pondering horses future...long

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clairefeekerry1

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i have 3 horses at present. one really old pony i've had from childhood who is living a well deserved retirement with me (really is very old and decreped!!). one lovely six yr old gelding who is everything i've ever dreamed off horse wise, bought 5 months ago have major amounts of fun and pleasure from him. then there is horse number 3! 6 yr old welsh d, really has tonnes of issues both ridden and not. horrific sweetitch, and i dont mean rubbing mane and tail, i mean really bad sweet itch. had her since 6 months old but things didnt just turnout well. she hates everything to do with being ridden-partly down to sweet itch maybe, partly down to a bad ass attitude, over the years i've had professional help, vet help (alot!) natural horsemanship help and eventually 8 months agos she has been deemed unrideable and would be better suited as a companion etc. wouldnt say she's overly dangerous (in my opinion) just resents a ridden life. so after a horrible 4 yrs of battiling with her i retired her to the field and got myself the gelding mentioned above. now she has sooo many issues i would never sell her- dont think i could, no one would want her. adverised as a companion on loan- no takers.advertised her recently as a winter project for someone to have a go at, had a little interest but no one stuck at it as she was no fun etc etc, had nothing going for her.
so she is living out 24/7 with couple of other mares, but i feel bad for her as she gets checked once a day and fed haylage, carrot over the fence. no feed-she doesnt need it. she comes in to get her feet trimmed etc and that is it. now i can afford to keep all three, just about, and time wise i can just about manage to live a normal life outside of horses, but how long can this continue??? she's only 6, she could go on for another 25 yrs!!! is it fair she has virtually very little interaction/fuss? she serves no purpose. the only saving grace i suppose is my old pony aint going to go on much longer so then i'd be back down to two-slightly more manageable, but you never know. so long and short of it is, can she realistaclly be a field orniment for the next 25 yrs??? or would PTS be a better option. spoke to the vet today who wouldnt say either way-obviously. (by the way she has had every poss treatment for sweet itch inc steriods at£150 per month, nothing has worked, currently wears boett rugs) sorry so long----- just dont know whats best.
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I would say as far as she is concerned she is probably quite happy having a natural horsey life. No work, carrots and field
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If her sweet itch is still so bad that it makes her distressed though then i would hate to think of her struggling on for another 25 years like you say.

But it's also got to be about what works for you, and i can't offer any advice on that, it's got to be something you decide on. But i wouldn't worry about her being a companion if she's good at it and not in discomfort, it sounds like a nice life.
 
So long as the sweet itch isnt too bad shes probably happy in a field. If the sweet itch gets any worse you can have another think but its best to pts if shes uncomfortable because of it, or things change and you cant keep her.
 
Have owned a mare with chronic sweet itch for several years and through the summer she has her boett rug and face mask on, otherwise her life is unbearable, also black fly that makes her ears go bald inside. didn't happenen through the summer with the mask but now they are back since I took the rug and mask off for the winter and she is a little grumpy. Your old pony is coming to the end of his long life and if you think the little mare will be very unhappy with her condition as it doesn't get better. I'd have them done at the same time.
 
If you can afford it I'd say keep. It is a shame but not really her fault if she isn't suited to being ridden - after all we don't PTS all the people who aren;t suited to riding ;-)

She is a horse. Yes, they can enjoy human interaction but if she is getting some nice horsey interaction she probably won't care much if you're occupied elsewhere.

Some random thoughts if you're looking to change the current situation:
- have you tried her in different locations/yards? Might make a difference (good or bad!) as I think the little blighters that casue sweet itch favour certian very localised conditions.
- could she be broken to drive?
 
how bad is the sweet itch? does it still make her uncomfortable for her even with the rug? If yes then I would pts hard as it is its not worth her suffering
 
yes i have moved yards twice to try ease those midges. tbh the yard i'm at now is best but moving her is a nightmare as she becomes so unsettled-in fact she can be a right nightmare for months. i swore this time this is the last time o move her, but luckily this yard is better on the midge front. dont think driving is an option as one of her main ridden/handling issues is refusal to go forwards (and i mean not move) dont think anyone would want a driving horse that wont be driving forwards!! plus she cant really hang about etc in the summer coz of the sweet itch so think all the harnessing up etc would drive her mad. she needs to be ridden in a boett so she'd also need to be driven in one.

- i suppose in the rug she is mildly comfortable or it at least allows her to graze etc but she is still incredibly irritated/itchy. boett rugs are not easily destroyed but this summer i have spent near on £600 on boett/snuggy rugs as shes gone thru a few.... but she can still graze and takes great pleasure in bossing everyone else in the field around.i suppose if the rug is not removed to be ridden or groomed it has more of an effect therefore she is more comfortable but i wouldnt say she is jumping for joy during the itchy months which this yr have been feb thru to nov
 
Blood bank option is where the horse is kept by an organisation that uses it for blood donation. Don't know much about the details but there have been posts on here. They only accept them up to a certain age I think and I have absolutely no idea what happens after their use as a blood donor ends - I've got a feeling they can only be donors for a finite number of years. Worth looking up previous posts/threads on here.
 
I totally agree that you're two options are either to keep her with you as it is, or have her put to sleep. Selling her, or rehoming her would not be something I'd consider.

Then my decision would be based not on if she's happy being just a field ornament (she will be - it's been many horses idea of heaven!) but whether you can a) afford her in time and money and b) if she has a decent quality of life with her sweetitch.

I personally would be happy to keep her IF (as you do) I had another horse to ride and enjoy AND money and time wasn't an issue. However I wouldn't be willing to sacrifices riding, time and life outside horses to keep a horse who's difficult, 'useless' and expensive

However her sweetitch would be my biggest concern. It's a horrible horrible thing and makes them so so miserable. It also often gets worse with age. That would be my main deciding factor for having her PTS.

It's such a hard desicion but I think I would be having her PTS based on her sweetitch. If it gets worse I'd definitnly be having her PTS. However I'm not hugely affected by animals being PTS and she's not my horse who I've had from a baby and bonded with, so I'm biased.

Good luck with whatever you decide. It needs to be your decision and you need to be able to live with it. I don't envy you for having to make it
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I'm afraid I would PTS. I could not justify spending that amount of money on a horse who's only use is as a companion. My horse has a heart problem and although I can still ride him ATM, he cannot do all the things I would like. But he does not require any medication, he is a lovely kind boy who is a dream to do in every way, has no other issues, so as long as he is happy I will keep him going.
 
I can understand how you feel - I also have a section D with serious "issues" regarding riding and handling, he also has sweetitch but nowhere near as badly as yours has. He too is retired although he's a bit older then your girl.

A few years ago I bought another horse for myself and decided, after a very unsuccessful loan for the welshie that I would keep him for as long as A) I could afford too and B) I had somewhere safe and suitable for him. If I can't fulfil those then I will PTS.....not an easy decision and one that is heavily criticized by the very people who refuse to go within 100m of him.

I always said I would never move him off the yard he is on now but it has really gone downhill in the last year or so and I've had to move my riding horse due to injury so I have decided that he will move to a retirement livery and that will be his last move....

Anyway, rambling over
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You can only do the best for your mare, nobody else knows her the way you do and nobody else can make the decisions (IME, won't stop them trying!) PTS is not the easy option and passing on a horse that has both mental and physical issues is a huge risk for both you and the horse.....
 
Not my emotions so it is very easy to make suggestions BUT dont write off your old pony... i thought the days of my old girl were being counted on 2 hands but she made a complete u turn and is in better health than she has been for years.

I have seen horses with sweet itch and it is a heartbreaking sight for both horse and owner - my mind is a bit foggy but is there an injecdtion for sweet itch? if you have not tried this it may be an idea - the other possibility is move her to a home near the coast- the midges do not seam to enjoy the wind and the salty air as much.

Good luck
 
The injection is steriods I think which with time makes their skin even thinner and yes it does get worse every year and with mild winters the midges seem to round all the time. but it's not fair to ask someone else to take on the burden of a sweet-itch horse. I bought my mare in November and because I was told she'd been turned out all summer with no attention, I thought to begin with it was lice and since she was a nightmare to begin with treated for such. It was my vet that said it was sweet-itch.
 
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