Bedlam
Well-Known Member
This may get long, but I'll try to keep it succinct......!
We have had a fab eventer on loan for the past 3 years, but we have been plagued by veterinary problems which has meant we have actually only evented 3 times over that period. I took the decision when she went lame again just before Aston le Walls that enough was enough and that I would end the loan and look for something else for my daughter to compete. We have spent huge amounts of money and months and months on rehab only to have something else go wrong everytime she reaches competition fitness. She has had squamous cell carcinoma on her 3rd eyelid so had her 3rd eyelid removed - no recurrence. That was just before she came to me - I was going to buy her for a large sum of money before it was diagnosed........
She then went bilaterally lame in front which on thorough investigation turned out to be kissing spines. She had the op as Rossdales were confident that she would come back even better than before.
Just as she returned to full fitness 9 months later she tied up coming home from an hour's walk trot roadwalk hack. Took a long time to recover - collapsed on tacking up the 1st time we tried after 1st episode, so vet advised more rest and a slower return to work.
Fit and entered into Aston - she comes in from field on 3 legs the Monday before. Assume abscess, but vet & farrier find nothing. Treat for abscess anyway but nothing happens. High white blood cell count but no obvious cause. Nerve blocked sound to heel area, but that causes lameness on other front foot. Suspect navicular, but unclear whether insurance will pay for MRI after all other problems.
Decide to call it a day and owner tells me she will give the horse away to a good home for hacking or work on a surface only. They can't take horse back.
So dilemma - how do I find a good permanent home for an extremely talented, quirky chestnut mare with all the above problems? She is an exciting hack - not dangerous (my daughter is 15) but not a novice ride. Her dressage is not consistent - can be fabulous on a good day, but suffers from tension esp at an event as she just wants to get on with the jumping, but not too bad if just pure dressage. Interestingly goes beautifully for a man....have often wondered whether she needs the strength of leg to keep her concentrating.
Above all we adore her and want to do the best by her, but I am at livery and cannot afford to keep 2.......and she's not mine at the end of the day. We have now found a lovely horse that we would like to have vetted and then buy, but we still have the mare. I would need to put new horse in her stable. There may be an option to move her onto grass livery and turn her away for a while which would be cheaper, but then am I reducing the chances of finding her a useful permanent home?
She doesn't deserve to be pts - she just seems to struggle when she's competition fit. But equally she doesn't deserve to be passed around from pillar to post.
Any ideas? I'll post in comp riders too........
We have had a fab eventer on loan for the past 3 years, but we have been plagued by veterinary problems which has meant we have actually only evented 3 times over that period. I took the decision when she went lame again just before Aston le Walls that enough was enough and that I would end the loan and look for something else for my daughter to compete. We have spent huge amounts of money and months and months on rehab only to have something else go wrong everytime she reaches competition fitness. She has had squamous cell carcinoma on her 3rd eyelid so had her 3rd eyelid removed - no recurrence. That was just before she came to me - I was going to buy her for a large sum of money before it was diagnosed........
She then went bilaterally lame in front which on thorough investigation turned out to be kissing spines. She had the op as Rossdales were confident that she would come back even better than before.
Just as she returned to full fitness 9 months later she tied up coming home from an hour's walk trot roadwalk hack. Took a long time to recover - collapsed on tacking up the 1st time we tried after 1st episode, so vet advised more rest and a slower return to work.
Fit and entered into Aston - she comes in from field on 3 legs the Monday before. Assume abscess, but vet & farrier find nothing. Treat for abscess anyway but nothing happens. High white blood cell count but no obvious cause. Nerve blocked sound to heel area, but that causes lameness on other front foot. Suspect navicular, but unclear whether insurance will pay for MRI after all other problems.
Decide to call it a day and owner tells me she will give the horse away to a good home for hacking or work on a surface only. They can't take horse back.
So dilemma - how do I find a good permanent home for an extremely talented, quirky chestnut mare with all the above problems? She is an exciting hack - not dangerous (my daughter is 15) but not a novice ride. Her dressage is not consistent - can be fabulous on a good day, but suffers from tension esp at an event as she just wants to get on with the jumping, but not too bad if just pure dressage. Interestingly goes beautifully for a man....have often wondered whether she needs the strength of leg to keep her concentrating.
Above all we adore her and want to do the best by her, but I am at livery and cannot afford to keep 2.......and she's not mine at the end of the day. We have now found a lovely horse that we would like to have vetted and then buy, but we still have the mare. I would need to put new horse in her stable. There may be an option to move her onto grass livery and turn her away for a while which would be cheaper, but then am I reducing the chances of finding her a useful permanent home?
She doesn't deserve to be pts - she just seems to struggle when she's competition fit. But equally she doesn't deserve to be passed around from pillar to post.
Any ideas? I'll post in comp riders too........
