Why the hell do we bother with horses????

S

Samantha008

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I think we are all absolutley barking mad.

I was thinking this morning as i shovelled all my mares poo, that we must be the most crazy people on the earth. We spend ALL our money on them, make oursleves ill with effort and being out in the cold all the time, exhaust ourselves,never having a day off and all for what???

To go up to the yard, see our lovely neddies hopping lame, to spend thousands on them at the vet (thank god for insurance) to box rest them (im box walking by the end of 2 weeks, never mind the horse) This is without mentioning the risks we take, how many riders have broken bones/injuries/bad backs etc and on top of that the absolute heartache we have to face when the vet says those words to us that we all dread the most.

I have a lady at my yard with 4 horses as she swears its the only way shes ever been able to go up the yard and know that shell be able to ride!!!

All this for what...to sit on one every now and again and hope to enjoy ourselves.

Yet i still love my damn broken mare to death. :/ What is it that horses do to us!!!!!????????
 
I sometimes feel like that, work and horse is all i really do lol...but dont think i'd manage for long without them.

My rising 3yo is on 8weeks box rest due to breaking his jaw he is not allowed to pull at grass etc until the wire holding it together is removed, so i am just letting him run in the indoor but its just not enough for him really.. I will also be demented fairly soon by it

I have ridden perhaps 5times in the last yr just been given little shotties of friends horses, but i just love looking after them and the feeling of great satisfaction you get when you put them in their lovely big clean fluffy new bed in the evening and you hear the contented munching from the stable on a chilly winter night :)

My horse has helped get me through my mum having cancer, a breakup, job stresses etc if i'm feeling rubbish i just go and sit with him for a bit and he never fails to put a smile on my face :) I'd be lost without him.
 
I dread to think of what I have coming, as (touchwood) my mare hasn't yet cost me the earth. I've got a youngster in case she breaks though. :P

It is absolutely bonkers when you really sit and think it through.
As OH says, I spend a minimimum £3k a year on my hobby and he pays a maximum £700 a year. Whoopsie!!
 
I was thinking exactly the same a few days ago. Mainly when I was sat in a heap at one end of the menage and Polly was at the other end! :o But, with all the will in the world, we really wouldn't be without them.. bruises and all!:D
 
Someone somewhere on here has the sig "when life is ****, go hug your horse".

I guess that sums it up really. You do everything, in all weathers, whatever the weather and go without some of the nicer things, so that they can have the best that you can afford for them.

Because on that prefect day, when the sun is shining and your flying across a field - that one moment makes it all worth it!

Roll on Spring!
 
Have you been talking to D?? We were having this conversation on Saturday :D :D :D. Long car journey equals long discussions re. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness :D

I left him with the thougt that if it wasn't horses, it would be something equally smelly, expensive, time consuming, emotion consuming, etc. etc. etc. :D :D :D
 
i write as i sit shivering under a duvet with two hot water bottles...... the horse needs shoeing soon so having to save pennies on the heating!!

OH is putting the pressure on atm to sell him, as he thinks i wont cope with looking after him and a newborn sprog in 6 months, and we could do with saving cash ready for our first born.

But i told him (rather insensitively, he feels) that my horse is the only thing i get out of bed for in the morning at the moment. to be honest, i'd rather sit in my stable and grizzle all over the ginger one than do it in front of my OH. at least the horse doesnt come out with stupid/insensitive remarks because he doesnt know how to deal with me when im upset. he just listens, then reciprocates by dribbling on me.

its bloody cold up there at the moment, taps frozen every day, carting water around, putting up with other liveries foibles, driving 20 miles a day to see him, but its all worth it for the good moments we share, like those times when he makes me laugh by cramming his whole butt into my empty wheelbarrow, just for a laugh.

Its making sure the ups outweigh the downs, cos they make it all worthwhile. If i didnt have my horse, i really dont know what i'd do with myself!
 
Because if i did not have horses i would sit on the sofa all day with money in the bank and prob be an alcoholic.
So i do it to save my sanity and get me off my backside, thats what i am telling myself in the morning anyway
 
Its not until their gone that we truly appreciate how much they meant to us and how lucky we were. I agree with the above though, but we bring it on ourselves I suppose!
 
Agreed - this is the first time in 14 months I've seen my p/l mare sound in trot. She's now been diagnosed with Cushings too!
I have been able to ride her owner's other mare (luckily) but want nothing more than to get back on my beloved girl.
However, throughout the years she has been the only thing keeping me sane on a bad day!!!
K x
 
i agree.
when i bought my mare cloud, i had no idea of what i was going to be going through.
firstly, she was missold, and turned out to be a very very green mare, with no schooling or life experiances.
then, after a year of owning her, she randomly took off, scaring me witless
i decided she was too much for me
she then went lame
this lameness was caused by navicular in both feetm and the surrounding tendon had been damaged- which had been causing the taking off
she had 4 months field rest to try and stablize it
last tuesday the vet came, to tell me that she had made no improvement, that her tendon could snap at any point, and when the ground hardens up, she will be in a lot of pain.
i am going to have to pts.
it is absoloutly killing me. she is 10, and i cant face losing her.
sometimes i do wonder why i put myself through this, but then i take one look at her trusing, calm face and i know its because i love her to bits.
i would give absoloutly anything to have her back forever.
cherish what you have.
 
I have just cancelled a trip to Tahiti in the March break because of the bloody horses.:mad::mad::mad:

Not because I can't bear to leave them, oh no, I'd have gone like a shot. But because I can't just leave over 20 horses, a lot of them that pay to be here, and two on foal watch at that time, bless my OH, I love him dearly but I do wish he had discussed it with me first. :(:(

I bother with them because I like having them around, I love breeding and producing foals and youngstock, I couldn't care less anymore whether i ride or not, although I have an old mare that I take out when I feel like it (food for the soul) I need something to eat the grass, and I get paid to have them here, it also means that I don't actually have to go out, get a proper job and be at the beck and call of some pious little jobsworth :rolleyes: I also love being able to say, "oh sod the stalls, I'm cold, coffee...:D"

Anyway, if I went to Tahiti I am pretty damn sure that I'd come back, sell up and move there, too tempting.

CloudandMatrix, sorry to read that :(
 
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cloudandmatrix said:
i agree.
when i bought my mare cloud, i had no idea of what i was going to be going through.
firstly, she was missold, and turned out to be a very very green mare, with no schooling or life experiances.
then, after a year of owning her, she randomly took off, scaring me witless
i decided she was too much for me
she then went lame
this lameness was caused by navicular in both feetm and the surrounding tendon had been damaged- which had been causing the taking off
she had 4 months field rest to try and stablize it
last tuesday the vet came, to tell me that she had made no improvement, that her tendon could snap at any point, and when the ground hardens up, she will be in a lot of pain.
i am going to have to pts.
it is absoloutly killing me. she is 10, and i cant face losing her.
sometimes i do wonder why i put myself through this, but then i take one look at her trusing, calm face and i know its because i love her to bits.
i would give absoloutly anything to have her back forever.
cherish what you have.
Click to expand...

Have you thought about trying project Dexter at Rockley Farm? If the only option is pts then you've nothing to lose and could well end up with your horse sound and rideable at the end of it all. I'd recommend a look at the site at least before making any decisions.
 
touchstone said:
Have you thought about trying project Dexter at Rockley Farm? If the only option is pts then you've nothing to lose and could well end up with your horse sound and rideable at the end of it all. I'd recommend a look at the site at least before making any decisions.
Click to expand...

i will have a look- but can they stop the navicular bone from damaging her tendon with every step? and take away the prospect of it snapping? wont hurt to look i suppose, but i refuse to let her suffer :( i trust my vet- who thinks there is nothing that can be done- he has her best interests at heart
 
Honestly, you need to contact Nic from Rockley and have a chat, There definitely wouldn't be any suffering allowed and Nic always acts in the horse's best interests, and would discuss things fully with your own vet for a full picture. There are horses that had navicular bone degeneration that have recovered and many of the vets were sceptical to begin with, there are results from the project on the website:-

'Project Dexter is our research project into rehabilitation of horses with "navicular", caudal hoof pain, DDFT/collateral liagment injuries.

Every horse who comes to Rockley with these diagnoses is included in the project, which runs entirely due to the help, goodwill and support of Prof. Peter Clegg at Liverpool and numerous horse-owners and their vets, to whom I am eternally grateful! Horses are assessed by their own vets, and 10 different (and sceptical!) vets have been involved so far.

The preliminary results for Project Dexter are shown below. The research project started in February 2008, with Dexter and horses are listed chronologically.

As at June 2010, 13 horses are included - 10 have completed their rehab, 3 are ongoing. 8 out of 10 horses are in full work, including jumping and hunting; 1 horse returned to light work; 1 horse (which had severe bone damage) improved but did not return to full work. 7 out of 10 horses have been re-assessed by their referring vet, confirming the improvement or return to soundnes

You can find out more about research, rehabilitation and our horses on the pages above or at our website: www.rockleyfarm.co.uk.'
 
Agree with all you say Samantha008 but I think it's because when it all goes right - like just now, after a really good lesson on Saturday I finally cracked getting my chap to go in a lovely outline and managed it again all by myself tonight, I feel absolutely brilliant! (I won't mention Sunday's hack when he nearly tipped me off several times!).
 
Because if I hadn't got my horse, I wouldn't be getting married! :D
I now have 2 fantastic boys (man & horse) and 1 girl (dog) in my life and that is reward in itself.





(I am not marrying my horse BTW!!)
 
CLOUDAND MATRIX,

you have to try rockley farm!!! I have a friend whos horse is there, he was a day away from being pts and now hes almost sound!!! I promise it is worth a try. Its working miracles for him!!! Dont get me wrong, he might never be a 4*eventer but he might be able to be a light hack or something!!!

So sorry to hear this, it make me angry that i complain about my mare whose a field ornament, but im just so grateful shes still here!!!
 
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