Any suggestions for an unridable 6 year old (also in competition riders)

I have worked with problem horses for many years and find its a case of time and trust! What is her behavior like with everything else? If your friend is stuckshe can send her accross to me, I'm in northernireland, hope you get sorted, thanks
 
Am in exactly the same position as you with my 6 yr old. Dont think she will ever come right due to pelvic problems.
Im giving her the summer then am going to have to make a very hard phone call i think.
I couldnt risk rehoming her as a companion as she has severe separation anxiety and i couldnt live with myself if in years to come she was pumped full of bute by some unscrupulous git then sold on to some unsuspecting person.
 
I have a lovely welsh d mare, 7 yrs old and she can not be ridden.
I have thought about her future too but I cannot pts
I did try to breed with her as she did not take this year.
She is looking in great shape and very perky, if she did not look in such good condition, I would pts.
I was going to try horse agility with her. I am lucky that she can stay with me and I will not pass her on.
It is a very hard decision
 
Cynorian said:
I have a lovely welsh d mare, 7 yrs old and she can not be ridden.
I have thought about her future too but I cannot pts
I did try to breed with her as she did not take this year.
She is looking in great shape and very perky, if she did not look in such good condition, I would pts.
I was going to try horse agility with her. I am lucky that she can stay with me and I will not pass her on.
It is a very hard decision
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Why breed from a mare that cannot be ridden??
 
I haven't replied before as I've been struggling for what to say. I'm completely horrified by the tone of some of the replies here. Some people need to take a long look at themselves in the mirror. If you regard a horse as a thing to be thrown away when it is no longer usable perhaps you should get a motorbike instead.

Yes it may ultimately be that the only option for this mare is to be put to sleep, but why be so heartless and brutal about it?

It might be worth a trial on slow in hand work, building her trust again. It may be possible to find a middle aged lady like me who enjoys pooltling around the lanes at a walk who would like to loan her at current yard if she can be worked up to that.

Paula
 
We are talking about someones beloved horse here and although many people on this forum seem quite cold and heartless there are ways of saying things.
OP Id be considering having the horse pts as it avoids her falling into the wrong hands. Your friend has done what she an and i think needs to hold on to that thought and call it a day x
 
Paulag said:
I haven't replied before as I've been struggling for what to say. I'm completely horrified by the tone of some of the replies here. Some people need to take a long look at themselves in the mirror. If you regard a horse as a thing to be thrown away when it is no longer usable perhaps you should get a motorbike instead.

Yes it may ultimately be that the only option for this mare is to be put to sleep, but why be so heartless and brutal about it?

It might be worth a trial on slow in hand work, building her trust again. It may be possible to find a middle aged lady like me who enjoys pooltling around the lanes at a walk who would like to loan her at current yard if she can be worked up to that.

Paula
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Totally agree with this also esp 1st paragraph.
 
I would do as I did with my young WB who has chronic SI dysfunction. I had him diagnosed and treated and I turned him away for a year (I have land, but did consider sending him out with a retirement herd) and let him just be a horse. He is no longer aggressive and we are bringing him back into work slowly and he is welcoming everything he hated and objected to before, such as being groomed, bridled, saddled and handled. There is no aggression now. It takes time for a horse who has suffered chronic pain to realise it has dulled or gone and it also takes consistent handling to regain lost trust. I bought my horse at 5 years old - he was diagnosed at 6 yrs old and he was 7 this year and finally happy. Good luck.
 
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Missmac said:
Am in exactly the same position as you with my 6 yr old. Dont think she will ever come right due to pelvic problems.
Im giving her the summer then am going to have to make a very hard phone call i think.
I couldnt risk rehoming her as a companion as she has severe separation anxiety and i couldnt live with myself if in years to come she was pumped full of bute by some unscrupulous git then sold on to some unsuspecting person.
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I don't know where you are in the country but I can highly recommend a holitic vet - Donna Blinman at Higham who mobilised my WB's sacrum and improved him immensely. She is veterinary trained and also an osteopath and acupuncturist and her partner Patrick a behaviourist. Frankly she was a lifeline for my horse.

http://www.donnablinman.co.uk/
 
Can't say what to do, other than don't breed. I actually bought a 6yr old eventer who was unrideable, as a broodmare. The difference was her injury was caused by an accident (so not hereditary), & she tried to work but it was known it caused it great pain (once injury discovered). Owner took choice to sell her to us as broodmare, never to be jumped. She has given us 2 fillies, both showing huge promise (one just won the youngstock class at the Trailbalzers national final & was runner up in open sporthorse class even though she is only 3). This is the type of mare that should be bred from, never one who has a hereditary problem.
 
I'm in the same position, my horse is now under the same vet as yasandcrystals Warmblood and this is the last chance for my horse as I've been down every other avenue.

If it doesn't work then as long as she is happy and pain free she will stay with me as a very overgrown pet. If she starts to need bute or starts to look unhappy then that decision will be made.

I will not breed as although she has got amazing bloodlines, I dont know if this will be passed on or the strain it will have on her body and I would never forgive myself if something happened to her.

And I would never pass her on and put her through someone trying to bring her back into work etc or an unsuspecting person buying her as it's not fair on horse or person.
 
my archie is due to be PTS this week due to being dangerously unridable,i cant give him away due to his clingy nature ,hes not companionable and cannot bear the thought of him being hurt or abused or hurting someone else. im having a huge wobble at the moment about doing the deed-it seems such a waste of a young horse, but im not in a position to keep on livery as a pet so dont really have any choice.- life can suck sometimes
 
It depends on how much money can be thrown at the problem. It does seem a bit brutal to just say PTS, but I am afraid that was my first reaction too.

If you wanted to go down the route of further vet investigations, and turnout for a year, then that is a possibility, if it can be afforded, and see what the outcome is.

In the horse's current state it shouldn't be passed on to anyone though, and not bred from. If it is a nice type then they are the ones given a "good home", and then quickly passed on to a dealer, or buted up and sold for a nice profit to some unsuspecting person.
 
If she were mine I would keep as a pet but if I could not keep her I would PTS because that way I would know no one could hurt her or sling her through the sales as a riding horse
 
Slave2Magic said:
if she is unpredictable when ridden would she be able to be broken to drive? If all other avenues have been covered then I'm afraid I too would PTS.
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Driving horses need to have excellent temperament and manners and when one of my driving horse got KS he went off driving very quickly but hunted happily for two seasons with management.
You may not be sitting on the horse but driving horses backs work very very hard that where the saying put your back into it comes from.
 
i thought of the driving route with archie but he didnt like it. its very difficult because if i had enough money i would keep him, so the only reason hes going to be PTS is economic and that doesnt sit well with me as i didnt buy my horses to quit on them. but money rules the world so im the one who has to do this awful thing.
 
I have not read all the posts and this may sound a bit woolly but I would give the horse a bit more time, where there is life there is hope...If I were in your situation and the horse meant anything emotionally to me then I would work on the ground with the goal of working at liberty and jumping etc, whatever your discipline is do it on the ground, build the muscles and retrain the horses mind and body. If then after say 6mths the problem still persists then I would try to find a companion loan home or PTS, very difficult but easier if you have given the horse the benefit of the doubt.
 
archiepoo said:
i thought of the driving route with archie but he didnt like it. its very difficult because if i had enough money i would keep him, so the only reason hes going to be PTS is economic and that doesnt sit well with me as i didnt buy my horses to quit on them. but money rules the world so im the one who has to do this awful thing.
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If it makes you or the OP feel any better it's much harder on the owner than the horse. The horse isn't pondering his long term future, wondering what exciting plans he may have for next month or next year. He's in his box or field, eating what he can find and dozing happily, with no concern he might be dead tomorrow. Horses, unlike us, don't brood on their own mortality. And as long as you use a method that will suit them and have calm, confident support to handle him at the time if you are unable to do it yourself, he won't know what's happening to him. In the current market, where you can pick up some very nice horses for very little money, I think it's a sensible, if harsh, reality check to have that there is little chance of finding good homes for problematic horses.

By all means do give the horse(s) every chance you can, but if what you are left with is to have them PTS, it's not wrong and you aren't a bad person for doing it. You're protecting them from a likely downward spiral.
 
jellyshark said:
Not kissing spine - vet was hoping that it would be because some hope of treating - she has bone spurs on her spine! Owner has already discounted the giving her away as a companion for all the reasons mentioned - we just wanted to make sure all options are researched before making the final heartbreaking decision!!:(
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If it is heartbreaking don't do it. Simples :-)

Otherwise your friend risk having heart broken fairly regularly over the years when horses get old/unwell/don't perform to desired level/etc.

I know several owners who keep 'pets' on whatever yard they were on when ridden and share one of the more able horses. Works well as going to the same place and they are very obviously responsible people, who still get to both own & ride.
 
I would turn away for a year and then bring the horse back starting from fresh.

I'd take things really slowly by using long lining and other ground work and eventually doing some light hacking then take it from there.

That is if there is absolutely proven to be NO pathological reason for the horse's behaviour.

If it were my horse, I wouldn't put to sleep until I had done the above. If the horse is remembering pain then it needs time to forget it and enjoy being a horse for a bit.

I do wonder whether there is other pathological problems going on though. What tests were done to reach a diagnosis? and what treatment was undertaken?
 
Ok im going to be different! persevere with her! I had exactly the same with my gelding, problem in his back, then learned behaviour. After the treatment & rest, I took months to reback him, it took a couple of months of just leaning over him, just to convince him it wouldnt hurt, and now i can happily say we are fine, hacking & schooling. I dont think you can just expect them to go straight back into being a riding horse when they are convinced it will hurt, rest & reback slowly, got to be worth a try! my other option would have been pts for my boy, as i cant keep him as a lawn mower!
 
jellyshark said:
On the lunge she is fine although she headshakes, has been broken by her owner then ridden by an young eventer who has evented up to intermediatte so a good confident rider she was fine for about 8 weeks - just the usual youngster issues- had a tantrum and threw rider when tack was changed about 5 weeks in - put down to the headshaking issue- competed local sj, dressage and hunter trails we thought she was going to be a quirky but talented mare, but started bucking and bucking then started rearing - hence MOT check. Now will walk and maybe trot a circle then stops dead and bronc's quite nasty to see! Vets feel that whilst she may be ridden through this she would revert if sold or had a change of rider! also that the back issue may reoccur and they feel the headshaking is very sever!
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Personally I'd turn away for a year and then try again if I had the time and money and it wasn't going to hurt the horse (MOT check before getting on again).

Otherwise I'd say companion if easy to do on ground and good aside from ridden but specify that it must not be ridden. I'd personally do long term loan companion rather than risk her being sold on.

PTS if not.

Pan
 
I'm another who would say give her more time.

I have a 15hh welsh x hackney who had a very extreme behavioural problem. It started with napping and eveually she would just rear vertically, again and again as soon as she was sat on, until she fell or the rider got off.

We had everyone under the sun come to see her and it was only after the problems progressing for a good year hat someone found out an old back injury caused extreme muscle damage in her neck (the worst they had ever seen), from compensating for the pain. It took several treatments under sedation to undo the damage then when I got back on, she was exactly the same.

We sent her away twice for reschooling - the first time she was sent back after two weeks after the rider fell and broke his leg...the second place used NH methods. She was there for three months, and it took another two years of NH lessons and work before she is now relatively 'normal'. She hacks, schools and recently started jumping. Someone rides her for me now as don't have time and although she needs careful, experienced handling, she's fine.

We are very tentatively toying with the idea of a loan home because although I adore her, i have dreams of being a top event rider and she will never event at a decent level (if she ever competes again anyway), and if I rehome her I can afford a second eventer...plus she's still fairly young and deserves someone who just wants to have fun with her.

I would pts if no time or funds to give it literially years, up until a year ago I said I would pts rather than rehome Lacey, but that's no longer the case. I defo wouldn't breed - although my girls problems were due to an accident, she still had it in her to react like that and I wouldn't want to ake the risk.
 
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