Most loan arrangements begin in friendship and end, when they end badly, in an argument about something nobody wrote down: a vet bill, a horse gone lame, a loaner who wants him back mid-season. A proper written agreement is not a sign of distrust. It is the document that lets both sides relax, because the awkward questions were answered while everyone was still getting on.
Identify the Horse Beyond Any Argument
Open with the full names and addresses of owner and loaner, then describe the horse so precisely that the agreement could only mean him: registered and stable name, breed or type, age, colour, height, distinguishing markings, microchip number and passport number. List every item of tack and equipment going with him — saddle, bridle, rugs, boots — with its condition noted, and photograph him from both sides and the front on the day he leaves. If he has known quirks or old injuries, write them in. A loaner who discovers a pre-existing problem later will trust the agreement far less if the paperwork pretended there was nothing to know.
Set Out the Money and the Daily Duties
Work through the running costs one by one and name who pays: livery or grazing, feed and bedding, farrier visits, worming, dental checks and vaccinations, and insurance, including who arranges the policy and what it must cover. State where the horse will be kept and whether the loaner may move him to another yard, take him to competitions or use him for anything beyond the agreed activities. Set the standard of care plainly: he is to be kept to the routine described, and the owner keeps the right to visit and see him, by arrangement, during the loan.
Cover Vet Decisions Before There Is an Emergency
Routine care is easy to allocate; emergencies are where loans break down. Agree who the loaner should call first, which vet practice is to be used, and whether the loaner may authorise urgent treatment, including emergency surgery, if the owner cannot be reached, because a horse in serious trouble cannot wait for a phone to be answered. Write down how quickly the owner must be told, who pays for emergency treatment, and what happens if the horse is injured or falls ill long-term: does the loan continue, pause or end? Signing up to these answers in advance feels gloomy for an afternoon and saves the relationship if the day ever comes.
Agree the Ending as Carefully as the Start
Give the loan a term or a review point, and a notice period either side can use to end it. State the condition the horse should come home in, how transport back is arranged and paid for, and that the horse may not be sold, sub-loaned or moved on under any circumstances. Both parties sign, each keeps a copy, and a witness signature adds weight. For a valuable horse or a long loan, having a solicitor glance over the finished agreement is money sensibly spent.
Keep your signed copy where the horse's other paperwork lives: inside KinsLe's Pet Passport packet his agreement, passport and vet history sit together, so whoever needs the terms can find them in one place.