Can a horse ever be free to good home, or is it always seen as a cop out? Discuss...

[charlimouse]

Just a musing really. There are alot of posts on here regarding horses which are free to good home, which generally have negative responses. Now I can fully understand why an aged horse who has been somebody's faithful servant will created negative responses, and I fully agree that we owe it to these golden oldies to give them a safe retirement, weather that is as a field ornament or if there is a change of circumstances PTS. But is there ever a time when free to good home is a good course of action to take?

The only experiance I have ever had of 'free to good home' didn't end well, when the lady I had got the horse from (he was skin and bone, and apparently dangerous to ride) decided to try and take me to court, saying I had stolen her horse, the week after he had won his first ODE (funny that ). Luckily I had kept the original written correspondances which clearly stated he was free to who ever could catch him! It never got further than a solicitors letter, before she back tracked. In time he turned into a cracking horse.

So just musings really, have you done it (both sides), did it work? Or is it always a no no?

 

[ThePony]

Isn't there a legal niggle that makes it better to sell, even if just for 1p, that way it is a change of ownership?

 

[charlimouse]

Isn't there a legal niggle that makes it better to sell, even if just for 1p, that way it is a change of ownership?

Yes, that is what I would always do now (bitter experiance). But it is essentially the same, is it always seen as bad 'form' to put a horse up for free to good home (or very little £'s)? Or are there time when it is deemed acceptable?

 

[blood_magik]

I bought my boy for £1 - it was off my dad but it was still needed to make it a legal sale.
I do think there are times when horses should be 'sold' for 1p

 

[touchstone]

I wouldn't do it but a friend of mine did. She didn't advertise and found a home through word of mouth; the pony went to a lovely home and is very much loved so there are occasions when it can work. The problem is that in the current climate there are already far too many horses for too few homes and I feel that advertising a free horse can draw in people that don't have the horse's best interests at heart.

 

[wattamus]

I'v literally just been looking! Basicall im a big softie so if someones sadi that horse x needs a home or it will be shot, I would have it (haven't had the chance yet but hey ) For me Free horses are a godsend as I don't have the money to lay out for a horse. I think it's sad when you see golden oldies up for sale or for free as I'm always wary of even looking as my girl has cost myself and my parents so much in vet bills i don't think i could put myself and them through that again, but i always look. I don't always agree with the owner for selling them, but if the horse is happy and healthy i think its good that they are giving it a chance at a happy life instead of shooting it.

 

[Bernster]

Tis a fair point. I think the danger is that people think a horse is worth what they pay for it, so a free or rock bottom horse doesn't get 'valued' properly, or psychologically people don't make the commitment they would if they paid decent money for it.

Very sad though as money is really not where a horse's value is. They are priceless in terms of what they give us, and kinda worthless when you consider how much they are to buy compared to the cost of keep!

Strangely, I think I would go more for a loan horse than a free one, even though there is no gaurantee that you can give a loan horse back if the owners make themselves scarce!

 

[Ibblebibble]

2 of mine were gifted to me, i paid £1 for each of them and they were signed over properly, but yes i guess you could say they were 'free'. I guess the difference being i knew the owner of one through a forum and knew the sharer of the other via the same forum. The mare needed to find a home because her owner could no longer keep her and the sharer thought of me because i had not long lost my old mare. the gelding was slightly different, he was an unbacked 6 year old and his owner had realised she was never going to get her nerve back enough to back him and very kindly offered him to me. It certainly wasn't a cop out for either owner

 

[polo_han]

I have also had two 'free to good home' horses, I have had one for 15 years, and another is in her third year with me. Certainly a happy arrangement on both occasions... I adore them both

 

[MrSpam]

It can work.
I got a horse free from an elderly man (in his 70s I think), who bred him. The horse was absolutely doted on and had been a really good hunter. His owner just got too old to exercise a big, sharp horse. He was left in the field on his own, but checked at least twice a day. He was very well cared for. But with failing health his owner did the right thing, he found a new home through word of mouth. His other option was to PTS.
The did exactly the right thing - the horse didn't have much of a market value. Think very overweight, not 100% in traffic, sharp and he hadn't been ridden for 2 years! I love him - but he's now retired hanging out in the field as a companion.

 

[QueenOfCadence]

Well with the recent economy I'd say it's not necessarily a bad thing (as long as you do your part to FIND A GOOD HOME)! The lady who I stable with recently recieved a free horse because his owners simply couldn't afford another month of keeping him - he was however in Novice Dressage, won ever Working Riding show he went to and jumped just under a meter competitively - so he wasn't a "lets get rid of him horse", it was an honest situation.

I think you DO have to be careful though (when giving a horse away or recieving it) as it can quickly turn nasty (either the owner can decide she wants the horse back, and if it was given to you with no legal contrat - this can be easily done OR the reciever could sell on the horse to make a profit. There are many rather unwanted situations it can get you into).

It's pros are that I think that it gives you the opportunity to rehome the horse quickly while being given quite a large pick of possible (good and caring) homes. The cons are that you basically loose control of the horse once you "give it away" and without a legal contrat in place in can be hard to ensure that the horse doesn't travel.

In short, if I had to rehome MY horse quickly I might settle for this option (just knowing that people would line up to take him) but I'd go through great trouble to get the legal side of things right..

Anyway here is a pic of the horse my YO recieved for free (he's gorgeous in my opinion, but I'm probably biased because I've spent a lot of time with him)

 

[moosea]

I personally think that putting your golden oldie out on a permanent loan, at least to begin with, is better than either selling for nominal sum or PTS option.

My friend took her horse on permanent loan at the grand old age of 20! Two years later the horse is owned by her and very much loved and cared for.

I spent a long time trying to find myself an older and hopefully more sane horse to loan but couldn't find anything. I have taken on a fairly young one now ( 15 years old! ) but at the time I was looking for something around 20 ish.

So I think that good homes are out there for free horses.

 

[thatsmygirl]

It is something that really annoys me, there are good homes out there for free to good home horses off any age just as there is for horses which are sold who could also get into a bad home. Iv got a lovely gift pony ( 20 yrs old soon) and love him to pieces but if a lot off posters on here got their own way he would off been shot instead as that's the way a lot off people on here think. I'm not in agreement that old horses should be given away and mine will go nowhere but you can find good homes they are out there.

 

['S'teamed]

Massive cop-out

I would have every single one of my ponies shot than give them away "free to a good home"

What a load of bollox

 

[thatsmygirl]

Why's it a cop out? My lad is great and full off it and looks great why should he be shot? That's bolloxs

 

[ellieplatt]

Yes it can work, I bought my ex race horse for £1, who was perfectly well, needed beefing up, but was sound as a pound, retired because the owners didn't want him to race anymore.

I think it works through word of mouth more than anything, as advertising horses cheaply can attract the wrong sort of peoples. Obviously as long as things are in writing pass port sent off asap ect then its fine, mine cost me £1 and has been the sweetest, kindest and most talented horse i've ever owned...

I have previously accepted a horse for free completely, purely because he was skin and bone with injuries, cost me alot of money but seeing him come well and happy to hack was enough, owned him for 2 years before he went to heaven, his arthuritus began to become worse and felt it was unfair to keep him, but he made me very happy,

 

[be positive]

Most posters are looking at this from their point of view, yes they would all, I hope, be genuine and have the old horses best interests at heart, noone likes to think of healthy horses being destroyed.

However not everyone is honest, there are dealers, and private people, that would take the old horse, as a "companion" or for their daughter to ride, any seemingly good reason, they get it home, bute it up, possibly repassport and offer for sale, they dont ask too much and some genuine person comes along and buys this "fit, sound" horse, it does happen, there was a dealer in my area that did this on a fairly large scale.
Would you want this to happen to your older horse?

Mine stay as field ornaments once retired, I am lucky having the land to do this.

 

[Marydoll]

I personally couldnt do it, i couldnt loan any of my 2 retirees either, id worry about them, theyre with me until their time comes, whenever that is.
Id love to be running 3 fit event horses, and could do it if the retirees were gone, but i would never do that to my guys, they mean to much to me.

 

[polo_han]

Most posters are looking at this from their point of view, yes they would all, I hope, be genuine and have the old horses best interests at heart, noone likes to think of healthy horses being destroyed.

However not everyone is honest, there are dealers, and private people, that would take the old horse, as a "companion" or for their daughter to ride, any seemingly good reason, they get it home, bute it up, possibly repassport and offer for sale, they dont ask too much and some genuine person comes along and buys this "fit, sound" horse, it does happen, there was a dealer in my area that did this on a fairly large scale.
Would you want this to happen to your older horse?

Mine stay as field ornaments once retired, I am lucky having the land to do this.

I love this term 'field ornaments', it perfectly describes my oldies who are retired at grass

 

[indiat]

I think it works fine when both parties already know each other and keep communicating in case circumstances change. We were given a pony by my YO who had numerous problems but the kids decided they loved her and she came good in the end. She was 30 so we didn't have her for long before she passed on. We adored her and loved every day we had with her, but there is no way the YOu would have given her to just any one, she would have been a liability in the wrong hands. Both of my boys would find a good homes atm if I had to get rid, but if that changed AND I couldn't keep them, I would not advertise them as free on the open market. Far to many unscrupulous people out there, or idiots. And they are not always easy to spot.

 

[tonitot]

I was given my girl for free, didn't pay a penny for her or sign anything! Didn't think anything of it at the time but now i wish I had. I'm lucky that I still work at the yard I got her from, my boss owned her and I doubt he'll want her back for racing, she never made it to the track. But it does play on my mind that there's a very slim chance he would, hence why I wish I'd signed something and paid a nominal sum :/

 

[Holly Hocks]

Only on Saturday night I was offered another ex-racer for free. A lovely horse, 16hh bay gelding, 7 years old and has even been schooled a little - cracking looker and nice paces. Offered to me as I had one of this trainers other horses who I got at the age of 12 and kept him until he was PTS two months ago. The trainer knows that any horses I have get the best life they can with me. However sadly I can't have another one. I have two and would never manage three. So anyone wanting to know more about this boy, please PM me. North West area.

 

[Capriole]

i have one that was 'free'. I gave a penny for her though. She wasnt advertised, she belonged to someone I know.

There is and was nothing wrong with her, a healthy young mare, but the owner had no use for her any more and asked me if Id like her.

I thought about it for a couple of months as i didnt want to rush into anything, and decided to accept. I liked her enough that she was something like I would have bought, I wouldnt have taken her if I didnt like her enough that i thought she was worth having, iykwim, id not have something i didnt want just because it was free.

Ive had her maybe four years now, i think. No plans on moving her on anytime soon, I like her

 

[brighteyes]

Oh see we got one given to us in her twenties and had the best fun with her before letting her go (to heaven). I also gave one away and she too stayed with the new person til she died. I may be given another one and if I can accept, then it will be free too... She won't be cast aside, either or moved on. So I don't know, but not in my case. The pony I gave away would always have come home. Not always clear cut.

 

[Wagtail]

Yes, I have had one given to me by a friend. He had bowed tendons on both front legs but never had a day's lameness until he sadly suffered a compound fracture of his hind leg whilst hooning about in the field. I then had a livery who just disappeared on me leaving me with the horse. After failing to track her down, we just adopted him and even paid £4k for a life saving operation when he needed it. The final horse was gifted to me when he was on loan and was found to have OCD as his owner did not have him insured and would have had to PTS. We sorted that (again at great expense) but when his schooling deteriorated this year we found he had kissing spines also, and hock arthritis. Paid for his hocks to be medicated (as not insured) but luckily his back was insured and we have just had him operated on for the removal of 5 spinal processes. So we have not had much luck with the 'free' horses but all three have had the most exceptional temperaments which was the only reason we dug so deep into our pockets to try to save them.

 

[Flame_]

I think gifting a useful horse to a trusted person through word of mouth is fine. If the horse owes you nothing but it has to go due to your own circumstances but through no fault of its own, if you want to give it to a known good home rather than advertising it to strangers to milk its value then fair play.

More often than not though, free horses are horses without any value because they aren't any good for a job. Giving them away is a cop out but its perfectly legal. Its pretty risky for the horse.

 

[traceyann]

Three of mine were given to me all with problems but i was never to sell kept my promise they are all still with me even though two would be worth quite a bit but a wont go back on my word.

 

[Wagtail]

But to answer the OP, no, I don't think it's a cop out but the person wanting to give the horse away needs to be extremely careful. Firstly, I would never advertise a horse as 'free'. Best if it can be done by word of mouth. If this is not possible, then make sure you vet the home and maintain discussions for some time before allowing the horse to leave for the new home. Personally, I would always prefer the option of permanent loan, but even then, you need to be very careful. I would not loan or sell any of my horses. If anything happened to me, I have my sister and other close horsey friends that would ensure my horse's futures.

If a horse is not a viable prospect but yet could easily be abused, for example, a horse with a known condition that makes it unsuitable for riding but would not be immediately apparent, then I think the best option would be PTS. I say this, because some horses that have been retired due to illness, injury or age have been forced back into being ridden and therefore have a poor or even cruel quality of life.

 

[Capriole]

I wouldnt promise a home for life and never to sell though.

I cant promise a horse ive purchased will have a home for life, never know whats going to happen in this world.
So I wouldnt agree to be a free horses home for life, when the previous person couldnt offer that I think its a bit of a cheek to ask.

 

[annunziata]

I bought my horse from a very big eventing yard as they could not handle him, and I got him for £1 and love him to bit!! I am hugely experienced and if I had not have been he would have definately killed me by now but 12 months on and we ahve started jumping. i think the homes need to assest before you give them away but I think a free horse can sometime never be an easy on as no one else wants to ride it!!!