You can’t save them all.
Or you can try putting her on field board and giving her a chance to rest. Just make an appt with the vet to ensure you can cover euthanasia costs, maybe make a down payment with him and a guaranteed cost of PTSing her.
That way you can give her what you want to do, rescue her, but when you see that is not working, you can help her by putting her to sleep.
I think I know how important it seems to want to save something. I honor and respect that impulse. So you can do that, but be financially prepared to end her pain if that comes up. You will know that you gave it your best. Even a week off, in green fields and no lessons may be a blessing to her.
This is exactly the sort of thing I would have done in my younger days. The sadder the story, the worse the prognosis, the better chance I would take the horse. It wears on your heart and your wallet. Just like you can’t be with a great guy when you are with a jerk, you can’t have a nice, sound horse when you have sunk everything you have and then some into a hopeless case. I had to learn this lesson the hard way multiple times, you may be the same way. I hope not.
There ARE times when you need to just close your eyes, turn and walk away. This is most definitely one of them. I also learned this the hard way…
When everyone on CotH is agreeing, listen up!
This is not a free horse! This is a path to poverty and despair. You said yourself - empty wallet. You KNOW you can’t afford this horse.
This horse will cost you thousands more than a nice sound horse.
Your BO is an ass who is taking advantage of you with her “The truck is coming!” spiel. I can’t stress how important it is to not get into this kind of debt at your age. Please sit back and think about what you’d like to do with horses a few years down the road. Now scratch it all off the list if you take this money pit off the BO’s hands.
OP-
I am you. I want to save every hurt, defenseless animal that I come across…And my vet loves me for it. I joke that I will have a brick with my name stamped on it at his new building that I helped him afford due to just my bills.
I am also very very stupid for doing it. Don’t be me.
I happen to have a very supportive husband who lets me get away with these things, but it needs to end. I went through the process of paying my vet with a check every time I went there so I could track the total amount I spent on him at the end of the year. It was silly stupid. Like I could have a REALLY REALLY nice car rather than a 7 yr old Saturn Vue with a cracked windshield.
You’re a student, as much as you want to help this horse and get it out of a terrible situation, the barn owner needs to be the the responsible party and take care of the horse. They obviously know your very sweet and caring character and is preying on you, the way a lion picks out the weak gazelle and runs it down. Don’t let them do this to you.
Put them in touch with a rescue, or as others suggested, find a vet who will gently euthanize it. There are several quiet, older, sound horses that are looking for a home for free or cheap due to their riders needing something younger/spunkier/“more go”. Check those ad’s out, test ride (several times) and then get one of those.
Best of luck to you. Being just like you, I feel for you. But I’m also here to tell you, in your situation, it’s a bad bad place to be. Walk away. Rescue a different one when you are financially secure, there is always a horse in need.
