Field ornaments and companions

If your horse became permanently injured or too old to ride would you:

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c2b said:
However if I were a younger person who could only afford one horse.......well things might be very different. I feel so sorry for anyone who found themselves in that situation.
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Yes....this is one of the factors I was referring to. Thankfully we have our own land and own stables so don't have to worry about where we would put the horse if this were to happen.....

I do compete and if I had something I couldn't ride competitively....coupled with being a student coming into my first full time proper job - I can only afford to keep one horse.....I think I would have a very tough decision to make if 'anything' ever happened.
 
Interesting and not a straightforward question to answer...

I had a 12yr old horse that I on,y had for less than 2 years pts when it was discovered he had navicular plus numerous other problems meaning that he was completely unrideable. He probably would have gone on for years on bute to mask the pain but he wasn't a good companion, was stressy, difficult to keep weight on and became unpredictable - lashing out etc. I can only afford 2 horses for a hobby which is funded by my oh as I dont work. I can't say that he was my horse of.lifetime as harsh as that may seem.

It was a very hard decision to make and I hated making it but I believe it was the right decision for him and me.

But.... If my little mare became unrideable I would keep her because she has lots of other qualities and we have a much closer bond.
 
My boy is 17 this year and has worked hard as a comp. and pleasure driven horse and will soon retire completely to a well deserved retirement and become an expensive but well loved field ornament for the rest of his life. He owes me nothing, he is a pleasure to own and is an integral part of my life. Never going anywhere!
FDC
 
My pony is currently living as a field ornament after being semi retired due to spavin/arthritis. He can still do light hacking but he isn't the easiest to hack and certainly not in walk! He costs me a fortune and it means i can't ride much anymore as i can't afford two, but he's my pet, i've had him 7 years and i won't part with him. He'll have a home as a field ornament for as long as he's happy and comfortable, and hopefully one day i'll be able to afford something else for myself.
 
cbmcts said:
I have 2 field ornaments and they mean I can't afford a riding horse.

One I've had since a weanling and while he is regularly threatened with being turned into dog food - he was retired at 10 yo due to his unpredictability and tbh I would have him shot rather than pass him on. He's 15 now and will probably live until he's 40 just to spite me :D

The other is in his early twentys and is retired due to a combination of a tendon injury, navicular and arthritis. I've only had him 4 years and he's been unrideable for 2 of those. Luck of the draw really. He could be rehomed as a companion quite happily as he is so easy to handle and do but I have chosen not to do that as I feel he is my responsibility.

I try not to judge what others do with their retirees but personally, my animals are with me for life.

In saying that, if my job/health was to go belly up I would be left with little option but to have both pts for purely financial reasons as I wouldn't want to take the risk of passing on either - one because of health and the other because of his temperment as once they have left me I have no control over their futures. JMHO.
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What lucky horses you have! I do feel for you though regarding not having one to ride. Do you have others you can ride that belong to other people? It's not the same though. I know. When I lost two of my three horses inside two years (one through colic, the other suffered a compound fracture in the field) and then a year later, my beloved mare sustained an injury that forced her early retirement, I was left with no horse of my own to ride. I was lucky in that I run a livery yard and so was still able to ride as I was schooling my clients' horses. But it just wasn't the same! I therefore bought another horse, but I am lucky in that I have no livery fees to pay.
 
Shearer said:
My pony is currently living as a field ornament after being semi retired due to spavin/arthritis. He can still do light hacking but he isn't the easiest to hack and certainly not in walk! He costs me a fortune and it means i can't ride much anymore as i can't afford two, but he's my pet, i've had him 7 years and i won't part with him. He'll have a home as a field ornament for as long as he's happy and comfortable, and hopefully one day i'll be able to afford something else for myself.
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I hope so. You deserve it.
 
I bought my first boy as a 5 year old, but he became a field ornament at about 22 due to COPD. I kept him at livery even though I had nothing to ride as his quality of life at rest was still very good and he was such a star I felt I owed it to him. Had him another 5 years before losing him to something entirely unrelated and would do it again if I had to.
 
Mine has a home forever, doesn't make any difference to me if I cannot ride. I'm more than happy to look after and pay out for him as I love him to bits.
 
Got one retired at 12 (now 16) and one ageing 22 year old who won't be much good for much longer. Both on DIY. Will keep both. Voted to keep and not get another horse to ride as I am getting on a bit myself anyway!
 
I have picked the second options though it isn't quite right. I have an old pony (25) and old horse (30) that I will keep to the end of their days. The pony was on loan til recently. I also have new horse (10!!) that I have on loan.

Loan would have gone home in order to have the old pony back if I couldn;t afford three. However, in order to afford three, i moved them from DIY livery yard, proper yard with nice stables, school , lovely place, £25 per week each, to a private set up where it now costs me £30 per week for the three.

I save on bedding as they live out (had to be stabled overnight at last yard) and on hay as there is lots of grazing so I don;t feed hay in the summer.

Its cheaper to keep three here than two at last place.
 
My first horse became un-ridable having been out on loan for a while, he stayed with me until he was unable to have any standard of living them PTS.

My latest has the potential to go to a riding school we know and visit regularly if he can be ridden at all, if they can't take him he'll stay with me and we'll find someone local to hack him out, if he is unridable he will stay with me under the same terms as my first, he's given me too much pleasure and fun to risk him going somewhere he may not be treated well, but once he is no longer enjoying life it will be 'goodnight', wouldn't keep him alive just to save myself the grief of loss.

At 18 I guess this decision could come quite soon!! :(
 
Very difficult this one. I currently have 3 at 16/17 2 of whom are unrideable. One is a TB and she is going to stud tomorrow but will be PTS in 2 or 3 years as this will be her last foal. Reason - she is ex-racehorse, chronic windsucker, gastric ulcers etc She is an incredibly bad do-er and hates the winters. I 'rescued' her and I think the 6 years I will have kept her have been great for she always just looks really petrified and miserable (except when in foal). Her last foal wasn't great tbh and there is enough about irresponsible breeding for me not to want to put any more poor quality horses out there. Why one last foal? Good question and probably because I do want her to have another year in foal and a year looking after foal before she goes - sorry a bit longwinded but this issue has been losing me sleep for ages.
 
scarymare said:
Very difficult this one. I currently have 3 at 16/17 2 of whom are unrideable. One is a TB and she is going to stud tomorrow but will be PTS in 2 or 3 years as this will be her last foal. Reason - she is ex-racehorse, chronic windsucker, gastric ulcers etc She is an incredibly bad do-er and hates the winters. I 'rescued' her and I think the 6 years I will have kept her have been great for she always just looks really petrified and miserable (except when in foal). Her last foal wasn't great tbh and there is enough about irresponsible breeding for me not to want to put any more poor quality horses out there. Why one last foal? Good question and probably because I do want her to have another year in foal and a year looking after foal before she goes - sorry a bit longwinded but this issue has been losing me sleep for ages.
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I'm not saying that what you are doing is wrong. You have given good reasons. But I really couldn't do it myself. Knowing that you have planned when she will die that far in advance! It would do my head in. Would lose me sleep too! Personally, I know I couldn't do it. It's bad enough seeing a horse that's in pain being put to sleep for me.
 
It would depend on so many things:
my horses state of health - is he free from pain
his state of mind - would he settle to retirement
the cost of keeping him - would he be ok on grass livery, would he need medication, coupled with my financial position at the time (at the moment its a struggle to keep a horse, I'd have to be practical)

One thing I can say is that I would take responsibility for what happened to him. He will not be passed on as a companion or sent out to a loan home that I do not know. If I can't give him a secure happy retirement (for whatever reason) he will be pts. In my view there are far worse things you can do to a horse!
 
I've got 4 horses at the moment. One is retired due to an arthritic shoulder. He was retired as a 5 year old - he's 17 now! I've got three other horses who are still in work - they are 21, 20 and 15 years old. When I have to retire them I will and if that means I can't ride then I can't ride. As long as they're happy and enjoying life they've got a home.
 
Wagtail said:
I'm not saying that what you are doing is wrong. You have given good reasons. But I really couldn't do it myself. Knowing that you have planned when she will die that far in advance! It would do my head in. Would lose me sleep too! Personally, I know I couldn't do it. It's bad enough seeing a horse that's in pain being put to sleep for me.
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I know what you mean. I'd actually planned to pts at the end of last summer after 7 impaction colics the winter before. Then as the winter came so early I said 'OK, one colic and I'll pts' - never happened and she looks a million dollars hence her £1000 holiday to the AI centre tomorrow. It doesn't change the fact that for her field retirement just isn't an option and I would never pass her on to someone else to breed from. Pts isn't always the worst option for a horse like her - she changes completely when in foal - like flicking a switch but I can't keep breeding from her if she doesn't produce quality offspring because that is wrong too. Spending loads on semen so who knows?
 
2nd option for me, I've got one at 18 who is more or less retired (currently toying with maybe bringing him back into work, maybe, don't know, he's cold backed and has a history of recurrent lameness, but is sound just now...would only be light hacking). I have a 23yr old who acts like he is 3, I still pootle him about but we keep it basic as he's not straightforward and I don't want to break him.

I do get pangs of jealousy watching folk go off and jump, compete etc, but the time will come where I can afford to do that, until then I'll care for both of mine until their quality of life is such that its no longer fair for them to be field ornaments. I'm a sopy cow when it comes to my boys :)
 
ihatework said:
In general I personally wouldn’t be keen to sell a horse as a companion, and if I didn’t have time to supervise one on loan then I wouldn’t be keen on that option either and would consider PTS.
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Ditto this!!

I have the most beautiful field ornament in my girl Be, and despite her being written off at only 8 (now 10), and thus potentially having many years of paying for her keep ahead of us, I never, ever considered parting with her. I did consider grazing her elsewhere for a bit, (which I may still have to do in the future) but I actually couldn't bear to have her missing from the yard when she's such a character. As it is we very seriously hope to breed a foal (or two!) from her, so hopefully she has a 'job', but regardless I couldn't pass her on or have her PTS when she's such a happy girl (And my horse of a lifetime!!).

My old girl isn't rideable at the mo/maybe won't be so again, because of currently having sarcoid treatment, including on on her girth, but after 14 years she well and truly deserves a pampered retirement. (I swear she enjoys being high maintenance :rolleyes:)

So, my mother and I currently have all the bills of two large horses and nothing to ride :rolleyes: which we miss greatly, but we still get a lot of enjoyment from our girls :)
 
Just to add, this does highlight the benefit of having LOU cover. My super talented girl, whom I paid v good money for ;) had to stop all ridden work at only 8 :( But thanks to LOU cover I shall have a percentage of what I paid for her (4 years ago when the market was good) meaning several thousand to buy a new one this year. I appreciate there's still the keeping of two horses, (Luckily mine is a podge, who gets fat on thin air!) but I immensely glad I shall have a good shopping budget.
 
i have 2 retired and i am not able to get another horse due to this, 1 i could rehome as she could still be used as a lr pony but my children would be heartbroken, my big lad i have no choice but to keep as no one wants a 16.2hh poor doer as a companion.
 
It depends slightly on the situation but we've had my old boy since he was 16, he's 27 now and we keep him as a bit of a field ornament. He requires a lot of feeding due to loosing a good few of his teeth and can't eat hay so he costs a bomb, but he's our special little boy and he'll live out his days with us whether we can afford another horse or not :)
 
My 21 year old gelding is with me for life - he was heavily raced and has a number of injuries. This morning a new horse was introduced to the boys field and I watched him trotting and cantering round with them. It brought it home to me that actually he is getting on a bit - he looked stiff compared to the others and just not as secure on his feet. I know 21 isn't that old these days, but if you knew how hard a life he had and the mileage on his clock, he is phenomenal. Even though when I looked at him this morning, I realised he was getting old and stiff, I would never ever have him PTS just because he wasn't able to work any more. I have considered sending him onto retirement livery - not for my convenience, but to be able for him to live out all the time with an established retired herd - not brought in and out of the stable all the time, so that's my plan when he can't work any more, or when the herd is too boisterous for him. He has given me many years of pleasure - he was my first ex-racer and when the time for full retirement comes, he will have as many years as he can manage pain-free.
 
my little mare at age of 12 due to her sight is a field ornadment - do I regret this - not at all in 5 years she as given me everything shes my rock my friend and owes me nothing. Whilst she enjoys life she will want for nothing - do i mind i cant get a rideable horse - not atall never - shes simply best ( and i went into work with hi fi on mt face where she licked me this morning tad emabarrsing lol)- luv you baby :) xx lol
 
I took a horse on a couple of years ago who was free to a good home. He was 9 then, 17hh and bolshy!! i knew if I didn't take him he'd be PTS but was luckily looking for a another horse at the time so I could take my horse out of livery (nutty tb) and bring him home!
Luckily the vet has now said he can do some light hacking so I will get to ride him. I never expected this though and when I began looking for a horse I was hoping for something I could compete on!! My heart took over and I took him home too!! Luckily I'm in a situation where I can afford to keep such a beast (LOL) as a companion. He gets exactly the same treatment as my tb such as regular mctimoney sessions, the equissage, grooming etc.

I suppose to me, I love riding but I also love caring for my horses so if they can't be ridden, I don't care, they're my best friends and always have a home with me!! When I take a horse on, it's for the rest of their lives.
 
I have 2 field "ornaments" who i love with all my heart!!! Would never sell/get rid of them.
WHile they are healthy and happy i will keep them for as long as i can. 1 is 30 (still gets ridden occasionally) the other is 13 with kissing spine and DJD in sacroiliac. She's been retired since 8.

When i moved to perth i took them with me and would go to them EVERYDAY, even if 11pm at night or 5am to check/feed/pat (lol) them.

I have another horse who i compete/ride etc and to be honest i can't see myself keeping him for life as much as i would love to. He is NOT a field horse, very highly strung and competition minded. Lives in all year round and after 4 hours out wants back in again. I guess depending on the injury/illness, i would rather know he was happy and out of pain and stress and have him PTS than try to re-home him. It would break my heart tho.
 
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