Is your horse your pet, your plaything or something else?

Archiesmummy

Archiesmummy

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I am the proud owner of Archie and my intention is to always own him and care for him until his last breath. He is my pet and although he is a wonderful hack it would not bother me if I never sat on his back again if, god forbid, he couldn't be ridden again. It would suit me just to love and fuss him.

I know not everyone is like me and fair play to all ... we all are different and have different needs and aspirations.

Now, I am talking about you ... your needs, aspirations and suchlike ...

I was thinking ... (oh no, I hear you groan) ... what your horse is to you, will you keep him/her forever, do you plan to sell on, do you have a strong emotional attachment or can take or leave, are you a serial horse owner? why is that? are you looking for a long term partner or happy to play the field, so to speak (yes, I am still talking horses here ;). If your horse had to be retired would you be happy to keep or would you want to rehome and get another? Is your horse your pet? Your living? A commodity? An investment?

Us lot are so diverse on here, hope you don't mind me asking x
 
I recently lost my old lad. He was 31 and I had had him for 28 years. I did all manner of things on him over the years. Hunter Trialing, show jumping and in his later years dressage. He spent the last few years hacking quietly but he was a forever horse and was with me til the end whatever he could or could not do.
I also have a 28 year old mare who is retired and Whisky, who is my dressage horse. He is currently the only one who actually works for a living.
I do want to ride and compete but would keep all of them til the end even if I couldn't do that.
 
Bodey is my son, the ultimate love of my life (sad I know)!

He is with me until the end, no matter what. If for some reason he couldn’t be ridden I would get another horse, as riding is a large part of it for me, however Bodey wouldn’t go anywhere (the joys of keeping them at home).
 
I guess the thing is.... why do I own a horse? Because.

I recently considered giving up hunting due to the politics of our hunt, but then thought, if I don't hunt why do i have a horse. and Because was my answer. I'm afraid thats the only answer i can come up with. I'm lost without him. I will never sell him, but if he couldn't be ridden I would get another and he could live out his days as a pet. If I didn't hunt then I'd hack about and do a few local HT's and events and so on, but I wouldn't feel that I'd need to do stuff just for the sake of his schooling over the summer to make my winter easier.

He's got a home for life, whether thats the next 12 months or the next 12 years... (i hope its the latter)
 
Bustie and hairy are my little bit of sanity in my life!
Love them dearly. Bustie's my fun horse and Hairy is for showing....but fun also! :)

If they couldn't be used anymore....I don't know, stable space is tight for horses that can't earn their keep :/ Wouldn't get rid of them though,on loan and love them too much..

I still own my first pony but outgrown her, she's out on loan as I tried selling once and failed miserably. First person that rang up I promptly told without thinking that she wasn't for sale anymore and hung up! Woops. So loan it was!
 
Is my horse my pet, plaything or something else??

Well, yes. All of the above!

I also have my wee pony, out on loan and able to return whenever she/they wants. I have an old horse ridden occasionally, and the 'show' pony! All will be kept forever.

Ditto above - they keep me sane, keep me fit mentally and physically, I love them, I love looking after them and sometimes have weeks where I don't ride for whatever reason.

I know people complete and thats what they do and they have horses to do it with so thats different to me I guess.
 
Family members, best friends and excuses to just 'get away from the world'
like Binky said, theyre the little bit of sanity in my life :p
i really couldnt imagine lady being with someone else (im making it sound like shes my OH or something :p ) ....saying that....she IS my Horsey OH ;) even if i could never ride her again i will look after her till her last breath <3
 
Lucy is my baby. I rescued her from the meat man 12 years ago and we have been through so much together. I saved her but she has also saved me. I can't imagen life without her and every desition i have ever made has revolved around her. I have had some very good job offers on some amazing yards which i turned down because of Lucy. My world fell appart when Lucy was diagnosed in nov and given a lesss than 50% chance. I was told by several people to put her down as she was old and may not be able to be ridden anymore. But how could i do that she is my best friend my soal mate. She cost me a small fortune over the last 6 months (more than i earn) but she is worth every penny and to still have her here is amazing i don't know how i'm gonna cope when she goes.
Herbie is my latest problem pony. He came to me as his last chance. He will be with me for life we are starting to bond and he is turning into a cracking little pony. He is not sutable for re homing anyway as he is only 12.3hh and will never be a kids pony. Not that that matters i would never sell him on for fear of what might happen to him.
I do buy others to sell on. Mainly young ponies to break in and sell on as kids ponies to earn a bit extra money. I just want to give them the best start in life and i never make much money out of them as i always sell to the best home not necesseraly the one with the most money. But i'm to soft realy just look at the words in my siggy.
 
I have a 12 year old gelding who is currently out on loan to a great friend of mine whilst I'm at university. I was considering selling him and putting the money towards a new riding horse (as apart from my gelding I only have a section a). But when it came down to it I could never sell him, he was my first pony and is a true gem of a pony who's taught me to do everything from xc to a bit of dressage. My beautiful boy will be with me until the end of his days, hopefully I will be able tog et a few more years of ridden fun out of him, but even if I don't I will make sure that he has the best retirement ever. The same goes for my section a mare, I'm hoping to get a few more sections a's (I only recently realised how much I love them!) but she will remain with me forever. I can't stomach the thought of my ponies getting into the hands of unscrupulous people and them coming to a totally undeserved end.
 
Toffee is my one.

I have had Toffee for 7 years now and shes now lame(2x hock spavins), but is still capable of being ridden hacking and more than capable of spooking and jogging sideways, so how can I put her down as people have said. I am breeding from her this year because I have wanted to for a long time and would rather now while she is comfortable.

I have Flair who came to me as a rearing nutter. She has come round in a month. And is generally a lovely pony, was going to be backing her nowish but its not going to plan so might leave off for a bit and just keep playing with her. Not sure where she stands atm as she was to sell on, but we have a such a bond I know I will feel cruel selling her, I am the one at the moment she trusts and is coming on leaps and bounds.
 
Unfortunately I can no longer ride very well or regularly due to a bad accident hunting many years ago getting much worse. Elizabeth is off to uni this year so we have Cappy and Fany.

They are both forever horses, Fany is an easy ride and I will hack her out ocassionally when Elizabeth is gone.

However Cappy is a tricky ride and much too difficult for me now, so he will be a horse of leisure, a pet some would call him. He is a very good mover and could be an excellent dressage horse, very intelligent and trainable, I have had many people have offer to buy him .

However I don't feel he misses competing or being ridden, all he cares is that he is loved, which he is. He loves to be pampered, cuddled and generally fussed over, so he will be. Plus, and Iknow this is soft, but he is one of my soul mates and my life would be so much poorer without him.

Neither will ever be sold, Cappy 'cos he is just too damned quirky for most people, Fany 'cos she really is a 1 in a million, a true bombproof horse.Plus I am hoping to breed from her.

20 years ago I would have been horrified not to be able to ride, now I think there is so much more to horses than riding.:)
 
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