PLEA FROM HORSE SANCTUARY

cyberhorse

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I have a 14yr old who has had a different owner every 2yrs until I got him at 11yrs, I WILL be his final owner. While he is field sound he has enough quality of life to satisfy himself. He has taught me a huge amount and I owe him, even if that means I can't afford to keep another and therefore can't ride/compete one of my own. If he gets to the point where he is not field sound or is obviously unhappy then I will PTS. If you can't afford the basic vets fees (or insurance against them) then you can't afford to buy a horse in the first place IMHO.
 

indie999

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It makes me mad :mad: why cant people do the right thing by there old and lame horses ,sanctuarys are there for the truly needy , i have two old guys and thay are my responsibility and have been true friends to me and my kids (and still are) and the last face thay will see on this earth will be mine
rant over .

Agree if you have a horse your responsibility, if you ever think you will not be able to afford before you get one dont get one! Big animal to just dump!

Mine gave me good service and I enjoy looking after him, even if I cant ride him. He deserves a good retirement.
 

jj1966

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Here, here! My vet fees last year cost me £2280, and I only claimed for a basic £300 bill in the last 3 years but I wouldn't be without insurance for my crew, my oldest is 17 and she will be with me until the day she leaves this earth so to speak. I wouldnt have it any other way.
I pay for them and do without drinking, smoking and even going out, I dont do dinners, cinema, buying clothes etc etc my horses come first, and I work all the hours I can to pay for them. I look to the charity shops for myself unless its birthday/xmas money, but even then it will possibly go on a new rug or something, my hubby thinks I am mad! But puts up with me.
I still contribute to the house and no we are not weathly! but it is the life I choose,

Our rescue/sanctuaries are bursting to the seems, maybe this economic down turn might adjust the equine stance for the future. If you cannot afford to fund financially for any circumstance that might appear dont buy! Go to a riding school for your time of enjoyment being with and riding horses and take the stress out of it all.
 

cyberhorse

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Here, here! My vet fees last year cost me £2280, and I only claimed for a basic £300 bill in the last 3 years but I wouldn't be without insurance for my crew, my oldest is 17 and she will be with me until the day she leaves this earth so to speak. I wouldnt have it any other way.
I pay for them and do without drinking, smoking and even going out, I dont do dinners, cinema, buying clothes etc etc my horses come first, and I work all the hours I can to pay for them. I look to the charity shops for myself unless its birthday/xmas money, but even then it will possibly go on a new rug or something, my hubby thinks I am mad! But puts up with me.
I still contribute to the house and no we are not weathly! but it is the life I choose,

Our rescue/sanctuaries are bursting to the seems, maybe this economic down turn might adjust the equine stance for the future. If you cannot afford to fund financially for any circumstance that might appear dont buy! Go to a riding school for your time of enjoyment being with and riding horses and take the stress out of it all.

Exactly, well said!!
 

Puzzles

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Here, here! My vet fees last year cost me £2280, and I only claimed for a basic £300 bill in the last 3 years but I wouldn't be without insurance for my crew, my oldest is 17 and she will be with me until the day she leaves this earth so to speak. I wouldnt have it any other way.
I pay for them and do without drinking, smoking and even going out, I dont do dinners, cinema, buying clothes etc etc my horses come first, and I work all the hours I can to pay for them. I look to the charity shops for myself unless its birthday/xmas money, but even then it will possibly go on a new rug or something, my hubby thinks I am mad! But puts up with me.
I still contribute to the house and no we are not weathly! but it is the life I choose,

Our rescue/sanctuaries are bursting to the seems, maybe this economic down turn might adjust the equine stance for the future. If you cannot afford to fund financially for any circumstance that might appear dont buy! Go to a riding school for your time of enjoyment being with and riding horses and take the stress out of it all.

Hats off to you! :)

However while I agree that people shouldn't buy a horse unless they are sure they can afford it and, ideally, are insured or have money set asidfe for emergencies and vets fees, it isn't as simple as that.
It's easy to judge and assume that people who give their horses to sancturies simply don't want to pay or are presumably too selfish to have their horse PTS. However can anyone on here honestly hand on on heart claim that you have never been in a situation where you've been worried about how you're going to pay for feed or shoes that month? Finances go up and down all the time, we're in a difficult financial period, people suffer unexpectedly from illnesses, people lose their jobs and their homes, they may not have any family or friends capable of loking after their horse, they may not know where to go for help - then what? It's easy to state that their horse should automatically be PTS, but what about all the horses that are neither old nor unhealthy? If you had even a slither of hope that you could get yourself back on your feet and keep your horse, or take your horse back from the santury after a temporary period, would you do it? Would you hang on in there with your horse, unwilling to let the one thing go that gets you up in the morning? I'm sure most people give up other things first like drinking and shopping at Aldi instead of Tesco, and their horse is often the last resort. Like I said, I generally agree with most of the posts made, but be careful who you judge and what you assume. If it were as easy and simple as that then there wouldn't be such a big issue as the OP. I for one can think of many people who own horses and are scraping by each month. There is a very fine line between being able to afford it & not. Do you sell your horse because you might not be able to afford big vets fees in the future? And to be honest, significant vets fees aren't particularly common (unless you're very unfortunate) and every day horse owners thank their lucky stars that they're ok and aren't having to pay bills like that. Plus if it really as people are making out, with merely 2 choices between either keeping your horse and 'being able to afford it' (whatever that even means) or not being able to afford it and having it PTS, then what are we really left with? And how prepared, realistically, can one be for emergency circumstances - not just in terms of finance but if their yard goes bankrupt and closes and they have nowhere to go, or if they don't have the time to look after their horse any more, or other unforseeable circumstances arise. If you do decide that there is nothing you can do and your only option is to PTS your - often healthy, or if not then at least comfortable and happy horse - then when is the right time to do it? Would you hang on in there one more day at a time, unwilling to do away with something that you love so much unless you absolutely had to?
 
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