How long did you wait before you got a new horse??

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NicoleS_007

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Well its been a week and 2 days since my wee man was pts and im so darn bored!! Iv been working at the yard all week as one of the workers broke there foot so i covered for them, and i must say it has been thee most boring-est week of my life. Its just so weird walking past his stable and not seeing him and being greeted with a big winnie (jezz im goin to cry thinkin about it and i aint cryed in days :( ) God i miss him!! Tbh i needa find a new yard, i cant stand that place anymore, i just feel sick everytime i go there. Sorry got side tracked there ... how long did it take for you to get a new horse? Iv been offered to ride my friends horse but not my cup of tea tbh lol so have been looking around abit, seen a couple of youngsters but dont know as it wont be the same as before really :/

hmmmmmmmm sorry just boring musings on my behalf
 
I think it's different for everyone... My Catembi (in avatar) was PTS in Feb 2007 & I had Adrian by the end of April. I was in a reasonable hurry as mine live at home, so my old girl was by herself.

I didn't think of it as disrespectful towards Cat to get another one so soon...rather that he left such a huge hole that I simply couldn't bear it.
 
When I sold mine...32 hours. But not quite the same.

When we lost Tommy, after an evening of moping round...it was just straight back into it, but they were work horses and had youngsters in so they needed to be done and it kept your mind off things anyway.

I know it is really soonand won't ever replace him, but there's no harm in getting another horse, even if it's a quick turn around short term project to sell on if you don't click or decide it's too soon etc? Maybe a new horse on a new yard and a project might be what you need :) Only you'll know though so ignore me rambling!
 
No, it's never the same, but it is good, just different.

When Tiggy went (put to sleep), I never ever thought I would look for another one, but I missed her so much. Within a week or so I was looking. Got Dizz two months later (I looked at lots).
 
Slightly different situation, talking about enforced retirement rather than being pts (although that was possible and still is), but it took me a month to want to ride again (which brings us to now) and I am looking for another already! I'm very picky so I imagine it will be a good three months before I get one, but the sooner the better really! I think it would help to take your mind off your old boy too :(
 
Stan died and I bought a new horse within 2 weeks. When we lost 10 school horses to AHS in Spain we had replaced them all within a month. I am not one for naval gazing, move on and LIVE!
 
I lost Annie September 09 and i bought my new girl in July this year.

It was a year ago last Friday (24th Sept) and i went to see her grave and burst into tears! Thought i was getting over how much i miss her, which i am, although i still miss her and think about her everyday. During the year since she has passed i can smile about the good times it makes the heartbreak of letting her go easier.

I love my new girl to bits, Annie was my first pony and was with us for 18 years so Lorna is only horse no. 2 for me.

It def won't be the same as before, but that doesn't mean it will be bad - just different.

It will be hard being back at the yard but that will get easier too, i don't mind it at all. It's nice to be in familiar surroundings.

Don't rush into buying anything, i saw several and they just weren't right... so stopped looking or in a way sort of gave up looking and then a friend pointed Lorna out in paper. Everything i wasn't looking for - another grey mare but i saw her that night and bought her the following day. Haven't looked back (as yet!) and i love her to bits!!!
 
Within a week I was on a plane looking at other horses but I rushed into buying a new one and it turned out a very expensive disaster.... horse was fine, I just compared him to my mare I'd lost and he wasn't her. I should have waited.

I think everyone is different. If you feel you are ready then go for it!
 
Dif situation, my loan horse was taken back, but it did feel like he had been pts :(

I had Hon in a week exactly, not planned, i was helping my friend (who deals) and she caught my eye :)
 
Thanks for the replys guys :) was thinking of getting another baby ex racer to school on but think il go for something with a bit more bone unlike Mr Precious Legs himself lol ... but tbh i can see myself comparing my old boy with the new one as someone else said!! I even done that when i still had him.Really want something like him as i liked his wee quirks, they were cute but ho hum decisions decisions!!!
 
if i didnt already have other horses i wouldnt have got another for a while i think, as it was i had to get on with it somewhat.

but, if i didnt have the others i would have got something very different as a 'replacement', else i would have been comparing him
 
It wont do any harm to have a gentle look around. You will certainly not be being disrespecful to your old boy.

What if the perfect animal slips by because you weren't looking?
 
Sorry to hear about your horse :( Horses take up so much time that without your horse you must have lots of time to go over things and get upset about it..

I think I'd start looking around at what's for sale, I'd be very wary of liking something that looked or reminded me of the horses I'd lost, maybe best to take a friend with you.
 
Personally I'd be looking straight away, simply because I would want it to take my mind off the passing... BUT, I've always said Meg is my horse of a lifetime and I couldn't get another one for 'me'.
I've just added Penny to my collection, the total opposite of Meg really. She is a 6 month NFfilly... I wanted something 'to play with' with view to sell on at some point in the distant future. I adore having my miss match of girls, and for that reason if I were to give you advice go for something completely different from Mr Speedy... he was a fab horse, you can't replace that, so don't bother trying. Get looking for something with more bone, shorter in the leg, older in the years, bay and a mare!! - Thats the opposite yeah?? Start afresh, and I wish you all the best. Above all have fun, let the horse choose you...
 
Firstly I am really sorry to hear about losing your horse especially as they were so young still. To me it's not just losing your horse, it's everything that goes with it. Suddenly you're driving straight home from work instead of going to the yard and what to do at the weekend!
After two vets opinions on how much longer my pony would go for (he suffered with cushings particularly Lami) I started looking for a new horse. Personally I felt that I needed a new horse that would make me get out of the house after my precious boy had gone. I found my horse in December in Spain and in Feb my pony was pts, but not for the reasons that I always thought he would go - he had a massive ulceration of the eye, that given all of his other issues, was really beyond treatment. I had alway planned for my new boy to come over from Spain in April. By chance/fate I had already got a trip planned to see him a week after smurf was pts. I then had a couple of months to get over losing smurf and then get excited about my Iberian youngster - huge change from a 14hh show hunter pony! The fact that the two were so different was great as I could never ever make any comparisons. We're all different, personally in whatever the situation is, I allow myself a brief period to be upset / cry / feel sorry for myself but then dust myself down and move forwards. I know several friends who have needed a long period to grieve for their horse and thought that they would never have another, although all of them have ended up with another horse eventually. The point is there is not set period and getting a new one at whatever period after is not disrespecting the memory of your horse. x
 
awww sorry about smurf :( i must say thats an awesome name :p
What about a warmblood? thats completely different from a Tb lol Ohhh if i could afford one of them :rolleyes: ... I dont really want something that looks like him as that would be toooo weird more so like a swishy tail whilst riding and his cute wee skippy jump into canter (ok dont think il find that again lol) and how he never faffed around with his head, well after reschooling that is. Iv rode my friends horse who is the complete opposite in every way possible and i just dont like it one bit!! Or am i way to fussy :p
 
We lost our lovely boy at the end of August and we were going to wait but couldnt stop ourselves looking. We tried a few and found the girl of our dreams (with whom our last lad would have liked v much as she v pretty) and she arrives tomorrow!!! Whilst I miss my boy like crazy I also miss being around horses and a new challenge will take our minds off the past and help us look forward to the future. They are gone but never forgotten.
It is of course different for everyone - just go with your gut feeling x

So sorry for your loss, trust me I have been there but the dark days do get better xxx Hugs xxx
 
awww men iv just seen a youngster which looks like Speedy when he was the same age :eek: *glances to the sky "Darn youuuuuu"* lol not identical but an uncanny resemblence!!! I want it now, darn it!!!!
 
Ditto what Brighteyes said. When Pickle was pts I was just going to share my son. then realised I needed my own. Looked for a loan but ended up buying. But had a strict rule that it mustn't look like her. But even though Pickle was a bay mare & Jason is a piebald gelding the first person who saw a photo of him said was "he reminds me of Pickle - it's his expression"!
 
brighteyes said:
Don't get one that looks like him - it isn't him and you'll resent it most likely. Unless you aren't wanting it to be him, that is...
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I agree with brighteyes.
I already had Herbie before I lost Lucy. I had been looking for something for a while to make her life abit easyer as she was getting older. I was looking for a youngster to bring on who would be ready to take over when she retired. (if you see what I mean) But when she was diagnosed and given a less than 50% chance of servival I upped my search because I knew I would not be able to get another after Lucy was gone. :( So I bought Herbs. I worked with him for a while but after loosing Lucy it all sort of stopped for a while as I just couldn't bare it. I couldn't even groom him, i didn't want to even look at him, he wasn't Lucy and all I wanted was her. After a while I started to just get him in and brush him and eventualy started riding him. I realised he needed me and I just kept thinking how Lucy would never forgive me if I gave up on Herbs. (I never gave up on her)
Herbie is Very diffrent from Lucy he's a 12.2hh, bay roan, forest bred where as she was a 13.2hh, chestnut, Welsh.
On Sat I took on another pony a 14.1hh, chestnut, gelding who is another forest bred. I love both the boys in there own special way but they are both compleatly diffrent to Lucy and although I still miss her so so much and think about her everyday I never compare the boys to her. (They just couldn't come close)
As others have said everyone is diffrent and it doesn't mean you loved Speedy anyless if you get another one sooner than others have got new horses. Just don't rush yourself. Get a horse when you are ready and when you find the right one. Just try to avoid looking for another Speedy because I'm shore just like Lucy he was one of a kind and it wouldn't be fair to expect another to live up to his standerds :)
Good Luck with your search and I hope you find another star horse who you can love and have lots of fun with.
 
3 weeks. I found it really helped, actually, it gave me something else to focus on and stopped me dwelling on things.

ETA: I agree with brighteyes, buy something different. My first one was a 4yo piebald SecDX, so I made sure I didn't look for a cob, a youngster or a coloured so there would be no points for comparison. Ended up with an 8yo bay TBX, have never regretted it for a minute.

Good luck x
 
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Ellie was PTS on 16th Sept and my new girl Callie arrived last Wednesday :) however.... its was already decided that Ellie was at least going to be retired so I had already started looking about 2 weeks before she was PTS.
 
So sorry to hear about your horse.

This is looking back quite a few years now, to when I was in my early/mid teens. My 1st pony had to be pts (cushings related laminitis). I already had another horse who was also supposed to be for my parents to ride, but he had proved unsuitable for my nervous mum and (then) novice dad.

I remember thinking in horror after my pony was gone - oh dear god now I'm left with you! It sounds awful but he was so unlike her: green, rude, dominant, huge, nappy, spooky, he bucked and tanked off, was difficult to lead, impossible to lunge...I could go on. I loved him mostly because he was mine, but I couldn't imagine him ever filling the shoes of my pony.

But I really needed something to take my mind off things so I channeled all my misery and frustration into training him and it turned out to be exactly what we both needed. With all my attention on him he just transformed before my eyes. Underneath his stubborness, lack of balance and general ignorance there was a beautiful, talented, intelligent, horse. I thought he could never live up to my expectations - suddenly I found that I was going to have to learn to live up to his abilities.

I have lovely memories of my first pony that another horse could never replace. I now also have lovely memories of my second horse (now a retired country gentleman) that I would never have experienced if I'd walked away from him. So I would definitely say start quietly looking for your next one - there is no pressure to buy straightaway - but don't shut yourself off from the right one coming along.

Sorry for the slightly sentimental post, but I hope it gives you some food for thought anyway.
 
It was a month before I got my new one. When my 1st horse was pts, I had to go up the yard daily as we had our pony and hated watching my sister ride as I had a long time off riding my horse before he was pts. I started looking around but was not rushing into buying untill I came across my boy now. He was the oppisite Darcy was a ex-racer, 16.1, couldnt hack as to spooky, couldnt keep weight on. Pea is a 14.3 breed unknown, good bone, good doer, who loves hack, jumping and schooling. I loved my 1st horse and he taught me a lot but Pea has turned out to be a horse of a life time.

I did have 2 view Pea lots before I made a descion as didnt wana rush but I knew I had to have him. It really is personal choice go with your gut instint.
 
Ok not the same animal but the same situation...

A good friend of mine lost his dog last month. Massive seizure after 15 years of friendship. He moped round the house (lives on his own) and the place just felt so empty. I suggested he get another dog as soon as is humanly possible otherwise the feelings just get worse, after all I suspect if his oldun could think in human terms she certainly wouldn't want him to be without a companion.

He got fantastic closure from cleaning all his dog's old things and recycling or buying new for the new pup and it made him so much happier. There's now a 4 month old minature Schnauzer rescue bounding around his place :)

I think it would be the same if I ever lost Sleepy. He wouldn't want me to be without a horse around the place when there are so many out there who need the right home, just like he did...
 
Only a couple of weeks TBH....I was gonna wait and just make do with OH's and daughters and look around in the spring, but I couldnt get a particular horse out of my mind that I had seen back in may and he was still for sale.

I still miss my horse like mad.....but the new one is a bit of a project and its taking my mind off it. If I want a steady hack out I pinch one of the hairy ones;)

I think no matter how long you wait....you will still make comparisons to your old horse, its only natural.
 
Well it will be a week on Weds that my boy was PTS and I started looking tentatively before he was PTS as I knew it was coming. My first viewing is Sat and I do feel guilty going to see another but Legend has left a massive hole in my life and I hate the way that being without him is making me feel. Just going straight home from the office on Fri made me burst into hysterical sobs.

He will never be 'replaced' but I need a horse that can give me a cuddle, have fun with and help me to move on. I miss him dreadfully and I do think that whatever horse I get I will compare them to him but I think I'm going to go for a mare this time and you cant get much more different than that!!

I think you have to listen to your heart and decide what is best for you. A good friend of mine said that the right one would find me.. I hope she is right!
 
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