Guess who’s home...

[catembi]

I kept moving everyone to be closer or get better care.

 

[BlackRider]

So pleased you've got Trev back, I'm sure he'll recover very quickly and you definitely did the right thing.

The retirement yard should be closed down!

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Catembi absolutely understand the horror of moving house.

I hope you complain about the retirement livery. If they are BHS approved make sure you forward those pics to BHS. If not BHS maybe the local council / WHW should e informed and inspect to protect any other horses there?

I hope he is back fighting fit very soon.

 

[catembi]

I can’t post properly so have attached screenshots of my impassioned rant!

 

[catembi]

I can’t post properly so have attached screenshots of my impassioned rant!

 

[Michen]

Sorry Catembi, I don't see how going to see him and upsetting him as worse than not going at all to check on him. I assume you just found the yard and didn't actually know the people.

Whatever difficulties we are going through, animals are totally reliant on us for their welfare. If you couldn't go and see him yourself I'd have paid a freelance groom to check and report back even just once every few months with some photos or whatnot.

I apologies if this comes across as harsh and judgey but I cannot see how sending a horse to an unknown yard for over a year and never checking on him is ok. I think this situation could have been a lot worse!

Sorry you had a crap time, I really am, and hope he's a happier chap soon.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Those feet are shocking. I hope that you have caught them in time.

Please do post at least a general locality of whereabouts in the country this facility is.

And yes, it is a stark reminder to owners to keep checking on their horses even when they are allegedly in the full care of professionals.

When did you last see him before bringing him home?

 

[Roxylola]

It seems a bit late to tell Catembi she should have been making trips to see the horse. If I put my dogs in kennels and paid a fair price for the job I expect them to be looked after, regardless of if I am going to see them every day, every week, every month or 3 times a year. In my mind I have taken steps to ensure they are being cared for.

Likewise a horse on full livery should be having it's basic needs met by the person being paid to do that job. The retirement livery have dreadfully neglected this horse but now he is home and Catembi is doing the right thing by him now. There's nothing to be achieved with hindsight saying she could have gone to see him and spotted this sooner.

She was paying someone for his care - if she had been out of the country she couldn't have gone to see him - she shouldn't need to see the horse to make sure his needs are being met. Sure they aren't going to do all the tlc and cosseting that an owner would but this is out and out neglect

 

[Michen]

It seems a bit late to tell Catembi she should have been making trips to see the horse. If I put my dogs in kennels and paid a fair price for the job I expect them to be looked after, regardless of if I am going to see them every day, every week, every month or 3 times a year. In my mind I have taken steps to ensure they are being cared for.

Likewise a horse on full livery should be having it's basic needs met by the person being paid to do that job. The retirement livery have dreadfully neglected this horse but now he is home and Catembi is doing the right thing by him now. There's nothing to be achieved with hindsight saying she could have gone to see him and spotted this sooner.

She was paying someone for his care - if she had been out of the country she couldn't have gone to see him - she shouldn't need to see the horse to make sure his needs are being met. Sure they aren't going to do all the tlc and cosseting that an owner would but this is out and out neglect

Completely disagree. Never trust anyone to do anything where an animal or persons welfare can be compromised unless you check on the service (health of person/animal) or have someone periodically check for you. Perhaps different if you know the yard and service very well. Even then I’d still want a check, people’s life circumstances change and good service can become poor service very quickly. You should never “assume” from an unknown entity that your animal is being cared for whatever you are paying, it’s your responsibility as an owner to do sufficient checks to provide it is.

It’s an animal, reliant on us, not a car.

I’m shocked that you would put your dogs in kennels that you didn’t regularly use/or know and think leaving them for months on end with no checks or photos is acceptable just because you have supposedly taken the correct steps. The reality, has shown by this post, is often different.

Sorry Catembi, not meaning to further dig at you- just responding to the above as really think people should be aware with dogs/horses/people how quickly things can go wrong.

 

[Roxylola]

Michen, I don't kennel my dogs at all actually but if I had looked in to a service provider and paid them for a service as their business it is reasonable to expect them to fulfil it - checked reviews, been for a look round etc first. Yes it's an animal and yes we have a duty of care, there is no benefit at all to berate Catembi now - certainly this shows that we shouldn't assume that just because we pay for a service that we are not being ripped off but just as when I take my car for a tyre change I shouldn't need to watch them doing every job to make sure my wheel nuts are tightened correctly and I shouldn't need to check them myself when I get the keys back. And if they spot something else going wrong I'd expect them to let me know either by phone letter text email or to my face.
There are cowboys out there in every walk of life but it is not unreasonable as a basically decent person to think that other people are basically descent and won't rip you off, the people telling Catembi she should have checked is helping her situation now. She's been well and truly ripped off and the retirement livery have badly neglected her horse but to skew this - as others not you seem to have done and say she should have been doing something is not really any help at all I'm sure she utterly regrets that now and feels thoroughly miserable.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

And one thing we're missing here...well done catembi for posting this and facing any backlash from those who can't imagine the difficult position you were in.

Through being brave enough to show us what happened to you, it helps the rest of us prevent it happening to our horses because I can bet there's many who would make the same assumptions you did.

 

[babymare]

Hey does it matter if all is not ready for his return? He's back and that's what matters. Quietly he will be glad xx

 

[Tiddlypom]

Sadly those of us who have been into horses for a while know too many cases where the promised care has fallen well short, whether through ignorance or through deliberate neglect.

I am very sorry for Catembi and for her horse, but this thread does stand as a strong warning to others as to what can, and all too often does, go wrong if you do not keep a close eye on matters whether personally or by a trusted representative.

 

[PapaverFollis]

It's a bit sad because it shouldn't be unreasonable to entrust your horse to a professional and not have to chase them up and check. But it seems that it is actually an unreasonable expectation!!

I'm sorry he's in such a state catembi and I'm very glad you have him back.

A lesson for anyone sending horses away for retirement or schooling or anything else!

I hope you can report these people/ give them a bad review / name and shame or similar. Because arguing over whether catembi should have checked up kind of detracts from the fact the horse should have just been looked after properly by the livery in the first place!

 

[cundlegreen]

It seems a bit late to tell Catembi she should have been making trips to see the horse. If I put my dogs in kennels and paid a fair price for the job I expect them to be looked after, regardless of if I am going to see them every day, every week, every month or 3 times a year. In my mind I have taken steps to ensure they are being cared for.

Likewise a horse on full livery should be having it's basic needs met by the person being paid to do that job. The retirement livery have dreadfully neglected this horse but now he is home and Catembi is doing the right thing by him now. There's nothing to be achieved with hindsight saying she could have gone to see him and spotted this sooner.

She was paying someone for his care - if she had been out of the country she couldn't have gone to see him - she shouldn't need to see the horse to make sure his needs are being met. Sure they aren't going to do all the tlc and cosseting that an owner would but this is out and out neglect

Totally agree... I'm sure she did checks as we all do before sending him there. There are some VERY judgemental people on here!

 

[catembi]

Me again... I couldn’t bear to touch his feet last night as they looked so deformed. I had a good pick out tonight, put on a good dose of hoof sos thrush treatment as the grooves each side of the frog were black, put on some ungula gel to help with the splitting and the farrier is coming tomorrow, thank goodness! I will post ‘after’ photos!

Thank you everyone for your support! 😄