Leo

[wolfe]

Sad times are with me at the moment. I have a horse named Leo, 16 hands and 19 y.o.a, a real gentle old boy. He is a retired show jumper and when out on a hack, he never flinches at vehicles or dogs.
I simply can not afford to keep him any more, although stabled here at home, the food and vet bills are just too much. I've offered to donate him to the local Riding for the Disabled, but they don't seem to be interested. I don't know what to do next. Anyone any ideas???

[rhubarb93]

Hi Leo
Sad to hear. Is he a TB? If so, try speaking to the Thoroughbred Rehab Centre nr Halton, Lancs. They are lovely people - even if they can't help they may be able to point you in the right direction.
finding a lovely home for your boy

[Annie]

Would you consider a loan arrangement ? A steady horse on the road is a godsend so I am sure you would get some interest.
You can draw up agreement stating where he is to be kept etc - if at present stable , you could at least keep an eye on him.
Your present situation will not last forever so think hard before parting with a good and trusty friend, when you are back in work you may regret it.

[wolfe]

As always some great ideas from the d.t.l. team . Annie i do think the loan idea would be the way to go, many thanks to you all

[Annie]

Glad you think loaning has its merits Wolfe
When I had horses , I used the loaning way a couple of times in different ways.
The first time I used part loan, whereby the other person had the horse for 3 days (to ride and care for) and I did the other 4 but made sure the horse had a day off once a week. The girl paid 1/2 the DIY livery and 1/2 the cost of getting the horse shod,it worked reasonably well as I still was in control but was able to put money aside( and used it to but my Eck my OH an old school horse ).
When I did loan again , it was a youngster who the person said they wanted long term with a view to buy. The person was considered a friend but I drew up a 'agreement' so we both knew who paid what and the required responsibilites . I was glad I did as on one ocassion the vet had to be called out due to the loanee trying to cut costs and putting fresh (as in day old) wood chips from a tree cut down in their garden into the stable instead of shavings. The youngster thought it was edible and in about an hour started showing signs of bad colic - that was an expensive lesson learnt about cutting costs, a £5 bag of shavings would have been much cheaper.
Then out of the blue, this lady bought another horse and said she no longer wanted my youngster but as an agreement was in writing she at least had to give me a months notice.
The point being Wolfe , think what you want out of the arrangement and put it in writing with a copy to both parties. Don't know if it is technically a legal agreement but something in writing is at least an insurance against things going up in the air.
Good Luck

[rhubarb93]

If you are going the loaning route, I think there are template loan agreements online (maybe BHS?) - they would give you an idea how to draft it and some pointers what to include, and you can then tailor it to your own views.
I was apprehensive about loaning as there are plenty of horror stories out there about horses not being treated well or coming back injured. But I'm sure there are plenty, like Annie's, that work well too.
The most important thing is your gut-reaction to the loaner, whether you like them and are happy for them to have reponsibility for your horse.

[wolfe]

I know a lot of time has passed since last post, to cutt long story short, gave Leo away a year ago to a nice young family. Just learned that due to an undiscovered heart condition ,he had to be put down as he was in pain and it was the kindest thing to do. Gutted.

[tosca100]

Oh how sad. But at least they did the decent thing rather than passing him on as a lot might have done.

[sandy]

How sad, at least Leo had a good home right upto the end