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T O P I C R E V I E W
Cassie
Posted - 09 Jun 2010 : 2:40:16 PM Hi
I am considering putting my horse up for loan, and I have a few concerns one of them is how far would people let their horses go I am in Norfolk and I have seen a few wanted adverts from Cornwall to Scotland, but how do I make sure she is all right in one of these homes due to the distance or do I just stay in the local area.
If things don't work out who is responsible for returning the horse? and what is the sort of thing is put into the contract? I know the obvious things but are there any things that are not so obvious.
What do other people do? or advise?
Christine
14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
debs
Posted - 13 Jun 2010 : 9:06:06 PM Its a difficult decision, I have had horses on loan and also loaned horses. I treat any horse or pony on loan as if it was mine...in fact probably with a bit more paranoia!!! Contract's sadly are a must, but you must always go on your gut feeling.I would always insist on surprise visits, as I insisted on at LEAST 12 hour turn out for my mare and was informed that if it even drizzled the horses stayed in! She came home... Sadly, the pony I just had on loan really didnt settle and his mum had to come and take him home!
jackiedo
Posted - 13 Jun 2010 : 10:35:28 AM I have a mare on loan at the moment, and several ponies of mine are out on loan. Only once have I had to take a pony back, and I also had to pay an unpaid livery bill for him too, but it was well worth it, as I love my pony to bits. He is now in another loan home, and I try to home them within the local hunt, where everybody knows everybody, get references etc. I wish my boy would come back, as I have a grandson of my own now, but his loan family adore him and they care for him well.
jo78
Posted - 10 Jun 2010 : 7:27:34 PM Have pmd you cassie
gossy
Posted - 10 Jun 2010 : 1:59:17 PM i have loaned horses and ponies and consider myself as a very caring horse owner and loaner, my 22 year old Welshie a started out as a loan for my daughter but is now mine i have never had any problems with owners visiting whenever they like, on my DIY yard i advise the Yard owner that the horse owner is to have access at all times and they are quite happy to accomodate, i totally agree with a contract no matter how friendly you might be, it covers both partys,i do however appreciate how difficult it must be if the horse is loaned far away, i wouldnt like my own to go far if i ever decided to loan!
Good luck.
angel2002
Posted - 10 Jun 2010 : 1:56:32 PM Hi Christine
I have a gelding who has been on loan for around 12 years now, he was originally around 70 miles away from me, is now about 25-30 miles away and soon to be anything from 200-400 miles away as the person who has him is moving to either Wales, Scotland or Ireland and wants him to go with her so he can have a happy retirement with her other 'oldies' (He is 24 yrs young this year ).
The person who loans him was (and still is) a good friend, I was moving home, going to a new area and didn't think it fair to have him stuck in a field doing nothing, she had known my gelding since he was 3yrs old, I knew she loved him and I trusted her to do the best by him.
Saying that around 10yrs ago another friend of mine loaned her arab gelding to a girl, after some time my friend decided that she had to sell him, she informed the loanee that she would be selling him, from what I remember loanee didn't want to buy him but didn't want my friend to sell him either, my friend said she was coming for him one weekend and when she got there the horse was gone so was all the girls stuff...The loanee had promptly stole my friends gelding !! Pluto and the woman have not been seen since
Which leads me to say that here is the potential problem, how do you know in this day and age who you can and can't trust? I didn't and still don't have a contract with my friend and am not worried in the slightest about my boy, I do have his AHS registration and his old AHS passport so am still the owner... or am I? (There is another topic!)
Would I loan one out now? Probably not but if I had to it would only be to someone I know and trust. Then again there are some lovely people around that I don't know who I am sure would be perfect loanees.....
I would recommend what others have said here, check, check and check again, find out everything you can about the prospective loanee, gut instinct is also a good indicator but still do all the checks...
Ask for proof of address, get a landline phone number, go to visit the yard, follow them when they take your horse to make sure she is going where they say she is or deliver her to them and see her in the stable, speak to the yard owner, the vet, the farrier, the feed merchant, make sure your horse is insured, in both names if necessary or ask them to provide you with a copy of the policy each time it is renewed... This is just a small sample of a big list of things I would do before anyone else was given the responsibilty of looking after my precious baby
If you loan your horse and it all goes wrong you would not wait for them to return her, I guarrantee that, whatever the cost, you would go and get her back asap
I hope you find the perfect loan home Christine, just like I did for my gelding all those years ago
xxx
Pop
Posted - 10 Jun 2010 : 09:25:30 AM I have a pony out on loan to a fantastic home, we even meet up to ride about once a month, but I do insist that they use my Farrier (which I pay for so I feel I can insist); I would soon hear if there was anything wrong. It started as a share when the pony stayed with me and eventually she was allowed to take her to her home. She can see her from her kitchen window :)
Misshana
Posted - 10 Jun 2010 : 09:03:06 AM I loaned my Arab gelding to a lady from Scotland about 4 years ago. She came to see him, stayed overnight with us so we got to know her a little. We then went to Scotland to see where he would be kept. We did a BHS loan agreement, we had joint names on insurance so I knew he was covered. I also checked with her Vet. I could not have found a better home for him. He is now hers and I know I did the right thing for him as he was absolutely wasted with me. I also loaned a TB gelding locally and ended up bringing him home again after only 8 weeks. I was unsure of this lady from beginning but decided was close enough to monitor. Go with your gut feeling about potential loaners and check out as fully as you can. I asked for driving licence/passport details to check identity and address. Vets will confirm if client gives authority.
Callisto
Posted - 09 Jun 2010 : 8:41:52 PM Just to post from the other point of view, my sister has had her gelding on loan for just over a year, having posted an ad on AL. She absolutely adores Charlie, and is doing well with him in his first full novice season at endurance. She keeps his owner updated by email, and she crewed for us at Windsor last year, and will probably do the same for us this year as well. The owner is in her early 20's and having had him from a foal didn't want to sell him, but couldn't really afford to keep him or use him sufficiently as she started working full time in London. We used the loan agreement from the BHS, we insure him and he has vet fees cover. I think my sister's worst fear is that one day his owner will want him back. It doesn't have to be a nightmare, and I have a 14.1hh gelding who is a bit small for me, who is currently on loan to my cousin's daughter, and when the time comes I will find another loan home for him, as I do not want to relinquish control over his future, which you do when you sell a horse, after all my girl Lily has had over 6 owners before I bought her last August and she is only 5 this month, her last but 3 owner thought she had sold her to a forever home but obviously not as she was sold to me 5 months later by another person altogether, and Lily herself is absolutely blameless and a lovely mare.
Edited to add that Charlie's owner is at least a couple of hours from us and has only seen (lots of) photos of where he is, but can check up on him at his rides by following links to the photographer's website. Obviously as far as we are concerned she is more than welcome to visit at any time.
s.jade
Posted - 09 Jun 2010 : 8:39:05 PM Vet homes VERY carefully. I am a non driver, so went on pure trust when loaning my very good mare, as I was unable to visit without my mother driving, (she has a 4yr old as well as me, who is not so healthy, and needs constant supervision for health issues so taking a day out to drive me across the country wasn't very possible!) I was horrified when I saw where she was, nothing like the place I was shown photos of, and she had taken 10 steps back educationally.
sab2
Posted - 09 Jun 2010 : 7:15:51 PM By choice you would loan your horse out to somebody who has been recommended or a friend but in an ideal world this is not always possible. I was lucky enough to loan a stallion for a year off a lady who advertised him on here i am now the proud owner of him and she in turn is going to loan my mare to breed from so it worked out great for us both. There are good and bad homes out there,you could always ask if they would mind if you spoke to their vets or yard owner and also ask for a reference or two if they are genuine im sure they wont mind. I do hope you find a nice home , there are lovely homes out there waiting the very best of luck
JESSIEMAE
Posted - 09 Jun 2010 : 5:36:20 PM Hi Christine, It is beneficial to me that you posted this, as I am currently in the position of loaning out definitely one, possibly two of my horses. Although there can be lots of negative feedback on loaning, I have decided that this is perhaps the better option as once sold, you never have any say/control in what is going to happen to your horses in the future. I could very easily put my lovely Connie x mare up for sale and I feel sure that I would have no problem selling her but I have owned her for several years and I want to guarantee her future well being. I have somebody coming to see her on Friday who lives two minutes away from me, this would be ideal and if it means me having to cover vets bills etc, I am willing to do this for the very reason of her still being so near to me.
However I am also aware that there would sure to be some super homes available further afield, the question is, would you be prepared to travel for the checkups, as I personally would want to do my own checking, as I feel my horses are my responsibility.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
Liza x
LYNDILOU
Posted - 09 Jun 2010 : 4:52:37 PM I dont really like the thought of loaning unless its someone I know very well, but my advice is keep to your area, dont let her go too far so that it is impossible to check on her, so many things can and do go wrong , you should make sure they are insuring her for vets etc , and make sure they know they are responsible for any costs incurred. make a written agreement ( send a copy to the AHS) that they should take her and bring her back at the end of the loan time but also have it in writting that should you find out she is not properly taken care of you want her back at soonest. oh god its a mine field out there but I am sure you will take care to find the best place for her
kathleen
Posted - 09 Jun 2010 : 4:10:31 PM I would go more local to you if you can
I am in Hampshire I have one filly with a friend in Wiltshire area and my over mare on loan within 10 miles away. My mare on loan was offered a lovely home 1st but it was more than a couple of hours away. I missed a date to move her up there and then I realized that with my work schedule and children ect that the practicality of visiting her as often as I felt that I would need to as I would not of been able to move her up there for at least a month until I was free again as I needed someone to go with me. So luckly for her a friend has taken her on and she is 15 mins up the road if there is ever a vet emergency
geegee
Posted - 09 Jun 2010 : 3:19:49 PM Hi Christine,
My advice would be to keep her within a distance that you can keep an eye on her and visit often, whether that be local or not.
There have been so many sad stories about horses that have been neglected whilst on loan and, to be quite honest, the main problem has been that the owners aren't visiting often enough to keep an eye on their horse's condition. (For whatever reason, i.e distance, time etc)
Some AL members have offered to visit horse's, if they are in their area, but with the best will in the world I don't think this is something to rely on and the responsibility lies with the owner at the end of the day. If you visit often, you will notice a problem sooner and the horse is less likely to suffer.
With regards to returning, you only have their word. You can put all you like in a contract but you have to have the funds to fight it if they insist that you go and collect your horse or they threaten to leave her in a field etc etc, what are you going to do? Wait for a court case? No, you are just going to go and get her.....
Sad, but in this day and age - true
Oh dear - didn't mean to come across too cynical. I must be getting old
i have never had any problems with owners visiting whenever they like, on my DIY yard i advise the Yard owner that the horse owner is to have access at all times and they are quite happy to accomodate, i totally agree with a contract no matter how friendly you might be, it covers both partys,i do however appreciate how difficult it must be if the horse is loaned far away, i wouldnt like my own to go far if i ever decided to loan!
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