H&H article I SO agree with

[asmp]

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/retired-horse-free-good-home-hh-asks-tough-question-668348

Having read this article, it voiced all my thoughts on the subject. In fact i had been thinking about posting a thread saying just this after reading an ad on a local site:

"23 years old and is looking for companion or light work home to see out the rest of his life....we would love to stay in contact as he is very much loved by us" (price is listed)

There is another ad where 20 year old horse is being offered free as he has been diagnosed with a heart murmur.

Perhaps they will find good homes and I'm just being a cynic.......

 

[hobo]

Very good article. I also hate seeing a 'very loved' older horse being sold.

 

[Cortez]

Yes, very good piece. I'd never sell anything over 14, the outcomes for "free" older horses are seldom good.

 

[albeg]

Very good article. If the horse is "very loved", do the decent thing for them, and guarantee their future in some way.

 

[eahotson]

Excellent article.

 

[Blurr]

Totally agree with that article. And then I scrolled down and saw this article
https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/rehome-household-cavalry-horse-654959

 

[Mule]

I think the ones advertising horses in their 20's are particularly sad. When a horse has given someone years of service it deserves better than that.

 

[RoR_nut]

There is far too much "Social stigma" for those considering putting an older horse (or a horse with problems) to sleep!

My old boy is 20...has blown tendons in the past, tore his suspensory this spring, has navicular and arthritis.......

He WAS NOT HAPPY on his periods of rest and kept breaking out so when it comes to his "retirement" I'm afraid (and again I will not be winning any popularity points for this!) he will have a few good months resting in a field and then he will be PTS.

At the moment he is in light work to keep him happy but not every horse is happy to be an ornament.





Free to good home adverts make me cringe.....I have seen some of the homes these horses end up in.......far from ideal and a very sad end for a horse that has given someone many years of happiness.

 

[meleeka]

I’ve just taken on a delightful little pony who’s 25. I did so because I find it incredibly sad that nobody loved her enough to keep her in her twilight years. I’m more angry at the person who gave her to novice owners without another thought than I am the novice owners who took her on, giving no thought to what would happen to her after the novelty wore off.

I wouldn’t sell any of mine. Even the 20 year old who’s still useful deserves his retirement with me and if I couldn’t do that, I’d made the call for him.

I did have one friend who always sold her horses when they reached 15. At the time I thought it was heartless, but at least she admitted she didn’t want to care for an oldie and sold them while they were young enough to be worth a decent amount. I think they all found their forever homes when she sold them.

 

[Rowreach]

Totally agree with that article. And then I scrolled down and saw this article
https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/rehome-household-cavalry-horse-654959

The irony

 

[ester]

I was gobsmacked by the heart murmur one, best horse to ever walk the planet, free to good home. I'm sure he would do someone very well but loan the poor sod.

 

[siennamum]

There is far too much social disapproval for people putting horses (or dogs) to sleep. It happens on here & I always think of those people who are critical of someone thinking of PTS, well you have the animal then.

I had criticism when I had my last horse PTS, he was no age & potentially his KS was treatable, but he had a multitude of other issues and a poor prognisis for treatment. I still had people questioning why I was PTS. Does my head in as I am having another PTS at some point reasonably soon and I dread the potential criticism - even though she is 26.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would never part with an older horse these type of ads break my heart.

 

[scruffyponies]

As an alternative perspective, it saddens me that so many people rush to buy a young horse, for which they have neither the time nor the expertise, (inevitably ruining another young horse) rather than a schoolmaster which is happy with the couple of days a week of light work available, and will already have the manners and training required to do the job safely.

 

[maya2008]

My oldies have been with me since they were 4. We have done so much together, and they are part of my family. One day they will be no longer comfortable and I will have to pts, but their absence will leave a huge hole in my family. Ridden or not, they are part of our lives. In return for a lifetime of love and care, they help me train the young ones, look out for my children and are generally helpful. Life would be a lot harder without them there, keeping the others in check and actively helping me out.

That said, my friend has just taken on an oldie who is only fit for light work. Her daughter is extremely nervous and this horse is exactly what she needs. It will be loved and pampered for as long as it is happy and comfortable.

 

[SEL]

I'm not going to say too much on an open forum, but when you discover a horse has been passed on after being vetted 'no longer suitable to be ridden' there are no words.... at least no words polite enough to say in public.

 

[Velcrobum]

I have never sold a horse however I have PTS. My OH horse developed a severe heart murmur which a new vet in the equine practice heard for the first time recently despite having been told he had a bad murmur her face said it all. She was astounded by it and was going to go and look at the horses echo scan when she got back to the practice. He is going to live his life out with us he is rideable but OH is a happy hacker and has decided not to ride so he is a field ornament.

 

[F&B]

My oldies have been with me since they were 4. We have done so much together, and they are part of my family. One day they will be no longer comfortable and I will have to pts, but their absence will leave a huge hole in my family. Ridden or not, they are part of our lives. In return for a lifetime of love and care, they help me train the young ones, look out for my children and are generally helpful. Life would be a lot harder without them there, keeping the others in check and actively helping me out.

That said, my friend has just taken on an oldie who is only fit for light work. Her daughter is extremely nervous and this horse is exactly what she needs. It will be loved and pampered for as long as it is happy and comfortable.

My oldies have been with me since they were 4. We have done so much together, and they are part of my family. One day they will be no longer comfortable and I will have to pts, but their absence will leave a huge hole in my family. Ridden or not, they are part of our lives. In return for a lifetime of love and care, they help me train the young ones, look out for my children and are generally helpful. Life would be a lot harder without them there, keeping the others in check and actively helping me out.

That said, my friend has just taken on an oldie who is only fit for light work. Her daughter is extremely nervous and this horse is exactly what she needs. It will be loved and pampered for as long as it is happy and comfortable.

Me too, my old boy (25) has been with me since he was 4. We've been all over the place together, we used to do endurance and go exploring on holidays and day trips. He retired at 20 with ks and oa. He now has cushings and being a tb is hard to keep weight on. I've had a wonderful lifetime with him & he requires a lot of tlc now in his older years, I know him inside out - I would ever expect anyone else to look after him, he's a member of my family.

 

[Annagain]

I am a huge softy and have kept a horse I could have sold to a hacking home for over 10 years because he has foot problems and I wouldn't want him being passed from pillar to post.I've been lucky that I've been able to share a superstar of a horse in the mean time to carry on competing but even if I hadn't I'd have made the same decision.

I was also pretty much without a ridden horse for 2 years when my old boy retired as I couldn't afford another and there was no way he was going anywhere just so I could ride. He had to come back into very light work as he got really depressed in retirement and was very happy going for a 15 minute potter twice or three times a week - to the point he b******d off with me on the way home the last time I rode him, only for about 20m while I stopped laughing and gathered up my reins! Although he was pretty much retired due to arthritis, he was field sound and still in good health. Losing him very suddenly to colic was a terrible shock and heartbreaking.

I couldn't have had him PTS while he was field sound and won't do that to A either, even when (it's inevitable one day) even hacking is too much for him. However, that's my decision, it a very personal one, and I don't blame anyone who makes a different one. I would far rather someone "takes option C" as the article puts it than passes them on to an uncertain future. There are too many unscrupulous people looking for ways to make a fast buck to risk it in my opinion. It's just a complete dereliction of duty and a betrayal of a supposedly 'much loved' horse's trust.

I should add I don't have a problem at all with selling / loaning an older horse that is still sound, active and can do a job as long as it goes to the right home. My friend bought a 22 year old schoolmaster pony for her kids but within 2 years they'd outgrown him. He was still sound, active and doing really well at pony club competitions so she could have sold him for a lot more than she paid for him but she has put him on permanent loant to a (small) friend who has her own land and two other oldies and just wants to go for a little hack once or twice a week. She did that because she knows he won't be sold on again in a year or two when the next kid outgrows him and he'll be spoilt rotten forever.

 

[Alibear]

I agree with it entirely and I support anyone which ever choice they go for and can understand a person making different choices through their life and circumstances.
I chose to keep two retired and stop riding, I now have a ridden one but fear I've missed my best years riding as arthritis is starting to really limit my options after only 2 years back in the saddle.

 

[SpringArising]

They don't seem to have that much of a problem with it... https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/rehome-household-cavalry-horse-654959

Sorry Blur, didn't see you'd already posted that!

 

[SadKen]

If I won the lottery, I would buy all these old horses, and spoil them rotten for a fixed period of a few months - then I would PTS. It is horribly sad to see a trusting elderly horse with a kiddie on its back for a photo, not knowing that his owner will use that photo to try and wash their hands of responsibility for something they claim to love.

I am very supportive of well researched loan homes for horses who want to slow down but don't want to stop - the important factor is that these horses can still be ridden. I would never allow mine to go and be a companion out of my care.

It is very hard to make a decision to end the life of a much loved animal. However, it is easy to make a decision to not let that much loved animal suffer an uncertain future. If you're wobbling as you consider putting to sleep your gleaming, well fed oldie with his nose in a bucket of feed, surrounded by everything he is used to in the sun, just imagine a possible alternative - your beloved old horse who carried you for miles and heard all your secrets, knee deep in mud, a torn soaked rug clinging to his sharp old bones, not able to get to the hay because the young horses need it to survive. See? Actually, it's easy, when you look at the alternative.

 

[Orangehorse]

Someone once said that a horse over 20 should never be sold - loan is OK if the owner can't ride it and the loaner can keep it in work but finding a suitable loan home is not always easy.

For instance, if you are an older horse owner, getting feeble and finding the work of looking after the horse too hard, and yet the horse is capable of being ridden, maybe on some bute so not capable of galloping around and jumping - then what do you do if you can't find a loaner?

I was actually facing this dilemma last year due to arthritis, but fortunately my health has improved, but I was really beginning to wonder what I could do with my 20 year old.

 

[DabDab]

The irony

Indeed.

 

[TPO]

I also fully agree with this article. I find the rehoming of these older horses on par with sending lame/broken/unrideable younger horses to the blood bank. People looking for the easy way out instead of seeing out the responsibility that they take one when they take ownership of a horse.

Unfortunately this message and articles like these never reach the people that need them.

 

[SpringArising]

Unfortunately this message and articles like these never reach the people that need them.

I wouldn't say it's that, it could just be that they don't share the same view.

I wouldn't go as far to say that this is an 'excellent article'. It's just one person's opinion with no facts in it at all. I think it would have been a lot more interesting if there was something to back up her argument in there, whether you agree with what she's saying or not it would have made for more insightful reading.

 

[TPO]

I wouldn't say it's that, it could just be that they don't share the same view.

I wouldn't go as far to say that this is an 'excellent article'. It's just one person's opinion with no facts in it at all. I think it would have been a lot more interesting if there was something to back up her argument in there, whether you agree with what she's saying or not it would have made for more insightful reading.

It's quite clear that they don't share the same view or horses that are no longer rideable and/or of a sellable age wouldn't be getting given away for free instead of taking responsibility for their care. That is the whole point of the article.

I didn't say it was "excellent"; I said I agreed with it.

 

[splashgirl45]

For instance, if you are an older horse owner, getting feeble and finding the work of looking after the horse too hard, and yet the horse is capable of being ridden, maybe on some bute so not capable of galloping around and jumping - then what do you do if you can't find a loaner?

I was actually facing this dilemma last year due to arthritis, but fortunately my health has improved, but I was really beginning to wonder what I could do with my 20 year old.[/QUOTE]

i was in this position and if my own horse was still with me i would have carried on until she was not happy being retired. i would have been on my knees but i would never have parted with her or PTS for my convenience. however, i took on a loan horse 2 years ago after having to have mine PTS but have just given her up as i am too poorly to look after her properly, she was home bred and her owner has taken her back and i can visit her whenever i want so i am very lucky...

 

[SpringArising]

It's quite clear that they don't share the same view or horses that are no longer rideable and/or of a sellable age wouldn't be getting given away for free instead of taking responsibility for their care. That is the whole point of the article.

I didn't say it was "excellent"; I said I agreed with it.

The latter part of my post wasn't aimed at you in particular

 

[Summit]

i've recently purchased an older horse, purely because I just wanted to ride a few days a week, hacking and enjoying being out. Not interested in schooling, disciplines of any sort. He's calm, seen it all, elderly gentleman and suits me to the ground Plus I think he's happier than someone sees him twice a day