A thought about keeping horses for life.

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Cedars

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A scenario for you all to comment on.

You have a horse. He is medically sound and fit and well. However, he bites, rears, tramples people and eats children for breakfast. He gave you a few years of ridden work but is now 20 and unridable. Previously, he's been living in your field doing nothing with another horse of yours, a ridden 10year old who is also medically sound.

However, you have just received a phone call telling you that you've lost everything. You have enough money to support one horse, enough grass to feed and house one horse. Basically, your situation has changed so drastically, you can only keep ONE horse and there is nothing to sell.

Which would you keep? And what would you do to the other?

DO NOT SLAG EACH OTHER OFF.
 
A tough one! And a very emotional one if the scenario is in fact to happen in real life. I have to agree with jesstickle that I would pts the older horse. (but like I say a very hard decision and hopefully one I personally would never have to make).
 
nativeponies said:
i would take the older one to potters to help with the costs of keeping the younger one.
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Love this!

But yes PTS the old grump. If its an old grump then is it (we don't know sex presumably) actually enjoying life with out being able to eat meat on a regular basis?

Most kind and cost effective way is PTS. You know where they are then and that they are happy.
 
On paper of course I'd pts the 20 yr old and keep the 10 yr old. However, as I'd NEVER keep a horse on it's own - they're herd animals and IMO it's cruelty to keep them without equine company- in reality I'd have to reconsider the way they were both kept and try to find a way of keeping 2 for the price of 1.
Fortunately ours are kept at home and so this situation is unlikely to arise.
 
Difficult one, some would say why PTS if he still has quality of life, but on the other hand he sounds a nightmare, of course you could sell the other one & keep him, but you could be sending the other on an unknown journey to God knows what, as assuming your back was against the wall you would need a quick sale (if we are talking current times) you would probably need to use a dealer or a sale (of which i could do neither), so I'm sorry to say for me it would be PTS the oldie & keep the other, but not based on the facts one is rideable & the other is not, only to safeguard both my horses futures.
 
I would find a cheaper way of keeping them and keep them together. Can't keep one horse on its own imho, and if you're at livery - then you can find a field to rent for two horses for less that that :)
 
I think you know!
"Healthy" needs to be mentally AND physically.
No decision like this is easy, and no one (should) take the decision lightly, but you need to be responsible not only to the horse, but to other people who may come into contact with it.
In an ideal world we would all be able to keep our horses until the end, and make The Decision purely on physical reasons. It is not, however, an ideal world. Circumstances change, jobs get lost, money needs to be prioritised elsewhere, and old, unrideable, dangerous horses need to be put down.
 
I would keep both horses of course! I genuinely believe anything is possible.

Situations like this seperate the people who want to make something happen to the people who don't - If you don't want to keep the other horse then you wont make it happen, if you do then you will. Theres always a way.

x
 
Gosh, if the older one is really as grumpy as you say, even to owner, then would have to pts. If he was nice to owner, and only the owner, then would have to sell the younger one and keep older one until the end, sorry!
 
heidirusso said:
I would keep both horses of course! I genuinely believe anything is possible.

Situations like this seperate the people who want to make something happen to the people who don't - If you don't want to keep the other horse then you wont make it happen, if you do then you will. Theres always a way.

x
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I disagree that there is always a way. If I lost my job my horses would have to go. End of. No one else would be there to help me financially I am sure. If I had to face this situation old man would be PTS and younger horse sold on.
 
Further to the above - keeping alone is also not ideal , but sometimes that has to be done as well.
A lovely lady and her sister lived very close to me, and ran a small. old-fasioned riding school for very many years. The ladies retired, and all the riding school ponies were in their twenties, and had been a herd for most of their lives. They were all of an age whereby they would start to require regular, possibly expensive, vet treatment, and the ladiers decided they could not separate the herd, by either companion homes or sales, so the decision was taken to call the knackerman in, and "do" all the ponies on the same day. The old ladies went out, leaving a trusted friend to supervise - these ponies were all dear friends. When they came back, everything was tidy and sorted. Some people were horrified.... I thought they made absolutely the right, brave decision.
 
I agree with Groom42 the older horse does not seem psycholgically healthy and I probably would have pts when the grumpyness was developing and there was definatly no way it could be fixed, that is not the sign of a happy horse
 
jesstickle said:
I disagree that there is always a way. If I lost my job my horses would have to go. End of. No one else would be there to help me financially I am sure. If I had to face this situation old man would be PTS and younger horse sold on.
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I don't think its that black and white. If it were this time of year and horses were accostomed/required to live in during the winter then, no it probably wouldn't be possible to keep both. However, if it were spring or summer and both fine in a field, then that leaves ou with a few months to sort things out. There are ALWAYS jobs to be had, cos there are always things that no-one wants to do! Again tho depends how much you want to keep them!

In all honesty if the horse were truely that dangerous, I'd consider PTS even if not in the situation!
 
I'd find a way of keeping both. As my with my dogs my horses are for life come what may. I might be living in a caravan at the bottom of my parents garden but if that's what it took then so be it. Simples.
 
Oh and on the keeping horses alone subject - that very much depends on the horse and each situation should be considered individually so depending on this horse, then not necessarily an awful thing. Also may consider PTS old horse (for reasons as above) and advertise for a livery. Horse not alone and assistance with costs!
 
jesstickle said:
I disagree that there is always a way. If I lost my job my horses would have to go. End of. No one else would be there to help me financially I am sure. If I had to face this situation old man would be PTS and younger horse sold on.
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^ This. Sadly there ISN'T always a way. I would move heaven and earth to try to keep my horses, there is nothing I wouldn't give up for the retired, opinionated old so and so I have now! But if I couldn't afford him I would sooner see him pts than struggle without the expensive shoes and medication that he needs in order to have a good quality of life.

In the hypothetical situation described I would try sharing or maybe even loaning out the younger horse first, in the hope that my circumstances would pick up. However, if I really couldn't keep both even with some help with costs, I'd put to sleep the older one.
 
cm2581 said:
I don't think its that black and white. If it were this time of year and horses were accostomed/required to live in during the winter then, no it probably wouldn't be possible to keep both. However, if it were spring or summer and both fine in a field, then that leaves ou with a few months to sort things out. There are ALWAYS jobs to be had, cos there are always things that no-one wants to do! Again tho depends how much you want to keep them!

In all honesty if the horse were truely that dangerous, I'd consider PTS even if not in the situation!
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But I would still have to pay my rent, council tax, bills. If I had to take a minimum wage job as it was what I could get I could not keep any horses, never mind two.
 
I would do everything in my power to keep the two of them,either get another job or loan/share the younger of the two. And as long as the older grumpier one was in good physical health PTS would be the last option for me. Just because something as a grumpy personality does not mean its ill or unhappy, sometimes its just because it has a grump personality. However if something could not be worked out for the two of them to stay with me (which to be honest I doubt), PTS the older would be much better than selling him on to an uncertain fate.
 
jesstickle said:
But I would still have to pay my rent, council tax, bills. If I had to take a minimum wage job as it was what I could get I could not keep any horses, never mind two.
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If you were only renting, it'd be easy enough to find somewhere cheaper or a share. There are a lot of people on minimum wage jobs who manage all of the above!! I'm not saying you have to do this but if you wanted to keep them enough, then you would find a way!!! Not everyone does want to keep their horses enough to give up on every other of lifes luxuries and that's fine! Each to their own!!
 
jesstickle said:
I disagree that there is always a way. If I lost my job my horses would have to go. End of. No one else would be there to help me financially I am sure. If I had to face this situation old man would be PTS and younger horse sold on.
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If I lost my job I would simply get another, anything. sweeping, cleaning if need be, if you are a livery customer then you could come to some arrangement and explain the situation and hold off payment until you get yourself sorted.

You could find somewhere to keep them for free in exchange for work carried out. Most people have assets they can get rid of.. What I am saying is I *would* make it happen. But you have to want to lose everything else that didn't mean as much. So the question would be how much do you want to keep them, as opposed to thinking it couldn't be done.
 
cm2581 said:
If you were only renting, it'd be easy enough to find somewhere cheaper or a share. There are a lot of people on minimum wage jobs who manage all of the above!! I'm not saying you have to do this but if you wanted to keep them enough, then you would find a way!!! Not everyone does want to keep their horses enough to give up on every other of lifes luxuries and that's fine! Each to their own!!
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It's all very good when it's only you, or you and a partner who is similarly minded, but when you have a family and responsibilities that come with it, you can hardly go for a smaller house/a share etc to justify keeping a horse!:eek:
 
Haven't read the other replies but I think I would PTS the older horse and then if I could keep the field get another one in on grass livery for company and a few pennies.

Will read the other replies later!
 
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