Two horses need rehoming, any ideas?

tonitot

tonitot

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I moved to a new yard a week ago and there are two thoroughbreds that were dumped by their owners, got very skinny and now need new homes as the YO doesnt have time to do them and needs them to find owners. I have been looking after them and said I'd help find them a home. The condition they're in they can't really be sold and I wouldn't want to just give them away to a random person.
I've rang some charitys, one can't take them but is trying to help and the other cant come to get them due to no transport (I'm in Newmarket, charity is in East Sussex) and although I would if I could I just cant afford to pay for two horses to be transported down to Kent. I dont know of any other charitys though I do keep looking but I'm a bit stuck really. I spend a lot of time with them everyday mucking them out, putting them on the walker to stretch their legs, taking them for a pick of grass and grooming them. Theyre eating my feed and hay and as much as I want to look after them I just dont have the time to do them as well as my own horse which means she is currently having a holiday in the field (not that shes complaining!) I also cant afford to be feeding three horses.
Just wondered if anyone had any ideas of what I can do to find them good homes or a way of getting them to the charity in Sussex? Theyre both such lovely horses and deserve to go somewhere they'll be well looked after and given a lot of tlc.

(sorry, that turned into a bit of a ramble :o )
 
* and although I would if I could I just cant afford to pay for two horses to be transported down to Kent.

I meant I cant afford to send them to Sussex, I thought it was in Kent but looked it up and thought I had changed all the Kents to Sussex, obviously missed this one :o
 
Why aren't they turned out? less mucking out. I'm afraid if there's no charities willing to take them and they're not in a fit state for rehoming then I would be getting in touch with the hunt.
 
Why so quick to call the hunt? They need some feed and Tlc and new homes right? Do we put to sleep every horse in this position..... Nope we see if HHo has any ideas first! :p

Can't offer a home but will pass this on...
 
Is there any way of a few of you getting together to pay for the transport if the charity are indeed willing to take them? It's not that far is it - what would it cost? If you're currently feeding them then surely it would balance it out? I am personally not one to condone the destruction of healthy horses - it's not their fault they're in the situation they are after all. I know people are a lot harsher than me though but then I do wonder what they would do if they were in the same situation. It's very easy to say get them PTS when you're not emotionally involved
 
Because theres no where for them to be turned out. The only field they can go in is one with about 9 other horses who chased my horse for quite a while when she was first turned out and I'm worried that with them being weak that they wouldn't stand up to it. My horse was okay, she's fit and healthy, quick as you like and can get herself out of harms way, I dont know how these horses would be and I'm worried it'll do more harm than good. Before I started doing them they were stood in all the time and not mucked out so at least its a bit of a better life for them now.

The charity in Sussex will take them, I just cant get them there :/ The mare isnt too bad, she is skinny but already looks better whereas the gelding is very skinny and covered in rainscald which is getting better now.
 
I've been told the mare is 15 and the gelding is 10. I can keep looking after them until they find a home but it is hard work for me and I feel guilty for not spending much time with my own horse.
I'll try to find out how much it would cost to get them there and see if I can find someone willing to chip in but to be honest no one else is really willing to help! Because theyre round the back out of the way no other liveries knew they were there, now my horse is round there and I've spoken to a few of them about the horses they still dont seem bothered! They dont deserve to be PTS so that will be a last resort, it's only been a week that I've been looking after them, thats nothing so I'll keep trying :)
 
What about seeing if you can get some local HHo people to do a relay. They did it last year to get little Cracker from Northampton to Leeds to a new home.

Might be worth a go as people might do a few miles but not want to do the whole journey.

Would suggest a new thread for it though
 
If they were formerly rideable, are there any decent local riding schools that would like them if they just need bringing back to work? And I think yo should be footing any costs of hay etc, not you.
 
Regendal, do you mean their history as in what they did before they were dumped or as in why they got so bad? Sorry if that's a really thick question :o
 
OP sounds like you're doing a very good job and are well above your call of duty. It's not really relevant, but how long ago were they dumped, and what condition were they in at that point?

ladyt25 said:
Billie1007 said:
Why so quick to call the hunt? They need some feed and Tlc and new homes right? QUOTE]

Because this is H&H. Trigger happy!
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Or possibly because it is not actually a charity's job to take on horses who had an owner. Of course if they just need TLC and will go on to find a home from the charity then they should be given that chance. But there are hundreds of TBs round the country that end up with unsuitable owners who shouldn't be looking after a hamster, left alone half a ton of sensitive, reactive animal. Charities don't need to have loads of horses filling up their spaces for when the next Amersham rears its hideous head. If they are realistically rehomable, fantastic.
And taking nothing away from the OP, who is clearly doing her very best and should be commended.
But I, like many others, see these poor scraps on a regular basis. Awful as it is to say, many would be better put down :/
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Rockysmum, thats a good idea, I remember them doing that :)

Littlelegs, not sure of riding schools around here, I could look into it. I think theyre exracers so were rideable but I'd be a bit worried sending them to a riding school, my experiences with them haven't been great!
Yes, the YO should be paying for feed and hay but he has a pre-training yard to run and I think he's struggling, if I dont hay and feed them then they wont be getting what they need :/
 
You can't do this on you own! I think your YM has dumped the problem in you and is conveniently forgetting it it in reality her problem.

So, you need to raise money for a journey, time to organize a cake sale or similar, let the press know, leaflet local houses, whatever it takes to get a bit of support.

You could do worse than open a 'just giving' account and seeing if anyone on here would put a tenner towards it (I would, just let me know!).

Good luck.
 
Have you tried other forums like Facebook etc? Reason I ask is that I saw a horse rehomed following a posting on Facebook and I recently contributed to an appeal to pay for an eye op for a horse that was sorted through Facebook. I'm not suggesting its the answer but people share on Facebook so it can spread very quickly. The more people that see an appeal like the the better - there are people who want to help. Best of luck.
 
There must be someone out there that would take on an emaciated, neglected TB. I did and nothing has given me more satisfaction. He has rewarded me thousands of times over.
 
tonitot said:
I've been told the mare is 15 and the gelding is 10. I can keep looking after them until they find a home but it is hard work for me and I feel guilty for not spending much time with my own horse.
I'll try to find out how much it would cost to get them there and see if I can find someone willing to chip in but to be honest no one else is really willing to help! Because theyre round the back out of the way no other liveries knew they were there, now my horse is round there and I've spoken to a few of them about the horses they still dont seem bothered! They dont deserve to be PTS so that will be a last resort, it's only been a week that I've been looking after them, thats nothing so I'll keep trying :)
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If they've raced, it might be worth seeing if any of these can help?
http://www.ror.org.uk/retraining.htm

Good on you - I understand its actually the livery yard owners responsibility (stand to be corrected :p) so he should really have addressed it. I have found myself doing exactly the same as you with regard to looking after someone else's cast off's, so know where you're coming from :)
 
Hi Tonitot, I can pass the message around a few people here as I am very local to you I think. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help :)
 
Your YO is being totally negligent! Call the RSPCA and let them deal direct with the YO to ensure the horses needs are being met, and a satisfactory resolution met.
 
As an extra thought, before trying to sort transport, are you 100% certain the charity is reputable? I'm sure lots of little ones do good work locally & can't afford their own transport, & just get volunteers or favours when its essential. But, its just struck me as odd that a charity too small to have transport, has the funds to take on 2 expensive to keep tbs at short notice. Sorry if I'm wrong, but worth double checking its longstanding & reputable before sorting transport.
 
Norfolk Pie said:
OP sounds like you're doing a very good job and are well above your call of duty. It's not really relevant, but how long ago were they dumped, and what condition were they in at that point?

ladyt25 said:
Or possibly because it is not actually a charity's job to take on horses who had an owner. Of course if they just need TLC and will go on to find a home from the charity then they should be given that chance. But there are hundreds of TBs round the country that end up with unsuitable owners who shouldn't be looking after a hamster, left alone half a ton of sensitive, reactive animal. Charities don't need to have loads of horses filling up their spaces for when the next Amersham rears its hideous head. If they are realistically rehomable, fantastic.
And taking nothing away from the OP, who is clearly doing her very best and should be commended.
But I, like many others, see these poor scraps on a regular basis. Awful as it is to say, many would be better put down :/
Click to expand...
I think all horses HAD an owner, even the Amersham horses had an owner, just not a good one. Your post is ridiculous............ you are implying that only horses on a mass scale are worthy of charitable help.
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Norfolk pie, I'm not sure how long ago they were dumped but must have been a while as, from what I can make out, they were turned out in the snow with no rugs, no hay and no feed. Apparently they are looking better than they did, with the mare I can see that she could have been a lot worse, the gelding is so bad I cant see him being much worse. Im pretty sure he has worms which obviously would explain why he hasn't gotten much better and im going to get them both a wormer on Friday.
I really want to give them a chance before thinking about them being put down. The mare is such a sweet old thing, very quiet and well behaved though has her typical chestnut mare moments like having to puck her feet up in a certain order :rolleyes: I think the gelding just feels a bit crap at the moment, the scabs from his rainscald are falling off but some are obviously sore, I think he has worms and he just seems very reserved. He is coming out of his shell a bit though, at the beginning he would look really fed up when I was grooming him, would move away if I tried to rub his head (not in a head shy way, more of a "just leave me alone" kind of way) but now he seems to be enjoying it a bit more. He shuts his eyes when he gets a head rub and even enjoyed a scratch for the first time yesterday, even if it was a short one as he suddenly snapped out of it and moved away as if he thought he shouldn't be enjoying it.
I've rambled again, sorry :o
 
I dont know why they were dumped, from what I make out the person who owned them couldnt afford them anymore but I'm not 100% about that.

The charity is one that I follow on Facebook which is why I want them to go there, so I can see how theyre doing. They do have transport but their car that pulls their trailer is broken at the moment I think.
 
So the YO gave them no care at all during the period they were turned out?? I am absolutely appalled.

OP, please do these horses a favour and call the RSPCA first thing in the morning.
 
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