Ok ,how many of us actually keep our horses for life

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I'll probably own my three til they pop their clogs (or I die of an avalanche of poo on my field's muddy slopes
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And I pay livery...but am intending to relocate and will look at renting or buying a field so they can continue their feral existence
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I would not keep them going indefinitely though...they need to be at least paddock sound and have a happy enjoyment of life...and I've sorted out their futures if I die.
See, Satanists can be sentimental too.
S
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You have a soul?
 
All our will stay for the rest of their days, two are rising 16 and the other is rising 20.
The 20 year old really couldn't be sold on, so if we came into a really bad financial situation he would have to be pts. He has cushings, is a real grumpy old man (bites if you don't watch the front end and kicks if you don't watch the other end). Also just little things like, he has a bit of arthritus so is never trotted on roads, has to be treated carefully when loading and clipping due to ticklishness and bad treatment and can get laminitus....acutaslly reading that back..ho would want him! bless!!!
The pony was sold when i outgrew him as he got bored not going out and doing stuff. But he was brought back three years later..bored having not done much for a year! and the last moo...well she's my sisters and she loves her..i think even if she became lame and unrideable she wouldn't part.
 
My horses are for life. My pony passed on at the age of 14 having had him since he was 2 and Ralph I hope will be with me forever, I would never sell him no matter what happens, we have too strong a bond.
 
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To me a horse isn't a pet. I have to pay livery and I can only afford 1 horse in both time and money so I'm not going to keep one that doesn't do what I what. Doesn't mean I don't love my horse and don't make sacrificies to keep it.

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This is exactly how i feel. I've loved every horse i have had (and ive had quite a few!) but they are there to do a job...i cant afford to keep a horse as a pet. BUT i will make every effort to find a good home for those i sell.
 
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I'll probably own my three til they pop their clogs (or I die of an avalanche of poo on my field's muddy slopes
wink.gif
).
And I pay livery...but am intending to relocate and will look at renting or buying a field so they can continue their feral existence
grin.gif

I would not keep them going indefinitely though...they need to be at least paddock sound and have a happy enjoyment of life...and I've sorted out their futures if I die.
See, Satanists can be sentimental too.
S
grin.gif


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You have a soul?

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DEFAMATION! Admin! Admin! You'll be hearing from my lawyers (Hell is full of them
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) shortly...
S
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My first pony I got when I was nine and she was five. She was thirty when she died and had been retired for seven years. She was a loyal friend and I owed it to her to give her a happy retirement when she became too arthritic to work. That said she was never as happy retired as she had been even in light work. I struggled a lot in her last year of life to decide when it was going to be time to call it a day. She became a feisty old thing when she got older and had days when she'd gallop about and refuse to be caught and others where she was incredibly stiff and sore and it made it terribly hard to make a decision. In the end she took the decision out of my hands as I just found her dead one morning. So I literally did keep her until the end of her days.
My next horse I got when I retired my pony. I got her in 1998 and she died in a road accident when we were out hacking in 2001 so I had her until the end too - sadly it just came one hell of a lot sooner than I thought it would. She'd still of been a lifer for me though as you could never of met a more genuine and sweet natured mare. I still miss both of them.
I guess my current horse will be with me for life too. She is quirky, bloody-minded at times and very opinionated but has taught me more about horses than any other I've encountered. We've had a real roller-coaster ride together and there were times when I seriously considered selling her because of some of the issues she had and my perceived ability to cope with them. In the end we worked through it together and that has given us a very strong bond and mutual understanding. I would never sell her now even though I have actually had people trying to talk me into it. Obviously noone knows whats round the corner and if I ever ended up in a position where I couldn't give her the care she needed either financially or physically then I would find her another home, but I to be honest I think we're stuck with each other for better or worse!
I honestly think by the time I'm 90 I'm going to have a collection of equally decrepid horses that I've never parted with and just accumulated over the years.
 
Would anyone have guessed Shilasdair's post. Amazed ,I knew you were lovely underneath.
I definately don't believe in keeping them into old age if unwell and would rather have put down than sold on ,then I know what has happened .

As I said 'an old lady rambling'
 
Out of our current 5 owned horses(one is out on loan) 3 will never be sold. One is my lad, a pathetic excuse for a horse who I wouldn't dare sell in case he was run into the gound.
One is our first pony, he deserves through what we put him through a home for life and one is little sisters old pony, at 17ish we feel he is too old to sell.
The ones who will move on are sisters mare, shes young and we couldnt keep her realistically, and a selling project.
I regret selling my second pony but he is happy where he is, well treated etc. and he was too young to be relegated to the field for years to come (aged 8)
 
Phantom and Magic will always be with me, even though Magic is on loan for a little while, she will never be sold.
Herbie.... I am not sure where i am going with him, and at 6 he is too young to be a pet lawnmower.
I have my old Newfie (22+) who is on permanent loan (so a home for life but not sold) and lil Harry, also on loan (although if they offered to buy him I would let him go)
Unless my circumstances changed of course! If I had my own land, they would all be with me, and more lol...
 
My horse has a home for life no matter whether he can be ridden or needs more care etc. I have always bought animals and kept them until they pass away or have to be put to sleep because of severe ill health. Everyone is different I guess but I become very attached to my creatures and could not bear anything happening to them.
 
A touchy subject.

I don't think a horse is for life. If they were I wouldn't have the horse I have now as he would still be with his previous owner.

Saying that as much as we would probably love to keep our horses for the rest of their days peoples circumstances can change or finances might not allow this and being big expensive animals suggests a new home.
 
I am not amazed at all by Shilasdair's post!
Evil people have feeling too you know

hehe seriously, I always lol at her posts but it's easy to tell that she has a heart (very far down) x
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I am not amazed at all by Shilasdair's post!
Evil people have feeling too you know

hehe seriously, I always lol at her posts but it's easy to tell that she has a heart (very far down) x
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* Shilasdair wails *

Satanists lie! Now I feel queasy.
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S
 
I only have long term responsibility for 2 now. Mister Mole has gone to a loan home where he is loved and cosseted beyond belief, and will be until the day he dies, he wasn't actually mine but I did feel an obligation to find him a good home for life, with his owner's agreement.
Emerald, unless her owner ever wants her back, will also be with me for life.

I have sold a horse before, but one that was young and ready to go on and do other things.
 
FHC has a home for life. He's already been enjoying a happy laid back early retirement for years. In the unlikely event that we ever couldn't keep him we've always said he'd be put down at home. As he's worthless (apart from meat value) his future couldn't be guaranteed any other way.

Also Amersham is too close to us.
 
Hmm, tricky one that. On the one hand I am actually growing to quite like my horse, though he's not a pet as he is too miserable. Until very, very recently I would have said he was for sale at the right price (which was a lot of money), but now I am slowly starting to bond with him and feel I owe him an awful lot. Helps that he is now nice to ride 9 times out of 10 too!

On the other hand I only have time and money for 1, and if he couldn't event, would I really keep him? I just don't know about that...it'd be a very hard choice.
 
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Those at us with horses at livery will always answer q's like this differently to those with acres outside their front doors.


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Not true, mine is on livery, yet she still has a home for life, even if that means I spend years looking after a retired neddie and having nothing to ride, as can't afford to keep two.
 
As you probably know through previous posts,have had h since he was 8mnth old he is now nearly 13......Yes,he is with me til the end of his days!!!
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We have been in a "oh my god"money situation but we managed!!!Pleased to say he is part of the family and i wont sell my kids soooo....pmsl!!!
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Those at us with horses at livery will always answer q's like this differently to those with acres outside their front doors.


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Not true, mine is on livery, yet she still has a home for life, even if that means I spend years looking after a retired neddie and having nothing to ride, as can't afford to keep two.

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Echo that!!!H is on livery and should he have to be retired i too cannot afford another,so i will do without as long as he is happy and contented to live his life out in the field!!!
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I've got 3 that I will most definitely have for life, prehaps 4. The foals are to be sold in the future but I haven't a clue when.

Someone could offer me a few million pounds tomorrow and I can honestly say I would not take it for my ponios
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I've had my old horse for 17 years, she is here for life. Looks like the same for her daughter (who we bred) who is now 15. I had to pick up a pony for a family who have just moved to our village before Christmas. It's the daughter's first pony. The daughter is 40 and the pony 37! First time I've ever seen a shetland with a whitney travel rug and knee/hock boots - bless her, she obviously has a home for life!
 
I sold my first pony on to do the same job he did for me.

Second and third ponies went permenantly lame but can live out so cheap to keep, healthy and happy in a field so they were retired.

First horse PTS at 7 because she kept tying up and the vets couldn't figure out why. She was never in work for me and would not have done a job for anyone else although if I'd been a selfish b'stard I could have sold her as an allrounder for a reasonable amount of money as she looked 100% sound when she wasn't having an azoturia attack and was a lovely ride.

Second horse PTS last March at 12. I'd had him 6 years and wouldn't have sold him because we got on so well. If he'd been ridable at all I'd have given up the competing which I enjoy and which I bought him for and would have accepted just hacking/gentle schooling. However he was very lame and would only have been able live in total retirement from work and being a high maintenance horse (stabling, surgical shoeing, livery etc...) I couldn't have kept him and not been able to ride for the next 20 or so years - my job is looking after ponies too small to ride and my horse is my hobby. I put myself first and he was PTS and I am crying now because I still feel so guilty about it. Still better than fobbing him off as a companion only for him to end up in Beeston two days later.

Third and current horse - God knows shes a strange one and I can only hope its fate we found each other. I think I'll have her for many years to come.

I know I'd only sell a horse if it gave it a good chance of a better life doing the right job somewhere else.
 
See, I agree with you carthorse. For me, if i buy a horse, its for life; just like a dog, just like any other pet.

I have sold horses in the past and ive spent the last 6 years beating myself up over it. Two of them died within a few years of being sold. One is currently up for sale and due to existing issues, i know hes not going to find the home he deserves.

Jack will be with me until the end of his days. If he goes lame tomorrow and can no longer do what I want, well, thats life. Its not his fault and he wont just be passed on im afraid.
 
Currently have 5 horses.
My first pony who i've had for nearly 9 years, sisters first pony who weve had for 6, my 2nd pony who i've had for almost 5, rescue shetland who i've had for nearly 3 and my sister's TB, Rocco had him for 2 and a half.

The first four will never be sold, primarily because of their age, their state of health, and my absolute adoration for every single one.
However, many people on this post have commented about how if their horse was unsuitable for them and could no longer do the job they wanted them to, they would be sold/loaned/pts. Personally don't agree with it. Again just personally. Not saying what these people do is wrong.
I would love to go out competing, to jump, to do all these things. But 3 of my ponies cannot be ridden and Boo can only be hacked and lightly schooled. I could get rid of these four invalids and buy one "good" horse to do all these things on. And many people have asked me why I don't.
But, personally, I would prefer to return the favour these 4 have given to me over the time they've been with me.
Ok, so they can no longer serve a purpose in the sense that I can't go out competing and improving my riding as such with them... but they have taught me, IMO, empathy.

I could never and will never choose my own satisfaction (not well being but satisfaction) over their well being and happiness.

I love them to pieces and that is all that there is to it.

We can not afford 5 horses now my sister is at Uni and not paying for Rocco and so he is, devastatingly, on the market. I feel this is the only fair way to go - he is the only sound, young (6) horse with potential to make someone the kind of horse that i would like for myself. But at this moment in time cannot have.

I do not have acres and acres on my door step. I rely on the kindness of land owners and my own hard work to be able to afford to keep my horses. We rent 3 small paddocks from friends dotted around the village and work hard and pay to keep Trixie and Shadow at the "yard" (field with a shelter).

I could give all this up and i'd be able to afford a "good" horse, and keep it at livery with facilities and be able to go out competing.
Would I? As i've said, not if it would mean I had to give up on the 4 ponies that got me to the stage I am at.
They, IMO have taught me more than any person in my life, aside from my Mother, has so far.
 
We have had a number of horses over the last 30 years or so as a family and all but the current three have stayed with us till the end. One was a foal and we don't know what we would have done with him as he grew up, but unfortunately we never got to find out
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We have had one who reached her 40's and one who was 33 when she was PTS earlier this year, having had her for 23 years. The three we have now, two 11 year olds and one in her late twenties will stay with us till the end of their days.
 
I had NO idea that so many people kept their horses for life.I will probably buy another foal/yearling/young horse when Penfold retires but he will be pts at home.It was my decision that he was born and my decision when he dies[ dread it]

I don't have much of a problem with people who are experienced buying horses ,backing or schooling and selling.I think it is the ones that people have until they are in their mid teens and have a slight problem so not quite up to the job so they are sold for a 'quieter 'life, do they get that ,some do , but others just end up in a market.Better to make that hard decision and pts at home ,then you know their end .It is harder ,as out of sight out of mind , but the few hundred that can be got for them is not worth it. Just work some overtime until you can buy another.
Stupid old lady, sorry
 
I have only sold one. And she had a home for life, is still there 25 years on! I find riders or retire mine. Fortunately I have the land at the moment. If I cant keep my oldies they will be pts. My two younger girls would make excellent broodmares so I would consider selling them if necessary but it would be last resort. But tbh they are such nice girls that they can be companions for each other when the time comes! And I have enough friends to help me out if Im stuck for somewhere for them to go.

Ive never had a horse I wanted to sell. Ive had one that needed to go to a professional but she died. And maybe Ive been lucky in that the horses Ive had have been worth changing my dreams for...

I would never be a professional would I!!!!!
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I sold my first pony as she was far too talented for me and bought via a dealer so we didnt know how good she was. She was sold to a showjumping home, no idea where she is now. Sold my second pony as she was outgrown and sold her to another girl that was at my riding stables (have since left). She was the ideal pony to have lessons on and had a nice life there, and although she went from owner to owner she stayed at the same stables untill she died of grass sickness last year. My special needs pony that I have had for 8 years is in a home for life, he may go out on loan for a while I'm at uni but would probably stay at my yard, he's far too special (in all ways) to be sold on.
 
Our horses are all with us for life, no question. And we have made provision in our wills as to who they will go to, plus adequate money to pay for their care for the rest of their lives should OH and I pass away before them.
 
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