Taking responsibility for your own horse

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couldnt agree more.... what bugs me the most is some peoples attitudes of "my horse/pony is broken lets put it to sleep"... they are not robots.

There are some idiots out there there obviously dont give 2 craps of the welfare of their horses.... rah
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And exactly what do you mean by that? That horse's who are 'broken' should be dumped in a field for the rest of their lives, and left to suffer? What an appallingly ignorant statement.

How is that ignorant??? im not saying they should be dumped in a field... im talking about the OP original statement - it seems to be a rather common thing happening she came across as she didnt give a crap, im not generalising... to call me ignorant is below the belt
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I was, until yesterday, making exactly that decision with my beloved pony, who was pronounced chronically lame by a vet.


im sorry to hear that

He is a bit of a psycho, was bored to tears not being worked, and we decided the best thing was to put him to sleep after the summer.


Thats your decision and i wouldnt judge anyone for that

The KINDEST thing to do in my opinion. God its statements like that that make me want to throw in the towel on this whole equine lark. What pure ignorance.
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again im going to repeat my statement... everyone is different. You dont know what ive been through so stop calling me ignorant or am i not allowed to view my opinions anymore???? funny how most agree on here!?
For your information, my pony is on DIY grass livery. He is seen and fed every day by myself. And I am quite aware he is not a robot.

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nice to hear.. ive never knocked full livery so i dont know why you are throwing that at me???
 
I don't think bensababy was directing that comment at you.

We all know that there are people who own horses who do not have the experience, skill set, whatever, to look after a horse, and thus they (hopefully) put their horses on full livery.

There are also people out there who own horses not so much out of a love for horses as characters, but because they enjoy riding/the social life that goes with it. These people may turn up and ride and then go home again. They probably have no idea what their horse eats ("grass?"). But, everyone's different and if they can afford to do that and the horse is well looked-after, why shouldn't they?

Equally, there are people out there, and yes, I have met some myself so I KNOW that they exist, who really do not care about the horse in the same way that for instance many of us do. If horse was bought to compete, and said horse can't compete due to illness, then the owner doesn't want to know. Better shoot it than waste any more money on it getting it better to sell it on cheaply as a hack/unaffiliated horse.

It sounded to me like bensababy was referring to this type of owner, not you Daphnelia, who we all know cares deeply for her horse and was making a well-informed decision.

Just because the comment bears a very minor similarity to your situation (an ill horse being put down) does not mean it is being directed at you. Emotions are running high but please will everyone try not to take things so personally!!
 
Thank you Becky, its a discussion forum after all. That comment was not aimed at Daphnelia i dont know her or the situation so why would it be aimed at anyone?? seem alot of people on here are quick to jump down some peoples throats even though most agree!?.
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No, I know. Everyone's saying the same thing but it's just coming out wrong/being taken wrong
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) I think it's easy for us all to assume people are referring to our (rather different) situation when it's just a general comment about something else
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All of us are on here because we love our horses and want to do the best by them, whether we be on DIY/part/full livery. Just because someone's on Full doesn't mean they love their horse any less than someone on DIY. And we all know this - but people panic
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I think the crux of the problem is that those of us on part/full (myself included) expect the yard owner to exercise a reasonable degree of care over their charges (being our horse), but, ultimately that horse is still ours and if it gets ill then it's our responsibility to deal with it and to sort out appropriate care.

Negligence is a different issue entirely and not something that I'm qualified to comment on. It's very easy to point a finger and lay blame.
 
Just a QR.

One thing I have never understood about the horse world is the attitude from a lot of people that if you don't get up at 5am to look after your horse, you're a bad owner in some way.

I've never been able to afford full livery, but hopefully in future I can - as until my OH gets very rich so I can quit work [
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], I wouldn't have the time to look after a horse full time, or ride everyday. So long as a horse is well looked after, who cares if you don't go down everyday? Do you think a horse will love you less because you don't shovel its sh*t?! Its nothing to do with not caring for a horse, and riding lessons are not the same at all. You can't just do what you want in a lesson, or compete etc. If someone can afford to keep a horse on full livery and ride once a week, who gives a damn?

I also do think that a YO is responsible for the care of the horse if it is on full livery. That is what they are paid for after all! It depends very much on the situation, but if the owner pays the YO to look after the horse to set standards, then the YO is responsible for maintaining that level of care.
 
Just a QR? What's a QR?!
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(and I agree entirely with you about the full/DIY issue - everyone loves their horses but some of us have time constraints making DIY impossible!)

I can see your point about the full livery responsibility thing, and I know where you're coming from. I think for me I could never let that go though, I've done 10 years of DIY and just gone onto Part, and it's very hard for me to let go of the responsibility, so I am probably assuming that everyone feels the same. I know that there are many yards out there who do treat full liveries like their own horses, such that the horse owner has no responsibility. I guess it depends what the yard holds itself out to be.
 
Quick reply = QR - basically it wasn't aimed at you!

I think the owner is ultimately responsible for the animal - ie. it is up to the owner to decide whether to put a horse down, or what have you. What I mean is, the YO would be responsible for the day to day care of the horse. If she fed it unsoaked sugarbeet, then she would be responsible for that. They have a duty of care to the animals.

I wouldn't want a yard treating my horse as their own - I would expect them to stick to the agreement made. If I specifically requested my horse was fed a particular supplement with his feed that I paid for, I would expect it to be done, for example. The owner obviously has to agree with the routine to start with - if there is no turn out in winter, and the horse needs turning out, then it is the owners responsibility to find a yard that does turn out.

I'm not sure I'm explaining myself very well - basically I think the owner is responsible for finding a good yard that can accommodate the horse's needs, but once those needs have been agreed, the YO is responsible for maintaining a good standard of care for the horse.
 
Spiral... thats the point i was trying to make - maybe it was not put in a clear way?

its up to the owner to find a responsible YO with full livery and inform them of any issues you have and to ensure they are being abided by. If the YO was not informed then IMO its the ultimate rersponsibility of the owner.
 
Thanks - this is what I am on about - nothing to do with what livery type you are on - it does happen abit more in full - thats all!!

example - If your child fell out of a tree and brokes its arm - yes it may not be your fault - but as its your child YOU are fully responsible for ensuring that they get the correct care etc.......

This post was to highlight responsibility not Full vs the rest of the world !!!!! I am sorry that it has not come across like that !!

Also - If you look at your livery contracts - most are pretty watertight - so if you arent prepared to take responsibilty of the ultimate care of your horse WHATEVER type of livery you are on - your screwed because i bet most contracts say otherwise!

If your YO isnt looking after your horse like you want - Its up to you to make sure your horse is ok - ie MOVE or kick some ass !!!
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Now I dont want to hear about full livery or part livery on this post again!!!
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QR-

It makes no difference what livery you are on - the owner is ALWAYS ultimately responsible for the horse.

Negligence is another matter completely; yes a YO could be taken to task for being negligent if they are not following specific instructions from the horse owner......however once again we come back to the owner being ultimately responsible; it is their responsibility to the horse to weigh up whether the YO is competent and diligent enough to follow these instructions....if not, then you move. Simple.
 
I do so agree. I know some people who had the money to buy very nice horses, have very expensive lessons and keep them in very expensive full livery BUT had no idea as to the care etc of a horse. They would phone the yard to say they were coming up to ride, arrive to find horse tacked up ready and waiting, ride and then just throw the horse back to the yard staff. They competed but travelled the horses fully tacked up (by the yard staff) as they didn't even know how to tack up! It used to make me smile quietly to myself when they were shooting their mouths off to other people . . "oh, yes, we have horses, you know . . . ". The livery yard did absolutely everything and sent them HUGE bills every month (more than I earned!) When one of the horses did something to itself once, the yard phoned them and asked them what they wanted to do and they just told the yard to deal with it and send them the bill. . . .
 
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the yard phoned them and asked them what they wanted to do and they just told the yard to deal with it and send them the bill. . . .


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I have to say Forester, that this is exactly the way it is on my farm. Suits me, suits the owners as the majority of my liveries aren't very experienced. I will also show them how to tack up correctly and with the more novicey owners I always check their tack before they go out - mine do appreciate, and ask me to do this.
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