Feeling really down... Should I just sell up??

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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It might just be winter blues I suppose but I'm feeling so down at the moment and this morning decided to sell my beasties
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! Ok, well I haven't actually done anything about ityet but I'm worried/surprised the thought has even crossed my mind!
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I have a 14.3hh HW cob mare (14yo) and a 13.2hh 29yo retired mare. Oldy is kept in at night and out during day. Cob out 24/7.
I have two young children (who were both ill this weekend and were stuck to mummy like blooming limpets
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) and no facilities at my yard so I barely get to ride. I haven't ridden for 3 weeks now!
It's coming up to my mega busy time at work now (tax return deadlines) so am wondering if it's even worth having my horses.
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Could I just leave my cob to fester in the field, check her daily obviously but not worry about riding? She is quite overweight but it is pointless to think that me hacking out for an hour at weekends is going to make any difference. I should say my yard is 100 yrds from my house, so really really don't want to move as it'd be even more hassle and that is costs me £200/month to keep them both there, plus hay/straw & feed & shoes.
So I have a few options:

- Sell beasties and have a few spare hours in the day & spare cash. Yeah, like I'd actually be able to even give away a 29yo grumpy chestnut mare!

- Get a sharer for cob, so she gets some exercise. But am worried about someone ruining her and also my tack is all kept at home, so how would they have access to that when I'm not there??

- Leave cob to fester in field, getting fat and having a winter holiday not worry about riding and just pick things back up again in the spring. Anyone elses horses have a long winter break??

- Other..... (Please insert brilliant idea here)

Gosh, giant pieces of Tolberone if you managed to get all the way thorough that lot!!
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HaHa, you deffo have the winter blues, everything is more expensive and harder work in the winter and its a shock to the system. Mine are out 24/7 in the summer and its a very easy stroll to the field in my PJ's in the morning to check them but at this time of year the romance is out of it.

I love my boys and I enjoy the exercise it gives me and I know after xmas I can see light at the end of the tunnel to the spring again
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I am engulfed in winter blues at the moment, trying to juggle a horse that had laminitis in Sept and has had a relapse due to shoeing...just when I thought we were through to the light at the end of the tunnel...he also has major copd so cannot be stabled for long periods, gets megga stressed and box walks in the stable...which sets his foot off again and my field is a trashed muddy mess due to him being on confined areas.
I had all sorts of thoughts running through my head at the weekend...sending him to the vets to get him right etc etc
But whilst going through this pain...please be careful about letting your cob stay in the field getting fat as I really cannot recommend laminitis at all!
Do you have facilities to lunge your cob and get some weight off ready for the spring when you can ride again??
 
I think a lot of us feel just as you describe, at this time of year.

Why don't you give yourself a break and stop riding for a month or 2? That's what I do quite often in the winter.

Would your oldie be OK being out night and day at this time of the year? If not, you're going to have to carry on with him, but I'm sure your cob won't mind a bit of R&R out in the field.

He should lose weight - soon!
 
Yeah, I think you might be right. It's not the mucking out etc that gets me down, as I don't mind being down the yard in the peace and quiet every morning, it's the lack of riding and knowing my mare is just going to get fatter and more and more unfit over winter.
Santa, I just want an indoor arena for Xmas!! Is that really too much to ask?? Oh, with a little play area for the kiddies at the side too!!
 
Crikey you are feeling down
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I know just how you feel as I too am very down at the moment and just want this year to end so much.
For what it is worth, it may be the winter blues as well as we all feel a bit lower during the colder months ( or at least most of us do). I must say that even though your yard is near it is quite expensive each month considering it has no facilities. What exactly are you paying for each month for those relative high costs?
I know you said that you don't want to move them but to be honest you would be better off moving to a better yard with more facilities that will help to keep the young ones occupied when you are there doing chores. Or else get them both in a field with a shelter if possible as that would be cheaper surely?
I think that because you have to take your tack home and have no facilities that is why you are not getting the chance to ride much. If you had more on offer at a yard it may give you the incentive to ride, if you still have it?
Your older pony could go as a companion somewhere but like you said it would be going for free and it is quite an age to get rid of one unless you can find a very, very good home for her.
As for your cob yes more riding would solve the overweight issue, as would a stricter grazing regime. If she was fitter it may give you the encouragement to ride more.
As it is at the moment I think you are in a rut and are looking for a way out.
If you really do want to sell then sell or give them away. But there are other options and you mentioned sharers and that they may ruin your mare.
To be honest and please don't be offended but if you say she is just getting fat in a field then wouldn't it be in her best interests if her exercise was increased for her own health. If you can only manage a few hours at the weekend then it is not going to make a dent in her overall condition.
Why don't you consider getting a sharer and stay where you are and ask them to look after the tack for you and you can pick it up whenever you want to ride( if they would be riding more). If you ask the person for a deposit for the tack and get proof of id, address etc then I cannot see that being a huge problem.
If not then consider a move and ask the sharer to look after your horses more for in the week or at times it is difficult for you to get up to them. That way any costs incurred by travelling to the new yard would be offset by the extra pair of hands and any extra in livery charges would be offset by the payment you ask from the sharer.
You could still keep the sharer on in the spring and summer and just sort out the days you want to ride because I do doubt many people get the chance to ride their own horse every day each week.
Good luck and try and keep your chin up x
 
I do worry about lami too. Although she's never had it (touch wood) it still worries me. I only have a patch of yard (read: very muddy, due to YO son driving around it in a fecking mini digger!!!
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) in front of the stables where I could lunge, but cob doesn't lunge. She just stands there and gawps at me when I try to send her out! Suppose I could make it my mission to teach her to lunge over winter.

Madhossy, I don't really want to leave oldy out as she has started getting stiff, but I really don't mind the mucking out bit, as I can do that in the dark when the children are still in bed/gone to bed, it's just the riding I can't manage.

Maybe I could try to ground work on the mud in front of the stables (must be there as we have a light there)?? Any ideas on what sort of ground works things I could do?? Might do a seperate post on this.... toddles off the write up new post...
 
I think it's massive winter blues as I feel totally the same. Depressed is an understatement.

My poor lot are out 24/7 apart from the odd night if weather is awful. I feel terribly guilty as my fields must be the muddiest in the UK - I would actually place a bet on that
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but when I bring them in they still want to be out.

They are fed in the dark am and pm, checked over by torch light. No time to ride at all & 6 horses to look after. I am sick to death of the mud, it's everywhere. I am grumpy, miserable, emotional, hell to live with, downright fed up with the winter.

Oh and like you coming up to my busiest month at work after xmas - boring old tax return deadline.

On a happier note - the shortest day is just a week away, taking us a step closer to the spring and looking forward to a 10 day break over xmas, not having to get up at 5.30am. I absolutely love life to the full in the summer so its defo winter blues.
 
I'd get a sharer for the cob - I doubt anybody could ruin her now at her age, if she was 4 I'd worry about it but not at 14, and it will help keep her weight down. You'll sort out somethinn with tack (necessity if the mother of invention as my mum would say!) You could either get a secure cabinet to keep it at the yard, give it to sharer and make arrangements to pick it up if/when you need it or arrange for sharer to pick it up from you before riding if the yard is that close to home. Can you leave it in a locked shed or garage and give a key?
 
Yep, def get a sharer, take the weight of your shoulders until you feel a bit better. Think of the extra money you would have
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know how you feel, have never had a break for 20 years continuosly and this morning thought I need to give this up. But when I got to the yard and see those big brown eyes staring at me, don't think I could
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alot of people are feeling it. I am deff feeling it, last year I was on full livery, this is my first year on DIY and I dont mind the mucking out etc, its the dark, the cold, the lack of time to ride and the lack of sunlight that depresses me. i absolutely love summer with my horse, it just the winter that some how pulls me down.

My advice? Get a sharer, cob will be ridden during week, will get fitter and both you and coblet will be happier for it. Tack can be sorted im sure you can arrange something, if your house is only 100 yards away from the yard so the sharer could pop in to collect it...(Wheres theres a will, theres a way!) But mainly, get some help xx

Chin up, not long til the first snowdrops appear and all the signs of spring!
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Soooo glad it's not just me that's feeling the effects of the winter!
I think a sharer may well be the way to go. I'll have a word with my friend who i share the yard with (there are only 2 of us there) and see if she fancies riding for me, although I don't think she could be a regular as I'd like, then I'll advertise on my riding clubs website and see what happens.
Thanks for the help everyone and I'll let you know how it goes.
 
HI chicken! No it's def not you that's feeling it, think we all are!
I would give your horse a couple of months off, I am doing it for the first time this winter and to be honest until my boy is old and mature enough to hunt, I think i will do it for the next 2 winters too! I do miss riding especially on those lovely winter sunny days but i soon get over it.
Don't beat yourself up about it and look forward to the spring when the clocks change and you can do so much more
Kate x
 
no definitely not just you - all I do is trapse down to the field, check the horses are warm and dry under rugs, top hay and water up, chuck them a bucket of food, give the chickens some corn and collect eggs, pick up poo, fall over in mud - repeat every morning, half asleep, cold and just very slightly thinking 'why oh why dont I have a sensible hobby?!!!?"

I hate wet gloves, pulling off boots, the mud in the house, the cold fingers and spring seems a long way off. Am riding just once a week (every Friday morning when my youngest is at nursery) at the moment but its only as frequent as that because the weather has nice/mild, This Friday it looks to be raining / very cold so I doubt I will have the inclination.

Just let your cob have a month or so off - he wont come to any harm and will give you something to look forward to come spring. Dont spend your time being guilty for not riding. And when it is summer I know I will be thinking "oh I love having horses - lovely summer rides in the evening sun" "beautiful happy contented shiny healthy clean horses"etc etc . Chin up, sweetie x
 
Hi my mare lived out for the last two years and i get depressed in the winter anyway, so due to lack of horsey things to do i moved her to a yard where she has to come in at night , and doing all the chores have made me move my but a bit more, this year has def got us all down , keep going as sitting at home with kids gets you down even more , i wouldnt sell as you never know what happens to them in the end and you may regret it , keep going spring will soon be here x
 
Think a lot of us are just drudging along at the moment, fed up with the shite weather, dirty Terrano inside and out, dirty dog, dirty horse, dirty tack, dirty everything
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we have a blocked river path until Feb due to Eon, roadworks in our face
when riding and driving in our area, fed up with living in a world of aresholes, asbestos sheet and fridge freezer fly tipped next to the bridleway, they have to "pass " the reclamation center to get to where they tipped it DUH, post office van abusing the bridleway route, in a 10 minute period bloody car illegaly driving on there yesterday, fishermen DUH, people clambering over fencing they shouldn't be, dog poo bag broken umbrella in the fields plus broken bike wheel, how did we manage to let so many retards breed these morons, standing in the rain and wet mud and dark waiting for his lordship to eat his dinner, I wonder if it will ever get any better and why I bother.
 
Lunging is definately a good way to keep 'em fit - even if you can only manage it twice a week.

I only have a boggy field on a slope to lunge on. Mine's a Welshie so pretty hardy and sure footed, so manages. I've got no lights either so tend to do it on full moon or half moon nights so I can at least see her !!!

See if someone can help you by walking within the circle with your cob to help her get the idea. And then go from there.

I don't use any side reins or other paraphenalia when lungeing on the bog, she needs her head and neck to balance.... But if yours is likely to take off, then recommend side reins and bridle with the lunge line over her head.
 
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