Keeping a horse in Turkey????

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Ali27

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My husband has potentially been offered a job in Turkey. The only thing putting me off is what do I do with my pony? There are two options! I take her with me (which I would love) or I put her on full livery in UK, get someone to ride her and I keep flying back. Anyone have any experience of keeping a horse in Turkey?
 
Not Turkey but we had horses in Cyprus which isn't that far away. Obviously the heat was a major factor so out at night and in during the day, ridden in the early morning or late afternoon/evening with lots of trips to the beach for swimming. Getting an equine vet in an emergency was always an issue as they were the other end of the island and it took a while for them to arrive. Feed wise there wasn't hay so they ate a green watercress type food called trefillie and Pony cubes. Nothing fancy at all and everything cost a fortune if you wanted it imported.

It was brilliant fun though, most of the horses came off the track in Nicosia and the ponies from Jordan.
 
There is/was a poster on here from Turkey, her husband is a showjumper there. There are some very nice facillities - sort of like a Country Club - if you wanted to take your horse I'm sure it would be fine. Check out the Turcoman horses there too!
 
Cortez said:
There is/was a poster on here from Turkey, her husband is a showjumper there. There are some very nice facillities - sort of like a Country Club - if you wanted to take your horse I'm sure it would be fine. Check out the Turcoman horses there too!
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Yes, I am from Istanbul, Turkey and would be happy to help you if I can :) Which city are you planning to move to?
 
It's a long time since I lived and rode in Turkey and things have come on a lot .
But the quality of the Farriers was not what we are used to at that time so I would only take a BF horse out there .
Things like vets were also much more difficult .
Turnout basically there was none the horse lived in 365 days a year .
Go out view the place before you make any definite plans it's a very different place to have an horse .
The place 1st had her horse when he was working is beauiful .
I think it's probably best suited to someone who loves show jumping or flatwork but if you can get your horse to somewhere were they provide rides for tourists it may be possible to hack .
But the further you are away from a sports club type situation the more difficult veterinary help etc will be to get .
I lived in Turkey for three years in my late twenties early thirties it's a fantastic country .
 
Still waiting for my husband to call! I'm beginning to think that maybe leaving her in U.K on full livery and getting a friend and my daughter to ride her might be the safest option!
 
Yes, I think it really might be the safest option for you as I agree with nearly everything Goldenstar says. Nowadays we have better vets and farriers and also foreign vets and farriers paying regular visits to Istanbul but I am not sure if they go to Izmir or not and they are not exactly cheap either. We have no DIY at all, grooms do the work although they will be happy if you wish to care for your horse (but you will nonetheless be required to pay for their services!). Turnout (especially in groups) is next to non-existent and very limited. We have very nice hacking where we are in Istanbul but the clubs I know in Izmir are in very busy centers so it may not be possible, however I am not very familiar with Izmir to be honest. There may be smaller riding clubs away from the center that offer hacking and turnout.
After all, it depends on how adaptable your horse is as horse care here is very, very different from what you are used to (it is bound to be a culture shock for her). What I would recommend to you is to come here, spend time in riding clubs, maybe share a horse and decide for yourself. Your horse then can follow you if you think she can cope.
 
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Is there no tradition in Turkey, among the general population, of keeping horses 1ST1? I've never been but it's a big country, is there any areas with lots of pasture, or maybe it's just too arid. I would have thought there was a horse culture of some type, but it sounds like there isn't.
 
Irish gal said:
Is there no tradition in Turkey, among the general population, of keeping horses 1ST1? I've never been but it's a big country, is there any areas with lots of pasture, or maybe it's just too arid. I would have thought there was a horse culture of some type, but it sounds like there isn't.
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Of course there is a horse culture - older than our own! Ever heard of the Byerly Turk?
 
There definitely is a horse culture, it is just very different to the UK. It is very, very rare to keep your horses at home. Turnout is also very limited due to land being very expensive around cities and because we don't have enough rain and it is very hard and expensive to sustain pasture for horses.
English-style riding is mostly focused on competition (showjumping for the most part - dressage is not very popular and there is virtually no eventing). The majority of these horses are imported WB's with a few TB's and Arabians here and there, and kept at equestrian or riding clubs. As I said, there is no DIY and all clubs employ grooms. Trainers do not travel, they choose (and sometimes sign a contract with) a club and stay put. If you wish to train with a particular trainer, you are supposed to keep your horse there.
Endurance is becoming more and more popular as it is more affordable in terms of horse power because we have both TB and Arabian racing here in this country and (just like your OTTB's) failed Arabian racehorses can be found cheaper but not as cheap as TB's as they are also sought after by the Jereed players from the East. It is an ancient game played with javelins on horseback (almost always Arabians) - it is very harsh and IMO not enjoyable to watch but very popular in some parts of Anatolia.
And last but not least, there are the numerous TB and Arabian horse studs. The biggest of these are owned by the state and are built on incredibly large areas but they are specialized operations and do not accept horses without a valid TB or Arabian passport.
I think this sums up the horsey scene in Turkey, but I am sure there are many other aspects that I forgot to mention or do not yet know about.
 
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Cortez said:
Of course there is a horse culture - older than our own! Ever heard of the Byerly Turk?
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Thanks Cortez - the Byerly Turk of course! So they must have an indigenous tradition, that's what I'm getting at. So how do those people keep horses, that tradition must live on, so I imagine there are country people there keeping horses, and have done for generations, much like here. I bet they're not holed up in country clubs and livery places.

That's interesting 1ST1 about the javelin throwing - had never heard of it! Must check it out on youtube, sounds like a spectacle.
 
I would imagine the way they keep horses in turkey would be similar to the way they are kept in spain ( probably worse). I may be generalising but after viewing yards in spain i don't think my pony would like it! We think horses here are hard done to with restricted turnout- the ones i saw they were either stabled 24/7 or had small individual paddocks of sand with an overhead cover over 1 end. They didn't even have adlib forage . There was 1 place that was actually a rescue with a paradise paddock system track but it was on a mountain and overstocked. Of course i haven't seen them all but i would rather my pony had a large field to roam , field mates to groom and interact with and grass to eat than being stuck in a 12x12 box for 23hrs a day or a slightly bigger sandpit in 40 degree heat. Their horses know nothing better and i felt sorry for them. i wouldn't put my girl through that just so i can see her for 2 hours a day!
 
booandellie said:
I would imagine the way they keep horses in turkey would be similar to the way they are kept in spain ( probably worse). I may be generalising but after viewing yards in spain i don't think my pony would like it! We think horses here are hard done to with restricted turnout- the ones i saw they were either stabled 24/7 or had small individual paddocks of sand with an overhead cover over 1 end. They didn't even have adlib forage . There was 1 place that was actually a rescue with a paradise paddock system track but it was on a mountain and overstocked. Of course i haven't seen them all but i would rather my pony had a large field to roam , field mates to groom and interact with and grass to eat than being stuck in a 12x12 box for 23hrs a day or a slightly bigger sandpit in 40 degree heat. Their horses know nothing better and i felt sorry for them. i wouldn't put my girl through that just so i can see her for 2 hours a day!
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Bit rude. Horses are kept in inumerable different ways all over the planet, and horses are badly kept in every country (including ours), and well kept too. I have had horses in Spain that were far and away the best maintained anywhere, with no lush green pastures to get laminitus on. I know of many UK and Irish horses which have moved to a dry lot system in Spain and thrived. Just because it is different to what you are used to doesn't mean it is bad.
 
Cortez said:
Bit rude. Horses are kept in inumerable different ways all over the planet, and horses are badly kept in every country (including ours), and well kept too. I have had horses in Spain that were far and away the best maintained anywhere, with no lush green pastures to get laminitus on. Just because it is different doesn't mean it is bad.
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I did say generalising and that i had seen a few yards, i am going back again in march to view some more but the ones i saw i didn't like at all how they are kept. I know there are a lot of badly kept horses here, i'm sick of seeing horses tethered with no water on roundabouts or kept in allotments and i don't like the fact we have such restrictive grazing in winter- or that there are so many 'yards' keeping horses with inadequate /unsafe fencing etc but what i am saying is that it appeared from the ones i saw that there is more opportunity for horses to live a more natural life here. There may be parts of spain where they have more space to live a more natural life , i will travel further afield on my next visit but what i saw was not for me or my pony and that was my opinion.
 
booandellie said:
I did say generalising and that i had seen a few yards, i am going back again in march to view some more but the ones i saw i didn't like at all how they are kept. I know there are a lot of badly kept horses here, i'm sick of seeing horses tethered with no water on roundabouts or kept in allotments and i don't like the fact we have such restrictive grazing in winter- or that there are so many 'yards' keeping horses with inadequate /unsafe fencing etc but what i am saying is that it appeared from the ones i saw that there is more opportunity for horses to live a more natural life here. There may be parts of spain where they have more space to live a more natural life , i will travel further afield on my next visit but what i saw was not for me or my pony and that was my opinion.
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I'm with booandellie. We made the mistake of taking our horses to Spain where we have a flat for the winter. There was only 1 livery yard for many miles, which once they were there the horses quite obviously hated. We were there for 5 long months before moving permanently to France.
Not only did the non-livery horses get beaten by the YO but the foreign groom, who was paid, was expected to work 365 days a year, live on site in a 10 foot caravan, and be supervised whenever he went into town at siesta to get basic supplies for himself. He was also made to disappear when the police came out on a prearranged visit. My idea of modern slavery.The foreign liveries (about 10) actually stood up to the YO to get the poor chap 4 hours off a month and ran a rota to take him off site and back.
Of course there will be some good places in Spain, the poney club in Zaragoza being one, I think, (we stopped there overnight and were impressed) but it is a huge ask to try to get UK horses accustomed to being out 24/7 on grass to happily accept such a drastic change and one I'd not repeat.
Perhaps OP would be better off leaving her horse in the UK and riding/buying another in Turkey.
 
Irish gal said:
Is there no tradition in Turkey, among the general population, of keeping horses 1ST1? I've never been but it's a big country, is there any areas with lots of pasture, or maybe it's just too arid. I would have thought there was a horse culture of some type, but it sounds like there isn't.
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No tradition of horses -the Turks were one of the greatest nomad races on the planet
 
Goldenstar said:
No tradition of horses -the Turks were one of the greatest nomad races on the planet
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Whaaat? One of the largest stable complexes ever built in the 15/16 centuries; the Ottoman cavalry very nearly overran Vienna (and Budapest) in the 17c; the Turcoman/Turkmene horse famed throughout europe as a highschool and race horse; foundation sires of the Thoroughbred, etc., etc. Sounds like a pretty good tradition to me!
 
Cortez said:
Whaaat? One of the largest stable complexes ever built in the 15/16 centuries; the Ottoman cavalry very nearly overran Vienna (and Budapest) in the 17c; the Turcoman/Turkmene horse famed throughout europe as a highschool and race horse; foundation sires of the Thoroughbred, etc., etc. Sounds like a pretty good tradition to me!
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That's what I was saying .
 
I've seen horses kept at home (and on farms) in Turkey. Often kept on land that was being used for something else (eg orchards) and sometimes tethered. The grazing looked a bit scrubby but the animals were all in good condition so I expect they were getting extra forage.

I think the hot weather actually agrees with horses - their coats and feet were VERY good quality and they all seemed happy and relaxed. So I wouldn't be too worried about the climate - more the access to vets and farriers.
 
Thanks guys for all the replies! I'm leaning towards leaving her in UK on full livery as turn out is my number one priority. She is also prone to ulcers which I carefully manage. Husband is home tomorrow so will have long discussion with him!
 
Cortez said:
Whaaat? One of the largest stable complexes ever built in the 15/16 centuries; the Ottoman cavalry very nearly overran Vienna (and Budapest) in the 17c; the Turcoman/Turkmene horse famed throughout europe as a highschool and race horse; foundation sires of the Thoroughbred, etc., etc. Sounds like a pretty good tradition to me!
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But what I was asking is - where is that tradition today. As in it's not normal for such a race of horse people to just ditch something so integral to their culture. So where are all the horse people in Turkey now? I'm sure it just hasn't evaporated.

In the same way that horses are so integral to Ireland, that it's impossible to imagine the country without them. Which is why even the humblest farmer will keep a good mare, and pride himself on the quality of that horse. Surely the equivalent of those type of people are still keeping horses in Turkey today. And they certainly won't be keeping them in commercial livery situations.
 
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