Most Horse Owners

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Tia

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Do you think most horse owners are pretty selfish?

When their horse injures themselves, do you think that most owners think "oh poor horse must be feeling lousy"? Or do you think that they think "what a blooming pain, I was hoping to do such and such with him/her .... and now I can't"? Or "damn more vet bills!" Or "gosh all the extra work I'll have to do now"?

Just interested in your thoughts and how YOU feel when one of your horses injures itself.
 
Am always sympathetic to the horse. I usually only think of the vet bill when they hit my hallway floor
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I think some are & some aren't - depends on how much they do with said horse I suppose.

I primarily enjoy hacking, and anything we achieve extra to that is a bonus. I had my old farrier tell me that horse owners say they'll do anything for ther horses, but they won't get off their backs which I resented somewhat when he wanted to take shoes off my TB for the summer. TBH, I had no problem with not using the horse for 3 months if it was in his best interests, but after 3 months of watching my horse hobbling round the field looking utterly miserable & standing in the field shelter doing nothing for most of the day whilst the hooves got progressively worse, I had to get a referral.

If he is unwell or injured I am far more concerned about getting him right than being annoyed that I can't ride, but I suppose if you compete a lot it is very annoying.
 
I do not think that is selfish. Horses are a consumately selfish hobby in the care they need and the money they take. With the cows on the farm we do not think poor ill cow. Mind you I am not very caring towards humans either and have no sympathy towards man flu.
 
I have to say I am very lucky indeed with having my vet as a personal friend - I never ever have to worry about bills; they will always be low amounts of money; even for fairly serious injuries, so it's never a consideration if I feel I need to have him out.

I'm not sure if it is because I live with them or not, and maybe this does make a difference on how you feel about them, but when I sit outside with my glass of wine on an evening and I watch said "ill" horse I do feel pangs of sorrow for them.

It would never bother me if I couldn't compete or take them somewhere that I had planned - I'd simply cancel and do it another time, or make alternative arrangements.

First and foremost; when I hear of a horse injuring itself - my thoughts are always for the horse; I rarely care whether the owner is put out about not being able to do something - can't help it, it's just the way I am.
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Crumbs I've been waiting on a horse to come right for over 2 years now - broken necks take a long time to heal......but I think he has recovered now and am planning on backing him out this year.
 
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With the cows on the farm we do not think poor ill cow

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Don't you? My beef farmer-friends all get very concerned when any of their cattle are not well.....and they're big strapping men, LOL!!
 
I can be selfish in some ways. I have had a lot of horses and I feel more for one than I will for the other. Speed was one bundle of terror and I never felt sypathetic towards him, on the other hand when Oshk's injury was discovered I was in pieces and honestly felt shite about it, all I could think about was how much I hate toothache and how long he had put up with it all. When it comes to little scrapes and nicks I do think "what a bummer, I was going to cub this weekend" but I know a few selfish riders who have been in the same situation and have just thought "sachet of bute will do it, I am cubbing this weekend" to me that would be more selfish.
 
As the others have said I think it depends on what the horses intended purpose is. If you have bought a young TB for racing or future sales, then clearly the first thoughts of most owners in that position would be the vet bills and whether of not they would still be fit for their intended purpose eg impending sales, racing etc. I have 2 yearlings at the minute, one of whom recently got a kick in the field. i instantly called the vet when I saw it - so I guess that would mean that instinctively I care for the horse's welfare, but vets bills and the extent of healing were the delayed worry.

I guess having thought about it, in my case, the welfare of the horse is a given ie. its always put first. the 2 yearlings are not pets, they are investments but they are given the same sympathy as the ponies and horses I had through the years.
My vet bills have decreased somewhat in recent years and will decrease a bit more once Iv qualified and can treat them myself, so bar surgical colic or something similar, vet bills arent of great concern. Its always a disappointment if your horse turns up lame on the eve of a show or hunt etc but I have to say that as lonmg as the rider does not decide to ride it regardless (as many a kid will attempt if their pony comes up slightly unlevel due to a lost shoe on a show morning), they could not be called selfish for being disappointed.

PS. Im afraid I always tend to write things straight as they come into my head so I appologise if this makes little sense!
 
Depends why you own a horse, if it is so it can sit in your field and look pretty I can understand where you are coming from. But I only have a horse so I can ride it. So of course I am disappointed if I can't do what I want to do because the horse is lame, I am also not rolling in money so I think damn vet bills, but I also think poor Dolly for being lame can't be much fun for her either. Does that make me a bad person?
 
Yes that all makes perfect sense
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Another consideration of course, is how many horses the people own. It doesn't affect me if one of mine goes down lame as I have tonnes of others who will do the same job. I guess if you only have one horse then yes it could be a bit of a bummer.
 
TBH, when a horse injures itself it tends not to bother me however serious it is.
May seem harsh, but I have learnt that these things happen and that they generally will at the worse possible time.
As long as I am happy that I have done everything necessary to prevent unnecessary things from happening (which I always am), then it doesnt bother me.
 
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Does that make me a bad person?

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I can't see how it would make you a bad person. People just think differently - you see I feel sorry for Dolly but not for you - now does that make ME a bad person, LOL!!
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No idea....only you can answer that. Using the same reasoning, perhaps it makes me unsympathetic to owners? Well I can answer that one - yes I am unsympathetic to the owners, except under PTS situations or when I know they are beside themselves with sorrow/worry for their horse.
 
I definitely worry about the horse first over everything else, I don't tend to worry about the vet bill until it hits the mat and then I don't begrude the horse I just think sh*t how am I going to pay that, i've had some whopper vet bills in my time! £3500 on a 10 day old foal (few years back), spent well over £3k on my 28yo horse this winter (and then still found the money to have a individual cremation because he deserve nothing less) and last month my vet £1800 and £800 from my friends emergency vet for my horse up there and £250 from her normal vet for horses up there! When I sit down and think about it the reason i'm poor financially is horses i'd be bloomin rich without them! But I'd rather have a rich life full of horses and be poor than be rich with a poor life if you know what I mean!
 
If a horse injures itself, I think "bloody clumsy oaf", and yes, it DOES annoy me. Having owned one of the world's most idiotic horses with no self preservation, I do think my annoyance in his continuing efforts to make himself useless were absolutely justified. I have sold horses because they cannot do the job I bought them for. I have no time, nor a place, for field ornaments. If I feed my horses well, exercise them well, care for them well, then yes, I get irked if they do something that means they cannot be ridden.

I have had a horse suffer from a degenerative problem (arthritis) and I did everything poss to ensure his ridden career wasn't cut short, and yes that includes medicating him. If I had not have been able to sustain some level of soundness (on medication or not) then he would have gone to pastures new.

I care not a jot whether the above makes people think I am uncaring/selfish/whatever...it is just me!
 
Oh crikey that is big money to be spending on vet bills. I am very thankful for my vet....more so after reading your post
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Mind you perhaps I am hard; I wouldn't spend money like that on most of my horses.....there are a handful of them that I would pay regardless of cost (but only if there was a positive prognosis) because they are extra-special. All of my horses have a "value" placed on their heads, which has nothing to do with their actual market value, and if the vet bill was going to be over that figure then I would likely have the horse put to sleep and keep the money to be put towards all the others.
 
I donlt think it makes you uncaring/selfish weezy, I think different people have horses for different reason and as long as they are looked after and have quality of life it doesn't matter how you think about it. I don't ride anymore (unless highly goaded into doing it) so I spend all day on the ground with my horses does that make me soft/stupid/overly sentimental because i'm not working them as such, no I still make the tough decisions when I have to and if one isnt suited to what I want to do with it I sell it on as long as it is suitable to be sold on.

I had a horse once that was determined to kill itself, the vet wrote on my vet bill he sent me once under the comments for the itemised bill - Ran through the gate AGAIN!!!!
 
i tend to think, poor girlie, make sure shes comfy/cared for/medicated whatever - and then get home and think bu**er, all that hard work and now its bloody going to have a month doing sweet FA and i'll have to start back at the begining.

i try not to be selfish about it but sometimes when you only have one horse, and you work blooming hard to support and keep it, plus training - its hard not to get very 'down' when it all goes pete tong.
 
i dont know if this is related to my post below or not:S

but anyway i do feel very much for my horse, also i know my horse loves the work and is not the kind of horse that can sit in a field, and it is not why i have her.

i already have one horse that i can hardly ride and im not sitting here thinking "oh for goodness sake, stupid horse etc etc now i cant compete" and i never did when this happened.

if millies leg does mean she has to have time off then i will be upset because tbh iv had a couple of months where i have had to concentrate hard on school and tbh before i go out to work i would have liked to have the whole summer with millie to improve both of us as thelast few weeks i have started to feel like we are tgetting somewhere again.
 
Thinking about it, I have got Chum insured recently so hopefully this will take away the worry of huge vets bills - esp. after seeing some of the figures quoted on here. Chum got kicked in the field a couple of weeks ago and was hurt and petrified of the others - my heart just melted and I wanted to wrap him up in cotton wool - didn't think about any other implications until much later. He is my first and only horse so if any wrong with him I am buggered.
 
Nope not related - just curious.
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I understand disappointment but I think I am in a position where I don't have to be disappointed about one of mine going down lame. Having loads, helps on this score.
 
I agree in many respects with you Tia, although I look at it slightly differently, I go on the horse prognosis for the quality of his life, it often matches with what you are willing to spend because the more drastic the treatment usually the more expensive it is.
The 10 day old foal was given a 70% chance of full recovery with the operation which I thought were good odds, although the bill ended up being almost double what they quoted, I don't blame foal just the vet that couldn't do the maths!
Unfortunately my old horse injured himself beyond repair after fully recovering from a winter of other curable problems! Total expenditure was over 3k, but in all honesty if I had forseen the injury I wouldn't have persisted but all the other problems he recovered from fully and could still be active and useful. It was all very sad!
Your vet sounds like he needs treasuring!
 
ahh ok, it just seemed a bit odd !

yeh well i only have the one "rideable horse" who i am now in my 3rd year of owning and i ahve enver with any horse been able to just have a run with no problems-i know thats horses from uyou, but when you finally feel like your getting somewhere it has realy upset me, i just hope the problem is sortable.
 
Ahh yes - I have had that with other vets I have to say. I had a little barn kitten who was crushed a few years ago by a horse. The vet told me it would cost £150. Kitten cost me 20 quid and I wasn't greatly attached to her however I thought that £150 was acceptable......£600 and 5 days later the story was not the same! I was a bit peed off with the vet to be honest for not telling me that it would be £150 EACH visit and she would need to visit at least 4 times a week for the forseeable future!
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I told him that the kitten would have to be put down then as I wasn't paying that sort of money......he did the following treatment, 3 times a week for almost 6 months free of charge.....kitten survived, only to be run over 3 years later.
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My equine vet over here is a treasure and I do really appreciate him - he comes over for curries at our house as part payment.
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I can understand there would be disappointment if your horse injures itself and you had plans, especially those who compete/ride at higher levels than me.....it's only natural to feel disappointment surely? Whether the rider/owner feels a resentment or anger towards their horse for costing them money or being out of action is a different matter. I cannot speak for other owners, just for myself.

Here's an example......My worst nightmare came true on Patches last Sunday. I was riding in the field and she fell to her knees which catapulted me into the air, landing on her head as she picked herself back up. My first thoughts were not "owww that hurt" (which of course it damn well did hurt) or "stupid horse, I was going to a fun ride in a week". My first thought was for her and whether she had hurt herself, just because I care....not because I didn't want to call the vet or incur fees (but then with a vet as hot as mine, the fees have their plus points). I checked her knees, walked her around and generally fussed over her until I was sure she was ok to hop back on and walk off for 10 mins. I gave her the next day off in the field, trotted her up etc and then hacked her gently the following day.
 
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