Going abroad - what to do with horses?!

P

peanut0611

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 July 2012
Messages
146
Visit site
Hello,

I've been offered the opportunity to work in a country on the other side of the world, and due to its climate, its location in respect to my current home and the nature of the job I won't be able to keep my horses there. Does anyone have any advice as to what I could do with my two mares? They are both 13 and therefore not of retiring age. It is a short-term job prospect of a few years tops and I am not willing to sell them - but will consider all other options. I do not have family that could take care of them.
 
You could maybe advertise them to go on loan but on the condition they must stay at your current yard?
 
Problem with loan is that the one mare has Kissing Spines, and must either be ridden in a certain way and with caution, or not be ridden at all...
 
Would it be possible to put the one with KS on full livery or have a friend take care of it for a fee and then put the other on loan?
 
You have 3 choices

1) Don't go and stay and look after them yourself

2) Sell them (if they are saleable)

3) If they cannot be sold (health reasons etc) I would look into PTS or The Blood Bank.
 
Things like "PTS" will not be taken seriously.

I am trying to make a career for myself and, while my horses are important to me too, so is my career. If going abroad is necessary, that's what I'm going to do.

I was looking at retirement livery - thanks for your suggestion. Is this a realistic option? Have people had good/bad experiences with this?
 
I'm kind of with Owlie on this one, I'd be inclined to turn the job down until I had no responsibilities tying me.
If you want to keep your horses, then I think full livery with an excellent yard is the best way forward, loaning is doable but has its risks and with you out of the country it would be difficult to check on their welfare. Another option as awful as it sounds would be to sell the rideable one or loan out, and pts the other.
 
There are retirement liveries and retirement liveries - some are excellent and take good care of their horses and some are abysmal. I'd advise you to do your research carefully if you are going down this route.
 
peanut0611 said:
Things like "PTS" will not be taken seriously.

I am trying to make a career for myself and, while my horses are important to me too, so is my career. If going abroad is necessary, that's what I'm going to do.

I was looking at retirement livery - thanks for your suggestion. Is this a realistic option? Have people had good/bad experiences with this?
Click to expand...

Why will PTS not be taken seriously :confused:

You asked for advice, I gave you 3 options. Reading your post again I see that your Horses are not sellable? one has KS and the other (it reads like) is a very quirky Horse to ride?
 
You say no family to look after, what about family to keep an eye or a horsey friend that would call in to check on them every say 4/5 months.

Retirement livery could work - it will be c.£30 a week each if they live out and have no shoes so over 2 years it would cost you c.£6,500 plus extras if they were ill and your insurance on top of that. I'd still want someone to be going to vaguely check on them and I agree with above you need to research very very carefully and probably send them a few months ahead of you going to check they settle.

Would your current yard offer retirement livery if you asked YO - at least they'd be somewhere you trusted.

A loan would be more tricky as you'd need someone to check on them more often and you'd be really stuck if the loan ended early.

Very difficult situation
 
I think your only option is livery. There was a horse at one of the yards I was that was on livery while his owners were in Australia for a couple of years.
I would however get a trusted friend to pop by unannounced every now and again to check them for you.
Find the right livery and it will be fine, you could also consider working livery if you wanted to pay less but obviously that depends on if you want other people riding them.
Will you be coming back here at all to see family ect? You can always check on the horses then as well.
 
What about a loan to an equestrian college/uni?

I'm clueless about the type of horse they take on, but surely horses with issues such as your mares KS will help educate pupils??
 
Any livery situation will need checks to make sure it's all working out. I've been saving to go back to America with my 5. Yes I know, stupid. At one stage I thought if we went back we'd make the money quicker and leave the horses on livery. My mares aren't suited to 24/7 grass. Out 24/7 fine but not on full time grass. In winter I have 2 hard keepers. They won't do on whatever. So I just thought screw it, I'll take the slow road. I had visions of paying good money for my horses to be standing on a half acre of mud with limited hay in winter. I'm sorry I trust very few and looking at livery yards I wasn't comfortable. And in light of the bad weather and forage shortages I'm glad I didn't. I know there are better looked after horses than mine, but mine want for nothing. Absentee owners are a dream for some people. Maximise profit.

So it's not an easy choice. No real good advice.

Terri
 
Firewell said:
I think your only option is livery. There was a horse at one of the yards I was that was on livery while his owners were in Australia for a couple of years.
I would however get a trusted friend to pop by unannounced every now and again to check them for you.
Find the right livery and it will be fine, you could also consider working livery if you wanted to pay less but obviously that depends on if you want other people riding them.
Will you be coming back here at all to see family ect? You can always check on the horses then as well.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much my thinking. As many people have said, I don't trust loans either. I don't have family here as they live in a different country, but do have friends that can pop by to check on the girls.

Someone posted about why I won't take PTS seriously, and the post then mysteriously vanished. I'm not going to kill my horse(s) just because I'm moving.
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Any livery situation will need checks to make sure it's all working out. I've been saving to go back to America with my 5. Yes I know, stupid. At one stage I thought if we went back we'd make the money quicker and leave the horses on livery. My mares aren't suited to 24/7 grass. Out 24/7 fine but not on full time grass. In winter I have 2 hard keepers. They won't do on whatever. So I just thought screw it, I'll take the slow road. I had visions of paying good money for my horses to be standing on a half acre of mud with limited hay in winter. I'm sorry I trust very few and looking at livery yards I wasn't comfortable. And in light of the bad weather and forage shortages I'm glad I didn't. I know there are better looked after horses than mine, but mine want for nothing. Absentee owners are a dream for some people. Maximise profit.

So it's not an easy choice. No real good advice.

Terri
Click to expand...

These are my fears as well. I was thinking of taking them a few months early to make sure they were happy and I could come visit them any time, to ensure their welfare and my own peace of mind. I'd have to be 1000000% happy with the place though, and with my standards that'll be tough.
 
I don't think you should be offended by people suggesting PTS as one of a number of options.

Leaving them in a strangers care is a risk for them, it might go fine, or they might suffer. There is no certainty of their fate. The only way of their fate being certain is either to not go because they are more important to you than your career (the one I would choose), or PTS.

The fact that they have issues either physical or behavioural makes the risk of leaving them greater than if they were issue free. So it is a big deal.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
 
My posts haven't dissapeared :confused:

There are worse fates then death, its a way to secure their future. It doesn't sound like they have much of one if one is injured and the other dangerous. I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I am being realistic. Unless you have close family or friends you trust to look over them, then I wouldn't be selling/loaning. If you do not wish to PTS then how about The Blood Bank? do some research on it, they are not allowed to be sold on from their so atleast you know they are well looked after.
 
If you put your horse in the blood bank you can't get it back when you come home and they put it down (I think at the slaughterhouse not at home) at age 15. Not an option I would choose. When I went abroad for work and later for uni my pony went on loan to a BHS riding school which worked really well. She was very well looked after and never worked too hard but you have to pick the right place because some establishments are dreadful. Another option could be sharers at your current yard under supervision of your YO.
I have to admit, now my pony is 23 and has to stay in work because of her arthritis, going away is a faff and very expensive. I pay my instructor to ride her. Two years ago I went away for six weeks for work so I put her on full livery at my then yard and drew up a rota of my friends to keep her exercised.
 
Where in the country are you? Someone may know a good retirement place, which is close enough for friends to visit. I left mine with my ex when I went away, it worked well for them. The other thing is are they easy keepers? Mine won't live in which is handy!
 
Hi, can someone help me? What is a bloodbank? I live on the Isle of Man (always have done) and I've never heard of this? Sorry if this is a silly question!
 
JennyConnor said:
Hi, can someone help me? What is a bloodbank? I live on the Isle of Man (always have done) and I've never heard of this? Sorry if this is a silly question!
Click to expand...

The Blood Bank take Horses in to take their blood. I think they give a couple of pints per week. In the summer they have acres and acres of land and the Horses all live out together in a natural enviroment. Once a week they are rounded up (I heard they give them a feed so the Horses want to come in, not sure if this is true though) they take blood and then release them again. In the winter its the same, but they have huge barns to roam around in. Horses cannot be passed on and when their time comes, they are PTS (not sure if they use a slaughter house, vet or hunt) Whilst they are there though they are well looked after and treated with respect!
 
I'm in a similar position but have taken the plunge. I am living in South Africa for 2 years and have left my mare in the UK. She is on rest and retirement livery on a beautiful farm in Devon. She lives the life of luxury, the woman there treats her like her own and totally pampers her. It's a shame she isn't being ridden, but I think it will be good for her to be well rested when I get her back. Certainly isn't doing her any harm she looks fab. This place is very accommodating, and will look after your horse the way you want (she is TB so needs to be stabled at night, lots of food in winter etc).

It costs less than half of what I was paying for full livery.
 
LaurenBay said:
The Blood Bank take Horses in to take their blood. I think they give a couple of pints per week. In the summer they have acres and acres of land and the Horses all live out together in a natural enviroment. Once a week they are rounded up (I heard they give them a feed so the Horses want to come in, not sure if this is true though) they take blood and then release them again. In the winter its the same, but they have huge barns to roam around in. Horses cannot be passed on and when their time comes, they are PTS (not sure if they use a slaughter house, vet or hunt) Whilst they are there though they are well looked after and treated with respect!
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. I assumed it was something along those lines, but wasn't quite sure!
 
LaurenBay said:
My posts haven't dissapeared :confused:

There are worse fates then death, its a way to secure their future. It doesn't sound like they have much of one if one is injured and the other dangerous. I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I am being realistic. Unless you have close family or friends you trust to look over them, then I wouldn't be selling/loaning. If you do not wish to PTS then how about The Blood Bank? do some research on it, they are not allowed to be sold on from their so atleast you know they are well looked after.
Click to expand...

I don't know where you got that the other is dangerous - she's lovely.
 
marion95 said:
I'm in a similar position but have taken the plunge. I am living in South Africa for 2 years and have left my mare in the UK. She is on rest and retirement livery on a beautiful farm in Devon. She lives the life of luxury, the woman there treats her like her own and totally pampers her. It's a shame she isn't being ridden, but I think it will be good for her to be well rested when I get her back. Certainly isn't doing her any harm she looks fab. This place is very accommodating, and will look after your horse the way you want (she is TB so needs to be stabled at night, lots of food in winter etc).

It costs less than half of what I was paying for full livery.
Click to expand...

This sounds amazing - have they got a website? I'll pm you as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top