Stressed of Cheshire!

mairiwick

mairiwick

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This is a bit of a long one, and may get a bit rambling so if you get to the end, advice and opinions welcome!

I have a lovely mare, bought her a few years ago after first child was a year and a half old. Bought her as she was safe and sensible and under the understanding from OH that if we started to struggle financially as a family, I would loan/look to sell her on. Not something I really want to do but would always put the family first.
We tried for a second child but started to look like it wouldn't happen (horse bought in this period as I thought it unlikely I would get pregnant again - just wasn't happening.).
A few months after I bought her, once she was in regular work, she started being intermittently lame. Nothing horrific but enough to show something wasn't right.
Took a couple of months for diagnosis of osteoarthritis of her near fore coffin joint. Cartrophen injections, remedial shoeing and boswellia supplement have controlled it and we continued on, building her up slowly and were able to do everything with no lameness reappearing. Then I found out I was expecting child number 2. Found a nice sharer to help with the riding and one say of yard duties. Lovely girl, loves the horse, however reliability issues caused a couple of problems. Still, rode nicely and horse looks after her too so we kept on. Had a yard move to full livery during very end stages of pregnancy, to also suit sharer as she is unable to get to yard early mornings or evenings. Since being at new yard, she had a sarcoid grow and require removal with Liverpool cream, and had a period of lameness. Lameness undiagnosed and given lots of box rest then field rest, shoes changed back to regular while not being ridden. Ridden work started slowly, sound in walk, lame in trot. After pursuing with vet, eventually a corn was found. Remedial shoes back on, lameness gone and back into work again. With all the time off both of us have had, we came back a bit rusty and tense. Sharer stopped riding temporarily as scared of horse spooking (due to tenseness and I assume, lack of work) Now I am having lessons with a great instructor to get us relaxed and her her soft and responsive. Working well.
Now my problem...
While on maternity leave, my job was made redundant. Another area of our company decided they wanted to have the responsibility of part of what I do/did and moved it to another office, combined with another role (which incidentally I can also do). I have been offered and accepted a 'suitable alternative' however salary drops in 12 months and I have lost my company car. Both kids now attending nursery and between that and the full livery I can't afford to replace the car. Money will be ok but tight for next 12 months but getting to the horse will now be difficult. Can borrow OH's car but will have to be late once kids are in bed. Yard is very close to work which would have been great when I had my own transport but now means that the days I can get up I am doing that journey twice.
Can't put her on part or DIY because I simply can't access the car that often.
OH not at all horsey and not very sympathetic either. Back to my initial comment to him of loaning or selling, with the sarcoid history now and her osteoarthritis I don't really think anyone would take her on, with the potential for more issues down the line. I am going to struggle to afford the regular lessons that I need to get her back to the point the sharer wants to ride again.
I can't really see any option that will work for us, ideally would put her on diy closer to home but until I can get my own transport again it's just not feasible, and I can't get my own transport until I can save money somewhere... eldest child will be at school in just over a year but that fits in right with my salary drop so I won't be any better off then.
Job was quite specific so not likely to find something on a similar salary with the experience I have.
So stressed out about it, she needs regular work to keep her going and I really don't know how I am going to manage it.
 
How about a little job on the side, something you can do at home? Not for much money, but it will supplement your income and maybe afford you a car?
I don't think you want rid of the horse, which is understandable, with not horsey and not very sympathetic OH, family budget cuts aren't really an easy option either...
I'll PM you.
 
Without knowing all your finances it is difficult to say much. Are there other areas you can cut back? Do you own or rent? Could you scale back housing wise? Presumably you are going to need a car for day to day things as well as horse? Can you look at grass livery somewhere then you only need to go once a day?

What job did you do? Are the skills transferable? Despite what some say there are a lot of jobs about
 
With her physical issues, although there may be access problems, I would look at finding cheaper - possibly assisted, grass livery for her, if I were in your shoes. I suspect the full livery bill is huge and you could reduce it drastically if you could move to 24/7 turn out. Mare might improve and you can make a decision about a new sharer in the Spring when things are a bit easier. be a shame to lose horse when you are having fun when you get the chance to ride.
 
What about putting her on full loan with you paying DIY board (you would need an incentive I'm guessing if she has soundness issues). That way you can take mare back when your finances improve but still retain control until then.
 
Thanks for the PM Martlin, I'll sit down and have a proper look later on today.
webble said:
Without knowing all your finances it is difficult to say much. Are there other areas you can cut back? Do you own or rent? Could you scale back housing wise? Presumably you are going to need a car for day to day things as well as horse? Can you look at grass livery somewhere then you only need to go once a day?

What job did you do? Are the skills transferable? Despite what some say there are a lot of jobs about
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We own our house Webble, mortgage is finally causing us less of an issue thankfully. No other extravagances other than the kids! At the moment OH works in the same building as me, we work in pharmacy (I'm currently in the wholesale part of the business). There are certainly transferrable skills but no formal qualifications through the job so I have up to A level education although I would happily do more courses etc for a new job. But then if I got a new job in a different company the car issue raises its head again.

I'm not really sure of anywhere locally that does grass livery, that isn't retirement/recuperation based. But then there may be smaller yards under the radar!

I do love the yard I'm on, but yes Siennamum it is a big chunk of money - that was my compromise for knowing she would be in a regular routine and not be forgotten about if someone else was looking after her that day.
Fides, that's probably my 'if I can't keep her myself' go to - I'd much prefer to loan her than sell her, her ailments are my responsibility and I'd always want to remain in control to make sure she has the right treatment at the right time, and it is maintained the best way.
Thanks for all the replies so far, I think I've got in a bit of a funk about it and can't seem to come to a sensible solution!
 
I'd consider if the redundancy ( whilst you were on Matty leave) was legal . Did you get legal advice - a nice little no win no fee pay out could actually solve you issue...
 
No legal advice, I did a lot of research and they can do it- provided the reason for the redundancy meets certain criteria, which it does, just. Losing the car I'm not convinced as that was a benefit which I thought was protected for a period.

Frumpoon I've had a look, I worked very closely with one part of our sales team and would often visit customers and source products for them when I was in the office but no "sales experience" as such.
 
I would seek legal advice regarding your redundancy and the 'suitable alternatove'. If the salary cut is that significant for the new role, plus you lose your company car benefit, I would say you haven't actually been offered a suitable alternative. Also, I believe the alternative should be similar in that it utilises your skills suitably.
 
Clare85 said:
I would seek legal advice regarding your redundancy and the 'suitable alternatove'. If the salary cut is that significant for the new role, plus you lose your company car benefit, I would say you haven't actually been offered a suitable alternative. Also, I believe the alternative should be similar in that it utilises your skills suitably.
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I agree with this. My company is undergoing changes with potential redundancies and this is something I'm bearing in mind. You're losing a benefit (car) and also taking a pay cut for a position that's similar to your own? Doesn't sound right to me. I agree with other posts, how about popping out on grass livery, which would give you the opportunity to save some money and perhaps time to sit tight until a DIY space comes up somewhere suitable? Good luck!
 
At the risk of being totally predictable and a stuck record, the first thing I'd do is remove shoes. Remedial shoeing isn't the answer to the lameness issue - barefoot rehab is and it'll take some financial pressure off you at the same time. I know this doesn't address all your issues but it's a start.
 
Poor you, must be really stressful :(

If you can find a nice relaxed yard with assisted grass livery that is close to home, you will have less financial and time constraints and can hopefully spend some relaxing time with your horse (cycling there might be a possibility if there is a yard close enough). I am on a DIY yard with a good pool of happy hackers and a good hack with company is excellent to wind down horse and rider and have a bit of social time outside of family.

I also agree on pulling the shoes, let her sort herself out a bit. My experience is that time off and full time turn out do benefits wonky horses. You might find she is easier to handle/more relaxed as well. You might look into tweaking her diet too and adding gut support if she has been on NSAIDS.

Also the sharer sounds like more hassle than help IMO so I would terminate the share.

Hope things improve soon :)
 
Grass livery is the sensible answer to this. Cheaper, less restrictive on time commitments, keeps her moving which will help the arthritis and also should mean you can get away with less ridden exercise.
 
coming at this in a different direction, and not sure how far you need to travel, how about an electric assisted bike if not too far or a moped type thingy, cheaper to buy and run although you wouldn't be able to carry anything substantial and you would get wet and cold....just an idea,
 
PoppyAnderson said:
At the risk of being totally predictable and a stuck record, the first thing I'd do is remove shoes. Remedial shoeing isn't the answer to the lameness issue - barefoot rehab is and it'll take some financial pressure off you at the same time. I know this doesn't address all your issues but it's a start.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that going barefoot is always cheaper than shoes all round and not everyone has facilities and grazing to help a horse go barefoot successfully. I certainly don't so grazing has to be restricted and expensive minerals bought etc. It can open up a whole other can of worms although I do agree that it may help OP's horse's issues.

I agree that going on grass livery would be a good option if you can find a suitable place, your bill would be seriously reduced in fact you may even be able to afford a cheap run-around/small car with the saving?
 
If you can't afford to outright buy a car maybe you could look at leasing one? Last time I saw my Dad he was saying that it is quite good value to lease a car from a dealer now, and you often have the option of buying the car later down the line. Definitely worth researching as from the sound of it a monthly fee would be better than a lump sum? Once you have transport, you can put the horse on part livery to help save a bit of cash to pay for the car.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions - given me a lot to think about.
My farrier is out today so will have a chat with regards to her shoes - my concern is that her toe is kept short to reduce the time there us pressure on her coffin joint - so she's very sensitive any time she loses a shoe - it would need to grow down I guess to make it more comfortable but unsure if that would then cause more issue with her coffin joint.
There are two yards that I can find that do grass livery but you can't just go and ride and I do want to keep her in work. Looking into DIY with services there just aren't many that are close by.
Leasing a car is an option, but another monthly commitment will put more strain on finances, if I buy a really cheap runabout I'd worry having the kids in it from a safety angle!
Lots of investigating to do, I did speak to ACAS but didn't really get any help from them. Might try again now I know a bit more about the new role..

Thanks again!
 
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