Retirement livery?

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ecrozier

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Just thinking aloud really. My mum's pony is a former laminitic (rotation in the pedal bones in both front legs). She is currently out on loan but long term I think they are going to need something a little younger and fitter (she's 18 now), as although she is sound, I don't want her to do too much work especially over the summer when the ground is hard. ANd would rather she had another 10 years pootling around in a field being happy than ending up with laminitic problems againfrom over work. Not that I think they'd do too much intentionally, more that she can't really cope with normal levels of work!
So, if they give her back, I need to find somewhere to keep her. I don't think the yard my other two are on is going to work out, there are no other pony mares on any kind of limited grazing so she would be alone (only 2 small geldings and both are quite aggressive and overly playful, she'd hate it!), and the only paddock we could set up as a starvation paddock is a long way from any equine company!
So I was wondering about retirement livery. Do people on here have horses in retirement livery? Is there a register of them? What sort of costs would we be looking at? DO they sometimes have the facilities for ponies at risk of laminitis? I googled it quickly and came accross Tannington Hall, they have laminitic paddocks, anyone heard of them at all?
She can live out, has done all this year, as long as paddocks really nice and bare and supplemented with hay.
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We have a lot of retirement liveries some of whom have been here 10 years.
I would never accept anything likely to get or have had laminitis because it wouldn't work with our herd system.
There are however places that do, if you google retirement livery several come up, one near Winkleigh which my vet recommends, and one near brecon I collected a horse from and was impressed with (BHS livery approved yard).
Cost vary between £18 a week to over £50, so you may be better finding a loan home as a companion or pet.
We have stopped accepting any new horses when we realised at our age we could end up still wandering the fields in the rain in our seventies..
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(they tend to live a long time here...)
 
Henryhorn, thats kind of where my mum is with the pony, she is 60 now and the pony only 18, which means she could very easily still be responsible for her in her 70s!
I'll look up the one in Winkleigh, thanks. Any idea on the name of it?
I realise she might not be abe to slot into a traditional herd but somewhere that caters for laminitic retirees might have a little herd of them I guess!
Cost wise, anywhere similar in price to the yard I am on would be ok (£130 a month), in a way we would rather pay a professional yard to lok after her than risk loaning her out as a companion.
 
Ha, almost could!! Our garden very small though. She could go back to my parents place but there are a few issues wit that, first she's be totally alone, no horses anywhere near, second my mum, whilst very attached to the pony, is not an experienced owner and wouldn't cope if anything went wrong, and lastly they travel quite a bit, and so not sure how well it would work as there'd be no-one there for weeks at a time sometimes, so they'd have to pay someone to come and keep an eye etc etc....
 
Tried, sadly she's not fantastic on the leadrein, tend to be a bit speedy at times then all of a sudden remebers the grass beneath her feet...
She's on loan to a really perfect home at the moment but I just can't see it working long term really
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Hmm, true. Not far from them. The only thing is that she isn't really a charity case, I mean, I could just keep her at our yard as my mum is happy enough to carry on paying livery, its just lack of time on my part and lack of company for her that concern me.
I wonder if they keep all the ponies at their farm once the are healthy or do they put them into some kind of retirement herd somewhere?
 
my horse is on retirement livery in oxfordshire - their grass is too rich for a lamanitic though. it's a fab service though - full livery is £150 a month in winter, £120 in summer, out 24/7 all year round, includes all hay and feed, getting in for farrier/vet etc.
 
There must be people in the same boat I have a 33 year old mare who also has Laminitis, I did borrow a friends lami pony unfortunately she died a few year ago, but I still have my old mare & would consider taking some thing again, how ever I have found that she is quite happy with my mums pet sheep for company and a horse in the next field.
 
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