Elderly Horse – To move or not to move ?

Sadiemay

Sadiemay

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Hi there,

I am a newbie although have lurked on these boards for a while now. I would really like some opinions on whether or not to move my much loved 23 year old mare to a different livery yard.

In a nutshell my horse is 23 years old and although in good health has been diagnosed with Cushings earlier this year for which she is now on Pergolide daily. She is also prone to lamitis although ***touchwood*** she has not had it for around 5years now although I am aware that now she has Cushings she is even more prone to lammi. Apart from this for a 23 year old she is in good shape and is bright, healthy and alert.

For the last 10 years I have kept her on full livery 30 miles from my house and she is VERY happy and settled there, but because of the distance and my work commitments I am only able to go visit her once maybe twice a week.

My dilema is that given her age and medical issues I really want to move her closer to my home so I can see her a lot more and make the most of the precious time I have left with her and also as she ages I wish to be a lot more involved in her day to day care and of course just to spend some quality time with her which I have missed out on for so long now. She is the most precious thing to me and I want to see her a lot more than once a week.

Unfortunately I cannot reasonably go up to see her more that once or twice a week given the distance so I am now seriously considering moving her to a livery yard I have found which is just two miles from me, its wonderful and I have every faith she will be looked after as well as she is now with the added bonus of me being able to go see her everyday. Howver I have doubts as to whether its fair to move her at her age when she is so settled and happy where she is. I trust the lady who currently looks after her completely and I am worried that I wont find the same level of care elsewhere. I have done a list of pros and cons, please can you give me your honest opinion as to what you would do if you were in my situation as I am completely torn 50/50 as to what to do:

Pros to new yard:

1) Generally a lovely yard with great facilities, I feel its as close to perfect for my horses needs as I will find.

2) Bigger stable than she currently has, grazing can be sectioned specifically to her requirements and right next to the stable block.

3) New yard is exactly 2 miles from my house vs. 30 miles to current yard, so 4 mile round trip vs. 60 mile round trip.

4) I can see my horse every day if I wish vs. once or twice a week currently.

5) A bigger yard so more people around to monitor the horses and notice if something is wrong. At current yard no one around during the day.

6) I can be 100% more involved in my horses care than I am now and able to make sure she is OK myself rather than relying on others.

7) I can be there within 5 minutes from home or 20 minutes from work if there is an emergency as opposed up to an hour currently depending on traffic
8) The lady who runs the yard has several oldies herself and is experienced with older horses and also Cushing’s/Laminitis.

9) I like the yard ownder a lot and have a good feeling from her that she will make sure my horse is looked after properly while on livery.

10) New yard on road level so much easier for veterinary access and if Sadie should ever need to travel to Equine Hospital its much much easier than current yard which a horsebox cannot access as on top on a steep hill.


Cons to moving:

1) My horse is very settled and happy at current yard.

2) The lady who looks after her 6 days a week for me treats her as her own not as a “livery”.

3) My horse will undoubtably be very distressed moving yards and losing her field/stable buddy, they are very bonded and have been turned out together and stabled next to one another for the last 10 years.

4) I cant guarantee that new yard will look after her as I want, only time will tell once I am there..

5) What if she goes into a decline with being moved?

6) Having a new vet who doesn’t know my horse and me having to put my trust in them.

7) If I could ask my horse what she wanted, she would want to stay where she is I am sure of it!.

8) Finally I don’t want to cause my mare any uneccesary distress and I will struggle a lot to see her stressed out and unhappy.

Any opinions on my dlilema and any advice in general on moving older horses would be very much welcomed. As I said I am completely torn and cant decide at all if moving her is the right thing in the longer term although stressfull initially or am I being selfish and only thinking of myself.

I love the bones of my old girl and I want to be a full time mum to her and enjoy what time we have left together now she is in her twilight years, I really do but its just not possible where she is currently stabled.

Blimey....you get a medal if you managed to read to the end of my mammoth post!

Many thanks all
Sadiemay
 
reading all the pros i would say there is a lot to be gained by moving but interested to know what sort of personality she is.is she fairly laid back generally or easily stressed.also why are you so sure she would stay where she is .you will be familiar to her and if she sees more of you that will help.
 
Ok Sadiemay you asked the questions lets hope this helps a bit!!

I have just moved my horses. Reasons being, I have bought a house (the first.....) and so moved myself. New house is between work and old yard. I am DIY livery, and not allowed to turnout overnight so have to go twice a day which before I moved was 40 miles a day home - horses - work - horses - home. New house is much closer to work and I wanted to benefit from less travel/expense which I wouldn;t have done if I left horses at old yard.

Don;t get me wrong, old yard was fantastic, and I didn;t want to leave but for practical and financial reasons I had to seriously consider moveing them.

My old horse is 29, not that you would ever know it. So I started looking around, looked at a couple of places that weren;t suitable then fund my new place. Its not a livery yard, but a private owner with two of her own horses and too much land!!

My livery is now half what I was paying before, I travel 10 miles a day not 40, and I can turn out 24/7.

I have two horses, so moved them both which helps with the separation thing. They were a little unsettled for a couple of days, but really nothing to worry about at all. They were more confused I think about the change in routine. I had serious moments of doubt and worried myself sick for a couple fo weeks but now, a coupe of months on I can honestly say its the best thing I could haev done. Old horse benefits from the turnout - helps the stiffness, better grass and shelter. Less rigid - I still go twice a day but if I have a lay in at weekends I don;t worry as they are already out.

I am enjoying having more time with them, rather than spending my time at the yard rushing about mucking out etc. Which is even more important when they are older like you say.
 
Such a difficult choice for you. The biggest problem would be her pair bond/buddy, tbh as this is likely to be the most stressful part for her if they have been together for 10 years. Having said that we had two oldies together who had been together for nearly 20 years! :eek: We had to have the younger one pts and were quite worried about the older one, who was 30 at the time. She coped amazingly and made friends with the mare who came to take up the space. Mind you our oldie was still with 2 others she had known for some time. I can see a lot of pro's for the new yard, and I think on balance I would take my chances with the move. Would it be possible for you to give the new yard a months trial and if she remains too unhappy at the new place, move her back to the original?
 
Thank you so much for your replies. I really appreciate them.

I guess I am so torn as I love my horse so much...maybe too much some might say, she has been my best friend and the most important thing to me for the last 18 years and from the day I rescued her I made a vow she would always be safe and cared for, for the rest of her life without question. And I will always put her first in anything I do.

I feel like I am going to unsettle her and I am only thinking of myself. The lady who looks after her at the moment has pointed out that I am selfish and that I am only thinking of myself by moving her and that I cannot gaurantee that anyone else will look after her as she does. I know she has a point but I also realise she is biased as I pay her a pretty large weekly fee to care for her in my absense and her horse is very much bonded with mine and vice versa. So its a double whammy for her in that she will lose my income and also her horse will lose his buddy.

I just want to do right thing for Sadie and I do believe that that would be for her to be close to me so as I can monitor and care for her daily. But in another breath I am thinking Sadie is happy where she is, in fact the most happy I have known her to be at a livery yard and we have been at a few over the years and the thing is I do love the yard and the lady who looks after her, this is purely a distance issue which is more and more previlant as Sadie ages. Some may say if its not broke dont fix it....But I need to be closer to her for my own sanity and peace of mind. I will regret it for the rest of my life if something happens and I cannot make it up there in time.

To answer the question on Sadies character, she is pretty laid back in general and I personally think she would adapt quite well as she has in other yards we have been at. However the lady who looks after her pointed out that with all due respect she knows Sadie better than I do as she has seen and looked after her daily for nearly 10 years and in her opinion moving her is not a good idea if I think of Sadies needs before my own :(

GAH! This is tearing me up inside so much! I thought about leaving her where she is for the winter and maybe moving her in Spring but 6 months in a elderly horses lifespan is alot and what if her health deteriorates and she becomes too unstable to move then she is stuck there forever and I am stuck 30 miles away....this is a nightmare scenario for me. And realistically what have I got to gain by leaving it 6 months?....nothing apart from mentally preparing myself for the move.

Thanks again guys, youve been very kind in giving me your opinions and any more advice/opinions are very much welcomed. Its helps to find out what others would do in my situation.

Sadiemay
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Sorry I meant to say YorksG that the lady who looks after my mare at the moment has more or less said if I leave I wont be welcome back :eek: although I think she may have said this in anger and shock when I told her I was thinking of moving Sadie a couple of weeks ago.

The set up at the moment is that Sadie is on a very small DIY yard owned by a farmer and the lady who looks after Sadie has a horse there herself (Sadie's buddy) and she does hers and mine daily as if Sadie was her own and I pay her a fee each week for caring for her on top of that I have all the usual costs of DIY, hay, shavngs, feed, stable, field rent etc... So although in theory I could go back as its not her yard so to speak she wouldnt take on Sadie again and becuase of the sheer distance I cannot go to DIY there. So in a nutshell if I move Sadie I am not going back!

Sadiemay
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I would move her, i looked after Monty for the last 2 years of his life and saw him pretty much everyday then i got my own pony and stopped grooming him ect as i didnt have time to do him and my own pony. I really regret not making the time for him, as i cant change that now :(

Dont let your opinion be swayed by the woman looking after her now, the move wouldnt be benifical for her so of course shes going to try and stop you! Enjoy the time you have left with your horse, you never know how long you have left.

And 23 is not old, monty had cushings/lami/athritis and he made it to 40! :D
 
Really interested in reading this. I'm about to move my 28 yr old TB to a smaller, private yard too. I dearly love this old boy, and he's been very happy where he presently is for four and a half years, but new arrivals have come, he's getting kicked all the time, and getting very stressed out, so I have taken the decision to move. I have to say, I also have a 12 yr old cob, and also my old boy's "girlfriend" is also coming with us, so he won't be seperated from his close friends. But - he is a stressy old chap at times, and I do worry about him, as he's very special to me. But I think in the long run, he will be a happier boy for the move. There will only be a total of five at the new place, and he'll be a bit closer to me, so all in all I think I'm doing the right thing for him. Mind you, doesn't stop me fretting about it all !
 
Poor you! It sounds like the lady that looks after her knows how to play your emotions, and that SHE is thinking about herself. I think your head has made the right decision, its your heart that is dithering, and she's not helping...

If you were going somewhere that didn't sound good, then no, but it sounds like it will be a much beter place for YOU AND YOUR HORSE.
 
As I read your post, i was thinking "move her move her move her" until I got to the bit about the pair bond.

I wouldn't have thought the moving thing alone would stress her unduly, but the forceful split of this pair bond might cause her to seriously pine which could be very bad for her.

On the other hand, she is your horse and if you want to see her more then of course, you must.

I think better to move her now than a few years down the line for sure.

What a tricky situation. poor you :( Hope you manage to make a decision you're happy with.
 
Having read the second of the OP's posts, I would say move him. The woman who is currently looking after him is thinking of herself and her pocket I think!
 
Move her..... she's your horse, and for all you know it may do her good to have a change of scene and routine. Many horses move, and I really don't think age makes any difference to how unsettling it is, I think its more about temperament.

You are not being selfish, you are doing it for Sadie as you recognise with her maturing years you need to be able to be around more readily - 30 miles in an emergency situation is a long way.
Your livery colleague is using emotional blackmail on you - and as hard as this sounds, where would it leave you if anything happened to her horse and Sadie was left on her own.
23 is not that old, and yes it will be unsettling but you will be there to smooth the transition, but heading towards her senior years, with Cushings to be managed, I think it's quite sensible - ultimately she's your horse.

Practically, I would want to check she can have individual turnout in site of others, with the option of going in with some oldies in the future. I'd also ask some of the current liveries for their honest opinion of the yard - giving the negative reasons for moving her as a basis for being absolutely sure it's where you want to be.

Finally to add, my Auntie recently moved back from 10yrs in France - her 26yr old had to do an 8 hour drive, ferry crossing, overnight in a strange yard, and then another mammoth treck to Devon. Admittedly he had his friend with him, but he's bounced back and has become very spritely and is much happier having a 1to1 again as he was in livery towards the end of their French stay.
 
my first reaction was dont move her but as i have gone on i have changed my mind . move her and spend as much time as you can with her, enjoy each day that you have together. it would be better to try than spend the rest of her time regretting that you havent.:) the lady who looks after her should understand you wanting to spend time with her,but maybe she has bonded with her and its upset her to think she wont see her again. would you let her visit if she wanted.sometime people react before they think!!
good luck with her, my little pony was with me til the end and i look back knowing i did all i could for him he also had cushings and lammi got him in the end. but he knew that we loved him. you can do the same for your girl.
best wishes


sorry this has rambled on a bit.
 
Thanks again. I have made up my mind....I think! I am going to take the chance to move her and hopefully it will work out great for both Sadie and I and we will spend alot more time together for what I hope will be many more years.

Its very reassuring to hear of horses that have been moved and adjusted to new homes in their later years as this is what was my primary concern.

Also I should point out that the lady who currently looks after Sadie is a lovely lady as you have pointed out some of her reaction is based on hurt and sadness of losing Sadie from her life, I will always be eternally grateful to her for caring for Sadie in my absense all these years and I have to be honest I will REALLY miss her alot!, I guess I am also dithering because I dont want to lose her from my life as a friend. I have no doubt that she loves Sadie as her own and of course she will miss her alot and Sadie will miss her too.

I have said that if I leave she will be welcome to come and visit anytime and I sincerely hope she will as I want us to stay friends and visit one anothers yards frequently and maintain our friendship. But whether that will happen I dont know :confused:

Sadiemay
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really feel for you, its a difficult decision, but looking at it another way, lets say you were fortunate enough to win the lottery(i wish) and buy a house and land etc, im sure you would move her in those circumstances so as long as the yard is ok and the existing liveries have been there for a while and confirm your thoughts, im sure she will be ok once she settles in.. good luck:D:D
 
You sound like me. I had a dilemma a couple of months ago about moving my 20year old TB. I also had him on full livery 30 miles from home, so it wasn't ideal. I moved him a bit closer to a fab yard and he settled in immediately, and in doing so, got a bit of spark back as well. I think they sometimes enjoy change and meeting new friends. My circumstances have changed again and I have to move my horses to a DIY yard near home - only 5 mins away. Not an ideal situation, but financially I have no choice. But having already moved once, moving again isn't really fazing me.
I think you should take the plunge. It isn't as scary as it seems and as long as there are other horses, I think your mare will settle in just fine. x
 
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