struggling horse owners on bbc 1 now

yes I visited worldhorsewelfare last week and they were confirming this. They say it's every winter but worse this year because of the credit crunch. Very very sad
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I wonder how many people are just dumping elderly horses in advance of the winter, in reality. My horse is retired and costs me £4000 per year just for her drugs - then add on the usual stabling, feeding etc plus at least £160 petrol per month to see to her before and after work. I only just earn the national average wage and have only my own income. I still have to feed her during the summer in order to get her drugs into her, so my only saving is 1.5 small bales of haylage and half a bale of aubiose per week. I put that money into a building society account to offset the winter bills. I bet many of these so say stricken owners will still be going on holiday abroad next year.
 
My friend was talking to a lady who was offered a job as a welfare officer with the ILPH. She turned the job down as she actually thinks too many horses are kept alive that should probably be euthanised and the money spent on trying to place younger, fitter horses.

I absolutely applaud responsible caring owners like fatpiggy who take good care of their oldies. However, if a person can't due to circumstances or isn't prepared to take responsibility for them I think the kindest thing is to put them to sleep.
 
Not directly related but lots of struggling going on over here too. What with a clearance of about 5-10% at the current TB sales and the regional factory booked up until February.....
 
I think there will be a huge impact as the credit crunch goes on.
Already I've had two of my livery owners have their horses euthanised rather than pay an increase of just £2 a week; another has taken her horse nearer home where it's cheaper and an event rider I know of has had two of their owners' horses put up for sale, plus more retired from competing due to increased costs.
I think BE/BD and BSJA will find there will be less entries next year as the financial crisis deepens.
It's not just the entry fees, it's feed (my specialist feed increased from £9 a sack to £12. 60), bedding, diesel (the feed merchants also started to charge for delivery so I changed to a local supplier) plus haymaking costs from contractors etc all have increased.
Often the first things to go when people are hard up are lessons/competitions and stuff like new tack/rugs.
I have changed to a cheaper feed, warned we won't be entering many shows next year and have planned our winter grazing to try and utilise the early spring grass instead of feeding more haylage.
As more and more people lose their jobs I do think their horses may end up being sold. (can't see them being abandoned however)
Round here the estate agents are shutting down and the knock on effect is obvious in all the empty shops of all types suddenly appearing in towns.
I for one won't be going mad this Christmas, and I am worried about the young horses who will shortly be ready for sale, is anyone going to want them I wonder?
We're lucky in that they can just stay out as long as necessary, but there must be many people worrying about how they will afford their livery bills this winter out there.
 
its been brewing for years, but that doesnt help the horses. I need to into hospital soon and have got 2 of my 4 up for sale. I've had interest but basically people want them for £0 ie given away to them. I worry that if they cannot pay they shouldnt have a horse , in case anything goes wrong. Mine are 3 and 9 yrs old. too young to pts and nice sorts so it would be awful, but i'd rather pts than have them end up in the wrong hands or think they would go on a lorry to slaughter abroard.
 
I hopefully can manage to keep the horses that we have, but we are really feeling the pinch. We have cut down on as much as possible, changing feeds and supplements. We have also cut down drastically on competing and have warned the kids that BE will not be possible next year. I will be searching the web for unaffiliated events instead. I have also cut back a huge amount in the house, no treats for us and smaller portions on our plates, at least the waist line is looking smaller!

We have decided to enjoy our horses at home,and hope things get better sooner rather than later.

My heart does go out to owners who can no longer to keep their horses it must be a dreadful situation to be in.
 
TBH, my horses aren't too badly affected by the CC, as I keep them in a pretty minimal way anyway, my feed has gone up so they are now are budget branded feed, and granted my big TB doesn't look as fantastic as last year, but hey, he is happy and healthy and has plenty of energy.
I did spend a while yesterday ringing round trying to get my household bills reduced, I got £7 per month off my dog insurance, £6 off my mobile phone contract, and reduced my home insurance by over £300 per year!!!
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I think that if people are sensible then we can still have the odd treat but I do think that lots of us get sucked into buying things we don't really need
 
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