When you're done with horses but horse is unsellable?

[SantaVera]

contact Hopton Rehab and Homing 07989602773.charity number 1173847 They specialise in taking on horses such as yours both to help the horse and the owner. The future of the horse is secured with the animal remaining in the ownership of the charity for life but loaned out to a suitable person either as a riding horse or a companion. They have a facebook page too if you care to take a look.

 

[smolmaus]

It needs to become more accepted, the way the cost of everything is going, there will be a hell of a lot of horses neglected and abandoned otherwise, sounds awful, but the numbers of low value animals needs to be cut down.

It does sound awful but it is reality. There are only so many genuine "companion" homes out there and many many more horses who people would love to find companion homes for. You can't argue with the balance of those numbers.

I see some of the emails that come in from people looking the sanctuary to take on or help rehome the horses they can't keep and can't sell and personal opinion only here, this is not the view of the sanctuary, but people need to take responsibility for giving their horses a peaceful end rather than trying to pass it on to someone else. The lovely field in the countryside with their new friends and the sun on their back until they pass peacefully in their sleep either doesn't exist or it's full already of horses who deserve it just as much as yours does and got lucky with a one in a million shot. For most old or unsaleable horses its a fairytale you'll be sold by someone who has no intention of making it reality.

 

[cauda equina]

It always seems a weird paradox - private owners are urged to pts their unrideable horses to secure their futures
But those same owners are often in receipt of begging letters from charities wanting funds to feed other people's cast offs/unrideable horses

 

[SantaVera]

It does sound awful but it is reality. There are only so many genuine "companion" homes out there and many many more horses who people would love to find companion homes for. You can't argue with the balance of those numbers.

I see some of the emails that come in from people looking the sanctuary to take on or help rehome the horses they can't keep and can't sell and personal opinion only here, this is not the view of the sanctuary, but people need to take responsibility for giving their horses a peaceful end rather than trying to pass it on to someone else. The lovely field in the countryside with their new friends and the sun on their back until they pass peacefully in their sleep either doesn't exist or it's full already of horses who deserve it just as much as yours does and got lucky with a one in a million shot. For most old or unsaleable horses its a fairytale you'll be sold by someone who has no intention of making it reality.

ive recently taken on a 28 year old to give him a good time in the last part of his life. hes cared for ,bought expensive feed and much loved. hes grazing now with the sun on his back enjoying life. Sometimes fairytale endings do happen.

 

[Birker2020]

ive recently taken on a 28 year old to give him a good time in the last part of his life. hes cared for ,bought expensive feed and much loved. hes grazing now with the sun on his back enjoying life. Sometimes fairytale endings do happen.

That's really good of you. Believe me if I had something else to ride or had my own land Lari would be with me forever and I find it incredibly sad that I can't do that for him, but I just can't being on livery.

If I had my own land and could afford it what you are doing is something I would consider.

 

[Ali27]

It does sound awful but it is reality. There are only so many genuine "companion" homes out there and many many more horses who people would love to find companion homes for. You can't argue with the balance of those numbers.

I see some of the emails that come in from people looking the sanctuary to take on or help rehome the horses they can't keep and can't sell and personal opinion only here, this is not the view of the sanctuary, but people need to take responsibility for giving their horses a peaceful end rather than trying to pass it on to someone else. The lovely field in the countryside with their new friends and the sun on their back until they pass peacefully in their sleep either doesn't exist or it's full already of horses who deserve it just as much as yours does and got lucky with a one in a million shot. For most old or unsaleable horses its a fairytale you'll be sold by someone who has no intention of making it reality.

Our little companion pony got lucky with us! Our old pony was diagnosed with liver failure a few years ago and we were renting a house with 13 acres so desperately needed a companion for my 14.2 ridden mare. She was only 8 when I got her on loan and then I bought her for £100! She is brilliant, happy to be left on her own and so sweet. We moved out of rented property 18 months ago and both had to go on full livery temporarily for a few months. We’ve now bought a 5 acre field and she and my ridden mare who is 20 have a guaranteed happy forever life with me until it’s time for them to go! I’m pretty sure she realises that she got lucky?

 

[Dexter]

ive recently taken on a 28 year old to give him a good time in the last part of his life. hes cared for ,bought expensive feed and much loved. hes grazing now with the sun on his back enjoying life. Sometimes fairytale endings do happen.

And for every story like yours there are hundreds more that end in suffering. Its not an odds game I'd be playing with a horses life.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Thank you.

It's all a bit rubbish and its so frustrating to be in this situation.

This wee mare does not deserve this. She is such a lovely girl despite having a poor start in life with about 6 homes (some good some not) plus a riding school stint in her life.

She's been with me longer than any of her other owners and it's just a shame that things have turned out the way they have.

I had this with my wb mare.

Before i got her she was a state. Skinny and scars all over. She had ks which for her meant retirement straightaway. She was on off lamr a few years later, painkillers helped a bit but we xrayed and it was her stifles. She was pts the next day, nice and sunny with her friend with her.
I was not going yo bute her to be in the feild and didnt want her stifle to suddenly go.

When we retired her so many people told me to loan her as a companion or breed from her. I did neither, she had had a few bad homes previous to us, one where she was ear twitch badly so she had her last years where she was safe and happy with her friends.


So in your case i would pts, where she knows she is safe and where its her home.

 

[conniegirl]

I can understand if the horse is pottering around a field lame. If it can't get up or down in the stable or paddock. If it no longer feels it can run around and express joy and interest in its surroundings, or doesn't play over the fence anymore. If it doesn't eat up and loses weight or its coat looks dreadful. If it is clearly miserable with its head down, no longer expressing an interest in anything around it. If it has changed character suddenly.

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if a horse is any of the above then you are already a bad owner and should have PTS well before it got to that point. Any of the horses above are suffering.

Better a month to early than a moment to late

 

[Birker2020]

if a horse is any of the above then you are already a bad owner and should have PTS well before it got to that point. Any of the horses above are suffering.

Err that's what I said......

 

[cauda equina]

deleted

 

[ycbm]

ive recently taken on a 28 year old to give him a good time in the last part of his life. hes cared for ,bought expensive feed and much loved. hes grazing now with the sun on his back enjoying life. Sometimes fairytale endings do happen.

That is lovely of you but at that age how do you know for sure that he is pain free?
.

 

[ycbm]

If people who mistreat horses came with a big "I mistreat horses" sign on their foreheads the rehoming decision would be easy. Unfortunately they don't, they look exactly the same and say exactly the same things, often better things, as the person who's going to starve a horse or bute it up and sell it on for riding at a big profit.
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[smolmaus]

It always seems a weird paradox - private owners are urged to pts their unrideable horses to secure their futures
But those same owners are often in receipt of begging letters from charities wanting funds to feed other people's cast offs/unrideable horses

Can't really disagree with you. It does seem like a paradox. Lecturing otherwise responsible owners doesn't stop the irresponsible ones who are going to keep abusing, abandoning or neglecting their animals who wouldn't listen to you anyway. I suppose in my mind the rescue/sanctuary system needs to be in place for the extreme cases, not a horse who has had a good life and their owners just don't want to make a final decision but they also can't keep up with their care.

I wouldn't like to be the one making the decisions about who gets a soft landing and who doesn't, I couldn't handle it.

 

[Birker2020]

That is lovely of you but at that age how do you know for sure that he is pain free?
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How do you know any horse is totally pain free? Like how do you know 100% yours is? Not singling you out but fair question?

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

Putting a tin hat on - perhaps rescues would have more space to help with a wider variety of cases if they weren't over run with more than likely inbred coloured cobs from a certain type of "producer" and were instead able to make a decision around them without fear of being slated or branching into "taboo" territory.....

Obviously I know there are some that have gone on to make useful riding ponies but what about those who can't?

Also rescues will be just as impacted by the cost of living crisis maybe more so as they rely on donations which people may be less able to give. so will they be in a position to take in other people's cast offs?

Rescues shouldn't be used to stop people having to make a decision for the horse they are responsible for they need to be freed up for genuine welfare cases

 

[ycbm]

How do you know any horse is totally pain free? Like how do you know 100% yours is? Not singling you out but fair question?

You can't. That's one reason why I never retire horses, I can't be sure they aren't in pain.

 

[Birker2020]

You can't. That's one reason why I never retire horses, I can't be sure they aren't in pain.

Blimey. That's a bit black and white. So every horse that can't work anymore is pts regardless of how long you've had it for or what its done for you? Can't you just use your eyes and common sense to determine the key facts instead?

Again, not a personal attack but just curious.

 

[ycbm]

Blimey. That's a bit black and white. So every horse that can't work anymore is pts regardless of how long you've had it for or what its done for you? Can't you just use your eyes and common sense to determine the key facts instead?

Again, not a personal attack but just curious.

Even X ray eyes won't tell you if a horse is in pain, nobody can ever be 100% sure of that. If Lari is happy and looks well when you see him, how do you know he's not just happy to see you and looks completely diffeent when you aren't there?

Now that I have no land would not have the horse close to be constantly watching it, and it would cost thousands of pounds a year to retire and I can't be sure it's not in pain? Yes I would PTS at the first sign of bad weather, if not before.

The horse does not know or care how many more days it could have lived. I know and care about the constant worry I would have about whether the horse was happy and pain free. One of my horses was owned by someone else and across the Atlantic and I still worried about him, rightly as it turns out.

To be honest I think the joys of standing around in a field in the middle of winter are vastly overrated by owners who care too much about their horses to cut short their potential lives.
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[Flame_]

OP is exploring options hence her post, all everyone else is saying is if she does find herself in the situation that there’s no other sensible option, no one would blame her if she decides to pts.

Oh, absolutely, not aimed at the OP, aimed at people who seem keener on putting down horses than on exploring other possibilities or imagining that that the horse might well have a happy and useful long life if they can relinquish control of it.

 

[Rowreach]

Even X ray eyes won't tell you if a horse is in pain, nobody can ever be 100% sure of that. If Lari is happy and looks well when you see him, how do you know he's not just happy to see you and looks completely diffeent when you aren't there?

Now that I have no land would not have the horse close to be constantly watching it, and it would cost thousands of pounds a year to retire and I can't be sure it's not in pain? Yes I would PTS at the first sign of bad weather, if not before.

The horse does not know or care how many more days it could have lived. I know and care about the constant worry I would have about whether the horse was happy and pain free. One of my horses was owned by someone else and across the Atlantic and I still worried about him, rightly as it turns out.

To be honest I think the joys of standing around in a field in the middle of winter are vastly overrated by owners who care too much about their horses to cut short their potential lives.
.

Absolutely 100% agree with this.

 

[Birker2020]

Even X ray eyes won't tell you if a horse is in pain, nobody can ever be 100% sure of that. If Lari is happy and looks well when you see him, how do you know he's not just happy to see you and looks completely diffeent when you aren't there?

Now that I have no land would not have the horse close to be constantly watching it, and it would cost thousands of pounds a year to retire and I can't be sure it's not in pain? Yes I would PTS at the first sign of bad weather, if not before.

The horse does not know or care how many more days it could have lived. I know and care about the constant worry I would have about whether the horse was happy and pain free. One of my horses was owned by someone else and across the Atlantic and I still worried about him, rightly as it turns out.

To be honest I think the joys of standing around in a field in the middle of winter are vastly overrated by owners who care too much about their horses to cut short their potential lives.
.

Fair enough. We are all different.

I know that all day long he's eating in his stable as evidenced by his hay gone, I know he goes down to roll in the stable and field as evidenced by shavings in his tail and mud on his coat. I know he runs around in the paddock as evidenced by the scrape marks on the grass and that he plays as evidenced by the little marks him and his pals get on their faces/ face masks left in adjoining paddocks.

And I guess people are around him all day, staff and other liveries who go at different hours and if he looked uncomfortable or whatever they'd be the first to say.

It just feels so wrong to destroy something that no longer has a use and yet ultimately that is what might still happen and believe me there is a real possibility I might end up regretting it to my dying day.

 

[ycbm]

destroy something that no longer has a use

That's a horrible expression and doesn't relate in any way to the PTS decisions I make about my horses.
.

 

[ycbm]

And I guess people are around him all day, staff and other liveries who go at different hours and if he looked uncomfortable or whatever they'd be the first to say.

It has been proven that even top riders and top vets are very often unable to identify when a horse is lame.
.

 

[Gallop_Away]

Reading through threads like these really hamers home how truly awful the equine community can be to one another. I'm actually quite appalled anyone would label having a horse pts as a "cop out", but equally I don't think it's fair making judgements against owners who have chosen to retire their horses and trying to make them second guess themselves.

I said when I bought my horses that they are with me for life. When they become old and can no longer be ridden, they will be retired. If the day comes they are no longer field sound, I will pts at home. My reasons are my own and I do not think I can judge anyone who chooses to do things differently or explores other options. We are equally trying to do right by our horses.

I have always been a firm believer in better a day too early than a day too late, but that is MY decision for MY horses. I can not judge someone else for their decisions when it is not my decision to make or about a horse I own.

 

[Birker2020]

That's a horrible expression and doesn't relate in any way to the PTS decisions I make about my horses.
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It was a generalisation not against you in particular, I'm sorry wasn't meant to cause offence. You said you didn't retire your horses. So if you can't ride anymore I assumed you meant they were pts.

 

[Birker2020]

It has been proven that evenl top riders and top vets are very often unable to identify when a horse is lame.
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So they could quite possibly be riding horses that are lame then? At least mine won't be ridden anymore. At least I have the common sense not to 'push through' and at least I can recognise when its game over and time to give up trying. I do have some qualities it would seem.

Its a personal decision I guess. Which is what the OP was asking.

 

[Flame_]

I'm actually quite appalled anyone would label having a horse pts as a "cop out".

Aren't you glad that the racing industry has taken to investing time, money, energy and consideration to the potential futures of countless ex-racehorses instead of just pts when that career fails or ends? They don't all go on to have rosettes at the gymkhana lives, long comfortable retirements and natural deaths aged 30 plus, but I see the whole thing as a positive step. Having horses destroyed is OK but, IMO, finding them a use, if at all possible, and letting them stay alive a while longer is preferable.

 

[Carlosmum]

I feel there are some quite harsh comments here towards those ofus who have made a decision perhaps without investigating causes of lameness further.
For myself, he had lamimitis, we could have kept him sound, but I suspect he had other issues causing pain as he did not enjoy being ridden. I couldn't have afforded to throw money at a full lameness/veterinary investigation. If he had been lovely to ride I would have kept him going on. no or very little turnout, but he was not a happy pony, I certainly wouldn't have wanted to move him on to someone else. He was my pony and my decision I am sure one or two felt I was a little bit uncaring without trying to resolve his other issues but I spent 10 years battling with a pony who for his own reasons was not happy under saddle. Hence once the decision was made, I felt nothing but relief that I wouldn't have to ride him again.

 

[Gallop_Away]

Aren't you glad that the racing industry has taken to investing time, money, energy and consideration to the potential futures of countless ex-racehorses instead of just pts when that career fails or ends? They don't all go on to have rosettes at the gymkhana lives, long comfortable retirements and natural deaths aged 30 plus, but I see the whole thing as a positive step. Having horses destroyed is OK but, IMO, finding them a use, if at all possible, and letting them stay alive a while longer is preferable.

I think you've missed my point slightly but OK. Of course if a horse is sound and able to go on and have a further career that is a lovely thing. Equally a quick death that a horse knows nothing of, is also a perfectly acceptable end.
The racing industry has a lot to answer for in terms of how much wastage it produces, and of course I would rather see a young healthy otttb go on to have a ridden career in a private knowledgeable home. Trouble is there are not enough of those homes available.
We are also not discussing young healthy horses being pts here but rather older horses that can for whatever reason no longer be ridden. I know what decision I would make for mine but they are my horses and it would be my decision which will always be made in their best interest. Who am I to judge someone else who decides a different path when I don't know them or their horses?
I also certainly don't think many people make the decision to have a horse pts off-hand and it's certainly not a "cop out".