Stuck between a rock and a hard place

[RantyvilleHorror]

I feel very much ‘stuck’ at the moment. I haven’t been enjoying riding recently, I have actually given my horse the best part of 8 months off work. I’m starting to bring him back into work now and it’s going well, he hasn’t put a foot wrong (will I regret jinxing this?!) but I’m just not feeling the love for it.

I have been thinking that I’d really like to travel next summer. However, the best way for me to do this would be to go for at least 3 or 4 weeks. Obviously I can’t take him with me. He’s 22 now and although he is very healthy for a 22 year old, I do still feel time creeping up on us! Do I put off travelling until ‘the inevitable’ happens, or just go for it next year and accept that he will have even more time off?

I know time is slipping away from us and he won’t live forever, but equally neither will I. I will be 30 next year and I feel like I haven’t seen half as much of the world as I would like to. But I don’t want to be travelling next summer and come home to find he’s declined and it would’ve been our last summer together, or god forbid for anything to happen whilst I’m travelling.

Realistically, I don’t know if I’ve got another 6 months or another 10 years with him. So what do I do? Put off travelling for an indefinite amount of time so that I don’t waste any time with him, or take the plunge and go now, because I also won’t live forever and won’t always be in a position to drop everything and go for several weeks?

I’m really not sure what to do.

[moonlitoaksranch]

I was in my late 20s and early thirties with an aging horse, too. She retired at 30 and lived to 34. I certainly did travel because I was in the military! She went with me to my duty stations, but not on deployment. Take into consideration any special care he needs in the summer (fly spray, fly boots, sunscreen) and if he’s at home with you, can you board him for the travel period? Mine was always boarded or home in turnout with a friend making sure she had fly spray and feed daily. I was great at slowly getting her back into shape, even into her late twenties. I always had a release form for whoever was taking care of her so she could get vet care. She had a knee injection during the war when I couldn’t be contacted.

Another option, if you want him in work, is to lease him (make sure it’s in writing). Is he gentle enough to go to a reputable boarding stable that has summer day programs for kids? Being spoiled and ridden by kids for a month or two isn’t a bad way to spend a summer. He just needs to be gentle enough in an arena for most programs. You’ll just need to tune him up when you get back, but he should stay in shape.

[RantyvilleHorror]

He’s a bit of a quirky one really. Due to the life he had before me, he’s basically a one person horse. For me, he will carry me around any test or SJ course safely. I had somebody else ride him in a test once and he was napping and reared up vertically in the warm up. I rode him right after and he was his usual self for me. So I decided not to have anybody else ride him.

He’s on livery at a DIY yard so couldn’t easily move him to being cared for by somebody else, unless I moved him to another yard temporarily. There’s an awful lot to consider

[moonlitoaksranch]

Can someone you know, a fellow boarder, assume daily duties for him? Is there daily turn out available? The biggest need for an older horse is to move. I always arranged turnout either continuous or at least daily. They need time to stretch her legs. The more turnout, the better.

[RantyvilleHorror]

He can live out in the summer, so hopefully wouldn’t be too big of an ask to see if a friend could poo pick and feed him for me! I just don’t know if I can leave him for that length of time and not end up regretting it. But then they say you only regret the things you DON’T do, don’t they?

[Highflyer1]

He could easily live another ten good years. As long as you find someone trustworthy to take care of him and make appropriate arrangements in case of emergency I wouldn’t hesitate to go away for a month.

[moonlitoaksranch]

I would say travel sooner than later. Bring him back slowly when you return. While it’s true that keeping them in work helps them keep toned up, it’s also true that time off, especially a relatively short period (a month or so) heals micro injuries horses accumulate from being ridden.

[endlessclimb]

If he’s at a self-care yard, I think it’s a big ask to have someone else do the duties for you while you’re away. Even if they agree to do it, for a fee even - there will eventually be some resentment in taking care of him.

I’d move him to a full care place, that way it’s not a “favor” anyone is doing you to clean his stall and look him over.

And then travel. I had my Old Man and a thoroughbred on letdown while I traveled for 3-6 months at a time. They were on full care board, and I scheduled farrier etc far in advance and stayed in touch.

[showy]

It sounds like you might not be in the US.

A summer at pony camp but not might a bad thing IF it’s with a reputable program. A lot of them are just walk with someone leading the horse and activities like hand painting the horse. If he’s good on the ground and calm enough to be lead around it might be a solution.

[NoSuchPerson]

@RantyvilleHorror

But then they say you only regret the things you DON’T do, don’t they?

“They” lie. I regret plenty of things that I have done.

There’s nothing wrong with traveling. Don’t postpone it just because you have a 22-year old horse. As we all know, a horse of any age can have a health crisis and die or need to be euthanized while a 22-year-old horse can easily live happily for another 10 years or more.

But, I agree with @endlessclimb - it’s a big ask to get someone else to be responsible for your horse at a DIY yard. Doing that is something that you are likely to regret. If you want to do more traveling and be away for longer stretches, then move the horse to a full care stable.

[MunchingonHay]

Travel.

Make the arrangements to either hire someone at the self-care yard to look after him as well as their own horse or take him to a full care yard for the time you are away.

60 days of no work will be fine as long as he gets to move and be out like the posters above me stated.

Tomorrow is not promised to us; regret is a state of mind. Live you life. If we lived in a consistent state of fear of the “what if” nothing would get done, what if my house sets fire when I go to the shops, what if my dog dies while I am at the dentist, what if a plane drops out of the sky while I am driving to work, what if, what if. You’ll get yourself sick with worry.

What if he lives for another 10 yrs. Will you regret him for living until he is 32?? You could go to the yard tomorrow and he could start declining. You also stated in your OP that you gave him 8 months off.

Start planning your trip. You have a year to plan. Enjoy every day with your horse between now and then.

[Scribbler]

I would find a nice field with a compatible herd and give him the summer off. Lots of people here send their horses away for several months in the summer or fall. Make sure the person running the field is sane and the horses look ok and then get a friend to do weekly visits.

[skydy]

OP said the horse can’t live out in the summer.

[quietann]

I get the worry. My beloved mare is 25 and has several health conditions. But I decided years ago that when her time comes, of course I will want to be there, but I don’t have to be there.

I’m married, so that means I travel with DH. It might be different if I was single.

The biggest difference in our situations, though, is that my mare is, and always has been, on full board, of good enough quality that I have no worries about leaving her; after all, these people already do most of the heavy lifting of her care. It would be different, and more difficult, if she was on self-care.

[RantyvilleHorror]

Thank you all for your responses I think I have decided to just go for it next year, if I am able to (financially!). Ironicially, this seems to have given me a kick up the bum to properly start bringing him back into work now, so that I can enjoy him this year if not next year!

[anon40672407]

Funny, isn’t it, how indecision stops our forward movement, but how a decision (like you have made) frees us and motivates us to get a move on. Good for you!

[moonlitoaksranch]

I’m so glad you’re doing this. Before you know it, travel will be hard. Spouse, sick family member, kids, work. These things happen and then travel is so much harder.

[candyappy]

Just go travel like you want to.

He just came through 8 months off and you say he is fine and honestly, if you have him in 24/7 turn out where he can move as he chooses a month off isn’t going to cause him to decline rapidly ( unless he has other health issues? )

You could also have someone you trust ride him lightly ( if he is dependable) to keep him in some shape while you are gone.

You only get a chance to do some things when you are younger, have the funds and unattached so if you want to travel, do it.