Old-age benefits

If you can't or won't sell a treasured older horse, but are happy to be transparent, lay ground rules and communicate often, loaning can be a dream solution for those in want of a horse, finds Lucy Higginson

- Lucy Higginson

AS anyone who has offered a horse for loan lately will tell you, there are vast numbers of people out there who want a horse but don't have the funds to buy one.

Loaning can be a great solution in tough financial times, though there's often a catch. Loan horses are generally either so adored by their owners that they "could never sell him" - and may want them back at some point; or they literally cannot be easily sold, because of chronic health or behavioural issues, or advancing age. Yet if you look hard, are good at managing a horse's needs and have a smattering of luck, there are some really smart older horses out there for loan who could give you many years of fun.

Selling an old friend often feels wrong to an adoring owner, but so too does retiring them just because there is no longer the right job for them at home. This was Jo Ward's situation when her beloved warmblood Leo's hocks became resistant to medication at the age of 15 and the vet advised he should continue hacking only.

"I was 24 and moving to London for work, so I thought I'd see if anyone might want to loan him before I put him on retirement livery," says Jo. She placed an advert online with no great expectations.

"I was sceptical because Leo isn't your standard happy hacker," explains Jo. "He is not keen on hacking alone, finds unnecessary things spooky but is a joy to do on the ground."

Scarred by a previously unhappy loan, Jo decided Leo would only go to someone within an hour's drive who was happy for her to visit regularly.

Happily, the perfect candidate appeared in Fiona Burnard, a BHSAI looking for a fun horse to ride out alongside her teenage daughter.