Woud you keep your horse if he was no longer fit for purpose?

Blizzard

Blizzard

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ie if for some reason you couldnt ride them again, or compete/hunt etc, would you still keep them, or would you sell on PTS?
Same with agereally, wil you let your horse retire with you, or woud you want to rehome them or PTS once they couldnt work?

Beau is lame on a circle at the mo, getting it looked into but you know how minds play,a lady I know asked me if I would keep him if he was diagnosed with something like navicular for example, TBH it hadnt even occured to me not to!

As far as Im concerned he is with me for the rest of his life, whether that means I dont have a horse to ride, well thats life asfar as i am concerned,as long as he was happy and field sound he would be with me.

Interested to hear other people's views?
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there are too many factors, whether the horse will be happy to stay in the field when the others go off to be ridden, whether the horse is in pain, whether the owner can afford to ensure that the animal continues to have the best of care and sometimes expensive medication.

and it is in levels for me, if a horse couldn't compete but could be hacked sensibly I wouldn't consider having it PTS. If the horse couldn't be ridden at all I would be looking to review the position annually (pre winter), if the horse is in discomfort or not coping with winter well I would PTS.
 
If my horse was written off as couldn't be ridden it would be PTS, end of, I livery my horses and couldn't/wouldn't pay for a horse that had no job. I also have never owned a horse that didn't like doing a job, and I would prefer to PTS than watch a horse degenerate.

If I couldn't ride it, or it had an injury that meant it could just low level hack for example, I would find another home for it.
 
I always said my first pony would be with me for life, but selling her was the best decision and I should have made it sooner (she ruined my confidence).
Maiden WILL be with me for life, I was doing everything I wanted to do with her (hacking, schooling, prelim dressage, 2'3" SJing, working towards 2'3" ODE) and now, after her tendon injury, she will only be suitable for hacking and possibly if I'm very lucky, schooling as well. I will never sell her as she is just one in a million and I couldn't guarantee that any subsequent owners wouldn't jump her and let her break down again, or that they wouldn't sell her on and not tell the new owners about her injury (which is what most likely happened with me - she had the injury, her owner previous to me wasn't told for some reason, so I wasn't, I rode her too hard for a horse that had had a DDFT injury, and she broke down again). Therefore she will always be mine, HOWEVER I am going to loan her out if I manage to find her a suitable happy hacking home who want a confidence giver and friend. I cannot justify keeping her for myself to hack her, as I have horses to be able to compete (although I only do prelim/ novice dressage and less than 3' SJing) and it would be silly for me to stop that as I wouldn't enjoy horses any more.
So it's a bit of a compromise for me - yes I will keep Maiden, but not for myself! Once she's old and had enough, she'll come back to me and live out her days being someone's companion and being pampered as she deserves
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Yes, I would keep both my girls if they were no longer rideable. It's not necessarily what I would say about every horse I've owned, but I certainly would for these two. Although I would sincerely hope that Be would be fit to breed from if she was no longer rideable seeing as she is only 6.
 
D is no longer fit for riding club activities due to arthritis at the age of 12
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He is so much happier being semi-retired with no pressure on him to stay sound, being on and off of boxrest all the time
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As hard as it was, I know I made the right decision for him. I love him to bits and he is not going anywhere (until he starts to need a high dosage of Bute to keep him going, but I don't wanna think about that yet
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He likes to stand at the gate and poke his tongue out at Monty saying 'na,na,na,na,na, you've got to work
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I promised my old boy a home for life. This was sadly not practical, as when diagnosed as a "wobbler" i had 2 options, have him put to sleep or let him live out his days in a field somewhere.
Now the second option was my favourite, but for my own selfish reasons. I didn't want to say goodbye!! This for him, would have been torture. He was a dooer, if he had a few days off he would go looking for mischief, and at around 18hh this was not a good idea. If he was in the field and bored he would jump out, no matter how high the fences or if they were electric.
So the only kind decision was the very sad one i made.
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The vets had told me he would become a danger to himself and others in time, and i couldn't let that happen to him. He would also have become very depressed.
So with heavy heart i said "goodbye" while he had his dignity.
Best decision for him. Worst for me!!
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Max has been promised the same with me, but if ever the day came when his life had no quality, we would say "goodbye". I hope this is many years away yet of course. He is a different horse entirely though, and i think he would happily retire to pasture, as long as he was warm and well fed.
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Hope your big lad is ok, and you get to the bottom of his problem soon
 
I would only consider letting my horse go if my own circumstances changed (i.e. health) and I couldn't take care of him but I am committed to him whatever happens to him. Having a horse is much more to me than riding and I waited to get my own horse until I had my own land/stables and hopefully we will age peacefully together! Decision might be very different if I lived somewhere my only option was very expensive livery - but even at that I would try.
 
Our little ned will be with us to the end. We will happily keep him going happily grazing in the fields in retirement as long as he is that- happy! I can't stand to see some poor old horses going because the owner can't let go of their emotions and see whats best for the horse. He has so far gave us almost 13 years of pleasure and the least we can do to repay him is making sure he has the best retirement he can enjoy when the time comes, it really is the very least we can do!!
 
We've had mum's horse since she was 3 and she was diagnosed with navicular about 10 years ago; she was about 14 at the time.

She is otherwise healthy and happy and she can still walk and trot in the school and enjoys being played with and groomed etc.
So long as she isn't in pain we would never just have her PTS.
 
I think it does depend on the horse- If it has been worked all it's life then injures itself so it can't anymore, would it be happy standing in a field for the rest of it's life? could it cope with not having a active life any more? And also, of course, it depends on money, and if a owner can afford to keep a horse that can't work intill it reaches old age.

My mare has navicular and i have been told she can only be hacked out/ do light work, but she is too difficult to do that and really needs to be in 'hard work' to keep her brain busy!
I have retired her and started a new career with doing local inhand showing (*Ahem* on bute...) and she has done well. She copes fine living out in the field with my other pony and TBH i think she enjoys not being ridden!
It can be hard not having a horse to ride out and complete but i personally couldn't have her put down just because she doesn't meet my needs any more. If i feel she's not enjoying life in the future then i will rethink my desison. But for now she's a lady of leisure!
 
if they're suitable to sell on as a good hack/light dressage, then i will sell on, with a caveat - that i will always buy the horse back, at any time, at a good price.
otherwise they're mine to the end.
i don't loan out any more, unless they're kept with me. had it backfire on me and the horses once too often, unfortunately.
 
No, I'd have mine skinned and made into those attractive rugs (like the cow hide ones) so I'd always be able to remember them as they lay flattened on my floor.
Not sure whether to keep the heads on or not....what do you think - trip hazard?
S
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Good point...I must look into how much it would be....to have their heads mounted as trophies.
It's £800 for a full body taxidermy on a horse, if anyone fancies it.
Or my local Chinese did say they'd cook them for free if I brought them in
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Wheres your local chinese? Im still hungry! But alive!
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Someone is in too much pain to cook dinner tonight!
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Cocopops have run out so its the box in the morning.
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Ive heard there is more goodness in the box anyway....

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Mine all have a home for life. Mishky - arthritic and occasional happy hacker. Ella bought last year as a happy hacker, but now lame and after extensive vet investigations is having 1 year off. Ljufur - Icelandic gelding - now has Cushings and is retired. Tilly - 4 year old cob ( a long story!) too small for me really and I keep planning to sell her, but at the end of the day just can't. Two mini ponies as well. I am lucky that I have them at home, am no longer competitive and can keep them until the end of their days ( or mine!).
 
I sound harsh, but if any of them couldn't compete at the level I wanted they will be sold on. Ginga is being sold ATM because of that. He did great at the indoor nationals, but he is not cut out to be a singles outdoor pony, but he makes pairs too strong for me so he is going. If that happened to Pip for some reason the same would happen, and the team are allways changing. Its just the way I have allway had it, have a pony a few seasons till you want to change direct/move up a level and sell on.
 
Willow had a very serious injury (and very rare) and the vets had no idea how she'd come out of it. First they said it was likely she'd never walk again (basically her hock bone collapsed and it was just mush!), with morphine dripped into her spine and a massive cast she couldn't move, so they gave her 2 weeks I think, and if she made no improvements we'd have had to PTS, but she started improving, but they said oh you'll never ride her again, we kept her (luckily I was able to buy a baby too so still had something to ride) and now, a year later, she has fully recovered except a minor mechanical lameness (1 out of 10, and no pain, its just because her hock doesn't work exactly how it should).

They say I can do anything with her (thats several different opinions, after tests and x-rays) though I chose just to hack her, and lightly school her. Have done the odd spot of jumping, and a few little showing shows just because she adores going out, but even with £8000 vet fees (insurance paid £5000) she's with us for life, I couldn't part with her because of something that wasn't her fault, plus it's not like she meant it to happen! No one did.
 
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I couldn't part with her because of something that wasn't her fault, plus it's not like she meant it to happen! No one did.

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Thats how I feel.
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My mare Flora will be with me until the end of her days. I (and my Vet) thought she wouldn't be ridden again when she was 7, I turned her away to retire. It did her the world of good, she came sound and has been back in work for 18 months
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When her time really does come, she will have a comfortable retirement for as long as she has a good quality of life.

I don't have my own land, so I couldn't offer this to many horses and I can't be sure that is the option I would necassarily take if I hadn't owned one very long and hadn't developed a strong bond. I have only had Flora 3 1/2 years, but she owes me nothing and we feel like soul mates.
 
Toffee has had many homes, and this will be her last, regardless of whether she lives a long retirement when the time comes, or is pts. Without a crystal ball it is impossible to tell how her life will pan out, but she will never leave this family. I think she will thoroughly enjoy retirement, but who knows?
 
I don't understand why people keep their horses into old age. Old horses are so unattractive, with grey hair and dippy backs, they cost more to feed, and you need to get their teeth done twice a year.
Much better to sell them on as 10 years younger (who knows how to age by teeth anyway) or to give them to a charity to dispose of.
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my old pony is completely retired and I do tend to take her out for a stroll up the road just so she gets out/about and stretches her legs. She will be with me till the end. She did alot for me when I was younger and I owe her now.

My other pony on the other hand who I had no intention of selling, (or so I thought) I sold at the beginning of this year.We had her as a foal when we bought my old pony 16yrs ago. We had her for 15yrs just gone and it was heartbreaking to sell her. I never really formed a bond with her and I never really felt like she really appreciated my foundness of her...I hope you get what I mean...she was very independant.
She had been out on loan for a year and didnt reakonise me on returning and was like a different pony completely. My other horses were bullying her in the field as well and she looked depressed.
In the end due to the fact I would only keep her as a field companion and she would be wasted I had to decide what was best for her really rather then for me and I sold her to a good family for a low amount.
I have a youngster now who I will also keep till the end of his days...I dont take on animals to only have them for a short period...they are stuck with me :0)
 
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