What to do with lame horse?

my friend who I share the yard with took on a loan horse that was known to be intermittently lame- came with a full written contract and she has been no problem whatsoever. she is perfect for a fairly nervous rider who just wanted to potter around a couple of times a month. So laid back and good in traffic that you couldnt have asked for better and she hasnt ever actually been lame so yes there is people out there that this type of horse would suit. I know a couple of older ladies who dont really ride that much but still love the care side of things and have always said they are quite happy to be doing the stable type jobs as the alternative of giving up completely is a definite no. its just a case of finding someone that takes the time. Good luck though.
 
I actually think he would be great aimed at men & husbands with horsey wives - there are not actually that many big horses out there who can carry the weight of a tall man, and if the man is a novice then he wont want to do much more than walk and hack anyway.

I think instead of putting him up for sale, offer him for full or part loan. There was one gentleman on this forum just the other day who is 6"4 and a novice, looking for a horse he can help look after and do a little riding with, but he mainly wanted a part loan/share situation where he could learn about horse care. He was really struggling to find a horse big enough for him - unfortunately he is in Bristol so not close to you, but they do exist! If you think about a lot of people who have learnt all the can from a riding school but cant afford their own horse, then a good hacking horse who is suitable for novices is worth its weight in gold. If you look at share/part loan adverts, 9 out of 10 are all looking for 'experienced riders only' due to the horse being sharp/spooky etc. So you would be offering something that is very rare in the part loan/share market!

I agree not to PTS, he is not old nor is he unwell - it would be a waste of a good horse. It might take you longer to find someone for him, but stick with it and see who comes up. Have a browse on Preloved and see if anyone has put up a 'wanted' advert for a happy hacker/part loan, there is one woman near me who seems to post daily on Preloved looking for a part loan happy hacker (again too far away from you unfortunately!) so its worth seeing if anyone is advertising looking for that kind of thing.

Good luck finding someone - I'm sure they will come along eventually!
 
Spring Feather said:
I'm really not sure what point you are trying to make. Turning a horse away is not an excuse for neglect. I have many horses turned away, so to speak, and all are hands on checked a number of times daily. They are all kept in fab condition and any ailments they may pick up are cared for in exactly the same way as any other horse.
Click to expand...

First of all, don't jump to conclusions. I don't take kindly to people accusing me of neglecting my horses, especially when they do not know the facts.

The point I am making is that this idea of 'grass livery' being a wonderful solution to people that don't have as much time/money for their horses (as the OP has pointed out) is not always the case and in MY case I wish I had listened to my vet and had my mare PTS when she was a picture of health (funnily enough in the end this was the case, but only after 6 months of blood, sweat and tears and a hell of a lot of box rest/hard feed/rugging had gone into her).

As you have rightly pointed out, just because a horse lives out, it does not mean that they need less attention/cost less - in fact my mare needed more and cost more - she was right by my house so checked on by me and my dad 3 times a day as she needed hard feed three times a day, had three heavyweight rugs on in the worst of the snow plus access to adlib haylage. I found the mud fever after two months and it was caught very early, she was seen by a vet three times over the course of 4 weeks, given three courses of antibiotics as it just wasn't going after the 5 day courses of each, and was brought in as soon as I could- unfortunately I had another horse by this point, so had to wait for a stable to come up.
 
Vindaloo said:
Goodness, that must be a typo. You caught mud fever early at two months?
Click to expand...

No, after two months of being in the field she FIRST GOT the mud fever. Vet was called straight away actually, and she was brought in within 4 weeks after having 3 courses of treatment. Neglect, I think not.

You people do love a witch hunt ha ha!
 
Ahhhh, there you go, rather than jump to conclusions (although I guess my thinking it was a typo could be deemed as jumping to conclusions! ) I asked the question, didn't accuse, just asked is all.

No hint of neglect accusing and certainly have never been on or participated in a witch hunt.
 
Why not loan him and if he does get returned at a later date/gets progressively worse, then pts. More folk are likely to take him on as a loan, I would have thought.
 
montanna said:
No, after two months of being in the field she FIRST GOT the mud fever. Vet was called straight away actually, and she was brought in within 4 weeks after having 3 courses of treatment. Neglect, I think not.

You people do love a witch hunt ha ha!
Click to expand...

I think in a case like this, don't judge people unless you know the facts.

Was there not a post on here a few months ago, where someone had left their horses on full grass livery, and horses had basically been ignored by YO, and one ended up PTS.

Friend of mine had been in a similar situation. Horse was on full grass livery, and she went away on holiday. Came back three weeks later - the horse had never once had its rug removed. If she had been away for another week it would have probably have dropped down dead in the field, the poor thing was starving and looked like a hat rack.
 
windand rain said:
So PTS of an elderly lame horse would seem the sensible option as that way he will never have to suffer again
Click to expand...

Elderly?? He's 15, I wouldn't say he's particularily elderly especially as I have two others who are 25+! He is also not suffering and I don't see why he would have to ever suffer in future? Sorry, but I really don't get why so many people seem to suggest putting a horse down as the "best" option purely because the horse isn't 100%. My horse has plenty of life left in him, he's a seriously decent bred horse (with Olympic SJ lines on both sides) and sold for a LOT of money as a youngster. Its sad its ended up like this but he's perfectly happy and I'll be ensuring it stays that way whether it be with me or someone else!

armchair_rider said:
I think he's a bit big for RDA anyway. However the riding school we are based at does corporate team building days which include a hack through the woods suitable for non-riders. Perhaps something like that might suit him?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I should have said at the beginning - although he's beautifully mannered, I wouldn't say he'd suit RDA or novices because he needs a competent rider still simply because he is a very smart, pushbutton horse and not a kick-along ploddy type.
 
My next question - So having only every sold in the past, "permanent loan" - what exactly do people think this is? I assume thats its basically long term / never ending loan but that they could still return him? Would I therefore still be able to take him back if I felt he wasn't being looked after??
 
I had my first horse on long term loan - the contract was that he was on long-term loan, that there was a month notice period for me to return him, or a two-week notice for the owner wanting him back, with the proviso that anything I may have paid for in advance for him that would be nullified by returning him was to be covered by her. The owner and I were on good terms so this was just in case she decided he wasn't being cared for/I suddenly had a huge life change of something. He was essentially mine, only without having bought him - I covered vet, insurance, livery, tack, rugs, farrier everything, although any important medical information was to be passed onto the owner. I used to text how he was doing every so often, and she sometimes came to visit. When he eventually injured himself jumping and was retired, she took him back for full retirement - I'll admit I never asked after him as I didn't want to hear whether she'd decided to PTS or not, she told me he was retiring but it was her call if she did! We were both under the impression that long-term meant just that - it was for years, in the same way I'd look on buying one, only he wouldn't technically be mine, and she could keep control ultimately and know he would never go out of knowledge/be passed around/not come back in the end. I liked it because, whilst at that point I was a working pupil and could get the keep as part of my wage, I didn;t have the money to buy something decent, and she couldn;t ride him...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top