Does anyone feel like jacking it all in?

[Sprat]

And taking up a less stressful hobby? So totally fed up and feel like I’m going nowhere fast.

I’ve had my mare 2 years, and after various health and schooling issues, we progress so far, then have setbacks, and it just keeps going around in a circle. I don’t know where to start with trying to figure out why we are having issues again now

All I want to do is to be able to school my horse a couple of times a week, go for a nice relaxing hack and the occasional jump.

Is that too much to ask?!

 

[VRIN]

I think it happens to us all

 

[Abi90]

Currently been going through that for 2 years. I managed 2 months of riding midwinter and come the summer I can’t ride again!

 

[catembi]

Try 12 years... I was last competing at a decent level with the late Catembi BS & BD in summer 2006... He got protein losing enteropathy and died in Feb 2007. Since then, I have spent all my redundancy money on an ISH with superb showjumping breeding who turned out to have EPSM (after a looooooong period of trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with him), followed by a sicknote ex racer who got bruised soles from always managing to tread on poles, bashed his head, fell down a drain cover, interspersed with the odd gassy colic for variety. etc etc etc then we did the KS/ulcers thing... He has seen every type of practitioner under the sun...

Then I sold my equestrian property in December 2017 to buy a bigger one & have had 5 houses fall through... Trev is in retirement livery now & my shetland is in livery, and I have never felt further away from riding properly. If I ever get a house, I can start again.

 

[JulesRules]

Me too. I've had my mare 7 years and we take 3 steps forward and 2 back.

 

[stencilface]

Yep. Back and forwards with the same horse since 2011. Short hack on Wednesday and he was properly, actually sound. No niggles.

*faints*

 

[Leo Walker]

Not right now, but its been close I have been trying to get to a driving trial for nearly 18 months now. I've got a cracking pony and made really fast progress. Bankrupted myself buying a car and trailer and was all set to go.

Then I was sick, then the horse lame, then I was sick again. We got going then I went blind in one eye, got over that and regained some sight, went blind in the other with an unrelated condition, regained some sight, but life is very soft focus for me! At that point I very, very nearly gave it up. My YO manipulated me beautifully and got me driving again. The horse is going amazingly, better than ever, I still cant see properly but I've managed to adjust and we muddle our way through.

My first driving trial of the season is this weekend. People have been instructed that if I die or become unconscious or any other ridiculous drama and they are to strap my body to the carriage because I am going if its the last thing I do!

 

[gunnergundog]

My first driving trial of the season is this weekend.

Amazing in the face of such adversity! Best of luck for the weekend.

 

[Sprat]

Wow! You guys are all incredible. I am very humbled actually, and need to give my head a bit of a wobble that my mare is being a baggage and I’m being quite over sensitive about it.

How on earth do you find the enthusiasm to carry on? And I mean that in the most complimentary way possible!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I think everyone has setbacks to varying degrees. If you find someone who says everything is great & is always great then they are telling porkies! Welcome to horse ownership. Someone who has been around horses all their life said to me years ago...."If you want everything to be perfect, buy a motorbike!" Some years later I bought a motorbike & the bloody thing broke down.....you can't win, just keep trying. Best of luck OP

 

[Leo Walker]

Sheer bloody mindedness in my case! There are days when I just want to sit in bed and cry but thats a slippery slope to be on, so I force myself to get on with it.

An ex HHO shared something on Facebook that struck a chord with me. The basic premise is that if you do just one thing every single day then anything is possible. That one thing might be washing your hair or it might be climbing Everest. It doesnt matter. What matters is that you do it. Its hard at first, but it very quickly snowballs from one thing to lots of things and then you are back on track.

I was going to trim the ponies bridle path last weekend. 4 hours later it was trimmed, he had been clipped out, bathed, stains removed, feathers treated and oiled, tail soaked and plaited up and he looked like a different horse. If I'd set out to do all that I would never have gotten started. Instead I set out to do a tiny thing and then let it snowball.

 

[Louby]

Me!!! Well Im a bit up and down with it all tbh, sometimes I just long for a normal worry free life. Ive had a really bad run for blooming years! I said the other day to my non horsey Hubby that it has to be me as everyone else seems to have normal horses and I keep ending up with nutters! All I want to do is enjoy my horse, hack out, school and compete in some low level dressage and basically have some fun! All I seem to be doing is worry, struggle and feel fed up! I try so hard, put a lot of time in, yet some people on the yard drag their horse out of the field once or twice a week and everythings hunky dory. Maybe thats where Im going wrong?
I do think we've all had a very hard long Winter though and its taken its toll

 

[Boulty]

I have a horse who thinks having one thing wrong with him is SOOOO boring and that it's much more exciting to have 6 or 7 things at the same time. I've had issues on and off with him since second half of 2013 (6 months after I bought the damn creature!) but have for the most part managed to keep him going. This year is a bit of a disaster though! He's not been quite 100% right since Jan/Feb time, not horrendous just not as good as he should be. I was ill with the horrid fluey bug for about a month in Jan so didn't do much which I think may have started the cycle as horse needs to be in regular work to stay sound. Then in March lorry went in garage and didn't come out til start of May. This meant no lessons and so no schooling as I've no arena where I am and ground in field hasn't been great for doing anything on especially with the appalling weather (which also didn't help with keeping horse in work). Got vet out in Feb as was a few things wasn't happy with and ended up scoping for ulcers and starting treatment. Horse then went very footsore (last month) and had to come off grass. Was just getting over that when pulled something out hacking at the weekend. Have also discovered seems sore in back and that intermittent issues with moving oddly behind appear to have returned (apparently that's what things do when you don't get to the bottom of them!) Coming very close to announcing retirement of pony at the moment!

 

[Dave's Mam]

I think everyone has setbacks to varying degrees. If you find someone who says everything is great & is always great then they are telling porkies! Welcome to horse ownership. Someone who has been around horses all their life said to me years ago...."If you want everything to be perfect, buy a motorbike!" Some years later I bought a motorbike & the bloody thing broke down.....you can't win, just keep trying. Best of luck OP

That's it in a nutshell.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Sheer bloody mindedness in my case! There are days when I just want to sit in bed and cry but thats a slippery slope to be on, so I force myself to get on with it.

An ex HHO shared something on Facebook that struck a chord with me. The basic premise is that if you do just one thing every single day then anything is possible. That one thing might be washing your hair or it might be climbing Everest. It doesnt matter. What matters is that you do it. Its hard at first, but it very quickly snowballs from one thing to lots of things and then you are back on track.

I was going to trim the ponies bridle path last weekend. 4 hours later it was trimmed, he had been clipped out, bathed, stains removed, feathers treated and oiled, tail soaked and plaited up and he looked like a different horse. If I'd set out to do all that I would never have gotten started. Instead I set out to do a tiny thing and then let it snowball.

This is a great theory & one I use, because once I start, I get into it & start to love it a bit more.

 

[NooNoo59]

Must be something in the water today as i ended up in tears earlier on my lesson as my boy was being a rude yob after he went beautifully on Monday and yesterday. I feel so close to getting somewhere then today back to square 1 frustrating and soul destroying. Large glass of wine was necessary !!

 

[mytwofriends]

I haven’t owned a horse since Feb 2017 since my last boy was PTS. I’d had horses for close to 40 years and had ridden for longer. The last few years was stressful (lameness, field accidents, shocking turnout, ever decreasing hacking, worse than bad yards) and whereas I’d have my oldie back in a heartbeat, it’s a huge relief being out of it all.

I just read all your posts on here in awe. I don’t think I could go back to horse ownership again. Kudos to you all!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Yup! Many a time! And then I realise that no one would want my bunch of yaks so I plough on! I haven't ridden any of my own in nearly 2 years due to lack of time but I do get the Shetlands out showing inhand a bit. I was supposed to take my big Gray horse out the other weekend for the first time in a year and a half but the farrier trimmed his feet far, far too short and crippled him 2 days before the show. So I have given up even contemplating showing him again. That show was a random one off as the judges weren't eh best for the ponies.

So if anyone wants any old or uncatchable beasts give me a shout!

 

[SEL]

I couldn't give my 2 away with their impressive list of ailments! But this week the sick note Appy went for a short hack on the main road and faced lorries, motorbikes, speeding cars and behaved like an angel. First time in traffic and I was very proud of her - so even if she's lame again this weekend, we'll focus on the good stuff!!

 

[scats]

I’ve had horses for over 25 years now and the last fifteen of them have been hell.
Ive had several written off through injury and/or ailments. I lost one to colic, one to cancer, put one to sleep in November due to a variety of lameness issues. In the last 15 years, my horses have thrown at me- melanoma, liver failure, strangles, ringworm, laminitis, a variety of colics, grass allergies, navicular, tendon injuries, ligament injuries, ringbone, sidebone, recurring foot abscesses, chipped bones... needless to say I am known amongst my friends as being a walking number 13.
Current horses- one has an extremely rare breathing issue that has limited what we can do and the other one has just had to be retired at the age of 8 with back and SI problems.

Unfortunately, the only thing on this earth that puts fire in my belly is horses... So I’m a bit screwed!

 

[swilliam]

It's good to know we're not alone! My daughter and I have got three capable of being ridden, but one of those is out on loan and one gone away for schooling because we're so busy looking after: one shetland with liver problems; one shirex with heart problems, one pony with EMS and pelvic/back problems; one with a suspected brain tumour and two cushings ponies. It's ridiculous!

 

[JJS]

Believe me, OP, that's what we all want

I'll add my long list of issues to the pile to see if it makes you feel any better! I lost my horse of a lifetime after four and a half blissful, problem-free years in May 2014. Alice was an ex-racer, but she defied every stereotype going by being the most reliable, sound mare that you could ever hope to find. Life was very busy back then, so we never bothered to compete, but we hacked and/or schooled most days with not a moment's bother.

After losing her, I got Tudor quite quickly afterwards. We began our partnership in the most perfect way. He was one of those horses that's not only a delight to be around, but a true joy to ride, and we had about six months with not a single incident or issue to mar them. Then, slowly, the bad behaviour started to creep in. At first, it was so few and far between that we wrote it off as teenage hijinks, but it gradually started to become closer and closer together. Despite that, we had another good year or so before a nightmare few months. He had everything checked with nothing showing up so we carried on, until I ended up coming off him three times in four weeks. He was eventually diagnosed as a grade five head shaker and retired just before his eighth birthday.

After a lot of consideration, I decided to get a third horse so that I had something to ride. I saved up until August 2016 and got Mary. She was a proper green baby, and my confidence had been massively knocked by Tudor antic's at this point, but we took everything super slowly, and by April 2017 she was starting to go beautifully. We were making progress with every ride... and then we found out she was expecting! Cue a little over a year off work and having just recently picked things up again.

So, we're back to hacking now, right? Well, no! She's had a slight skin issue for the past three weeks which meant I didn't feel comfortable riding her, so we're hopefully cracking on again this weekend.

Now add to that list two other unrideables - one my ancient Cushings pony who's far too small for me and the other my surprise yearling - and you get four horses and not a single one of them ready or able to take me out for a nice hack in the sunshine Just remember it could be worse!

 

[fallenangel123]

Well I now feel like I should just slap myself and get on with stuff, you are my inspiration. I hope you have a fantastic competition that is the first of many!

 

[NinjaPony]

We persevere because we love them but it's rarely easy! First pony retired at 10 with arthritis, second had to be PTS due to DDFT tear and navicular-at one point I had two un-rideable ponies, and my confidence was wrecked. Fast forward 7 years and it was third time lucky, third pony is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

 

[SpringArising]

I've spent the last six months wondering why the hell I'm investing all my time and disposable income on a horse who head-butts me if I so much as want to pet him.

You're not alone...

 

[littlen]

Sprat are you me.

Currently wondering why on earth I bother, one step forward and 99 back!

 

[pippixox]

dammed if you do, dammed if you don't I find!
I have had a 6 month stint without a horse about 9 years ago now and I was miserable.

I have 3 horses and in the space of a week something went wrong with all 3 of them! just as summer had finally arrived and my mood was starting to lift after a never ending winter (in which they were all apparently healthy, but I had no time, terrible weather and no daylight to ride in) I am also now 7 months pregnant with child number 2. mare developed sweet itch this year aged 15, old boy mooches around quite happily but then gets cellulitis in one leg (I think from a tiny scratch as in the last couple of years his circulation has deteriorated, he also had a brain access that nearly killed him 2 years ago, sensitive thin skinned tb-altough a good doer who prefers to live out at least), then much worse my hardy 7 yo new forest suddenly became photosensitive and biopsy has shown liver fibrosis. he was meant to be my low maintenance cheap pony!!!

basically it is all going wrong at the moment, and at a time when I am meant to be having happy horses living out for the summer while I am a heavily pregnant hormonal mess!

 

[whizzer]

Yep, 8 yrs ago my tb had major sinus issues,cost thousands & never really was the same again but I think by the time we’d treated the sinuses for 2 yrs & were successful he’d started developing cushings,didn’t mind too much had him from very young & he didn’t owe me anything. Bought a youngster,fractured it’s knee 6 months into ownership in a field accident,rehabbed successfuly(against initial veterinary advice) & cost a lot as ended up sending him to rehab yard as he couldn’t cope at home with box rest. Followed vet instructions to the letter, 6 weeks after I got him back fractured another leg in another field accident & was PTS. Bought a lovely mare a few months after that, was supposedly unbacked but now I’m not sure I didn’t have a fast one pulled on me... Turned out to have multiple medical issues, many things were resolved but after 2 years, 2 professionals,a custom made saddle,numerous treatments,physio,osteos & many,many thousands of pounds etc etc etc I had to admit defeat with her. She was rehomed as a surrogate, then 3 days after she went my faithful old boy(sinus horse) succumbed to colic,I’d had him 20 yrs so that was pretty tough. Went from 2 horses to none in 3 days! Don’t really know where to go from here,strapped for cash so need to take a step back & get saving but if another horse goes wrong I think I’ll give up trying to have my own. Luckily I’ve got a lovely mare to ride several days a week & I treat myself to lessons at a very good riding school near me & tbh I’m perfectly happy with that for now.

 

[Patchworkpony]

Sheer bloody mindedness in my case! There are days when I just want to sit in bed and cry but thats a slippery slope to be on, so I force myself to get on with it.

An ex HHO shared something on Facebook that struck a chord with me. The basic premise is that if you do just one thing every single day then anything is possible. That one thing might be washing your hair or it might be climbing Everest. It doesnt matter. What matters is that you do it. Its hard at first, but it very quickly snowballs from one thing to lots of things and then you are back on track.

I was going to trim the ponies bridle path last weekend. 4 hours later it was trimmed, he had been clipped out, bathed, stains removed, feathers treated and oiled, tail soaked and plaited up and he looked like a different horse. If I'd set out to do all that I would never have gotten started. Instead I set out to do a tiny thing and then let it snowball.

You are SO inspiring!

 

[Nudibranch]

While not wishing bad things on anyone else, it's reassuring at least to know I'm not the only one! Had horses since the late 80s with barely a vet's visit. Then at the end of 2012 lost one in a spectacularly horrible fashion (bungled pts). Since then it's all gone wrong - lost another to PPID, and another to an infected pedal bone. The beautiful big lad I've had from a foal and backed and brought on entirely single handedly has just been retired at the age of 7 due to multiple issues - neck, SI and hocks. I'm now playing a waiting game as at some point he'll have another crisis and won't even be field sound and that's the call I really dread. So now I'm riding the 13.2 Fell who is hard work to keep weight off, and though I'm not too heavy I do look rather tall on her so I feel like I still don't have a "proper" horse to ride. The next one better stay sound or I really will pack it all in.

My vet is great, and though he's not the fluffy type he did nearly make me cry the other day when he said I deserved a horse I could ride!