Companion pony - what do I do !?!

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DIESELSUPERSTAR

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Hello all, a little controversial and may get a bit of stick but would like to know what others would do in my situation or if anyone has any ideas!!!

10 years ago we bid against the meat man for a 13'2 5 year old welsh part bred, absolutely beautiful and a measly £200 for her breeding.

We brought her home and she was a bit bonkers, in fact totally un handled and would jump out of the stables and not be caught. But as a young girl I persisted with her, gained her trust and over time she began to trust. We set her away to 3 different breakers including a monty Roberts style one an she came back each time as not ready. In fact one even told my parents to put her to sleep before she injured one of us. We carried on with bomb proof training and she became the easiest and sweetest pony to live with, and adores children. We put her in foal but unfortunately the foal died at one day old :-( my girl looked after the foal so well an it was tragic to see.

So from then on she was the companion pony, and might I add I rode her several times just sitting on her in the field and school. If j was more knowledgable perhaps I could have broken her in myself. Anyway, we have searched high and low for a companion home for her, I only have 4 stables and 4 horses so she always gets left on her own or put out with the cows. Or moved down the road with other horses. My point is that she has no stability, she settles one place and then has to be moved and its heart breaking. We can't sell her, but also can't give her away. There are so many people out there who would jump on the band wagon of owning/ rescuing a horse when in fact the pony would end up in a terrible condition. We can't let her go to anyone we don't know as if she ended up not being cared for or in a market again bid for by the meat man, we couldn't forgive ourselves.

So as it stands my beautiful 15yo pony is at a neighbours, settled, fussed over by children and our next step is to offer the lady her for free as we know she would be looked after. However if the lady says no then the pony is likely to come back over winter and there is the possibility of having her PTS - I read forums all the time about you having to loose beloved horses who are old and it's there time.. But what life does this pony lead? Shoved from pillar to post :-( we can't give her what she needs and neither can anyone else.

Help needed desperately, I am at a dead end and don't know what to do for the best :-(

Thanks for reading x
 
Could you not just put up a 5th stable? I have a little companion whom I have owned for 20 years now. I couldn't imagine giving him away or having him pts. For the sake of a stable I know what I would be doing - I know that sounds like a cheeky simple answer, but it sounds like you have the land to accomodate the pony.
 
I used to ride a little pony who suffered from lonliness so would go walk-about to the local riding school. He lived on a dairy farm and had a thing about calves so was given 5 weaned calves to look after and never jumped out of his paddock again. He was also regularly turned out with the cows. Unfortunately he decided his best friend was the bull! I wouldn't worry about turning your pony out with cows full time rather than getting rid, provided it isn't pigging out on rich dairy grass of course!
 
DIESELSUPERSTAR said:
10 years ago we bid against the meat man for a 13'2 5 year old welsh part bred, absolutely beautiful and a measly £200 for her breeding.



I only have 4 stables and 4 horses so she always gets left on her own or put out with the cows. Or moved down the road with other horses. My point is that she has no stability, she settles one place and then has to be moved and its heart breaking..............

There are so many people out there who would jump on the band wagon of owning/ rescuing a horse

Indeed!

So as it stands my beautiful 15yo pony is at a neighbours, settled, fussed over by children and our next step is to offer the lady her for free as we know she would be looked after. However if the lady says no then the pony is likely to come back over winter and there is the possibility of having her PTS - I read forums all the time about you having to loose beloved horses who are old and it's there time.. But what life does this pony lead? Shoved from pillar to post :-( we can't give her what she needs and neither can anyone else.

Help needed desperately, I am at a dead end and don't know what to do for the best :-(
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I'm afraid I simply don't understand your dilemma. You have had this horse 10 yrs, have you had the others longer or did you get them knowing that you only had 4 stables and 5 horses? Why can't you put up another stable or field-shelter for her? If you have cows, I would be amazed if you can't find a corner to accommodate her somewhere and i certainly don't see why she has to go out with the cows - so the other horses not go out at all in winter?
Why do you have to give the horse away, rather than continuing the current loan arrangement?
I think if you can answer those questions for yourself (not necessarily on the forum) you will see the way forward. Good luck!
 
DIESELSUPERSTAR said:
I only have 4 stables and 4 horses so she always gets left on her own or put out with the cows. Or moved down the road with other horses. My point is that she has no stability, she settles one place and then has to be moved and its heart breaking.
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Call me cold hearted but its not that big a deal or heart breaking to move fields regularly! Once she has access to feed/grazing, shelter and water she's fine. Equine companions are ideal but many horses exist quite happily living with donkeys, sheep, goats or cattle.


DIESELSUPERSTAR said:
So as it stands my beautiful 15yo pony is at a neighbours, settled, fussed over by children and our next step is to offer the lady her for free as we know she would be looked after.
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Why do you have to offer her to the neighbour? If she's happy there, leave things as they are. The neighbour might be quite happy to hang onto her for another couple of years without buying her from you. You can then review the situation if the pony needs to come home
 
What you should do is stand by the commitment you made to a young nervous pony 10 years ago and either loan her to the neighbour or have her home to live if there is no possibility of her finding a good home otherwise
 
Don't understand why you are questioning the quality of her life now when you've been comfortable with it for a decade. If it is so bad why 'save' her from the meat man in the first place? Harsh, but just don't get what your asking in your post, just sounds like your trying to advertise her & get rid of your responsibility in case now she is getting older you may have to care for her.
 
I am 21 yo and have little or no money at all I work as much as I can and am also studying. I was just 11 when the pony was bought so not my decision or responsibility at the time. I think it's fair to say we have given her all that we could. My sister owns a pony, I own one and the other 2 are shared, as we struggled with selling them ad came across sisters who can basically loan them. I am fortunate to have a little bit of land and stables which me and my sister have paid for ourselves. Putting up another one is not possible at this time due to money and space issues. the amount of land we have and wet ground at that means the horses must be in over night or would be walking in knee deep mud 24/7 as would my little pony. she is depressed when left with the cows as we did this last winter wen she came home. I have tried to find a home for her for years and have always been let down.

Trust me on this, I have tried so hard to find a suitable home and have not succeeded. I'm not 'settling' for having her PTS that is an absolute end result which we will avoid at all costs. At the end of the day the pony was bought as my sisters 2nd pony and was not suitable . We tried breaking her and tried putting her in foal. We have kept her all these years and it has always been difficult but as I have now moved out etc it has now become even more difficult for us to give her the quality of life she needs. That's what this post is about- her quality of life. Many horsey people have told me to stop dithering and have her PTS for her own sake.

I understand the gripe of why I've managed for 10 years and why can't it stay the same- what I'm looking for is advice on alternatives. I'm not made of money and certainly don't have the facilities to keep her. In all honestly what life does she have? It would be selfish of me not to try to find an alternative to just shoving her out with the cows in the cold where I know she gets lonely and depressed.

I love my horses more than anything. Don't get me wrong :-(
 
I'm another who's rather confused! 4 horses, 4 stables (presumably the 4 horses doesn't include her?) Who are the "other horses" down the road? Does she get stressed when her situation changes? I am guessing not really if this has been the way for 10 years. Maybe build another stable or allow her to wander round the yard if the others are shut in and you mean she's left out alone. We used to allow our oldie to do this when we only had 3. 2 came in at night but we only had the two stables. The old horse was allowed to come and go as he pleased - he had his own field shelter or could shelter under the roof of the stables if needs be.

I don't think you need to be thinking about having her PTS. Hardly seems fair. can't she just stay where she is for now with the arrangement as it is? Have you ever tried re-backing her with some professional help? Things have changed over recent years. If there's no physical issues why she can't be ridden maybe at 15 she could be converted to a ridden pony?
 
Potato! said:
I'm glad im not the only one who doesnt get it. If you have 5 horses then why is she on her own?
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She gets left alone at night time when she is here which means she paces the fence line ALL night and by the time we get back to her she is white with sweat and covered head to toe in mud- not my idea Of the perfect way for a pony to live. I wish I could afford to put a stable up and keep her on a nice deep bed, heck we have even considered putting her a bed on the concrete outside the stables under the lean to but she would end up soaked, cold and injured knowing my little flame!
 
DIESELSUPERSTAR said:
We tried breaking her and tried putting her in foal. We have kept her all these years and it has always been difficult but as I have now moved out etc it has now become even more difficult for us to give her the quality of life she needs.

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Would breaking her or having a foal have given you another stable? I'm afraid this really doesn't make sense. The 'pony' (at 15hh she is technically a horse) is settled where she is atm, so no decision needs to be made just now, unless you think that the neighbour will send her back for the winter.
If she does come back I cannot believe that there is nowhere on the farm where she can be housed overnight and then turned out with your other horses during the day.
And actually her future is not your responsibility imo, you didn't buy her and she wasn't bought for you. The people who 'rescued' her should take responsibility for her. A cautionary tale for those who insist on buying youngsters from sales to 'save them from the meatman' - they will be your responsibility for the rest of their lives, which could be well over 20 yrs.
 
You should of thought about getting 4 other horses when you had limited space and already had one. Sorry if that sounds harsh but your the one that's put yourself in this situation. Loan her further afield, with the right loan contract and regular checks I'm sure she will be fine
 
It really doesnt cost much to put up a lean to shelter on the side of the stables and some tarpaulin as a windrxain breaker, then she could come in with the rest, sorry it seems to me that as you dont have a need use for her she must be the one to go. Stand by your decision your parents made 10 years ago, poor pony they dont cost much to look after.
 
Oh dear... All severely missing the point. This pony is a stress head who trusts only the people she knows, she is scared of men, my dads friend bought her to save her from the meat man and we have tried everything with her. I last tried to back her 2 years ago and she just isn't safe to ride. If she sees cows over he hedges she rears over back wards - funnily enough she doesn't mind being in the field with them. For the last 4 or 5 years I have been looking for a home and have not succeeded. We only ever had her and one other pony which was fine but when I started riding at 16 we got another horse, both of these we still have. we have 3 fields at home, one a total bog which the cows tend to be on (only 2) one a hay field which we don't graze at all and one paddock of about 4 acres which has to last me all year around. I have tried to sell horses but in the market it's been difficult so now I have 2 shared ponies who may or may not stay.

My parents place is a bit hit and miss, tractors all over the place and so it's not safe for flame to have a free roam, but as I said above we have tried to make this work but it just wasn't possible or safe to fence it with electric fence (I don't have the money for post and rail)

You are all right, it shouldn't come down to having her PTS but does she deserve to be shoved in a market or shoved in a muddy field or separated from her friend every night to which she doesn't ever settle, it's all been tried as tested with no calm, sensible result.
 
I would find some way of constructing a stable for her.

We have built 2 sets of stables now very very cheaply.

Could you put a lean to on the end of your stables - you would need some tarpaulin and pallets, it wouldn't cost the earth. Could you take a little bit off each of your existing stables to create an extra one for her?

If you really can't do that then how about contacting one of the charities to see if they have space for her.
 
Still dont get it, stress head, so build another box, lean to, something, doesnt cost much, lots of pieces of wood thrown away from builders yards, in skips fro. Building renovations. She is scared of those she doesnt know but you are trying to find her a home? What do you want folks to say PTS, then do it. Or leave her with neighbour, or build a shelter, lean to, box. Winters coming.
 
As I understand it your mare cant be ridden or seperated from other horses, so is hard to loan out, even as a companion.

You bring your horses in at night to save your land, but dont have stables for all five. She can't go in the yard as she doesn't respect ellectric (?) and it is littered with tractors and stuff. You have a hay field and a cow field as well.

She belongs to your dads mate.

I'd be giving her back to your dad's mate and I dont envy you. I've got some ideas. They aren't particually original but you might not have thought of them just because you are right up close to the problem.

Could you leave another horse out at night and bring her in?

Have you costed the money you are spending on mentaining your hay field and the extra hay you're feeding by having them in to protect the ground vs buying hay in but having them out more? bare in mind time you are dealing with the hay field is time you could theoreticly be working.

Could your cows winter with a local farmer's herd letting you have more land for your horses?
 
Going by your previous posts DIESELSUPERSTAR, your life seems full of rather silly dilemmas. Why did you get a fifth horse when you only have room for four, how many horses do two girls need when finances are an issue.
 
I'm another one who desn't get it. If you were 11 at the time the pony was bought, and it was your dad#s friend that bought her, why is she your responsibility?
 
OP. I have to say, leaving any horse or pony out at night on its own, even with cows or sheep is a recipe for disaster if other horses are grazed with it during the day, of course this will stress the poor pony.
the pony needs to be with another horse, so either leave it with an equine companion over night or bring it in! I appreciate you dont have enough stables so either put up another stable or sell some of the other horses to make room for the pony.
 
How big are the stables and how big are the other horses/ponies?
Could she share a stable if you had another small one?

Or leave one of the other 4 out with her overnight?

At the ned of the day, although a last resport, this country is over run with unwanted horses and a fairer decision on the pony is to PTS rather than get rid free to an uncertain fate.
 
I don't really understand what you hoped to achieve by posting this in the first place, every suggestion you have been given has been thrown out of the window.
 
DIESELSUPERSTAR said:
I swap my horses around all the time and none of them are bothered at all.. Swapping them again this year as we are building a new stable on the end to allow for a new livery. As long as they have their food and friends I think they should be fine....
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From a thread earlier this month - so why not just tell the livery you haven't the space and put your old pony in the new stable?
 
Is the stable yard secure enough for her to come in to at night rather than leaving her the other side of the fence? That way she is with her friends & not tearing up the ground.
Given her various issues if you really think she is unhappy, & that the level of care / her surroundings are less than satisfactory then I don't think you'd be unjustified in having her PTS.
 
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