Radio 4 Farming today - Credit Crunch and horses

OMG ~ how awful and discusting, i cant beleive that people will put there horse down, just feed them cheaply like out in a field with a little hay but dont kill them or starve them its not ther fault people cant afford them
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I am sure there are genuine cases of hardship out there, but I'm afraid I just see this as another form of the same thing: People buy horses and really can't afford them. They think the purchase is the only significant cost (I WISH).

I really get very cross about this, and I'm afraid the financial climate will make it worse, with horses being sold very cheaply, just to sell them on.
 
You see this at the sales every week I'm afraid. Whereas this time last year horses were still fetching decent prices at auction, now they are being sold without reserves because people just can't afford to keep them. Last week I saw an affiliated jumping pony with a very successful history sell for £600.
 
HLB It's not always possible keep your horse in just a field,. Round here it's mainly arable & it's extremely hard to find grass livery. I have it & I stay there despite many issues because I can't find anywhere else offering it & my mare box walks. Most of us are only 2 bits of bad luck away from poverty even if we have a comfortable lifestyle now. For example we have just found out there is a major issue with one wall of our house so it needs demolishing & rebuilding at a cost of £20k. We have savings to cover it but it will leave our accounts empty. If one of us were to lose our job we would be stuffed. If it came to a choice of paying the mortgage/feeding the children or selling the horses then the horses would have to go & for the older 2, rising 20 & 26 & both with arthritis, I would PTS rather than sell them on to an uncertain future. If I remember the lady on Farming today had had her horses for many years & one was quite elderly. She had already cut down on everything she could but it was leaving her with only £300 per month top feed & house her children. She said she would rather live in a field shelter than get rid of her horses but she had the children.
Many more people will be in similar circumstances & for many it will be a struggle to find buyers. A friend regularly goes to sales & she was shocked at the prices a couple of nice horses went for at the last Melton Mowbray sale. If decent everyday horses are struggling to sell what options do you think owners of the old & the lame are going to have?
 
Having witnessed two horses starving to death last year, and yes the RSPCA were involved, isn't it kinder and more responsible, if all avenues have been explored and you can not afford to keep your horse to have it PTS rather than face a very uncertain future?
 
I agree. I will have mine PTS rather than sell them to "just anybody" if it gets to the stage where I cannot look after them. too many people shirk responsibility. Another factor is the cost of destruction and disopsal nowadays. too many people sending old or unwanted to sales instead of PTS at home. makes me very annoyed. its very difficult to rehome horses at the moment.
 
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Having witnessed two horses starving to death last year, and yes the RSPCA were involved, isn't it kinder and more responsible, if all avenues have been explored and you can not afford to keep your horse to have it PTS rather than face a very uncertain future?

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Quite right...even the big rescue centres are now telling people to PTS as they are full up. A harsh decision but IMO better now than after the horses have been left in a field and neglected and there is no choice and they have suffered.
 
I dont know any grass livery round here either...

But mine could not live in a field. I have two veterans and one has cushings, one has EMS. Both have longstanding lameness issues, and arthritis and are on bute, one is 31 and one is 19. Both require a huge amount of work in laminitis prevention and remedial shoeing (one has pads) One has sweetitch and has to wear a mask all summer or he gets terrible eye infections. He is also photosensitive. The other has a respiratory condition and requires ventipulmin.

So, they are expensive horses to keep for not much return. i could not keep them "cheaply" and I could not rehome them (I cant see anyone falling over themselves to offer the level the level of care they need). So if I was unable to keep them anymore (God forbid...) I would PTS. I have small child to think about and he has to come first when financial decisions are made.

Its not just the cost of horse feed and livery etc its also running the car to get to the stables, if you have lost your job or something that might not even be possible.

Fortunately Im from a horsey family so I hope that my relatives would step in to help if I was struggling.
But I sincerely hope it never comes to that....

edited to say: It could happen to any of us. Even if you think you are immune, you never know what life will throw at you.
 
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