TreeDog
Well-Known Member
I have a very sweet gelding that I bought in March with aims of hacking, fun rides and possibly endurance once fit. He was skinny and lacking muscle when I got him so it took a while to start riding, then in June he has a field accident and sustained an open wound needing surgery and a long period of box rest. We started hand walking in September and he's now on daytime turnout (small individual paddock). Vet says I can start riding in walk and introduce trot after a couple weeks, but I think he's still lacking weight/muscle so I'm opting to do in hand exercise, walk poles etc for a bit longer.
I had him at a grass livery yard before his accident but after had to move him to have access to suitable facilities for long box rest and rehab, now on DIY stabled at night. Unfortunately the new yard will be quite restricted on turnout as ground gets wetter (they're already not turning out if rain is forecast. Small fields.)
The big spanner in the works is both me and OH are possibly facing redundancy in December if not sooner (we work in different teams in the same department), we will find out in the next couple weeks. I think it is quite likely for me. OH was talking about moving away to somewhere a bit more north before the restructuring was announced so maybe this will give us the nudge to make this move. We would leave our current rented flat and move somewhere cheaper temporarily if we both lost our jobs, until new jobs are confirmed when we'd move to wherever works best for new job locations.
I'm stuck not knowing what to do with the horse. I can't sell him while he's in the middle of rehab, and don't think I'd want to either as he's lovely. That said I'm feeling pretty disheartened by all things horse related at the moment, I keep thinking I wouldn't be so disappointed to give it all up and it's not even winter yet.
Option 1)
Turn him away at a nice retirement livery to be a horse in a herd in a nice big field until me/OH/job/location situation has settled, and OH has talked about doing a few weeks travelling if we have a period of unemployment (likely due to how long recruitment takes!) Cons: will likely cost roughly the same as current livery bill but with little to no horse related fun for me. Horse will need restarting again in spring.
Option 2)
Keep him at current yard, paying for yard services when I would be away for travelling, interviews, house moves etc, then if/when we move, move him with us to a new yard and keep him going myself as much as possible. Cons: another thing adding to stress, possibly more than one yard move, more livery bills for services, and limited turnout, which I dislike at the best of times, but it will be even more stressful at times when I will struggle to keep him in consistent work. I could try to find a sharer to ease the pressure on keeping him exercised by myself but would anyone want a temporary winter share of a rehab case?
I've considered asking to move back to original grass livery but I think they're full now and there are a few niggles that make me hesitant to go back there. Maybe I should consider it though. Option 2 obviously depends on him remaining sound when starting riding, if not I'd probably do option 1 anyway and reassess in Spring. Turning away might be a good idea anyway even I don't lose my job, I feel the field rest would do him (and me!) good compared with restricted turnout. Well done if you made it this far, sorry this ended up long! I had an actual nightmare about all this last night so it's clearly getting to me!
I had him at a grass livery yard before his accident but after had to move him to have access to suitable facilities for long box rest and rehab, now on DIY stabled at night. Unfortunately the new yard will be quite restricted on turnout as ground gets wetter (they're already not turning out if rain is forecast. Small fields.)
The big spanner in the works is both me and OH are possibly facing redundancy in December if not sooner (we work in different teams in the same department), we will find out in the next couple weeks. I think it is quite likely for me. OH was talking about moving away to somewhere a bit more north before the restructuring was announced so maybe this will give us the nudge to make this move. We would leave our current rented flat and move somewhere cheaper temporarily if we both lost our jobs, until new jobs are confirmed when we'd move to wherever works best for new job locations.
I'm stuck not knowing what to do with the horse. I can't sell him while he's in the middle of rehab, and don't think I'd want to either as he's lovely. That said I'm feeling pretty disheartened by all things horse related at the moment, I keep thinking I wouldn't be so disappointed to give it all up and it's not even winter yet.
Option 1)
Turn him away at a nice retirement livery to be a horse in a herd in a nice big field until me/OH/job/location situation has settled, and OH has talked about doing a few weeks travelling if we have a period of unemployment (likely due to how long recruitment takes!) Cons: will likely cost roughly the same as current livery bill but with little to no horse related fun for me. Horse will need restarting again in spring.
Option 2)
Keep him at current yard, paying for yard services when I would be away for travelling, interviews, house moves etc, then if/when we move, move him with us to a new yard and keep him going myself as much as possible. Cons: another thing adding to stress, possibly more than one yard move, more livery bills for services, and limited turnout, which I dislike at the best of times, but it will be even more stressful at times when I will struggle to keep him in consistent work. I could try to find a sharer to ease the pressure on keeping him exercised by myself but would anyone want a temporary winter share of a rehab case?
I've considered asking to move back to original grass livery but I think they're full now and there are a few niggles that make me hesitant to go back there. Maybe I should consider it though. Option 2 obviously depends on him remaining sound when starting riding, if not I'd probably do option 1 anyway and reassess in Spring. Turning away might be a good idea anyway even I don't lose my job, I feel the field rest would do him (and me!) good compared with restricted turnout. Well done if you made it this far, sorry this ended up long! I had an actual nightmare about all this last night so it's clearly getting to me!
