[QUOTE=Sticky Situation;8999029]
I agree 100% … but it’s likely that with either of these cases the horse may not be considered to meet criteria for euthanasia… so then what?[/QUOTE]
Depends on the Vet, for one… so then what?
Find a new Vet who ‘gets it’ or keep the horse.
BTDT.
Rehoming an older, sound horse or a horse that can no longer do upper level work with full disclosure to a knowledgeable (or willing to learn) new owner is a no-brainer IMO. It is the lame, the ancient, and the obviously dieing that someone is trying to dump that upsets me. In my experience, vets are reasonable people who are not going to refuse a reasonable request for euthanasia and take individual situations into account.
I had a crazy mare that I worked with for 11 years with vets and various trainers before giving up and retiring her. I was asked to move her from 3 different retirement barns in a year because of her behaviour. Talked to vet about trying to rehome this drop dead beautiful and sound horse with a serious loose screw and she basically told me that would be inhumane, which reinforced my decision already to put her down.
2lefthooves, how long have you been trying to rehome this horse?
Can’t you keep him or if not, put him down so he won’t end up at auction? It’s the right thing to do.
[QUOTE=2LeftHooves;8998527]
Hi.
I’m the gal who posted on Facebook described in the OP. For the record I posted an ad for my guy in the hopes that maybe I’d find him a retirement career because to be honest that is what HE would prefer. I have only and will continue to insist that that is what HE would prefer. He loves babies, doesn’t mind clingy friends, gets along with everyone, is a easy keeper and as long as no ones riding him needs no maintenance. I believe in leaving no stone un-turned so yes I posted an add online in the hopes that maybe someone in need of a companion or babysitter might consider him. I posted him as free lease OR free to a good home because I know people who for valid reasons prefer one over the other. Again no stone un-turned. I do have two (and have had for the last few years of his soundness battle) retirement farms picked out in case a gig as a companion or babysitter doesn’t turn up. I didn’t post the ad because I expect someone else to retire my faithful companion but because I do know what HE would prefer and see nothing wrong with putting out feelers. Who knows maybe he will find that retirement career but if he doesn’t that is, has been and will continue to be ok. Oh and yes I stated that his blankets would go with him because he’s one of those loves his blankets kind of guy. I don’t know about your horses but at the farm I work on someone rips one every day, having extra’s aren’t a bad thing. I know bad things happen to good horses and good people but if you only focus on worrying about the potential bad and don’t search out the good that’s in mho a pretty crummy life.
You don’t know me or Henn but feel free to continue judging us without knowing all the facts or our situation.[/QUOTE]
I have never heard of someone trying to figure out a horse’s career path with a choice of retirement career.
Hmm he can’t jump so let’s make a career as a dressage horse. Yes viable.
Hmm horse can’t hold up to dressage, so let’s try him as a pleasure horse. Yes viable.
Hmm horse can’t really walk trot and canter so let’s make a new career as a trail horse. Horse comfortable and sane to walk on trails. Yes viable.
Hmmm horse can’t hold a rider so let’s make a new career as a retirement buddy. No not viable. That is not a career.
If you are lucky you will find your right situation. And I hope you do. Your horse looks very sweet. But to stubbornly cling to the idea that he wants a new career path as a companion horse. That is pretty bold. That is not a career path. That is a placement for an unusable horse if you are lucky enough to find this type of situation. Yes if you are lucky!! This is not a job. It’s a lucky placement for your horse.
People suggested that you retire him yourself. And your response was “no he wants a career as a companion horse” sorry but that is such a cop out. He doesn’t want a career and there is no such career for a horse. It’s pure luck if you can find someone to take your lame horse.
And I would be very careful in your placement. You can find the “best home ever” and find out 2 months your horse is gone. Then you can place an ad on facebook looking for your horse that you gave away because the people promised you to take care of him forever.
I am not trying to be mean, but you are either callous or very naïve. Why not advertise to find a place where your horse can live and offer to pay his hay and grain. That would ensure your horse doesn’t head to the nearest auction. And if you think I am making this up, contact Kelly Smith on facebook. She will tell you all the stories about all the beloved horses that get bought by kill buyers with notes on what “sweetie” likes to eat for treats. Or how about the pony that had Christmas bows braided into his tail and mane. So sad. He was bought by a kill buyer and luckily because Kelly Smith posted his picture he was saved!
I wish you would really say what you want. You want someone to pay for your horse so you don’t have to. And I really hope you find what you are looking for.
Interesting and also a sad discussion.
I thought I would chime in as a farm owner who HAS taken in “free to good home” horses. I usually have one babysitter type here on the farm to hang out with the one(s) left behind. So those homes ~are~ out there. But…
I am pretty darned picky about what I will bring in. Because I can be. I have no interest or time for a horse that has really never learned to play well with others. (won’t that be your job?) Or needs a cocktail for the farrier. Or vet. Or bolts when being led. When I have room or the need, I have and will provide a loving and last stop home for those old souls that just need a safe place to land. But they need to be easy, easy, easy. I’m not talking about needing some meds to make life a bit more comfortable. Or special dietary needs. I’m talking about ill mannered, rude, and sometimes down right scary to live with horses.
I think my point is, while we constantly talk about the best thing we can do for our horses to to provide training for their “career”, (whatever that path might be), owners should also invest the time to make sure that their horses have ground manners so that if something changes, those horses might have an opportunity with someone like me. And owners need to be honest with themselves - if your horse doesn’t like turnout, tends to be the playground bully, is the horse that no one really likes to handle, odds of him getting off your payroll and coming to a farm like mine are pretty slim.
idk if it still happens, but i assume it does- there are those who look for free to cheap horses to sell to the kill buyers. And they put on a pretty facade, send a nice person to tell how they will love the horse forever, and give it a great home, and then- mysteriously, the seller never hears from buyer again. This is why so many try to sell older horses for just a bit over what the kill buyers would pay. but the horse business is not what it was in the 1980’s. Fewer people have horses, it seems. i would rather euth my old horse that wonder if he will be neglected. Right now my 24 yr old horse is doing wonderfully and i plan to let him retire when he needs to, bc he has earned it. But if something ever happened finacially, i would choose to end his life while it is still good.
My last horse was an odd duck. She was a difficult ride, she wasn’t very pretty, she was holy hell to fit a saddle to, she was an abysmally hard keeper and she had a chronic issue that required careful, correct riding and some (minor) maintenance (god, I know she sounds like a nightmare but I am tearing up thinking of her. She was a gem. I miss her!)
When she was no longer sound for major training/competing, I never even considered having her go anywhere. Recipe for disaster, for sure. Older, kinda homely, questionably sound horse who needed $300/mo in senior feed? Anyone? :lol: I made her a promise early on, and kept it. My riding fell off a little bit - I was a W/S, did catch riding, rode “problem” horses for a couple of years and then put her down when it was her time.
My current horse is pretty as a picture, shaping up to be a nice solid citizen, sound as a dollar, and hopefully will have a decent show record in a few years. Assuming she stays sound, and assuming she mellows out a little bit as she ages (both big assumptions, sure), I would absolutely consider a step down/retirement situation for her when she’s older. My actual hope is that she becomes a school horse at our current barn when the time comes, if she ends up being suitable.
But to the OP’s original point - I see plenty of ads on my local FB sales group: 22 y/o mare, lots of love left to give but no more room in the barn! Can’t be ridden, great pasture pet!" and it really tugs my heartstrings. Sure, some good homes exist out there for horses like that - but surely not as many as there are these ads.
[QUOTE=Sticky Situation;8999009]
Honestly asking for opinions …
What about people who give away/inexpensively sell horses that are older and past their prime, but not otherwise unsound? For example, a rider (who boards and can only afford to keep one at a time) retires their 20-year-old horse because it is no longer able to compete at the level they would like, and gives the older horse away to a family that wants a horse for their grandkids to trail ride … and then buys a younger horse to continue competing with. Even if the original owner asks for references, first right of refusal, etc … if the horse is no longer in their possession there is always the possibility the older horse could at some point end up in a bad situation.
So is the rider a “bad horseman” because they chose to rehome the older horse and then get a younger one to continue competing?
What about a rider that buys a 4-year-old as a resale project, and a week later it gets an injury in turnout that will render it only pasture sound for the rest of its life? Must the rider commit to paying its bills for another 20 or more years to be a “good horseman”?
These are both totally made-up rhetorical situations, albeit one that most likely have happened to people plenty of times… but it seems that some are very quick to judge anyone who doesn’t keep every horse they own forever, without taking into account that not everyone has the financial resources they do, or a barn in their backyard for an unsound horse to live out their days without being charged $500 per month on board.[/QUOTE]
In my way of thinking:
#1 is a sound usable horse who can give the family a safe sane ride for the kids. If that horse can no longer fit your needs but can for someone else what is to judge?
#2 should be euthanized IF current owner can no longer afford / or doesn’t want to/ keep a horse they cannot ride. I have a horse because I like to ride, but I also have plenty of land and hay to feed if one of mine becomes unridable.
The issue here is people passing on ( to others ) special needs ( unsound, unridable,unusable)horses they don’t want to care for themselves.
I will forever have peace of mind knowing where my still somewhat young, “heart” horse is now since the day we let him go. We could have, many times over, sold him to another home where he could have been drugged/taken advantage of to get more sound riding years out of him. I couldn’t do that to him and although my heartbreak is still overwhelming, it is tempered by the peace of mind that I know I did everything for him and that I know how great his life was…each and every day including his very last.
Angela, your mailbox is full, so my long response is gone.
But you are right.
You did the right thing by your horse.
I’ve fortunately been able to keep track of all but one horse I’ve owned over the years. The first I sold to a Pony Clubber. Thought I’d found her a great home. A year later, a friend saw her at a dealer. Another friend, to whom I had offered her a year earlier had been unable financially to take her at that time, but was now in a better position, and she bought her and owned her until she was the victim of veterinary malpractice (and the vet paid up!).
Second horse, an unraced TB, JUST DIDN’T WANT TO JUMP. She’d happily jumped little crossbars as a greenie, but the minute it got serious, she wasn’t interested. A failing in a potential event horse. I sold her as a broodmare to a breeder who was producing purebred Arabs and Anglo-Arabians. She had a wonderful personality and nice conformation, so it was a good fit.
Third horse was my eventing schoolmaster. He develop glaucoma at age 17 and the rules then in place would not permit him being shown over fences thereafter. I found him a great home and when the people moved, they paid more to ship him to their new home than they paid me to buy him. When he had to be put down at age 25, they let me know.
The next horse I owned for 11 years and when he was 21 gave him to the friend who had re-purchased my first horse, and she had him until he died at age 27, happily trail riding him all over.
My next horse, of beloved memory, I owned for 20+ years. He was a saint. When he became too arthritic for anything but walking trail riding, that’s what I did for a couple of years. When I decided I HAD to have a younger horse, I bought a youngster, and while I waited for him to mature, searched for a lessor or half-lessor to trail ride the old fellow. Couldn’t find anyone, so I found a GOOD retirement place, but it was 90 mins. away from where I lived. Six months later, with youngster started under saddle, I was laid off. Aarrrgh. But you know, where there’s a will… between savings, temp jobs and unemployment, I supported BOTH horses until I found another full-time job. No lessons or training in that interval tho! A couple of years later, the old boy developed cancer and THAT decision had to be made.
All the above is not to pat myself on the back for doing the right thing, but to point out you have to work at it and to find good places for them, and if you can’t find such homes, they are YOUR responsibility. I can’t imagine thinking a Facebook giveaway was a good idea for a totally unusable horse.
[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;8999290]
2lefthooves, how long have you been trying to rehome this horse?
Can’t you keep him or if not, put him down so he won’t end up at auction? It’s the right thing to do.[/QUOTE]
Only since Tuesday. I posted one ad in multiple FB groups and one ad on here. As well as feelers out with my vet/farrier and calls to local breeders. Horse was retired on Tuesday morning.
Yes I can and will keep him if no position turns up for him as a companion or ideally a babysitter. Already have two retirement farms picked out. Am in no way trying to “dump” my horse just seeing if a easy keeper who gets along with everyone and love love loves babies could be useful to someone. In this day and age FB is a great way to reach out to people. Again no stone un-turned.
[QUOTE=2LeftHooves;8999987]
Only since Tuesday. I posted one ad in multiple FB groups and one ad on here. As well as feelers out with my vet/farrier and calls to local breeders. Horse was retired on Tuesday morning.
Yes I can and will keep him if no position turns up for him as a companion or ideally a babysitter. Already have two retirement farms picked out. Am in no way trying to “dump” my horse just seeing if a easy keeper who gets along with everyone and love love loves babies could be useful to someone. In this day and age FB is a great way to reach out to people. Again no stone un-turned.[/QUOTE]
Facebook is the land of vultures and scammers. I have placed two free horses into good homes through friends, people I know and trust. I placed another through an online advertisement to someone who was unknown to me, but said all the right things; the outcome was bad, and I will never do it again. It’s like playing Russian roulette with the horse’s life, Good Luck.
As someone wrote…
“IME there are 3 kinds of people who place these ads:
1 - people who truly don’t care,
2 - people who truly don’t realize
3 - truly desperate people”
1, 2 & 3 are all the same. Evil, self-centered and deserving of a special place in Hell.
There is no excuse and pretending like they actually care about their horse’s life now that he’s not convenient is unsupportable. They’re evil and selfish. If you don’t want your horse and he’s lame…put the poor guy to sleep (these people are too bloody cheap to spend the money)
[QUOTE=BellaLuna;8999416]
Interesting and also a sad discussion.
I thought I would chime in as a farm owner who HAS taken in “free to good home” horses. I usually have one babysitter type here on the farm to hang out with the one(s) left behind. So those homes ~are~ out there. But…
I am pretty darned picky about what I will bring in. Because I can be. I have no interest or time for a horse that has really never learned to play well with others. (won’t that be your job?) Or needs a cocktail for the farrier. Or vet. Or bolts when being led. When I have room or the need, I have and will provide a loving and last stop home for those old souls that just need a safe place to land. But they need to be easy, easy, easy. I’m not talking about needing some meds to make life a bit more comfortable. Or special dietary needs. I’m talking about ill mannered, rude, and sometimes down right scary to live with horses.
I think my point is, while we constantly talk about the best thing we can do for our horses to to provide training for their “career”, (whatever that path might be), owners should also invest the time to make sure that their horses have ground manners so that if something changes, those horses might have an opportunity with someone like me. And owners need to be honest with themselves - if your horse doesn’t like turnout, tends to be the playground bully, is the horse that no one really likes to handle, odds of him getting off your payroll and coming to a farm like mine are pretty slim.[/QUOTE]
Interesting, thanks for posting.
So when you have a spot, how many horses do you get offered?
And would you consider a horse with any kind of maintenance needs like regular medication, vet visits, supplements, special shoes, special feed etc, if the personality is right?
[QUOTE=Trakehner;9000475]
As someone wrote…
“IME there are 3 kinds of people who place these ads:
1 - people who truly don’t care,
2 - people who truly don’t realize
3 - truly desperate people”
1, 2 & 3 are all the same. Evil, self-centered and deserving of a special place in Hell.
There is no excuse and pretending like they actually care about their horse’s life now that he’s not convenient is unsupportable. They’re evil and selfish. If you don’t want your horse and he’s lame…put the poor guy to sleep (these people are too bloody cheap to spend the money)[/QUOTE]
Yes or too cowardly to own that fact that they’re willing to dispose of an otherwise healthy animal for their own convenience/to allow them to have fun with another horse.
I always cringe when seeing these ads trying to get rid of that ancient, and / or unsound, “beloved” horse.
IMO if the horse is truly “beloved”, then the owner should keep him to the end especially if the horse is unsound, old, has health/behavioral issues. And if owner, for whatever reason, doesn’t want to pay for the horse’s upkeep / care etc, then PUT HIM DOWN.
It’s one thing to find a good retirement home where you can go check on the horse regularly and step in if necessary.
It’s a whole other thing to pass him on to the unknown. More often than not, those horses end up badly and it would have been better to just put them down right away.
My sister went looking for a companion horse last fall. Her horse is rehabbing from a suspensory injury, she got laid off, and had to move rehabbing horse to my parents’ farm. Didn’t want to keep him alone so we looked for a buddy. Talked to friends in the boarding business and found one right away. Older paint mare that the owners had thought about selling, but every time they listed her, they got a call asking how much she weighed. :eek: Have to give them a lot of respect for keeping her on their payroll even though they weren’t doing much with her.
So, yes, once in a while, someone is honestly looking for a companion. But clearly my sis didn’t need another horse with lameness issues or anything else that was an immediate vet problem.
Horse has worked out great and my sis has even ridden her a few times. So happy ending for all.
But it absolutely breaks my heart to see oldies on CL that clearly have major vet problems and people are just trying to dump. :(:no:
Guess why I don’t want your old, used-up horse? Because I am supporting MINE. Because I used them and I am happy to pay it back by keeping them happy until they’re not anymore and then giving them a dignified end.
Likewise, been supporting my own unuseable horse now for about 6 years…and I board out. Didn’t just chuck it in a field with a round bale either. Not that there’s anything wrong with that if the horse is used to it and/or does well with it. Mine continues a scaled down but similar routine from 20 years as a show horse.
Could have sold it at 15 but chose to keep it knowing that meant thru retirement. I planned for it.
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