halo92
New User
A horse has come onto my yard on a weeks trial with a view to buy and is being shared by a lady who used to ride when she was little and a young girl who has never ridden before.
The mare is very thin and neglected, wormy looking and is lame behind with pretty poor conformation. She came very depressed but has perked up a little this week from being fed. However, she is not field sound - when I go to feed my horse, she tries to trot over but cannot stay in trot and has to walk. She is being sold because the people who own her have been breeding their own and have too many horses, all of whom look like hatracks. The owners have out and out lied about the mare, saying she is a quality warmblood who has been hunting every week. However, the mare has absolutely no muscle and when ridden, is noticeably lame and gets out of breath when trotting. She cannot canter properly on the left and will not canter on the right. If she is a warmblood, then I am Elvis Presley.
The asking price is very cheap, about £1500. The lady was originally tempted at the prospect of having a cheap horse and having the little girl's family pay half the costs. She said she thought the horse had 'great paces' and could be sold on for a major profit... However, she is now complaining that the horse is too lazy and will send her back. Neither the little girl nor the lady appear to think the horse is lame. They are quite well meaning and feel sorry for the horse but the lady definitely wants to do things on the cheap. I have tried to say what I think - that the mare is not in any way sound and the kindest thing would be to put her down. But they don't seem to take it on board.
So the week is up and the mare is due to go back to whatever hole she came from. This leaves me with a great dilemma - I feel awful for the little horse and have thought about offering meat money for her and then having her PTS. But as a friend has rightly pointed out, 'rescuing' her would simply put money in the pocket of the people who let her get into this state and that would only encourage them to breed more like her.
It makes me unbelievably sad, angry and frustrated to see the horse like this, being ridden every day by someone who cannot tell that it is lame and to know that it will go back to a miserable existence soon. What would be the right and kindest thing to do?
The mare is very thin and neglected, wormy looking and is lame behind with pretty poor conformation. She came very depressed but has perked up a little this week from being fed. However, she is not field sound - when I go to feed my horse, she tries to trot over but cannot stay in trot and has to walk. She is being sold because the people who own her have been breeding their own and have too many horses, all of whom look like hatracks. The owners have out and out lied about the mare, saying she is a quality warmblood who has been hunting every week. However, the mare has absolutely no muscle and when ridden, is noticeably lame and gets out of breath when trotting. She cannot canter properly on the left and will not canter on the right. If she is a warmblood, then I am Elvis Presley.
The asking price is very cheap, about £1500. The lady was originally tempted at the prospect of having a cheap horse and having the little girl's family pay half the costs. She said she thought the horse had 'great paces' and could be sold on for a major profit... However, she is now complaining that the horse is too lazy and will send her back. Neither the little girl nor the lady appear to think the horse is lame. They are quite well meaning and feel sorry for the horse but the lady definitely wants to do things on the cheap. I have tried to say what I think - that the mare is not in any way sound and the kindest thing would be to put her down. But they don't seem to take it on board.
So the week is up and the mare is due to go back to whatever hole she came from. This leaves me with a great dilemma - I feel awful for the little horse and have thought about offering meat money for her and then having her PTS. But as a friend has rightly pointed out, 'rescuing' her would simply put money in the pocket of the people who let her get into this state and that would only encourage them to breed more like her.
It makes me unbelievably sad, angry and frustrated to see the horse like this, being ridden every day by someone who cannot tell that it is lame and to know that it will go back to a miserable existence soon. What would be the right and kindest thing to do?
