Head vs heart...

Sprogladite01

Sprogladite01

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 September 2019
Messages
395
Visit site
I recently sold my mare with a plan to buy a new horse once she'd gone off and in the meantime I have a companion for my companion borrowed from a neighbour.
The plan went well, she's been sold, companion is settled in.
However, now I'm in a position to start looking for a horse more suitable for me, I've just found out the company I work for are really struggling financially. It's a tiny company and there's a very real risk it's going to go under. I sort of feel like I can't justify buying a new horse at the moment while this is hanging over me. I work remotely and finding another remote job, at the level I work at, is going to be a significant challenge. I live just far away enough from London that I couldn't go back to doing the daily commute. And honestly I don't want to! My whole horsey life is centred around being remote based and during winter I can only ride at lunch time anyway.

I am aware this is a very privileged and first world problem to have, but I am so frustrated! I keep looking at horse adverts and going 'oohhh, that one's nice!' and then down the mental rabbit hole of 'how bad could it be if things go wrong?' (answer: extremely).

I think I just need to vent, it feels like nothing ever goes right these days - whether horses are involved or not!! o_O
 
Can you look for a share locally or a loan just to keep you ticking over until the work situation is clearer.

Or even look for a job that is more stable (if there are any in this mad mad world we're all in currently!) - the frustration is probably because it's a pain to just wait for something to happen that is outside of your control.
 
Polos Mum said:
Can you look for a share locally or a loan just to keep you ticking over until the work situation is clearer.

Or even look for a job that is more stable (if there are any in this mad mad world we're all in currently!) - the frustration is probably because it's a pain to just wait for something to happen that is outside of your control.
Click to expand...
Yes that's exactly it, the uncertainty and the not knowing and the will it/won't it is doing my head in!

I'm keeping an eye out for loans and am open to anything really but full loans seem to be like hens teeth in my local area. I can't justify loaning somewhere else/on another yard even if it's local - between a full time job, kids, and two ponies at home (both too tiny for me to sit on, sadly) I don't have the time to squash more on my plate. Hence why I'd like to return the borrowed companion in exchange for something I can ride!

I'm an absolute control freak and I wind myself up. I know I do it, but can't seem to stop it haha!
 
Don't buy until you have another job or until you have a contingency fund.

Every time i have enough money for another horse my current retired horse runs up vets bills.

Or the car needs repair.

Or my job ends suddenly or unexpectedly as was the case in both August and December last year!! Neither were my fault!

It's irritating but I need to be comfortably comfortable before I take the plunge as I'm extremely risk adverse. That means having a minimum of 2k contingency.

Don't take the chance. I've been nothing but patient and I've been looking 18 months- 2 years now!

It's not the right time for me at the moment as I have too much stress with other things going on as well. It will be the right time for me by the Spring though.
 
I wouldn't buy until everything is more stable, horses are an expensive enough money pit (I gave them up due to struggling with the never ending costs) without having the worry about them security of your job possibly no longer being available

You need a contingency fund in case it takes time finding a secure replacement job if anything happens to yours and a horse will just deplete that
 
pistolpete said:
I don’t think I can afford another ever again. It’s so different financially now to pre Covid. Everything has gone mad!
Click to expand...
Yes prices have gone mad.

Do you remember how the prices of dogs went through the roof as everyone wanted one as they were either furloughed and bored or working from home and lonely?

Dogs by us were being rescued from rehoming centres and sold for five times their price by unscrupulous chancers.

And everyone was saying: "what's going to happen when people go back to work again after covid?"

And now I read all those dogs are back in rehoming centres again!
 
Birker2020 said:
Yes prices have gone mad.

Do you remember how the prices of dogs went through the roof as everyone wanted one as they were either furloughed and bored or working from home and lonely?

Dogs by us were being rescued from rehoming centres and sold for five times their price by unscrupulous chancers.

And everyone was saying: "what's going to happen when people go back to work again after covid?"

And now I read all those dogs are back in rehoming centres again!
Click to expand...
That’s so sad.
 
S 01 have a look on Gov.uk companies house and see their last few years statements, might give you an idea how things stand, and even if its sellable company, you could have new company owners who improve the company.
 
I totally get the its circumstance you can't control worries. I'd start looking around for alternate work options as doing that is within your control and it's probably worth doing regardless of the horse ownership just so you have a good backup plan should the worst happen.
On the loan front, PM me if you're in East Anglia, as I know of a very nice allrounder type mare that just went up for the loan.
 
Sprogladite01 said:
I recently sold my mare with a plan to buy a new horse once she'd gone off and in the meantime I have a companion for my companion borrowed from a neighbour.
The plan went well, she's been sold, companion is settled in.
However, now I'm in a position to start looking for a horse more suitable for me, I've just found out the company I work for are really struggling financially. It's a tiny company and there's a very real risk it's going to go under. I sort of feel like I can't justify buying a new horse at the moment while this is hanging over me. I work remotely and finding another remote job, at the level I work at, is going to be a significant challenge. I live just far away enough from London that I couldn't go back to doing the daily commute. And honestly I don't want to! My whole horsey life is centred around being remote based and during winter I can only ride at lunch time anyway.

I am aware this is a very privileged and first world problem to have, but I am so frustrated! I keep looking at horse adverts and going 'oohhh, that one's nice!' and then down the mental rabbit hole of 'how bad could it be if things go wrong?' (answer: extremely).

I think I just need to vent, it feels like nothing ever goes right these days - whether horses are involved or not!! o_O
Click to expand...
Going against the grain, and it sounds like you keep your horses at home. If you get out of keeping horses, the horse sized hole in your budget disappears & it’s quite hard to find it again. If a horse you really liked came up & fitted in with sale proceeds from old horse, I’d go for it.
 
Alibear said:
I totally get the its circumstance you can't control worries. I'd start looking around for alternate work options as doing that is within your control and it's probably worth doing regardless of the horse ownership just so you have a good backup plan should the worst happen.
On the loan front, PM me if you're in East Anglia, as I know of a very nice allrounder type mare that just went up for the loan.
Click to expand...
Thank you, have popped you a message :)
 
I am in a very similar position as we have some very, very concerning financial news at work, but I was supposed to looking for a ridden horse (two of mine retired last year).

I am keeping my hand in with a share and trying to put aside the rest of the money that I would be spending on livery etc. to either put together a good budget for purchase or a good buffer if things go ***s up at work.
 
Can you register with some employment agencies? Tell them exactly the role you are looking for, give them an updated CV with a covering letter - you never know! Fingers crossed you find something if your firm should go under.
 
Mudfukkle said:
Can you register with some employment agencies? Tell them exactly the role you are looking for, give them an updated CV with a covering letter - you never know! Fingers crossed you find something if your firm should go under.
Click to expand...
Yes I have done this with a couple of agencies I trust - ironically, I work in recruitment so I have to be careful who I register with as we're all connected even though we're technically competitors!
 
Fieldlife said:
Going against the grain, and it sounds like you keep your horses at home. If you get out of keeping horses, the horse sized hole in your budget disappears & it’s quite hard to find it again. If a horse you really liked came up & fitted in with sale proceeds from old horse, I’d go for it.
Click to expand...

Thank you, yes I do keep mine at home. That's sort of what I've been doing for the last few days - looking at adverts in case a 'unicorn' pops up but otherwise being sensible and not going to view others I might have if I was very super seriously looking. Kinda hoping the universe will drop a unicorn in my lap and then I'll know it was meant to be!
 
I think it depends how much contingency you would be left with if you bought a new horse. If you're already keeping a companion then you could easily make the ridden one cost the same amount as a companion if you needed and things got tight and so the running costs can almost not be considered in the long run. If you're planning on buying a horse that would leave you with no savings then it's probably worth waiting but if you've got a couple of months costs saved up as a buffer then you could probably be ok.
 
Maybe this isn't a goer if you're in recruitment but a HR role might work (or may be wishful thinking on my behalf!) or there may some transferable skills you could draw on for other roles. Have a look at the civil service - particularly devolved administrations rather than UK gov. They employ a lot of people who are home based. I even have a colleague who lives in Spain (although she worked here before and kept her job when she moved). There's not a lot of external recruitment at the moment but some specialist roles do come up and HR would be one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top