Equine rehoming......from post below

MontyandZoom

MontyandZoom

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Now I have been looking at a certain website regarding UK horse rescuing. Having browsed a few websites now, there seems to be a real problem with horses being returned to these 'rescues' with the typical excuse being "X has decided they have too many horses" or "Y cannot give *horse* the time and attention they require".

This all seems very bizarre to me :confused: I mean surely this highlights the problems associated with rehoming horses to people over the internet unseen. Also, generally there are reasons why horses end up at abbatoirs. These problems present themselves and the rehomer sends the horse back. Be it behavioural, physical or simply that there are too many horses in the UK.

Would it be heartless to suggest that these horses would be better off left to be dispatched humanely and quickly than passed around to people who obviously don't have the resources to care for them properly??!

I am not saying that not all rescues are bad......both my horses have been "rescues" of sorts, but despite that fact that the stories are heartbreaking, I don't understand why anyone would pay to take on a horse with untold problems without vigorous prior investigation??
 
MontyandZoom said:
I don't understand why anyone would pay to take on a horse with untold problems without vigorous prior investigation??
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Because as is always the way, there are always fluffy tree hugging bunnies for these people to prey upon.
Its not until the poor unfortunate animal arrives to them, that they actually realise they are unable to cope.
But thats fine.....because by being returned, the "rescue" gets to charge another unfortunate soul another rehoming fee for the chance to be maimed by what could turn out to be a nutter!
 
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I also can't stand the talk of the horse's "feelings". Suprisingly enough, I think the horse would have stronger "feelings" about being carted round unsuitable homes, possibly in physical pain than a very quick, painless end :(
 
yes all are sold to first person to pay by pay pal
poor poor horses , potters is surely the best option ?
im banned from site now.............for pointing out these facts
 
I agree with you, M&Z, I really don't understand why people feel they need to 'rescue' horses from slaughter, there is nothing cruel about being dispatched humanely. These horses have been sent to Potters and the like for a reason, you will not find a sound and useful riding horse there.

My horse's field companion was 'rescued' form a meat wagon, and, IMO, that's where he should have stayed. He is covered in scars, has a club foot, a bowed tendon and is lame half the time. He is not really a good companion as he is a bully and he cannot be stabled because he weaves himself into a sweat.

His owner spends no time with him apart from to throw him some feed, which he needs lots of. She doesn't pay for his keep until YO has a solicitor's letter sent and she does not have his feet trimmed regularly (one of the reasons for his regular lameness).

This horse is not sound enough to be ridden, cannot really be classed as a pet as the owner spends no time with him and almost neglects him, I would rather have something a bit more friendly as a companion for mine, so what was the point of 'rescuing' this horse? :confused::confused: He is no use to anyone but is costing his owner and the YO money.

These so called rescues could end up being abused, neglected, passed around or dumped. There are some who could have been sent for slaughter because they are dangerous and could end up seriously hurting 'rescuer' Far better for them to be PTS humanely than suffer any of that. FGS, even well known rescue organisations recommend that people have their old and infirm horses PTS rather than passing them on!
 
Totally agree with you M & Z. These sites rely on sob stories to place (sell) the horses and don't appear to make any attempt to make sure the homes are suitable.
 
Definately better to have them shot or injected to PTS at home. But, if you do that the fluffy bunnies will abuse you on here. You cant win,sell them and its wrong,have them shot and its wrong,loan them out and its wrong........................................
 
M&Z - I agree, there are a lot of these "rescues" now being passed on or sold. Unfortunately the people who thought they were doing the right thing have realised (too late) that horses take significantly more care and finances than a smaller pet. they often do not make the suitable riding horses that people thought they might.

There are some success stories, but sadly these are vastly outnumbered by those now readvertised. very sad in my opinion. I think there will be a lot of people on here in agreement and could see this coming when the sites first came into our awareness.
 
Whatever horses we buy, even if we pay good money and go through vetting, they can still get hurt or kicked in the field in the settling in period-there are no guarantees.

However some things on the sites both from the past and present really annoy me:

1. being the phrase when things go wrong and horse has to be pts ''at least it knew it was loved''
2. when unhandled horses are sold to novices or to people who dont spend time with them, cannot cope and horses become projects or become ill and vet cant get near them
3. when ''rescued'' horses are put out to rehome again so ''rescuer' can buy more but if that re-homing doesnt work out--oh dear--cant take it back because they are full up.
4. new owners getting huge vet bills because of unforeseen problems--sometimes the reason the horses are in the abattoir queue--if only dealers would be a little more honest.

One of the sites has been home checking for some time so the competence and facilities of adoptees is known but with minimum information available on the horses it can still be a lottery but there are some nice horses coming from a difficult situation.
 
I took on two 'rescue's' over two years ago.

One is now 34 years old and still going strong. Sure, he has arthritis, but No Bute Premium seems to be the thing that keeps him ticking over. He's a grumpy old git who still manages to have a canter about then complains for a couple of days after...

The other rescue was a shetland who is now 10 years old, and he suffers terribly from sweetitch.....

We pour lots of money into these two ponies and give them equal love to the others we own, the oldie, I hope soon, will just lay down and go to sleep one summers day, I'd rather NOT taken the choice of 'The Other'...

I was asked 'isn't it about time you had him PTS?'...

Why?

The vet is happy with his progress, and it makes me smile to see him ambling round his paddock with his 'wife', still being a bossy old sod and kicking his heels up when he feels like it....

I am doing what his previous owners (who had him from 3 years old!) refused to do. See the old chap out until the bitter end.

Of course, when autumn comes once more and I think he is struggling, then the choice will be made for me, but as I say, I hope nature will do the job before we have to make that call....

I think it's a human failing of ours when we pass on our beloved animals because we don't want it anymore, it's not 'just because we don't care'..it's more likely that we care so much, our emotions cannot cope with the fact that we have the ability to have the final say over a life.....

I'm glad I have my two extra boys, I'm happy in the knowledge that they ended up with Me, and not some unscrupulous person who wouldn't maybe look after them as well as I do....
 
Wherever our horses come from, there are no guarantees... unless you have had a horse from birth and their problems are definitely your own. They all come with unknown vices, problems, quirks.... that we either get to grips with and address, or ignore and ultimately decide to rehome, as the animal is not what we require.
As I said yesterday, my two were destined for meat in France a year ago. Now they are fit, healthy, and I would like to think happy equines who have a great quality of life.... a life which, had I not stepped in, they might not have had.

Taking a horse unseen is NOT for everyone,[/B] however, some people make it work - how can this be wrong?
 
People are strugglig to sell sound horses who do not have overt problems in the current economic climate. The uk supply of horses is larger than the pool of people wanting to buy them, the only sensible option in that situation is to send to slaughter/have them euthenased at home. Taking them out of the chain for the slaughter houses is counter productive imo and increases the problem, often with people who know little about horse care believing that they are 'saving' a horse, when actually they are subjecting the animal to neglect and often isolation. For horses in this situation a good death is better than a bad life.
 
DragonSlayer said:
I took on two 'rescue's' over two years ago.

One is now 34 years old and still going strong. Sure, he has arthritis, but No Bute Premium seems to be the thing that keeps him ticking over. He's a grumpy old git who still manages to have a canter about then complains for a couple of days after...
...

We pour lots of money into these two ponies and give them equal love to the others we own, the oldie, I hope soon, will just lay down and go to sleep one summers day, I'd rather NOT taken the choice of 'The Other'...





..

I am doing what his previous owners (who had him from 3 years old!) refused to do. See the old chap out until the bitter end.

Of course, when autumn comes once more and I think he is struggling, then the choice will be made for me, but as I say, I hope nature will do the job before we have to make that call....

I think it's a human failing of ours when we pass on our beloved animals because we don't want it anymore, it's not 'just because we don't care'..it's more likely that we care so much, our emotions cannot cope with the fact that we have the ability to have the final say over a life.....

....
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Well I'm afraid you are heading for a disappointment. It is not usual for horses to just lie down and die. In the wild, they would fall prey to something like a lion when they became too slow to get away with the rest of the herd. In the domesticated situation, responsible owners usually have to make the decision to pts rather than making the poor horse struggle on in pain. Over the years, we have had 9 horses come to the end of their life with us. Not one of them just died of their own accord, although one almost did, she had a stroke in the stable one night. I think that the reason some horse owners 'cannot face' making the last decision for their horse is that they are selfish and put their own needs before those of the horse.
 
This is a very controversial subject and one I don't think we will ever all agree on.

As long as this is done honestly and to the best it can be I do not know why you have such a problem with re homing horses that would otherwise be at the factory.

We are registered NON PROFIT organisation we offer an alternative to the factory for struggling horses owners. They are not sending their horses there because they have something wrong with them but because the owners are desperate and feel there is no alternative because they can not sell them in the open market.

We put all the horses on proper legal contracts securing the future of the equine, we ask the horse is insured and the re home will be subject to home checks as and when we see fit.

Obviously home checks are done prior to the re home and refs supplied.

Some of the horses we have seen some we have not due to time scales and situation.

As we are non profit we do charge a fee but all the money goes back to the horses enabling us to put these safe guards in place.

Not all re homes work out as well as we would like but most do and any that don't we sort out straight away,re home to re home or the horse is returned to the association, we do our best to get it right the first time as we don't want to keep moving horses.

Though you may not want to take on a horse like this lots of people do and as long as this is done properly, honestly and legally I cant see your point in keep telling people its a con.

Yes there are some con artist out there but not all of us are like this.

We have helped some fantastic top class horses.
 
My particular gripe is the emotional blackmail that is heaped on any member of these sites that show any interest in a horse....

1) How many times I have I read if X isn't rehomed by Y date then it's going to slaughter blah blah.......... Funny how Y date often comes and goes and the same old nags are still there........:rolleyes:

2) Referring to horses as 'babies' .........frankly makes me want to vomit.

3) Dressing up dealing as 'rescue'............for that feel good factor, and enabling the dealer to pass on any old rubbish untried and unseen.:mad:
 
In my experience sometimes you can get told a date the horse is going to factory and then for what ever reason they dont go this doesnt mean to say people have been lying is usually someone futher down the chain that has changed the goal posts.

As for the babies thing, yep some people think of horses more as pets and will talk about them in a that sort of manner, people look at horses in different ways ie I keep hearing people talking about horses being dispatched on here not a term I would ever use unless talking about a parcel, certainly not in the context of an animals life.

I can only speak for our association and we certainly dont want to pass on any old rubbish as you call it, it makes our job harder as the horses go out out on contracts and are therefore our responsibility.
 
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What about the three that have died shortly after coming over? You have put those horses through the misery of travelling and landed their adopters with huge vets bills along with a load of heartache. There are numerous lame horses and nappy horses being brought over, not as described. Horses having to wait for paperwork and in the meantime not being fed so coming over emaciated. Do you think it is fair to keep landing your members with vets bills and horses not fit for the purpose they were described? There is no way your members can see fully or try these horses. What about strangles, at least one of your horses has come over with that.
 
Whilst on the flip side of that particular coin, ucmeicu, the 'rescue' site with which you are affiliated has an expert check out the horses and assess their soundness, both physical and mental. When that sound horse then throws its rider, breaking her back, or showing its true side by blindly bolting then there's help available, is there? Only from reading the drivel on there, the only thing offered is criticism ('Oh, she wouldn't try him out because she's not a very good rider' etc. BULL).

None of the horses dealt from your particular site have been thin have they? None rehomed to spectacularly unsuitable homes because you don't bother to assess suitabilty to rehome? You are spouting - AGAIN - utter drivel. You seem to have much to say, but sadly very little of that is worth listening to.

You and your cronies are serving a purpose there - it's not about rescuing horses, it's about perpetuating the myth that ANY rescue is going on there, whilst the true story is all about the heading of rescue being a vehicle for a bin end dealer plying her trade. And anybody who doesn't participate in your mantra isn't allowed a voice on your site, because they are immediately banned. How sad that you continue to prey on the gullible.

Pass the 'lady' some Horlicks:D
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Well I'm afraid you are heading for a disappointment. It is not usual for horses to just lie down and die. In the wild, they would fall prey to something like a lion when they became too slow to get away with the rest of the herd. In the domesticated situation, responsible owners usually have to make the decision to pts rather than making the poor horse struggle on in pain. Over the years, we have had 9 horses come to the end of their life with us. Not one of them just died of their own accord, although one almost did, she had a stroke in the stable one night. I think that the reason some horse owners 'cannot face' making the last decision for their horse is that they are selfish and put their own needs before those of the horse.
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As I said, and please read it carefully, I HOPE.....he lays down to die. I also said, when it get's to the time and he is struggling, I will make The Choice. I have had to make that choice before, and neither pass it to someone else, or put off the inevitiable, I am there to the bitter end. I do not look at the world through rose-tinted glasses, I am fully aware of how life works, and I do NOT pass my horses on for someone else to 'carry the can' as it were....
 
'Dum inter homines sumus, colamus humanitatem'

How sad is it that people feel the need to knock others for doing something they feel passionately about.

Piebald sparky thanks for the link to you website, I have to ask how you can post such negativity about an organisation that has tried to do something about an issue that you raise on your site 'Horses will die this winter, warns Irish welfare charity.' Did you do anything to help this situation? Or are you just wanting to knock those that did?

Everyone has a choice, and I for one believe in democracy. People can go on horsemart, horsehunter to buy a horse, or they can go on one of these sites and help a horse that is destined for slaughter, troubled times. There is no force, no coercion to make them do this. It is free will that makes some choose this route. Like everything in life sometimes things go wrong, 98% of the time the outlook is great. Do you drop the 98% success due to the 2% where horses have not made it. Any statistician would back the 98% success rate. The main thing is to choose a site where you will get back up if there is a problem, not one that turns its back on you.

I for one thank you for posting here, cause although you are doing so in a negative manner, you will be raising the profile of the organisation. People will come and see what its all about, and those that matter will see that actually what is posted in this thread is not a fair representation of the good work done. So thanks ;)
 
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only the people with no brain will think you do a good thing.
oh hang on thats perfect just what you need ............no brainers
 
Troubleshere, it sounds like you are doing things responsibly, i.e. home checks, follow ups etc. Can I ask roughly how much your fee is, because one of the things that does annoy me is how some sites can charge an "adoption fee" of £1000. :eek:

Oh and Cae cain, why would anyone envy you?
 
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I went for a nose on 'that site' and all i saw was middle men lining their own pockets, not a rescue.
Most of the pics i saw were sorry animals who to be honest a quick ending is what they need not being carted from one end of the country to the other just so someone can say they have rescued the poor sods!!
 
MurphysMinder said:
Troubleshere, it sounds like you are doing things responsibly, i.e. home checks, follow ups etc. Can I ask roughly how much your fee is, because one of the things that does annoy me is how some sites can charge an "adoption fee" of £1000. :eek:

Oh and Cae cain, why would anyone envy you?
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If you have a look on troubleshere's site, the fees vary, but generally fall into the ballpark of £200 to £500, with the vast majority being around the £300 mark.
 
Troubleshere said:
Though you may not want to take on a horse like this lots of people do and as long as this is done properly, honestly and legally I cant see your point in keep telling people its a con.
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I have owned two horses, both cost me £1 and could be described as rescues. I regard them as rescues since they were taken from owners and situations that were totally unsuitable and detrimental to their wellbeing. I have poured lots of money and time into them and they have turned a corner and been fab riding horses.

HOWEVER - if either horse had been injured, sick, lame to the extent that some of these rescues are......I would have 'rescued' them by taking them to Potters myself.

This is because I LOVE horses and would rather put a bullet in their head myself than see them suffer even one day. There are usually a whole host of reasons that horses are sent to slaughter and a horse that is shipped round the country in pain to then possibly be PTS anyway is totally wrong IMO.
 
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