Has anyone been in this situation - lone horse

Supertrooper

Supertrooper

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We have two horses at the moment, one is 37yrs and the other is 13yrs and has never been on his own. The 37yr old has been very fit and well till yesterday, we had to get vet out and they think her liver may be failing :( she is brighter today but obviously we need to wait for blood results and potentially consider her quality of life as don't want her to suffer. She is on antibiotics and had a vit injection yesterday.

It will be incredibly sad to loose her as she has been a fantastic pony and a great great friend and hoping it won't come to this just yet but we also have the added worry of the other horse being left without another horse. If the bloods are bad we would rather do the deed while the pony still has some quality of life and we can make it calm and stress free for her, rather than it be a panic when she deteriorates. We are planning on getting another horse anyway but were going to leave it to the spring as it's not a good time of year to get a new horse.

The solutions are either to have him on his own, there are horses on the properties either side - this would be the last choice as I know he wouldn't be happy. The people next door have hunters, they have seven and I am sure they would temporarily lend us a horse to keep him company. Or the last option would be to loan some sheep off a farmer as company for him.

Pls only helpful replies, I am so worried about it all. The pony is my best friends and she is distraught at the thought of loosing her, and me as I love her very much also. My friend is crippled with back pain at the moment, awaiting surgery plus she has bad heart problems so I'm worried about how she's going to cope with loosing her :(
 
Why don't you pick up a rescue pony or something for a couple of quid, you can get them very cheap from the sales or off the hills for pretty much nothing. Or perhaps a pony from a rescue centre like the Bluecross or WHW?

Vibes for your mare though and hope all works out x
 
I would see if your neighbours could lend you a horse to keep your 13yr old company. If you could ask them in advance then if the worst does have to happen then you would have one less thing to worry about.
I know it is such a hard time and an awfully hard decision to have to make but your friend will know she is doing the right thing, so hugs and sympathy to you both at this hard time.
 
Sounds like you're doing the right thing in a horrible situation.

My horse cannot stand to be left alone, even if its just for an hour while his field mates go out for a hack, we do have horses over the road, but sometimes they're not in view, or move to another field so my horse can't see them so this isn't really a reliable solution. We have had him out with a few sheep, but still when the others went out this didn't seem to make a difference. (we just had a few cowering sheep in the corner while said horse charged about!) In your situation I would suggest trying to borrow one of the hunters, and perhaps look at getting a companion pony, or a livery longer term? We didn't fancy the livery idea, but instead have adopted two lovely ponies from a nearby rescue charity, they are v low maintenance so this works well for us. Where about are you as someone on here may be able to suggest somewhere local?

Again good luck with your decision, it sounds like you'll make it with your pony's best interests at heart.
 
Sad situation. In my experience, if the horse can see/sniff their fallen companion, then they cope with being alone better than if you remove the companion and do the deed elsewhere. They understand that a fallen horse is not coming back :( It's very sad and they might squeal and kick at the body, but this is their way or working out what's happened.

On the other hand, you say it's not a good time of year to be buying a horse, but there are so many bargains to be had. Ourlocal hunt is putting down many many healthy, young horses at the moment because owners are simply not able to afford them and can't sell at any price and won't see them go to market and risk the long terminal journey :(. Sad times.
 
She must be a very well looked after horse to be that old, I hope you and her owner can be very proud of that fact.

I would loan a hunter from next door tbh. They will likely have one thats not doing this season (seems most hunting people I know sometimes have a lame/off one). Then at least you don't have the worry of getting a new horse too. :)

You never know, the 13yo might be fine with over the fence friends? :)
 
Hi there

I'm so very sorry to hear about your situation. It's something that a friend of mine faced recently, and in fact something I too pondered with mine. I actually got a second horse so they could settle in together before facing the loss of the old pony.

There are a few things I would say. Firstly, my old pony who I thought really was coming to her end about 8 months ago, is still with us. She's 35, and for a couple of weeks looked very poorly but I must say that you wouldn't know that now. That said, I count every day as a bonus with her now I must say.

Second thing is that my friend who lost one of hers dashed out and borrowed a companion. To tell you the truth, I said that she take more time over it as her remaining horse had had a major upheavel and who was to say that they were ready for stranged at such a traumatic time. It was like fireworks I'm afraid, a really bad situation as the mare was out to kill the new companion, adding to the stress all around. The companion went back.

A month or so went by and she tried again, but still the mare was not having it. The upshot was that the mare now lives alone (can see my horses, but not touch). She seems happier with this than having a field mate foisted upon her. Just something for you to think about.

If possible, I would leave it a few days to allow your horse to grieve and monitor how he behaves before rusing into another horse straight away. It could well add more heart-ache to a horrible situation.

All the very best to you all. There's a lot of "broken heart" to having a horse isn't there?
 
Thankyou for all your relpies xx

tinselface - she is very well looked after, she has given us many years of pleasure whilst being ridden and we are repaying that now by loving and caring for her in old age xx

Will definately let the youngster see her if it comes to that, we had the pony there when my mare was put to sleep and it definately eased her distress being able to see amy's body xx
 
It will be a sad time for all but in your heart the right decision will have been made.

When I my darling TB was PTS his friend was brought over to the site, allowed to snaff and check him over before he was buried. I returned him to his paddock and the digger buried my horse. His friend stood at the gate for several hours just looking at the buriel site. Then went away and grazed. I think they do understand the finality of death and do need to grieve in their horsey way.

Be there for the other horse and if after a few days he doesn't settle then it may be time to bring in a new companion.

Ipersonally wouldn't introduce a third horse or pony while the mare is under the weather as the scarpping that goes on with new arrivals would be very unfair on her.
 
Oh gosh this is awful for everyone concerned; pls accept big hugs, its everyone's worst nightmare but your horses are so lucky to have a lovely owner that's concerned to do the right thing not only for the immediate future but also for the horse that's left on its own.

IME it takes a while for a horse to grieve its pair-bond/companion; and often people just plonk another horse in with them in the hope that they'll be OK, its equine company so everything will be OK, but this isn't necessarily always the case.

When my old boy (aged 22) lost his pair-bond five years ago now, he went into a very deep depression, and was very morbid about it. We had two young Arabs at the time and thought that they'd all be fine together; but they weren't. Think old man (who's just lost his life-long partner) with two teenage boys in the same house! It really didn't work at all, the young horses just wound my old boy up no end and whilst, yes, it was other horses around, it maybe wasn't the best we could have done, in hindsight.

So yes, you could try borrowing a hunter from next door and see how that works out, but you might need to keep a watch on how yours is doing with it all coz he might be getting rather morbid and stressed about losing his pair-bond but everything might be looking OK on the outside, if you see what I mean.

The horse I've got now has had to live on his own for the past few weeks, which happened simply because the livery that was here just took her @rse in her hand and went suddenly without warning, so he's had to be on his own for a bit. There are loads of other horses around here, so its not as bad as it could be, and he is pretty laid back. We have found that in the past when he's had to be on his own, he's appreciated the sheep around in the field.

I know other people have had chickens roosting in the stables which apparently calms the horses at night!!!

But if you've got someone close by to "lend" a horse for a bit, I'd try that and see how things go, but maintain a watching brief.

Awful situation for you, hope everything works out.
 
My friend had this issue, she contacted a local equestrian centre, she was friends with them kind of! and asked if they had any horses they wanted to retire, they did and he has now been with them 3yrs she had him for free just has to pay for his care, he does actually still hack out with her too. A little rescue pony could be another option, or maybe try and judge how yours copes, he maybe ok as has horses either side before u get one, and as you said im sure if he went mad you could "borrow" a hunter for a few days while oyu find a companion!
That maybe an idea, sorry about the pony hope its nothing serious,
 
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