Horse written off - what do you do?

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give the horse a chance to recover.

Shadow was an ABSOLUTE cripple, as in she would fall over when walking out of her stable from rubber to concrete. i refused to keep her on box rest, i gave her some painkillers, investigated as far as i could, and all the vets said old age, riding school broken her down. i have owned her for 7 months at this stage, she was 21/22 and i was 19/20. i was heart broken.

i wouldn't put her down because she was so happy in her self, she had good friends and was jumping over fences to be with her boyfriend at night! she couldnt hurt that much if she was doing that! but the vet said she might get to be field sound for 2 years, but after that he wouldn't consider that she should be 'with us'.

ditched that vet and gave her everything i could and just let her be a horse. i was so happy to own her and get her out of that life style that i didnt care what i spent, i had other horses to ride at the yard if i wanted to (not my horses though!) and pretty much had a horse on free loan so i was fine.

you only need to look at the pictures below to see where we were 3 years after this prognosis. SOUND AS A POUND. everyone wrote her off and were stunned to see her doing this stuff.

one very VERY proud mum of her princess pony
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Have been in the same situation only my boy was 12 when he retired. Went without most things and bought another horse whilst other was semi-retired. Kept them both on DIY livery and worked my butt off to keep them but it was worth it
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Unfortunately my retired boy only lasted 4 months in retirement before we noticed him being uncomfortable behind. He was PTS in April due to arthritc changes in his spine
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Would kill to have him back, munching his life away in the field and costing me an absolute fortune but pain free
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At the end of the day, it's only money you can't take it with you!

ETS
If you PTS and tried claiming on the insurance most companies have a clause that if the horse can be kept comfortable with or without painkillers then they will not pay out.
 
i know it sounds awful but i think PTS could be the best option!

I am in a very similar situation myself, i have a 10yo gelding who's arthiritis is getting worse and worse. Currently he has a cracked hoof causing lameness, but its been bad for over 6 weeks and the farrier said he should be sound with it anyway! Somedays, he can barely walk and others he's fine. aaaaaaaaaaarrrrgggh i dont know what to do! we already have one write off, ive got to go to uni in 2 years leaving parents horseless, and is costing more than he is worth!

hope you situation isnt this bad!

helpful post though!
 
I dont think that anyone would know what they would do unless they were in the same situation. I think it is unfair to judge......

It really does depend on financial situations, and pain.

I have to say that there *are* good companion homes about, and if your friend doesnt have any immediate time restraints, she could probably find one as she would be able to vet people carefully.

Perhaps landowners with too much grass would offer a companion home if your friend paid for hay and bedding in the winter perhaps?? I would do it if I owned the land I have my two on as I have waaaaaay too much grass!!
 
QR: Reading through these posts there is obviously not a right or wrong answer but the one thing I do think is wrong would be to lump this horse on a charity. Charities are there for people who genuinely can't keep their horses anymore, not for people who can afford their horse but aren't willing to see it through it's retirement.
 
I'd put down, no question, sorry!
I've found it interesting in that the people on here I would term 'professional' have been of the same thought too.
Also speaking as someone well over the age of this lady, I know exactly where she is coming from. You only live once, in her place I would put down and find another which will sound callous to some but you never want to be in the position of begrudging your horse's existence which could happen in this case as 15+ years could easily be an understatement.
 
If it was my horse I would retire him, but I can see your friends point. I would advise extreme caution with loaning or sale as companion - there are hundreds of these already crying out for good homes and they frequenty get passed from numpty to numpty to sales ring until they find their way to the knackers yard. If your friend is dead set against keeping him then PTS is probably the kindest option. Also either have the vet come and do it or take it to potters or turners directly - don't trust anyone to do it or you could find your horse on the front cover of the daily mail next time theres a sweep on a dodgy dealers yard.
 
Gosh! I honestly cant believe how cold hearted people are saying they would have the horse PTS!

I got my first proper horse at 13 and i only got a years riding out of him before he was unable to be ridden but i have had him about 8yrs now as my field ornament at livery yards wether i had time or not he would go on full livery or diy depending on my circumstances at the time we always found the money for him. I then went on to renting my own land and was able to get another horse on full loan it has never bothered me that i could not ride as having my horses happy alive and well was far more important than what i always want and acting like a selfish brat.

You dont have your nan, family, dog, cat whatever pts because they dont what they used to do or because they lost the plot a bit. People for once should be less selfish i just hope they get there come uppence.
 
If possible I would put the horse in grass livery or loan as a companion (if the horse can cope with that) and then get another horse on loan.
But what a hard decision.
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I've had two horses PTS because I bought them to ride and they became unsound, one at 7, one at twelve. After the last one was PTS I bought my current horse who has been unsound on and off since I bought her. Now we know what the problem is 14 months on she needs about a year off and only has a 35% chance of recovering at all. Fortunately she is suitable as a brood mare so I shall try to rehome her as one, however if she wasn't she would also be PTS. I will not spend all my wages on another field ornament. This may sound harsh but fate has toughened me up over the years!
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I also forgot to say I've already got two geriatrics on grass livery who I at least had some fun on before they broke down. I would have either had to give up riding or had five invalids by now!! My conscience is clear too.
 
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Gosh! I honestly cant believe how cold hearted people are saying they would have the horse PTS!

I got my first proper horse at 13 and i only got a years riding out of him before he was unable to be ridden but i have had him about 8yrs now as my field ornament at livery yards wether i had time or not he would go on full livery or diy depending on my circumstances at the time we always found the money for him. I then went on to renting my own land and was able to get another horse on full loan it has never bothered me that i could not ride as having my horses happy alive and well was far more important than what i always want and acting like a selfish brat.

You dont have your nan, family, dog, cat whatever pts because they dont what they used to do or because they lost the plot a bit. People for once should be less selfish i just hope they get there come uppence.

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I'm still waiting for my come uppence then...

there have been several cases, including some HHO members, whereby they have loaned/sold as companion..and guess what??

the poor buggers have ended up being sold at sales again and again and again.....

my conscience is TOTALLY clear

the horse world is an unpleasant and unscrupulous world i'm afraid...it isnt all "retirement homes" and "charadee"...
 
But JM07 I would class your situation as different, certainly with the ponies you buy and sell. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they face an uncertain (at best) future at the markets or a decision either way with you - decent enough to rehome to a vetted (by you) home, or treated with kindness and then PTS and avoid a future going around the markets again.

Maybe thats two faced of me, but I have and will again no doubt applaud you for what you do, but personally, for me, I was in the position that my own 6 year old needed to be retired, and for me there was no question of PTS; if he could live a pain free existence as a field ornament, he would have lived out his days with me on livery. I'd have done what I could with him to make life interesting for him but riding or "work" would have been out of the question, and to me so was PTS.

In the end Rossdales couldn't save him, so he was sadly PTS. My life moved on and I did things I would not have otherwise done had I still owned him, but not once have I thought thank god I don't still have him. That's simply the responsibility I took on when I took him on, and I will do the same when I am in the position to be able to afford my own once more. To have thrown him away if he could retire happily; well, I would not be able to live with my conscience.

So thats my answer to the OP - blood bank or live out his days on retirement - thats a risk we take as horse owners. If my H was still with me today, I would have scrounged rides from those who needed help exercising theirs, part loaned or similar, much as I do now at little or no cost.
 
OP was talking about a "riding pony"...

i own 4...they are my own animals....i show them, hack, fun rides etc etc..

they are "mine"...
not part of the "set-up"...so yes, i'm no different than any other owner when it comes to answering the questions asked of any HHO member..

the little guys i buy and sell are totally seperate in my way of thinking....
i don't regard them as "mine"....
 
And that is exactly why I still have my little love - for as long as I can keep him I will, but should that not remain the case he will be PTS. I could not bear the thought of what might happen to him if he was sold on whilst not having the best chance of finding a good home.
 
What is actually wrong with the horse??

My mare was written off at the age of 8 and was about to be PTS. 3 years on she is 100% sound, fit and fully rideable. If the vets thought there was ever a chance of that happening they would not have advised putting her down.

Seems a terrible waste of a life to PTS at 8 years old.

That said, far preferable to PTS than to be passed through auctions or dealers or drugged up and ridden.
 
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Gosh! I honestly cant believe how cold hearted people are saying they would have the horse PTS!

I got my first proper horse at 13 and i only got a years riding out of him before he was unable to be ridden but i have had him about 8yrs now as my field ornament at livery yards wether i had time or not he would go on full livery or diy depending on my circumstances at the time we always found the money for him. I then went on to renting my own land and was able to get another horse on full loan it has never bothered me that i could not ride as having my horses happy alive and well was far more important than what i always want and acting like a selfish brat.

You dont have your nan, family, dog, cat whatever pts because they dont what they used to do or because they lost the plot a bit. People for once should be less selfish i just hope they get there come uppence.

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I'm still waiting for my come uppence then...

there have been several cases, including some HHO members, whereby they have loaned/sold as companion..and guess what??

the poor buggers have ended up being sold at sales again and again and again.....

my conscience is TOTALLY clear

the horse world is an unpleasant and unscrupulous world i'm afraid...it isnt all "retirement homes" and "charadee"...

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I know all about horses who end up in horrible places etc im not stupid and i dont think everything always goes to plan etc

I have taken all my horses/ponies from not so nice places and take older horses rather than young becuase i know i can offer them the best i can give and i did feel sorry for them otherwise im sure itleast my old boy whose retired would probably of been dead by now but his happy as larry sat in the field with his two girlfriends who are both of age and owners no longer wanting because there "busy going out or have a better newer pony" They all have there little quirks due to there past to but i couldn't care less if i never rode them again because theres so many horses out there that you can ride for other people anyway.
 
What is apparant to me - and I think MFH touched upon it. People in the business and us oldies seem to see things totally differently from others.
From my point of view, horses are my "fun" time. I enjoy riding, thats why I keep horses. I don't particulary enjoy the long wet winters and would find them totally unbearable if I wasnt riding at all - certainly if there was no prospect of my riding my own horse ever again there is no way I would tie myself to it. Whats the point?
Perhaps it my middle age I have become harder and less emotional about these things.
 
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What is apparant to me - and I think MFH touched upon it. People in the business and us oldies seem to see things totally differently from others.
From my point of view, horses are my "fun" time. I enjoy riding, thats why I keep horses. I don't particulary enjoy the long wet winters and would find them totally unbearable if I wasnt riding at all - certainly if there was no prospect of my riding my own horse ever again there is no way I would tie myself to it. Whats the point?
Perhaps it my middle age I have become harder and less emotional about these things.

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I'm not quite middle-aged and I loathe the winters with a passion - have the horse on part livery and barely get through them sanity intact when I can ride - if I couldn't, I really do not think I could muster the enthusiasm for it and would quickly resent it.

Sure if it happened to mine I'd try and rehome to a blood bank or similar, or see if I could afford retirement livery, but horses are a much bigger and more expensive tie than a cat or dog (wish the horse only cost me a tenner a month to keep - that's what the cat costs, give or take!), and without my own land I just could not justify the expense - all my disposable cash goes on the horse, and to me he's not a 'pet', he has a function.
 
find a field somwhere with cheap grazing and keep tyhe rideable one at a livery. its not more than 10 quid a week for just grass, sorry but I would not put a horse that young down if it could live out its days out on grass. I would atleast try that option then see how he goes, if he goes so insane out of boredom then reconsider?
 
Maybe in wales grass livery is £10 a week but you'd be hard pushed to find anything that cheap anywhere else
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I would see if there is space at one of the blood banks. I have known a couple of horses go there and don't have a problem with it. They live out in big herds and give blood every other month and when their time is up they are humanely PTS.
 
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Maybe in wales grass livery is £10 a week but you'd be hard pushed to find anything that cheap anywhere else
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I would see if there is space at one of the blood banks. I have known a couple of horses go there and don't have a problem with it. They live out in big herds and give blood every other month and when their time is up they are humanely PTS.

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And...that's still £40-£50 a month. Which is my budget for training.
 
i know if i ended up in the same situation i'd keep as a pasture ornament.
i couldn't have a horse PTS just because i couldn't ride it.
there's plenty of ways to get free rides if someone is a capable enough rider, so i'd retire the horse and look for another horse to ride for someone.
i wouldn't loan out as too many horror stories (unless it's to someone i personally know and trust), blood banks aren't ideal for all horses and usually have big waiting lists. they have to be able to live in large herds without much 1 to 1 attention.
i have to add that i don't compete, have gone 5 years without sitting on a horse and didn't bother either way, work with horses and get to ride the odd day there and already own a pasture ornament of sorts as in my yearling filly. so riding isn't the be all and end all of my life. so it would be an easy choice for me in that respect.
 
Indeed, can you tell us JACSZOO, what's wrong with the horse?

Is there absolutely no possibility of it ever being sound enough to be ridden?

Like many people on here have seen, time is a great healer and a year or 2 chucked out in the field has been a great healer for many horses, mainly with leg or COPD type problems.

Obviously if your friends' horse has something wrong that would make riding unsafe for horse or rider then that's another ball game.
 
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Gosh! I honestly cant believe how cold hearted people are saying they would have the horse PTS!

I got my first proper horse at 13 and i only got a years riding out of him before he was unable to be ridden but i have had him about 8yrs now as my field ornament at livery yards wether i had time or not he would go on full livery or diy depending on my circumstances at the time we always found the money for him. I then went on to renting my own land and was able to get another horse on full loan it has never bothered me that i could not ride as having my horses happy alive and well was far more important than what i always want and acting like a selfish brat.

You dont have your nan, family, dog, cat whatever pts because they dont what they used to do or because they lost the plot a bit. People for once should be less selfish i just hope they get there come uppence.

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Or maybe people should be a bit less judgemental - otherwise they might get their come uppence too!
Bully for you in being a paragon of virtue - maybe the rest of us just can't live up to your high standards. Or maybe we just live a bit more in the real world where we have to look at a bigger picture when we make these decisions!
 
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