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

Yes, provided she was happy and healthy!! If I could never ride her again she would still have a home for life - she is part of my family and there is no way I could have her PTS while she was happy being a horse in a field!

There will always be other horses to ride but Tilly is irreplaceable and she is far more to me than a ride.
 
Is no one going to rise to my bait tonight?
S
wink.gif
 
Shilasdair - We've all outgrown your childish antics. You know I think you're a TROLL. :P :P
wink.gif

*snorts*

To the point.

At the moment we have 4 ponies.
Trixie who we've had for 9 years and has been retired for 4 of these, is in her 30's.
Shadow we've had for almost 8, retired 2 years ago and is now 28 ish.
Joey who we got 2 years ago, he has sweet itch, UFP, laminitic, and is likely to be a walking vet bill during his lifetime, but he's with us for life. A 6yr old "useless" shetty.
And Boo my 14.1hh 16yr old who has so far been out of work for 2 of the 4 years that I have owned her, and has cost us quadruple her original price in vet bills. She was bought to do SJ, XC, WH and fun rides, she can now do none of these things, but that does not mean i'll cast her aside. She still enjoys hacking out very much and I owe her a home for life, as I do with the others. None of these 4 will ever leave us.
It has been said to me before after yet another vet visit "why don't you sell the four you cant ride, then you could afford to buy one "good" one". And it has always repulsed me how someone could treat them as such commodities tbh.
Maybe I see life through rose tinted glasses, but I like to think that my ponies are "safe" and have a place to stay for life.


Rocco on the other hand belongs to my sister and was bought as a 4yo, was backed and brought on we have had him 2 years, he is currently for sale as he was not bought as one of our "crew" he is a proper horse and leaving him doing nothing in a field is simply not an option when someone else could get years of fun with him. As hard as it is.
 
I would love to be able to keep every horse I ever have and let them graze in big fields with lots of grass for the rest of their days. Unfortunately I have to keep my horses at livery yards because we don't have any land and we are also very short of money, so it just isn;t possible to keep a horse with 'no-purpose'.

I have recently sold my best friend, in fact I took him to his new home yesterday, and swapping my best buddy for a few pieces of paper with the queen's head on it seems so wrong. But I have to be realistic; I'm going away to uni on sunday and I ca barely afford to keep 1 horse let alone 2. The horse is a 17yr old tb and he has gone to a lovely family who already adore him and he will go for lots of nice hacks, whereas with me he just stood in the field while I rode my younger horse. Ultimately the horse will be happier where he has gone and for that reason I only feel guilty about selling him 95% of the time rather than 100% of the time
tongue.gif
 
Well my horse is a walking vets bill at the moment.

He has been at the Equine Hospital for 2 weeks now with mysterious lameness, they think they have it down to soft tissue damage to the hoof but at the moment its going to take time.

He also has spavin and athritus in his other 3 legs so over the last twelve months hasnt really done as much work as he should of.

Indi will be with me for life regardless of his ability to be ridden, i get pleasure out of having him and the riding is just a bonus, even when the time comes to fully retire him i deffinately wont cry over it.

I have always said since the day i brought him home he will be with me for life. The only time that i would consider pts with all his problems is when his quality of life is effected.
 
I had my horse put down.

There were other circumstances to take into account for my decision but the long and the short of it was that I had a perfectly healthy, but almost completely blind 14 year old PTS in what I thought, and still believe to be, his best interest.

As always, with debates like this, every case has to be treated individually with the best interest of the HORSE at heart. Compassion is all well and good but if a horse, indeed any animal that relies on us, is suffering, then it is our responsibility to end that in as humane a fashion as possible.
 
Sorry to say that as a livery person I would have the boys PTS if they could not do a job. They are too expensive to be garden ornaments, it is one reason why I dont have geldings. If I had my own land & time then fine I perhaps would have them as lawn mowers. Having lost 2 horses with broken legs, I am no longer as sentimental as I was.
 
you never know how a horse will react to retirement until you have to do it. i never thought my horse would cope, but he has adapted very well. he is 21 and 1/10 lame on his left hind following surgery to his annular ligaments and is unlikely to ever improve from that stage. he has been turned away for 4 months now and seems very happy. i've had him for 6yrs and he's taken me places i never dreamed of - he's with me as long as he's comfy and currently his level of lameness is not bad enough to stop him hooning around when he wants to or mooching around stuffing his face all day. if ever that changes i'll do what's best for him - he'll never suffer but i'll never shoot him just coz he doesn't fulfil a use for me anymore. at the moment it means i cant afford another horse, but so be it.
 
My lad is retired and to an extent is still fit enough for any pupose (in moderation).
I am keeping him in retirement at the moment despite this and would certainly keep him if he was unfit for anything unless it was kinder to him to have an alternative arrangment made or if I were struggeling financially.
 
Without doubt, Jack is with me til his last day, regardless of whether I could have another to actively ride or not.

I owe him so much and for me, when i take on a horse and bond with it, its for life.

He's my best friend and the only way i can be 100% sure he will get what he deserves til the very end is if he's with me.

Im terribly sentimental though :|
 
[ QUOTE ]
Without doubt, Jack is with me til his last day, regardless of whether I could have another to actively ride or not.

I owe him so much and for me, when i take on a horse and bond with it, its for life.

He's my best friend and the only way i can be 100% sure he will get what he deserves til the very end is if he's with me.

Im terribly sentimental though :|

[/ QUOTE ]

That is lovely.
smile.gif
 
Im afraid money does come into it, especially if your paying to keep your horses/ponies at livery yards. we have two one horse mine and my daughters competition pony, i work very hard to pay for these two so am afraid if they couldnt be in ridden again i am not in the position to keep a pet in someone elses field and get another one so am afraid it would have to be pts.
 
i couldnt let mine be pts if they still had quality of life, if they were in pain all the time then that would be different, the knackers yard near me has ssooo many horses that go to them that have nothing wrong with them they just taking up room, its so sad as that horse could make someone else so happy
frown.gif
 
I always said when I bought my horses that they would be with me for life, my little pony has been retired for over 6 months now as she is slightly lame with arthritus, she's more than happy just eating in the field. I absolutely adore my boy and don't know how I would ever cope without him, but may have to sell due to financial and health reasons
frown.gif
Can't even think about it tho, it just upsets me too much
 
Hannah is with me until her Sarcoids mean she can no longer do anything or they bother her permantly then she will be PTS. Her son Herbie will be with me as long as he enjoys Dressage, if it turns out he hates Dressage and loves jumping then I may consider selling him to someone who jumps.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Shilasdair - You know I think you're a TROLL. :P :P
wink.gif

*snorts*

I try my best to be troll-like, but sometimes things just go against me....I'm not from Ayrshire, for example
wink.gif

S
smile.gif


You don't seem to have the best of luck horse wise though
ooo.gif

S
smile.gif
 
Still have my daughters first pony, who suffers from Cushings . Also her 13 hh, who has been placed out on loan a couple of times since being outgrown and is still being ridden by a friends daughter. However she would still stay here even if she became unrideable. As for Murph, yes I am sure he will stay here as well. As I see it they don't owe us anything and we owe it to them to care for them till the end of the days.
Of course if any of them were in pain I would definitely have them pts.
 
Depends - have my two childhood ponies with me in retirement and always will, they go nowhere! However tb just diagnosed with narcolepsy and arthritis will go to the rescue centre she originally came from as I just can't afford all three PLUS a new horse to ride. If I had my own land I would definitely keep her as she's lovely.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top