitions/sneak a cuddle if you don't get much time to visit him!:D
 
I have several on loan (I rescue :)) and have only had one less than perfect home. The trick is to homecheck, homecheck - oh and homecheck. I do it at the outset and every 6 months (or delegate if it is another area). Mine tend to be relatively valueless though so not really at risk - loaners do have to sign a formal loan agreement. I was advised by Missing Horses on Loan (part of Horsewatch) that it is important to include a specific clause stating that it is forbidden to sell or otherwise part with the horse during the loan period. It doesn't prevent it but if it should happen, that ensures the police treat it as fraud and take action, without it they regard it as a civil matter and don't do anything.
It can work well but you have to be proactive, do the checks and also try and match the horse to the loaner.
 
The first horse I bred is out on loan - hes been in his home for 7 years now. Hes doing really well there - the lad has the patience of a saint (hes not easy by any stretch of the imagination!) and we have at every stage talked and agreed exactly what is what for him.

I think loaning can work - you just have to be very honest with your advert (if you are advertising) and make sure you and the loaner are on the same wavelength.
 
One of my boys isn't owned by me - he's on full loan from a friend who doesn't have the time but cannot bare to part with him. Although we are friends we still have a strict loan contract in place - we used the BHS one as a template and edited as necessary. I pretty much do as I please, treat him as my own and update her regularly. (she is free to visit any time and have a ride!)

I have the horse of my dreams (not enough pounds in the workd could replace him) and HO is content he is in a loving, permentant, safe home.

the loan contract is our bible and I would never take something, or loan one of mine out without one!

P.S if it is to a stranger I would be picky and ask for references, advise you will be doing spot checks etc... but all in all, you will know when it is the right home for him/her. :)
 
I loaned Magic for 2 years while his owner traveled the world. He was an elderly New forest pony and when i went to view him the whole yard turned up to watch from the fence line because he had a history of being naughty!

I moved him to my yard and treated him like family and he taught me more than 15 years worth of lessons and shares!
Towards the end of the first year he was diagnosed with bowel cancer but he stayed with me throughout the treatments, weekly vet visits and costs!
I had to get a new 332 hour a month job just to pay for it! He was put down at the end of last year when his condition just couldn't be saved.

I'm proud of the way I treated him, and I know there's a minority of people who give loans a bad name but we aren't all like that!!
When i began searching for another i found it so hard to find a horse that people would full loan away from their current yard that i just bought my own!
 
My pony is out on loan at the moment. He is on loan to a lovely young girl (well technically her mother) and they have now had him for two years. He went on loan to them through their instructor, who is a friend of a friend who used to ride him. I hear from the girl quite often as she emails me which was great when I was on the other side of the world. I can pop in whenever, and they still have lessons with the instructor so I get regular updates that way too.
Making sure you have the right home in place, and popping in regularlaly is imperative. Contracts aren't much good, as I found out the first time around, but with a clause about not selling can be important.
He has now had 5 loan homes, plus me as I had him on loan to start with, and most of them have been great.
 
From a loanee's perspective, my horse of a lifetime started out as a share, then a loan and then I bought him.

We were both 13 when I started riding him and his owner had her own land so all I had to do was ride and pay for shoes. She had four horses and a 10 year old so very little time. She then had her land compulsory purchased for a sewage works so they moved to livery and I started sharing him and paying a bit more. Then she had a baby so it moved to a full loan.

When I was 18 she and her abusive husband split up and she had to move away to get away from him. He was threatening to sell Eb for meat as he insisted he belonged to him as he had bought him for her (he didn't, it was just more of his games to try to make her stay) so just to be sure, she sold him to me for £5 and left the money on the kitchen table with a copy of the receipt. He died when he was 27 after 14 of the best years together and his owner came back to scatter his ashes with me.

I'm still in touch with his owner 8 years later, she came to my wedding and I've been to her granddaughter's christening. I didn't just get a loan pony, I met a new lifelong friend too!
 
My mum several years ago decided to put her horse she had from a foal out on loan as she was too busy helping me, my sister and my dad keep our horses competition fit. He went to one lovely home for 3 years, they sadly had to return him for (their) health reasons. The latest lady has now had him for 8 years (he is 26) and we would never ask for him back, he is healthy, happy and gets the attention he deserves.

We had our old 13h mare PTS last September at the age of 32. We had her on loan for 16 years. :eek::D We got her for my sister as a second pony, then I had her and we always found little girls to part loan her from us after that, as her owner would have just retired her and she was happiest having someone riding her. She did her last eventer-trial with her last little girl at the age of 31 :) Her owner visited infrequently but came to see her several times at the end, along with many of the other grown up little girls who rode her over the years.
 
Mine was on loan to the same person from age 7 to 20. They moved all over the country so I couldn't often visit but stayed in touch by phone / e-mail. She was beautifully cared for &, when she did return home, was in fantastic condition.
 
I put my yellow pony out on loan 3 times. The first two didn't work out for various reasons, but he was never mistreated. The only time he was being used for things I specifically said he couldn't be used for, he proved he could take care of himself and decked the rider responsible. Each time he came home perfectly healthy and happy. The third he spent 5 years with and had an absolutely blast, finally came home to retire. That home was wonderful to him, kept in touch regularly (texts, calls, funny letters with pictures in them) and his loan owner even sat in the stable for 72 hours with him when he developed a horrible case of spasmodic colic, fielding vets and treatment and keeping me posted throughout. Couldn't have asked for a better place or person for him.

I also have a gorgeous orange mare on loan at the moment. I've had her 2.5 years so far and she's smashing. Her owner and I keep in touch regularly and she comes to visit sometimes. In both cases, as loaner and loanee, I've always made sure we've got an air-tight contract in place, that covers all eventualities, and that we communicate. So far, it's all been pretty shiny. Good luck with Fox!
 
My first pony was originally on loan. The owners were lovely, but a tad too protective (she wasn't allowed out in the rain, even with a rug on, in a field with excellent shelter, for example) so eventually we bought her, after about 5 months, just to get rid of them really! (I kept in touch with them over the years).

I had Misty for almost 12 years, she ended her days with me at the grand age of 35 (she thought she was 35 months not years most of the time!).


My neighbour wasn't able to sell her rather lovely mare (apparently she had some very slight conformation fault that wasn't detected when she bought her, but meant she failed the vetting when she tried to sell her). She put her out on loan. The last time I asked about her, she was over in Ireland wiping the Pony Club showjumping board over there! My neighbour has no plans to take her back, she said she'd only have her back to breed from her, and feels she's too old for the palaver of a foal now, as she's in her 70s. So someone has basically acquired a very, very nice horse for free!
 
My pony was originally on loan to me. I always treated him like my own and even though he has spent more than half of his time with me lame and unridable I adore him. After I had had him 3 years his owner signed him over to me, she realised that she could never have him back and I had no intention of letting him go to anyone else seeing as I know him well and understand his dodgy joints!
 
In 2000, my OH agreed for me to have a horse. We thought a loan would be best for us, we had never had a horse before, so wetre very novice at it all, although my next door neighbour was at the time a good friend, and very horsey. We found an advert for Benson in our local tack shop. we went with my neighbour to see him, fell in love straight away, and brought him back to the yard a couple of weeks later. He was at the time living at his home, being cared for by his owners mother, not being ridden as far as I was aware, so just turned out, brought in and fed.
We started to have lessons on him, and both me and my OH went from very novice riders, to both jumping, I did a fair bit of XC and dressage, just very low level, but loved every second of it.
I couldnt of cared for Benson any better, or any differently if he were my own, and certainly couldnt of loved him any more.
 
weesophz said:
after having a think i feel the best option for me right now would be to put fox out on full loan. however im still really wary as ive heard so many horror stories about peoples horses being abused or sold without them knowing among other things!

so please share your successful loan stories to reassure me its not a horrific idea...

ETA i do have a sharer but she is unable to take him for full loan, i used to have 2 sharers but it didnt work out so im not sure what to do about this either
Click to expand...

For security reasons,

1 - check your horse is microchipped,
the chip can be found easily (note the location of it)
make sure you have the number wrote down somewhere EASY to hand
check the microchip is registered with PetLog (or whoever) and that they have your correct details

2 - Freezemark your horse
take a photo of it close up and a side view of your horse showing the mark
check the freezemark is registered with Farmkey or freezemark and that they have your correct details

3 - Passport company
If you do decide to loan or share your pony, inform PIO so they can make notes on their system that the pony is on loan and no details should be updated without your permission
 
I know lots of loan horses who are very happy and well cared for. I had a companion on loan for 18 months (was supposed to be 6) who we loved dearly. I have only ever loaned out once, it was supposed to be a loan with a view to buy. Sadly it didn't end too well, however I have only myself to blame. During the initial 3 month period I visited regularly. At the end of the trial they wanted her but were awaiting an insurance payout. Being a sucker, and having just found out I was pregnant I believed them and took my eye off the ball and just relied on e-mail contact. 6 months later (on Christmas eve) she came back over faced and in very poor condition. If I had continued to visit it wouldn't have happened. So my advice would be visit at least monthly.
 
I loaned out my oldie for about 8months to let me get on my feet a bit. It was supposed to be permanent but woman had health issues and had to give him up.

He was well looked after and came back to me in as good a condition and state of mind as I sent him to her in :)

I had all my belongings returned and everything was just fine :)

I did write an iron clad agreement though and I informed both my insurance company and passport company that he was on loan and under no circumstances was the name on the passport to change.

Its all about finding the right person :)
 
My pony came back from a 12 month loan in January. He came back in better condition than what he went! They took great care of him, he was adored and seemed perfectly happy there. They would have bought him if it wasn't for me not being able to part ways. I completely trusted them and if I do ever decide to sell him, I doubt I'll ever find a better buyer than what they would have been. Silly me!
 
Luckily, I don't have a bad loan story to tell!

My daughter (well I) loaned a Welsh B pony, part loaned for about 3 years, full loan from 2004 until 2011 (when I went broke) same yard as owner, who is now a very dear friend to me. Still see the pony nearly every day.

We loaned out our TB mare twice to two different people in the hopes of finding her a suitable permanent home but alas it was not to be, The first home was about 100 miles away, the second less than 10 miles away. There was some stress getting her back the second time because she wouldn't load and she was a bit down about the mouth but there was no real unpleasantness or peril (for her anyway) .

I loaned a horse on my yard from Sept-March which is now my own

My daughter's TB gelding was on full loan from May 12-Dec 12 with a lady at our yard who now part loans with my daughter, again, no real problems there, she pays her share, comes when she says she will and she loves him.
 
I loan one of mine, a retired (yet still full of beans) polo pony. She's wonderful, we love her and she's very much part of my family. Its a full permanent loan with the only condition being no invasive surgery. If it comes to that she's to be pts.

I didn't know the lady I loaned her from - but it now turns out we have around a dozen different mutual friends/aquaintances (including farrier/vet so news is passed along). I adore her and treat them exactly the same.

She's mine in my eyes in every sense. :D
 
thanks everyone :) so did you all spot check yards? and what would be the basic outline for a contract?

also, do you think its possible to loan him but keep my sharer involved? she cant fully loan him herself but she really doesnt want to give him up and its not her fault im in the position im in, and id feel so selfish if i was just taking him away from her as shes great with him.
 
My first horse I loaned for 2 years, no problem. Owner kept her other horse at same yard, & helped when I asked but left me also to learn. After 2 years she lost her job, so I bought my girl (then aged 19) from her to secure her future & help out. We had another 10 amazing years together, where each day she taught me more. I lost her aged 29 to a stroke, the most amazingly patient horse, what she had to put up with from me. I'd just get the 'look' when I'd got it wrong, so I'd know I had to start again. Brilliant mare. Think her owner was also very pleased that we gelled, as she had bucked off everyone else at the yard who had tried to ride her (she decided to take care of me &not do that despite my very dodgy riding). I remember so vividly cantering round the fields & jumping tree trunks bareback.
 
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