Horses pets or working animals??

[Honeypots]

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Pet. Although he has a job to do and does it well.

He's not treated as a pet, he's treated as a large animal which needs respect and as such never behaves like a pet. But as his 'job' is only minimal work he's classed as a pet to us. The day he can no longer do his job he will live his days out in the field and be treated like a pet.

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How do pets behave differently to workers btw?

2 of mine have 'jobs' but they are still as much pets as my dogs are who don't have 'jobs'..

 

[Janette]

Definately a pet. But just as people enjoy taking their dogs for walks, I enjoy riding my horse. She definately owes me for the 22 hours a day that she spends eating and slobbing around at my expense

I do worry about the future, and my reponsibilities towards her....If there were no other option, then I would sell her on to a suitable home OR have her PTS.

 

[FarthingwoodFox]

People generally don't buy and sell on dogs, because they are pets as in members of the family.
Working animals, sheepdogs, horses etc have a job to do and by and large if they do not do they job they are sold or pts for whatever reason.

 

[SirenaXVI]

I'm kinda between the two, they have a job to do but I tend to think of them as pets as well

confused, me?

I have had no qualms about selling something that is not fitting in/working out, but if there is something physically wrong, they tend to stay as expensive lawnmowers (I have two lawnmowers at the moment), that is, of course, as long as they are enjoying life.

 

[moneypit1]

Have to admit that I have read NO posts! BUT, it makes no odds, my horses are part of the family, ok, so sometimes I let them go (how cruel). You just have to do the best you can. xx

 

[jinglejoys]

Working (she used to take me to work but now I work at a racing stables in the next village she can't take me

) I couldn't sell her though

 

[Donkeymad]

Working, as we run a carriage driving business, but they are still pets and will not be sold when they become unable to do their job.

 

[smallbutgreat]

Mine are pets ... they work too, but because we have had a close personal relationship for years I am not prepared to sell them on.

This doesn't mean I mightn't have a working animal in the future. But I would go into it very clearly on that basis. It might make a difference if they were horses. Mine were both bought for children, and have always had a special meaning for us.

I see nothing wrong with horses being treated as purely working animals ... but please don't look down on those of us who treat them differently.

 

[Happytohack]

Mine are all pets, although I do plod out on two of them. As I have them at home, I see them all the time and spend vast amounts of time with them (and money on them

) and know their characters inside out. They give me loads of pleasure and don't have to justify their existence by, God Forbid, actually working

 

[soph21]

Mine are pets that do a bit of work, I enjoy riding Bear,and I enjoy doing little local shows and XC's, and this winter he will be hunting regular so I suppose he will be a working horse!
But if god forbid anything happened to him and he could no longer do what I want him to he would still have a loving home for life with me. The same goes for Buddie (sec A) I bought him as a 4yr old when I was 15, as a pet! And it just happens I had a baby nearly 4 years ago who will be doing lead rein next year! So he's never going anywhere niether!

 

[keekee]

mine is definatly a pet OH is going b4 she dose she,s here 4 life ......x

 

[jpj]

They aren't pets in the same sense as a dog, and sometimes it's better for the horse to be sold on if you haven't got a"Job" for it .Having said that I am not at all good at selling them myself and they tend to be here for a long time!!

 

[JM07]

were they from the Stag or Fox Hunts??

 

[M_G]

I think gone are the days when horses were true working animals for most owners, unless they are earning you a wage then really they are pets

 

[SOB]

I am on my first and only horse and to me he is a pet. His job is to give me a hobby and be my companion and friend..that he does well.

If he was to become unrideable he still has a home for life.

 

[welshstar]

Definately pets!
They'd be useless as working animals- one an ickle pony who is stubborn and useless, the next is old and has every ailment under the sun and the last...well she's just a big tubba!

 

[Honeypots]

[ QUOTE ]
They aren't pets in the same sense as a dog, and sometimes it's better for the horse to be sold on if you haven't got a"Job" for it .Having said that I am not at all good at selling them myself and they tend to be here for a long time!!

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But mine ARE pets in the same sense as my dogs

and I don't agree horses NEED a job either..none of mine will be sold unless absolutely necessary..same as my dogs

 

[Puppy]

I put other. Sure I've had horses that were there to do a job, but my two current girls have homes for life and are family as far as I'm concerned. Yes, I'm one of those annoying horse owners who calls them her babies

Star - well, if she had to be retired tomorrow she would still get the highest quality care and be a spoilt rotten, pampered, field ornament. She's well and truly looked after me (and my mother) for the last 11 years and given me her all, I will give her nothing less in return for the rest of her days

Believe - She was bought with a job to do to an extent - She is here to compete as well as enjoyed in other ways, (that little horse makes me laugh every day

) but should she at some time be no longer be fit for that, I also made a point when I was shopping for her, of finding a mare good enough to breed from (and shall do in the future

) so she would still stay with me... That said, should she not able to breed from either, I think she would still stay with me, as although we've only been together just over a year, she is certainly a horse of a lifetime

I can see the other side of the coin though, as I would not say that about every horse that I've ever owned. For instance, I had a TB who I'd had for 5 years - bought him out of training, turned him away, rebacked him, got him jumping, did his first show etc, really put a lot into him, and in theory should have been very special to me - but yet despite all that, he was not a "lifetime" horse, and when he had an accident to his knees and they were operating on him, there was a chance he would only be suitable as a hack after... well, should that have happened I would have had a difficult decision to make there

I would not have kept him.... As it was, the decision was out of my hands and he died of a heart attack the morning following the operation

But strangely after 5 years and all that I'd done with him, I didn't have the bond with him to say that same kind of things that I have done above about Believe...

 

[Angelbones]

If it doesn't pull a plough then its a pet... Work horse? Definitely not, it's all about the pleasure..

 

[Storminateacup]

Mine is definitely a working animal, although I love him dearly too. But if for some reason he couldn't do his job, of perambulating me about the countryside 4 or 5 times a week due to age or lameness, then I know he would be just as happy munching grass and getting lots of attention in other ways, and of course he has a home for life with me.
I would just get another that I could ride.
But then I have access to free grazing, should I need it.

I tend to agree with one of the OP that if a horse gets to do what he likes for 22 hours a day he can jolly well do a job for the remainder of the time without too much bother.

Also I am not sentimental and would sell a horse I didn't like, or that wasn't suitable.

I wouldn't have a horse primarily as a pet.
If I wanted that I would get a guinea pig!!!