Moving to Uni- options for my beloved horse ! :(

Hoof_Prints

Hoof_Prints

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Well I applied to study Biology for a 2013 September start, and told myself (thinking that I wouldn't get accepted) that I would only go Uni this year if I got in to my top choice of UCL.

Well last week a received an email saying I had an offer and I have already achieved the grades they require :/ I have already deferred one year due to not getting in to vet med and wanted to up my grades to As.
I then decided I wanted to become a biology teacher and applied to study biology , to then take a PGCE after.

I have also been accepted at my local uni (Leic) where I would live at home and obviously be able to look after my horses easier. But the offer of UCL being such a high ranked uni, seems stupid to reject!

What have other people done with their horses? Considering loans, obviously selling is an option but not a very favourable one :( He's safe and 1000% bombproof and bold, but not straightforward. I find him quite easy to ride but as my experienced family can't ride him without confusing him, i'm worried that it would be hard to find a rider for him as he's very sensitive to fine aids and 'buttons'. The only riders around to loan and share seem to be kick and pull ex riding school riders :o he does seem to require regular 'proper' schooling as he's very clever and gets bored.

So basically, WWYD?! It's all come a bit too fast and sudden :(
Typed a bit of an essay and still could type a lot more but think I will shut up now ;)
 
Advertise with the local PC, and work really hard at getting him a bit more used to different riders and going off aids that are more universal?

I think you'd be mad to not go to UCL tbh, it's an amazing uni and all my friends there love it and are dreading leaving. If the money is not needed, the advertise for loan and see if you can get them early on so you can teach them a bit on him.

Massive congratulations on the offer, that is so good! You should be very proud of that.
 
Is your only reason for wanting to go to UCL purely because it's a high ranked uni? I'd look at the courses first, which one do you prefer, what the facilities are like at each uni ect. And choose the one that feels right for you.
Would it be poss to move your horse to a livery in London or surrounding? Or would this be too expensive?
I would personally do everything I could to avoid loaning/selling but sometimes this just isn't an option.
Just research all the options first before deciding :)
Good luck!
 
Deep breath, you have the whole summer to find a loaner so I if that's what you decide take your time to find the right person for him.
If you think about loaning you'll need a plan B incase he comes back to you at short notice.
Is he kept at home? - in which case Plan B is easy
Could you give him some time off when you're away?

If you're considering selling is he 'right' to sell now - what about the longer term, 3 years of uni then PGCE then new job - it might be a while before you're in a position to ride 'properly' again - so selling is worth considering for him as much as you.

Get a piece of paper and put columns for sharing, selling, loaning, holiday etc. then write all the pros and cons of each - it will help.
 
Uni is a major changing point in your life. You also do not know where you may end up afterwards. For this reason I would advise selling, the money would also come in helpful to reduce student debts, living in London is not cheap.
 
Qru said:
Is your only reason for wanting to go to UCL purely because it's a high ranked uni? I'd look at the courses first, which one do you prefer, what the facilities are like at each uni ect. And choose the one that feels right for you.
Would it be poss to move your horse to a livery in London or surrounding? Or would this be too expensive?
I would personally do everything I could to avoid loaning/selling but sometimes this just isn't an option.
Just research all the options first before deciding :)
Good luck!
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I definitely agree with this! I'm from Cornwall and I went to Birmingham University last year purely because it was the highest ranked one that I got an offer from. I got there and changed unis after a year because I really didn't like it. I didn't like being in a city, the course had at least 200 people on so it never felt like you got any help and the modules weren't the best. I'm now at Plymouth Uni and find it way better.
I think you should definitely look into all of the unis and see which course you like the sound of best and think about where you want to live etc. I don't think uni's reputation is everything! I'm sure you'll do better in your degree if you're going to enjoy it. When I decided to leave Birmingham I thought it would be better that I got a good degree from a less good uni than a rubbish degree from a uni that had a high reputation. That was just me though and you could go to UCL and have an amazing time and get a good degree!

You could look for livery in the area of UCL. The uni will probably have a riding club/society and there might be someone there who you could share your horse with if you find it too expensive. You could find out if there is a riding society there and maybe ask if others keep their horse at uni and where they keep it? :)

http://www.uclhorseriding.com/About_Us.html
 
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Qru said:
Is your only reason for wanting to go to UCL purely because it's a high ranked uni? I'd look at the courses first, which one do you prefer, what the facilities are like at each uni ect. And choose the one that feels right for you.
Would it be poss to move your horse to a livery in London or surrounding? Or would this be too expensive?
I would personally do everything I could to avoid loaning/selling but sometimes this just isn't an option.
Just research all the options first before deciding :)
Good luck!
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This ^^. I have friends at high ranked big universities who don't enjoy their course and struggle with getting meetings with lecturers. I chose a smaller uni as I thought I wanted to do a joint equine and academic degree, that it happened to offer, it turned out I didn't and now do a purely academic one, but my uni is great its friendly with small lecture sizes the majority of modules are as enjoyable as anything academic will ever be for me, and I can easily arrange a meeting with a lecturer to discuss things I'm unsure of etc. I would choose the uni that had the course I wanted to do the most, and that I could see myself practically enjoying the best after all you need to be able to commit to spending several years there so it needs to suit you!

I agree that its an option to look into taking your horse on livery, although the expense near/in London may make it unviable. I had arranged a livery space for mine down near my uni, but it turned out I was only in 3 days a week so decided to keep them at home and commute. I would try to determine whether you would have time to look after him before considering taking him with you. Have they told you how many hours you will be in a week? if you haven't got that info perhaps you could look at website and see if theres a current timetable for the modules you would like to do and see what it is this year to give you an idea? Alternatively I suppose you will have to look at loaning or selling but I don't really have any advice to offer on that front. Good luck its not an easy decision to make.
 
Thanks so much everyone for such good replies, really helped me have a good think ! although ive still got lots more thinking to do, he's not kept at home, but kept on a private yard with my other pony (that my mum, sister and auntie all ride) so she is definitely being kept as she is a forever pony (the stroppy thing she is! :rolleyes: ) and they are on a combined cheaper rent and is cheap to keep so that's not an issue- however don't think i'd afford to keep him near London.

I actually had my mum ride him today to get him used to other people and he did really well ! I assume with lots of schooling he's become a bit more confident in himself and can cope much better now.

UCL had been my first choice before I even knew it was a high ranked uni tbh, i'm a bit hopeless with that sort of stuff and only realised it was a really good one last week :o My family have said that they'd be very happy to pay a train fair for me to return every weekend and then i'd be back in the holidays- I tried to figure out the timetables but need to have a second go at that as I went a bit over my head ... I have just over a month to decide which uni I will firm.

My friend think i'm bonkers putting a horse into the equation of uni decisions so its hard to find people to talk to who understand :( my mum is of the opinion he can be a field ornament for a while as she loves him to bits :rolleyes:

I do think he'd be ready to sell to the right person- someone experienced, calm and confident. Doesn't bother me at all if he goes to a competition home or anything, I'd just like him to be kept fit, occupied and happy.
 
I think you'd really miss out on uni life if you came home every weekend. I didn't manage a single weekend home this term despite really wanting to, simply because of concerts/ rehearsals/ work/ meetings...

Maybe a local loaner who, when you are home, becomes a sharer?
 
Don't forget, with all the holidays, you will be home for 5 months of the year, so if you can afford to keep your horse and you really want to, then keep him.

I agree with Lolo that coming home every weekend would be too disruptive, particularly in the first term, but after all the freshers stuff, you could aim to be home every 2nd/3rd weekend perhaps.

If he is happy being turned away, and your family are happy to look after him, then I would do that. If you think he needs more brain activity, maybe look for a sharer. But you might be surprised at how he takes to doing less - I turned my horse away for a winter and he came back with a much better attitude to life.
 
EPRider said:
Uni is a major changing point in your life. You also do not know where you may end up afterwards. For this reason I would advise selling, the money would also come in helpful to reduce student debts, living in London is not cheap.
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Hate to say it but I would also do this. I tried for my first year of 5 at uni with rushing back at weekends to ride and compete, horse was never fully fit, and I couldn't do everything I wanted with uni cause I had to go home so regularly. It also meant I didn't go abroad that first summer when I should have. I then sold the horse for various reasons and suddenly it opened up so many other doors for me! It also got rid of guilt of parents minding horse for me. (they didnt want me to loan horse). Lots of travelling - I spent every other summer abroad on student visas - Canada, us, India. had great experiences I would never have otherwise if I had the horse and stayed home to ride. Not having a horse at this stage in life could really give you new options.

On the negative side if you keep horse and find in 4 years you are struggling to find a job or have to move and can't afford livery etc then your horse is 4 years older and may be harder to sell? Maybe sell now and ask them to give you first refusal to buy back in a few years?

UCL has an equestrian club and a polo club if you want to ride in London

It's a great uni too :)
 
I commute to and fron uni everyday, doesnt disrupt uni life at all!
Its cheaper, see friends/OH/horses more often. In my view, everybody wins :D
 
patchypony said:
I commute to and fron uni everyday, doesnt disrupt uni life at all!
Its cheaper, see friends/OH/horses more often. In my view, everybody wins :D
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What's your commute? Hoof_Prints would be doing 2 hours or so each way which is pretty unfeasible!
 
I would personally hate to have to live in London for uni, and actually bought my horse after my first year. It was the right decision for me, but I did start uni a bit older after a first attempt and failure when younger due to all play and no work ;-) I study ecology though so it makes more sense for me to be in the countryside.
 
For the past hour I've been looking at London livery prices :o but I think it's probably getting a little unrealistic !

The problem is with London, there is so much to do but you can't afford to do any of it ! Trains tend to be between 55mins and 1hr 45mins from home to London.

I think my best option at the moment is to hope the weather picks up, get his bum out and about a bit more and hope to find someone who will loan/share him .. he gets commented on a lot as he's a looker and moves well so I hope there will be interest. He's true to his Irish roots and jumps anything ! I am feeling uneasy about the move to London now though :(
I've been told it's an offer 'too good to refuse' .. or is it?

I'm just holding out hope that he seems to be totally fine with other people riding him now and I can find a rider for him. I have 6 months until I am meant to be in London which doesn't seem very long.. I am reading all the replies but I'm sure I am missing some points when I post so I will go back and read them again when I get a moment :)

Thanks again everyone !
 
I would also factor into your decision the amount of debt you will have on completing your course.

Teaching doesn't pay that well, is it worth it when you could get a good degree and save a fortune nearer home.

Going away to uni is great if you (or your parents) can afford it, being in a strange and expensive place and broke is a different matter.
 
Congratulations on the offer! Uni is the best years of your life, and UCL is an amazing one!

If your parents are happy to keep him as a field ornament, why not just leave him at home and try to find a sharer/loaner - if your mum is happy him for stay there should be no rush so you can take time to find the right person.
I left mine at home for 5 years, came home every other weekend in first year and carried on competing, in second year he went on working livery but that went a bit wrong at the end. After that he basically was turned away in winter and came back in ad competed in summer.

I knew with my boy that he would be too old to sell when I graduated but was very lucky that my mum kept him for me. He had an array of part time riders over the 5 years who mainly did gentle hacking and none lasted very long with him. Hasn't done him any harm though, I'm now 2 years out of uni, my boy is 21 and on part livery with me and will hopefully be back out competing this summer for the first time in 2 years. Pretty sure he thought he had retired!

If you plan on keeping this horse for the rest of his life, I would keep him at home and try to find someone. If you think you might want to sell him one day I would do it now, rather than him being 3 or 4 years older and out of regular work.
 
I also think you would miss out on uni life if you came home every weekend, when my two daughters went to uni, on average I only saw them three times a year, they had a ball.

When I had my first horse thirty years ago, I got married and had my first baby, we where very hard up, and I had no car, so I decided to sell him I loved that horse with all my heart, but it was the right thing to do.

I have just been on holiday for a month, and left my horse with a friend, he couldn't have cared less, I really believe they are only loyal to the person who feeds them, and so long as you find him a caring home, he will be absolutely fine.

One of my daughters lived in London for a couple of years after graduation, and loved everything about it, you won't have time to come home every
weekend, youre youth goes by very quickly and grasp every opportunity you can with open arms, and look at the bigger picture.

It won't be cheap living in London, but you would be able to get a waitressing
Job if necessary, if you can't imagine selling your horse, and your parents are happy to pay for you to come home every weekend, would they put that money instead into paying someone to ride him.
 
Lolo said:
What's your commute? Hoof_Prints would be doing 2 hours or so each way which is pretty unfeasible!
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Door to door, about an hour and a half each way. Requires a lot of dedication but it can be done :)

Hoofprints: a lot of people say that uni is the best experience of your life, but its down to the individual. I wasn't keen on going to uni, just saw it as a way to get a better job further down the line. So I choose a good ish uni that was relatively close to home. I really enjoy my degree, and I get to come home every night and see everyone. I also save a FORTUNE! The train fees are extortionate but compared to the amount you would be spending on rent/food etc it saves you a lot!

I should be graduating next year and so I've done the commuting for 2 years. It give you some free time to catch up on work and reading.

Yes I do miss out on the occasional nights clubbing, but if my friends invite me out I just stay at their house :)

It's your choice at the end of the day, if you feel that you will be too unhappy staying away at uni and that it would affect your work etc. then choose one closer to home, you'll be loads happier AND enjoy your degree which will make all the difference to your work and your grades :D
 
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