Why do some people have horses?

pocket

pocket

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Having worked with and kept horses for the best part of 30 years, I often wonder why some people have horses at all?

At almost every yard that I have been at, there are people that have one or more horses and either cant afford to keep them and end up 'borrowing' feed/hay/bedding from others, I use the term 'borrow' loosely! Or have them on full livery and never bother to go and see them, leaving the horses in the field to go to waste.

Horses are such expensive animals and need a lot of looking after, so, if you do not have the time or funds to keep one, why do people have 6?

Is this just a Southern problem or is it country wide?
 
I can relate to that. There are a few at our yard that dont bother to do much with theirs so they just go to waste. There is also a person that has two horses both her and her husband are out of work and they "borrow" food etc from others. It gets on my nurves a bit.
 
Thats the thing I cant get my head around, people who dont have jobs but roll up to the yard in their 4x4's and have huge lorries, but no job!
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There have been a few horses at our yard that are on full and the owners don't come down from one month to the next. I can't really see the point in it but as long as they pay their bills and they are happy with the situation then that is up to them.
What annoys me more is when people seem to keep collecting horses and then moan about having to do them all the time. Never ride them and then get on after them having a month off and expect them to be angels. The horses then generally don't want to be perfect schoolmasters and get a sock in the mouth and a boot in the ribs and then get thrown back in their stables as if it's their fault.
 
We have one on our yard, she is always moaning about how much money she is spending on the horses and when it was poorly with laminitus, she said she couldn't afford the vet, but could go out and get a new leather bed..........Made my blood boil. Poor thing is on full livery at the moment, so again isn't sure who it's mummy is........
 
Theres a couple of people at my yard who's horse's are young 8-10 who havent really done anything. they dont even see the outside of the school. they never jump, lunge, hack out all they do is flat work schooling. their horses must be bored senseless
 
The situation is getting worse.... far too many people about with a bit of money and they don't know a horses head from its ar*e but they go out and buy one to add to thier list of status items.

I was in the saddlery at the weekend, an replica of the above arrived with a small brat in tow who wanted some pink travelling boots... shop didn't have any, so they made the decision to travel the pony without any boots to the show the next day rather then have a perfectly suitable pair in another colour. How I kept my mouth shut I will never know.
 
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We have one on our yard, she is always moaning about how much money she is spending on the horses and when it was poorly with laminitus, she said she couldn't afford the vet, but could go out and get a new leather bed..........Made my blood boil. Poor thing is on full livery at the moment, so again isn't sure who it's mummy is........

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Oh yes, we have a few people who dont like getting the vet out. Last year a new horse had a cut over the stifle joint, you could see the fascia under it. I was asked what I would do, I said as the wound was over the joint and you could see the fascia the vet should be called asap for anti biotics/xray. This was a Saturday.

On Wednesday when our local vet comes out to our area on routine visits (cheap) the vet was called as by now the horse could not weight bere and ended up at the hospital on intravenous antibiotics........
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As long as horses are adequately cared for in terms of food, water, shelter/rugs, social needs and vet treatment, I don't care whether someone works/rides/visits their horse or not.
S
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Hate to say it but I have to agree with you!
 
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As long as horses are adequately cared for in terms of food, water, shelter/rugs, social needs and vet treatment, I don't care whether someone works/rides/visits their horse or not.
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I fully agree with this, if the horse is content then so what
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Pocket, I totally agree with you! There is a big field at the back of my house which is owned by the local farmer. Ever since I have lived there (7 years), there have been 4 horses in that field. I have never ever ever seen any less horses in that field, ie. they never leave the field.

I quite liked the look of one and found out it belonged to the farmer's grandaughter so after making enquiries, I found out it was 8 years old, was broken as a 3 year old and has been in that field ever since. I had a chat to the grandaughter about it and this girl of about 16 turned up lookinging like some kind of hooker (not horsey in any way shape or form). I was asking her questions and she had no idea. The horse also had ringworm so I suggested that she be separated from the others, the vet called and the horse bathed accordingly to treat it. The girl had no clue and really just couldn't be bothered.

It is such a shame because those horses could have a really good life with someone who would enjoy them. And someone who had a clue about how to look after them!
 
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As long as horses are adequately cared for in terms of food, water, shelter/rugs, social needs and vet treatment, I don't care whether someone works/rides/visits their horse or not.
S
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Hate to say it but I have to agree with you!

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Please desist from agreeing....Hell is going to be so crowded at this rate
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S
 
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Poor thing is on full livery at the moment, so again isn't sure who it's mummy is........

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What? horses on full livery arnt well looked after and loved by the grooms?

Sorry but ive never met a horse on full livery that isnt happy content and has a nice stable routien - a lot more than can be said for many DIY horses ive seen.
 
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Poor thing is on full livery at the moment, so again isn't sure who it's mummy is........

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What? horses on full livery arnt well looked after and loved by the grooms?

Sorry but ive never met a horse on full livery that isnt happy content and has a nice stable routien - a lot more than can be said for many DIY horses ive seen.

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That's one of the benefits of DIY...your horses recognise you as the bringer of food....so has to pretend to be nice to you in case you starve it
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S
 
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Poor thing is on full livery at the moment, so again isn't sure who it's mummy is........

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I'm not sure horses have a concept of "mummy"!!
 
My yard is full livery with about 25 privately-owned horses. The only horses that are regularly visited and exercised are PF and Antifaz. In fact most of the horses are ignored for the better part of the year.
I know for a FACT that these horses would be far, FAR worse off if their numpty owners were in charge of their daily care. As it is, they're mucked out, fed and watered and owners are notified if the horse needs shoeing, vaccinations, worming or other veterinary care.
As for me, it so happens that I choose to muck PF out at the moment, but even if I didn't she would know perfectly well that I'm her mummy because I groom her, ride her and play with her. Same goes for Antifaz, except I don't muck him out.
 
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Poor thing is on full livery at the moment, so again isn't sure who it's mummy is........

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I'm not sure horses have a concept of "mummy"!!

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Mine have a concept of 'grumpy serf' though
S
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As long as horses are adequately cared for in terms of food, water, shelter/rugs, social needs and vet treatment, I don't care whether someone works/rides/visits their horse or not.
S
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Quite right.
 
I would LOVE my own horse, but have absolutely no chance of being able to afford the keep. It makes me insanely jealous that some people have them, but don't seem to appreciate them, but as long as the horse is happy and well cared for, I suppose i'll keep the green eyed monster in check!
 
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Thats the thing I cant get my head around, people who dont have jobs but roll up to the yard in their 4x4's and have huge lorries, but no job!
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Whats wrong with that?! Id do that if I could!
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Thats the thing I cant get my head around, people who dont have jobs but roll up to the yard in their 4x4's and have huge lorries, but no job!
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Whats wrong with that?! Id do that if I could!
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Sounds idealic!
I'd love to win the lottery, give up my job and spend each day pursuing a variety of leisure pursuits
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That's one of the benefits of DIY...your horses recognise you as the bringer of food....so has to pretend to be nice to you in case you starve it
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S

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What a load of cobblers!
 
I do agree that to have a horse on livery and hardly ever see it is crazy IMO. How can you have a relationship with a horse on those terms? And how can you meet your responsibility as an owner?

There will always be people that feel other people can fund their lifestyles.....whether this be in the horsey field or outside of it. There a replenty of takers and users in the World......But it is frustrating.
 
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As long as horses are adequately cared for in terms of food, water, shelter/rugs, social needs and vet treatment, I don't care whether someone works/rides/visits their horse or not.
S
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i agree with you 100% no horse stands in the field thinking I am wasted here I could be doing BSJA they tend to go eat, poo, itch, drink eat, roll, eat, eat
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That's one of the benefits of DIY...your horses recognise you as the bringer of food....so has to pretend to be nice to you in case you starve it
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S

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What a load of cobblers!

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Say what you really mean, Saskia....it's so difficult interpreting your posts
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I do agree that to have a horse on livery and hardly ever see it is crazy IMO. How can you have a relationship with a horse on those terms? And how can you meet your responsibility as an owner?

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Surely your main responsibility as an owner is to ensure that your horse has adequate food and shelter and appropriate veterinary care when needed. How is keeping a horse on full livery where you have appropriately qualified and/or experienced people to do this for you any worse than doing it yourself? Spending hours mucking out is not the only way to bond with a horse or develop a relationship with it.
 
I also agree that as long as the horse is adequately cared for then it doesn't matter if it's not the owner personally providing that care. I also have no problem with horses being kept as pets or 'field ornaments' as long as their needs are being met.

...Problem is the less scrupulous yards take advantage of this - full livery at the yard where I keep mine involves the horse being mucked out and an entirely new clean bed put down a few hours before the owner comes for their sunday lunchtime fair-weather hack. The rest of the week (or month... or year in one case) the horse is pretty much left to it, either bunged out in a field and forgotten about or left to stand in on its own week's worth of manure and eye-stingingly bad ammonia. The owners regard this as normal as they don't know any better.

Needless to say I am DIY there, we have our own separate yard and each of our horses is treated like god
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I like to think B appreciates having me around to personally cater for her every whim but I also realise that if she was at a proper full livery yard which provided adequate care she probably couldn't care less who provided it as long as food was involved.
 
When I worked in london and was working abroad alot, I had three horses all on full livery, one year I think I only saw them once a month if I was lucky. The thing is I knew they were exercised, well cared for and had signed over to my YO the responsiblity of veterinary care, so if she couldn't get hold of me for any reason I was happy to leave any decision to her, even if the horse needed to be PTS. I trusted my YO and then when I was in the country I knew at any point I could just grab one of them out of their stables and do whatever I wanted as they were all fit and well. Now I am on our own yard I have 9 horses, I do all the chores myself. I must admit if I could afford it I would definitely have them on full livery given the option. None of my horses have been any different towards me whether they were on full or not, they each know who I am.
 
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I do agree that to have a horse on livery and hardly ever see it is crazy IMO. How can you have a relationship with a horse on those terms? And how can you meet your responsibility as an owner?

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Surely your main responsibility as an owner is to ensure that your horse has adequate food and shelter and appropriate veterinary care when needed. How is keeping a horse on full livery where you have appropriately qualified and/or experienced people to do this for you any worse than doing it yourself? Spending hours mucking out is not the only way to bond with a horse or develop a relationship with it.

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I never said that mucking out is a good way to bond with your horse. My horse is on full livery and I reap many benefits because of this.

I do believe strongly, though, that if you have a horse the ultimate responsibility for it's welfare lies with you. I would not be happy to leave my horse for months or even years at a time without actually visiting. What a yard can pledge to do, or say it is doing, can be quite different in reality. Similarly, they may say your horse is fine but they could be emitting to tell the whole truth, or may not have the time to notice small things that I as an owner, may pick up on. I'm sure a lot of yards provide top notch care but IME not all do, esp when left to their own devices. Having a horse IMO is more than provision of food, water and veterinary care. There is psychological welfare to consider, among other things.

So, my point is, that I would be in a far better position to take ultimate responsibility for my horse if I visit regularly.

My other point is that I truly cannot see the point of spending all that money on something you never see???? Crazy.
 
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