Would you bankrupt yourself for a horse's vet fees?

Syrah said:
No I wouldn't, I've got 2 small children and they come first above everything and everyone else.
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This^^ I have a family, while I love my lad to bits, He is insured and I would never let him suffer, I would do all I could for him, but I would never leave my children homeless and my family penniless!
 
rubysmum said:
folks have used the word bankruptcy lightly in this thread, so just to clarify, bankruptcy is a terrible serious step - with huge long & short term implications,
it becomes difficult/impossible to get insurance, any form of credit, mortgage, fuel suppliers may insist on pre-payment meters etc etc. ALL your creditors will get litle or nothing - why should they suffer because you have a horse. It may effect your employment in the future [ & not just in obvious ways - i had hoped to foster but that may now be impossible]
Incidentally, horses are not generally seen as assets, particularly if you own a single one, & are listed as liabilities. Ironically, those who own several with some real worth [ prob over 5 grand each] might find their other more valuable animals listed as assets & sold to pay for care for the ill/injured one.
As someone who has been through bankruptcy [ caused by the failture of my consultancy business & the end of a relationship], quite frankly it is a horrible business offered to individuals who have no other options, is it really right to use this because of debt caused by owning a horse?
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Well said and sorry for your previous circumstances.

Even if you were to bankrupt yourself for an animal you would then not be able to afford to support the animal in the future as you would not be entitled to a wage.

My horses and dog if viable to them will have everything they need, if the vets fees outrun the insurance and I didn't have the money I would get a loan for whatever it cost. If the horse/dog was ill and in a lot of pain then I would do right by the animal. My animals owe me nothing and I owe them everything. One of my lads has already had nearly £20k paid out by the insurance, he only cost me £5.5k, he is now sound, happy and very healthy and whilst he continues to be he will get whatever treatment is necessary and the supplements that he needs to be on for the rest of his life. He has exclusions on his insurance now that means if he has any other similar injury or issue that they wont pay out. If he needs treatment then I will find the money.

So yes I would if viable to the animal get into great debt for them, bankruptcy is probably the wrong term.
 
chessy said:
Thank you SO MUCH for saying this!

It seems some people in this thread think that bankruptcy just means being in debt, when it is actually so much worse!
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well i went bankcrupt and it was easy.i closed all my bank accounts down and opened a new one just for bankcrupties with the co-op amd set new direct debits up and i told my employers.i never lost my house as it was in neagative equity,i never lost my jobs,didnt loose my car my car as it worth less than 2 k and needed it for work,never lost my horse cos it worthless at 100£ they didnt want to know.im not interested in credit anymore so doesnt effect me.my mortgage company wernt bothered cos i had paid my mortgage and never missed a payment on it,nor my gas,electric or council tax bills.i just pay a nominal fee of £50 per month on a 25 grand debt.id recommend going bankcrupt anyday.to me it was a relief and nothing has really changed.
 
What an emotive subject!!!

Firstly, I would NEVER bankrupt myself for a horse.

But I try and have myself in a position whereby bankruptsy would be an unlikely scenario in the first place. I try and live within my means and all my animals (bar the cats) are insured to an extent that I deem risk acceptable. I suppose I am lucky to be in the position I am in.

For me personally, being able to physically finance something doesn't actually come into it. I could somehow finance most veterinary eventualities. For me it is the choice of whether I am willing to finance something. That probably makes me sound even more heartless!

The choice to PTS would always be gut wrentching, what ever the situation. I tend to often think of the 'what if' scenario so do tend to be fairly clear on what I would do in a given situation.

For me a lot depends on the horse in question and how much I like the horse. However I don't have time and energy to keep a field full of ornaments (I don't own that magic field)

My current new horse I like a lot and already know that I would go quite far for him. He'd have treatment / surgery on the proviso he would have a fair chance of a quality of life afterwards.

My previous horse wasn't one I gelled with. I was considering selling him and then he injured himself. He had a good chance of recovery and had a high chance of a useful working life. He had the money spent on him (circa 8K in total) most of which was covered by insurance, and then he was sold cheap with his history declared. If his outlook had not been so good I would have PTS without much of a second thought.

My competition horse previous to that I still have, a paid for retired field ornament. He from day 1 was the best horse to have landed on my doorstep. He was originally on loan, the contract ran out and 8 years later he is still here - I don't technically own him and would be in my rights to send the lame bugger home. He isn't going anywhere though! Through various insurance claims he probably totalled about 15K in vets fees until I called it a day and decided he was only insurable for external stuff and was a nightmare to keep sound and it wasn't viable to continue to invest so much emotion into him. 2 years into full retirement and he is a happy sound field ornament. He now has a 1K vet limit on him - should treat small minor stuff but anything bigger or requiring surgery and he will be PTS (and I will be distraught!)

With regards to colic surgery I am fairly clear that a retired horse would not be operated on. A working competition horse would always get 1 chance on surgery. The requirement for surgery 2 would be PTS.
 
No, as much as I love my ponies, I have a family and they have to come first. There is no way I would put my home at risk.

I would not keep a horse going on long term expensive medication nor put a horse through colic surgery.

Quite happy for anyone to call me selfish as I am quite happy to admit that I am!
 
marmalade76 said:
No, as much as I love my ponies, I have a family and they have to come first. There is no way I would put my home at risk.

I would not keep a horse going on long term expensive medication nor put a horse through colic surgery.

Quite happy for anyone to call me selfish as I am quite happy to admit that I am!
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you are been very sensible and realistic.my pony is old and he is a pet come light hack.i dont want to compete or even canter.he suits me.when his time comes he will be pts and if i could never afford him anymore he would be pts.he has had rough life in the past and he wont be sold or loaned out as a companion.
 
aintgotnohay said:
well i went bankcrupt and it was easy.i closed all my bank accounts down and opened a new one just for bankcrupties with the co-op amd set new direct debits up and i told my employers.i never lost my house as it was in neagative equity,i never lost my jobs,didnt loose my car my car as it worth less than 2 k and needed it for work,never lost my horse cos it worthless at 100£ they didnt want to know.im not interested in credit anymore so doesnt effect me.my mortgage company wernt bothered cos i had paid my mortgage and never missed a payment on it,nor my gas,electric or council tax bills.i just pay a nominal fee of £50 per month on a 25 grand debt.id recommend going bankcrupt anyday.to me it was a relief and nothing has really changed.
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You have left the rest of us paying your £25,000 debt for you in higher prices for what we buy. It doesn't just disappear into thin air because you walk away from it. Thank heavens there aren't more people like you in this country.
 
aintgotnohay said:
you are been very sensible and realistic.my pony is old and he is a pet come light hack.i dont want to compete or even canter.he suits me.when his time comes he will be pts and if i could never afford him anymore he would be pts.he has had rough life in the past and he wont be sold or loaned out as a companion.
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You can't afford him now.

Make no mistake, as a bankrupt, it is your debtors who are paying to keep your pony, not you.
 
cptrayes said:
You have left the rest of us paying your £25,000 debt for you in higher prices for what we buy. It doesn't just disappear into thin air because you walk away from it. Thank heavens there aren't more people like you in this country.
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i am paying £50.00 per month back and YOU do not know the circumstances of my debt-it was a business that went bankcrupt OKAY.
 
Agree with you entirely Fiona; I think Gingerwitch and Tickles are totally out of order.

Just who do they think they are that they should dictate who does and doesn't have a horse?
3 grand for a holiday? I'm not that stupid to waste that much money on trivialities (even if I had it which I don't but I don't begrudge anyone else wanting to waste their money)
 
No I wouldn't bankrupt myself so that we lost the house and everything else, as then I wouldn't be able to care for the horses in any case. But I have racked up some serious loans to pay huge vet fees. One of £4k for unsuccessful colic surgery. The other for £8k for chemo for a dog. I am expecting to have to pay out above and beyond my insurance limit for my current horse that has a poor prognosis to return to work, though he should be able to retire, and I have paid plenty of excess on my retired mare who is the horsey love of my life.
 
Maesfen said:
Agree with you entirely Fiona; I think Gingerwitch and Tickles are totally out of order.

Just who do they think they are that they should dictate who does and doesn't have a horse?
3 grand for a holiday? I'm not that stupid to waste that much money on trivialities (even if I had it which I don't but I don't begrudge anyone else wanting to waste their money)
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Well, I've had to wait until this age to be able to ride again then (bliss!) have a horse, something I literally have dreamed about all those years. It's a struggle with health and cash, and very hard work, but it's heaven.

I'm not putting up with some smug *****s who talk of holidays "anywhere decent" and suggest people should have spare 8ks lying about telling me I shouldn't own a horse.

I don't resent other people having money, but I take exception to them thinking it gives them the right to tell others how they should live.
 
Wagtail said:
The other for £8k for chemo for a dog. I am expecting to have to pay out above and beyond my insurance limit for my current horse that has a poor prognosis to return to work, though he should be able to retire, and I have paid plenty of excess on my retired mare who is the horsey love of my life.
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It's great that you're able to do that, and presumably you're not borrowing money you can't repay. But for me, when my beloved little rescue terrier got cancer, my then teenage daughter and I agreed that Dusty would have pain control for a while, but as soon as she started to show signs of this not working, we'd have her pts. I was single mum, I couldn't afford further treatment.

The irony of this story is, that when we got our two dogs, I was still married and my husband had a good income. However, husband moved out, took his income with him, and the woman he went off with was our vet!! :rolleyes:
 
As much as I am fond of my ponio,I would never allow my family to suffer financially for him.

He is insured with a decent company for the maximum amount possible and that will have to be enough.
 
*shrugs*

I think it's wise to make sure you have a certain amount of money put aside before buying a horse, just in case something happens out of the budgeted allowance. It's a long term investment that is risky - similar to a car or even a bicycle.

No I don't think only 'rich' people should own horses but one needs to be realistic before jumping in. Why I haven't - aside from being unrealistic, I'd rather save money for a house.

*waits to be shot*
 
typekitty said:
*shrugs*

I think it's wise to make sure you have a certain amount of money put aside before buying a horse, just in case something happens out of the budgeted allowance. It's a long term investment that is risky - similar to a car or even a bicycle.

No I don't think only 'rich' people should own horses but one needs to be realistic before jumping in. Why I haven't - aside from being unrealistic, I'd rather save money for a house.

*waits to be shot*
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I don't think anyone will want to shoot you! :) It depends what your priorities are. I've had my family, own my little house and now have a chance to have a horse. I'll happily do without other stuff to manage that.

It's not an investment though, it's money down the drain. Except it makes me happy. ;)
 
FionaM12 said:
I don't think anyone will want to shoot you! :) It depends what your priorities are. I've had my family, own my little house and now have a chance to have a horse. I'll happily do without other stuff to manage that.

It's not an investment though, it's money down the drain. Except it makes me happy. ;)
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Haha thanks, never know on here!

Horses are in my future, probably when I'm retired! I've got 40 years to convince the boy they aren't all bad ;)
 
i have £10,000 put away in a high interest account , i dont insure after the last time when i had an enormous fight with aims to get them to pay out a paltry £700 claim which i had to pay upfront to vet anyway , so whats the point of insuring?
i have 4 horses , 3 i would pay for complicated surgery one i wouldnt and no i wouldnt bankrupt myself for any of them
 
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