How do you plan for when your perfect horse is gone?

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Erehwemos

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This is a pretty mauldin post, so I do apologise
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I was riding out today and I found myself hoping and praying that I have another 20 years with my girl
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I just cant imagine my life without her in it, we've been through so much together and she truly is my perfect horse, in every way. The lady I rode with today commented on how much Ellie seems to trust me and what a lovely partnership we have, and when I think about it I just cant imagine ever having that with another horse.
Nine years ago, when after so many months of searching we finally found her, I never thought she'd be as perfect as she proved to be. After losing my previous horse in pretty horrific circumstances, I never thought I'd love another horse again, but I was wrong. I've been lucky enough to grow up with her; Ellie was just turned five and I was only 12. And now, although with luck we should have many wonderful years still together, I find myself looking at her and I cannot even begin to think of what I will do when she is gone
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Does anyone else have moments where you just dread what the future might hold? If I could have one wish right now, it would be that she is still with me, happy and healthy, well into her thirties. But if she isnt....I dont know what I will do
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emm, YES, every day, although unfortuately for me mine is now 29 so much more a possability, i've had her for 15 yrs, retired now with me but had the best 10 ridden yrs with her. dreading the day.............
 
Every day- my horse is 25, and still out and about competing at 2'9 level and winning- but he could drop dead tonight. I would try andmove on,find a new horse and remember every amazing day I have shared with my horse of a lifetime.
 
I have my perfect horse at the moment, but 5 weeks ago was considering putting her to sleep after she got kicked badly and had her jaw fractured. She didn't seem to be improving and I really thought that was it. She has amazed us though, and in the last few weeks seems to be really improving. She is 17 and I can't imagine having another horse, she's more like a pet and we can read each others mind.
 
Yes with my 35 yr old, my 12 yr old and my 9 yr old, no matter how many years they may have left i still cant help but think what ever will i do? especially my ridden one (Bob) as competing and hunting him is just my life and i dont want to ever have to stop doing what we do now
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but hey ho thats life sighhh
X
 
My lad is 30 now and still quite fit and well. He has arthritis in his hocks but will still give me a lively hack a few times a week. I got him when he was 3 and can't imagine life without him although I do realise he wob't live forever.
My other horse tests me endlessly and although I think he likes me he doesn't hold the same portion of my heart that Haddy does.
 
Do you want to know what i did?
I had an operation on my jaw.. then I went away for 2 weeks. then i had a loan and brought the first horse I saw, hoping it would take the pain away.. and guess what.. it doesnt!

I miss him day in day out. I cry when ever i think about him. i cry when I go the yard and hes not there. I cry when I think f the pain he must have gone through and I am still totally gutted.

Lou x
 
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how much Ellie seems to trust me and what a lovely partnership we have, and when I think about it I just cant imagine ever having that with another horse.

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This is exactly how I feel with my mare. It's like her brain is wired into mine sometimes
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I really can't contemplate what it will be like when she is not with me
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Just don't want to think about it, but I keep reading posts on here about horses 'going wrong' with injury/illness etc and it really brings it home that she's not going to be around forever - bad things happen to good horses all of the time.
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Still, you can't wrap them up in cotton wool - I think you have to enjoy every moment and worry about what comes later... later.
 
i think this is something that every horse owner dreads, and i used to think that if anything happened to my horse that i wouldnt able to find another 1 etc and i even thought i probably wouldnt get another 1 because i just love him so much that no other 1 would compare, however just think if your mare really does trust and have a good bond with you, that if something does happen to her in the future that you could give another horse a fantastic happy life and a good future that it may not otherwise have had, another horse would not replace your current one but they are all just such fantastic, amazing animals with there own individual personalities
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was reading another post the other day about a lday who came into the yard to find another horse next to hers had died over night and he had only been 9, just goes to show that any horse could drop dead at any time as could we, we really just have to enjoy every day that we have with them. chin up.
sorry for my dreadfull puctuation lol x x
 
The thing that worries me the most is having to make the decision to PTS. My pony is only 7 and I hope he lives a long and healthy life - I am careful with him - he is not ridden really hard and I don't jump him loads either.

When he does get really old I will look at getting a 2nd pony just so that when he does go I will have another to cuddle.

Horses are living longer now due to improvements in vet medicine and greater knowledge of horse care. I read about a pony who is 51.

I would hope though that he will go before me as I would be worried about what would happen to him if I was not around especially if he was really old.
 
I didn't think about it, and then I lost my perfect horse. My reaction was to give up horses totally. I lasted 6 years without even going near a horse, then I saw someone hacking out, and just broke down. I went out and found a share horse. Sadly that fell through and I now help out on a yard. I really want another horse but I can't find anything I like. I can't sugar coat it, it's awful and horrible. I picked up some photos of him this week, and it's 7 years since I lost him but I still welled up when I opened the photos. He was my life, and if I could give up everything just to see him again, I would. On the upside, there's a horse on the yard now that I adore, but he will be going so I can't get too attached to him!
This always sums it up for me

'Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone.
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum,
Bring out the coffin...let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle, moaning overhead,
Scribbling on the sky the message: He is Dead.
Put crepe bows 'round the necks of public doves,
Let traffic policemen wear black, cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East, my West.
My working week and my Sunday rest.
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song,
I thought love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now, put out every one.
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.
Pour out the ocean and sweep up the wood,
For nothing now can ever come to any good
 
[ QUOTE ]

'Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone.
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum,
Bring out the coffin...let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle, moaning overhead,
Scribbling on the sky the message: He is Dead.
Put crepe bows 'round the necks of public doves,
Let traffic policemen wear black, cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East, my West.
My working week and my Sunday rest.
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song,
I thought love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now, put out every one.
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.
Pour out the ocean and sweep up the wood,
For nothing now can ever come to any good

[/ QUOTE ]

That's beautiful
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Had me in floods..

I'm much the same as the OP. My boy isn't happy at the moment, so i'm retiring him for the winter and we will see how he is next Spring. He's my everything and i can hardly bare the thought of never riding him again let alone losing him completely.
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Oh god. Im off again with the bloody tears!

Thats a beautiful poem. First time Ive heard it!

Lou x

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I love it. I still cry, didn't realise how much it affected me until I had to go for some cognitive therapy for panic attacks. I went in riding gear as I was heading to the yard after, and she asked me abo" and es. I managed to say "I had a horse..." and that was it, my voice went and I had to tell her I couldn't talk about it
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Try not to think about what might happen in the future when all is well at the moment; live for each day and enjoy yourself. No-one knows what is round the corner, but don't spoil the good times now by dwelling on what might happen.

I have had to deal with far too many passings for my liking (both parents, 3 horses, 6 cats), all relatively unexpected. You just deal with it as best you can at the time and get on with your life; time is a healer of sorts but you never, ever forget. A friend of mine says when a cat passes, he's bequeathed his place by the fire for someone else - that's stuck in my memory and is along the lines of what marshmallowonastick has said. My "poem" for things like this is Rainbow Bridge, I firmly believe in it (and I don't believe in much any more)!

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigour; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

I'm gonna be flattened when I get to Rainbow Bridge by all my babies who are already there :-)

But like I said, chin up, and ENJOY THE PRESENT - we musn't dwell on the past or the future. Hope this helps :-)
 
I think about my old girl (23) shuffling off this mortal coil all the time, especially when a stupid young vet casually said "why don't you just put her down, she's old, get yourself a youngster you can have more fun with" when she was having problems getting up earlier this year. It turned out not to be arthritis but her petula bone giving her jip and the physio has sorted it out. If I had listened to that silly little girl my beautiful, albeit grizzled, black Irish cob mare would be dead by now. It makes my blood run cold. She is my first horse and I have been very lucky to have her. I rode her when pregnant and she has taught my children to ride. When she goes, the whole family will devastated. But you can't think about that, you can only enjoy the fact that you are together. You can't plan for it, and the thought of starting again with another animal just feels exhausting. How am I going to feel if they are not a patch on Velvet?
 
Unfortunately I never really gave it a lot of thought and then five weeks ago had to face the fact head on
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I found her dead in the field of a suspected heart attack
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Ellie was my first horse and I had to wait until I was 39 to get her. I had her for just over 5yrs and although we had our moments she was fabulous. Infact you really don't realise how good they are until you have to think of getting another one
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I am now in the process of looking for another but it is bery difficult.
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Feel very much the same, in fact was thinking it yesteday while riding in what some would class as unusual places all on our own and took him somewhere he hadn't been before.
 
I've lived with this thought the last 18 months, there have been several times where the vet and I have discussed 'is this it' with River as he's been through so much. He pulls through each time though.

I got Luca not to replace River but so the gap left by the little man would not be so unbareable. In an odd way I've already grieved a lot for river - for all the dreams we'll never get to do - the long sponsored rides, teaching my kids to ride all of those things. I just count my blessings everyday he is here and enjoy what I've got - he won't have forever but I'll cherish every day I have, and when he's gone I'll cherish the joy and memory of having had such a wonderful pony man.

Hug and kiss them everyday and always let them know you love them - enjoy every second you don't know what tomorrow will bring.
 
My dream boy is being PTS within the next 6 weeks, i was going to arrange it for this week but hubby said after seeing my horse yesterday, that the horse isnt ready yet.
i would never be able to find another of him. The bond and trust we have, its truly unique and inreplaceable.
Despite me being a multiple horse owner, when hes gone, well, i dont know if i could bear to go down to the yard, and have said i could quite easily sell up,, but then i think about my shetland i have owned for 14 years etc...
I do sometimes why we do it to ourselves, but then the love they give us, i am sure makes the pain worth it.
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My Flicks is 20 so its something I think about from time to time, gives me panic attacks every time. I keep meaning to do some research and have a 'plan' (tel nos etc) because when it does happen I expect we will all be to upset to think clearly.

We have recently purchased a young horse for my daughter who I am going to start riding from time to time, with a view to becoming a mother and daughter share when my beloved Flicks retires or goes to horsey heaven.
 
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