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Talk me out of (thinking of) buying another horse

Perhaps this is the quarantine talking or my anxiety-ridden mind racing before I get answers from my vet, but I cannot help but find comfort in the thought of purchasing another horse. Help!

A bit of a back story (viewable in my previous threads): I purchased my very first horse in August of 2019, a 2-year old filly. Vetted clean, no vices (tried to do everything by the book). After numerous attempts at starting her under saddle, she failed to stay sound. We did extensive diagnostics, found a bone cyst on her C6/7 and treated accordingly. After nearly two winters off with rehab in place, the treatment did not work and mare is still unsound for work. It is likely that I will have to consider retiring her before her career has even started. I am gutted emotionally and financially.

I know I am getting ahead of myself, but the only thing that really brings me comfort in all of this uncertainty is the thought of buying another horse. Although I wish I could keep my retired 4-year old as a pet, is it not justifiable financially. I do have riding/showing goals that having a retired pet horse will not allow me to achieve. I can only hope that I find her a good home, or better yet, that this will somehow work out and sport horse vet will find a miraculous cure for her condition.

Please talk me out of this crazy thought of buying another horse after everything I have gone through with horse #1. Of course, I could rant off myself why it is a bad idea. Horse #2 could come down with a similar crippling condition, I am already out tens of thousands of dollars for horse #1, I still currently have horse #1 in my care, I am a total emotional wreck from horse #1, SO might kill me for spending more thousands on horse #2, we might consider starting a family in a couple of years (but I NEED the horse), etc., etc. I board so I am unable to keep two horses at home, otherwise I would.

I know that leasing is an option, but I hate the thought of spending thousands on someone else’s horse and putting the work into someone else’s horse. It never sat well with me as I truly do put effort into every ride. I need to be talked down from this crazy idea that buying another horse is a good idea.

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It sounds like you aren’t in a position to carry two horses financially. IMHO, that rules out getting another horse until you have found a place for the first horse to land (or found a lower cost retirement barn to send horse to). If I were you, I’d start looking for a trainer with a nice lesson horse that you can at least taking a weekly lesson on. It will help keep you riding fit for the day when you can shop, and it will give you something else to focus your energy on.

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So you come to COTH, a board of enablers…

Seriously though, you need to figure out what to do with Horse #1 before you invest in Horse #2. Regardless of her health issues and your riding goals, she is yours and your responsibility to rehome her if you do not want her. Free and unsound horses usually don’t fare well on the market. Why would I want a horse you don’t want? It hurts to hear but if she is unsound and you cannot keep her, you can either retire her somewhere and be responsible for that expense, or consider euthanasia. I know way too many unsuitable horses being passed around or sold as companion animals. It’s a market in itself.

You also have a unfortunate view of leasing. Part of leasing is that you are paying for the ability to give it back when you don’t want it anymore-- aka you will not be in the situation you are currently in. Find an owner you can develop a long term relationship with and it can work out wonderfully. Sometimes over the course of the lease the horse becomes yours. I think it speaks to your ego that you feel that it’s not worth it for you to ride someone else’s horse. If your skill set it such, why aren’t people paying you to ride their horse? Should they be?

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Or lease a horse that knows more than you, that you can learn on, and then you will not be paying to train someone else’s horse.

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What are your plans for your current horse, the four-year-old who may have to be retired?

Speaking as someone who has leased, I agree that it’s rare that the person who is leasing “puts work” into improving the lease horse, especially if it’s a half-lease. There are many downsides to leasing, including the fact that the lease horse can be taken away on the whim of the owner (as happened to me), but the upside is, as someone else pointed out, you’re not responsible for the horse if it has a serious injury or illness due to no fault of your own.

First, make a plan for the current horse. Then take some time to grieve (even if the horse is still alive, grieve the loss of your dreams). Lease or take lessons for a bit. Get your SO on board with the idea of another horse, and run the financials to see if it’s compatible with your finances and other life goals.

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Does your mare have good bloodlines and conformation? Assuming this is a random bone cyst, and not a heritable C6/C7 malformation, I would ask the vet if it would be humane/ethical to sell her as a brood mare so that you can get another horse.

I feel your pain, the gelding I bought at 2 never really had a career due to various issues, and then broke his knee at 11. He is turning 17 this month, and is a drag on my finances, but I continue to support him until he is no longer happy bopping around the pasture at the thankfully inexpensive little boarding place where he lives.

If your mare is not a broodmare candidate, you may need to decide between paying for her potentially very long retirement, and euthanasia, which is a very tough choice. If a second horse doesn’t work financially right now, and you aren’t on a trajectory to increase your earnings, that situation isn’t going to improve when you start a family.

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Oh, that’s a really sad story.

Yes, you will buy another horse. Maybe just not yet. I have no idea what finances are like for you, or what you want to do in your riding. It sounds like you have not been riding much while starting this filly, so what do you need out of a second horse? High level competition, intermediate lessons, what?

In my area, you can get pasture board for $200 to $300 a month, less $$ and better grass if you leave the metro area for the ranch country. IME pasture board is fantastic for NQR horses, especially young to middle aged ones (the very aged retiree might need more hands on care) . Find her a herd and turn her out for a few years. She is not saleable now and your only recourse would be to euthanize.

Have you ever leased a horse? Except at the elite jumper levels, most are in-barn half leases are on a month to month basis, and usually charge a per cent of the horse’s care cost. Full time leases are usually just care leases: take this horse for a year for free to your own barn and treat it like your own.

Full time leases are very often good experienced horses where the owner has had a life change, can’t ride anymore, but can’t stand to sell the horse. The classic example is a 15 year old lower level junior show horse owned by a girl heading away to college who wants to find Pookie a caretaker until she (hopefully) returns to claim him and keep him forever.

In barn half leases can be for very nice horses as well, often adult owners don’t have the time to ride every day and want someone to share costs and work. If they are more concerned with horsie getting a sympathetic rider, they may set up an attractive deal. $400 a month to ride 3 days a week on someone else’s good well trained quality horse is a bargain!

If you are tight for money, don’t risk having board fees for two horses. Figure out a low cost ranch retirement for the filly and find a good half lease for now, save some money and then evaluate your options.

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Ok.

No more horses unless you’re willing and able to retire them yourself at anytime if the horse needs it.

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I think it’s normal to be distracting yourself from current horse’s issues by thinking about the idea of another horse. However, I agree with other posters that you need to have a clear plan in place for horse #1 before you take concrete actions towards buying horse #2.

Did you buy your horse from her breeder? Is there any chance the breeder would take her back to retire her?

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It’s a comforting thought, but that’s all it should be right now. Like when I daydream in the middle of our dark, rainy winter of selling our place and moving to a perpetually warm, sunny location. I’m not actually going to do it, but thinking about it and playing it out in my head makes me feel less hopeless.

I agree with those saying you are responsible for finding appropriate placement for horse #1, or keeping her yourself despite the sacrifice. Do your homework on potential homes and don’t send her off to a place you can’t inspect in person, I can’t stress that enough. There are a lot of shady people who will take your lame horse and ride it anyway, or flip it at the auction, or just plain neglect it.

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Yes, figuring out the plan for horse #1 will always come before I even consider putting money towards a second. I’m pretty well just using this as a distraction. She is my responsibility and I owe it to her to either find or provide a soft landing.

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Finding or providing a soft landing for horse #1 will of course be first on my list. My trainer has also mentioned euthanasia and it is really hard to hear, but I know it is a viable option. I just feel guilty as she is otherwise healthy.

Yes, I know the benefits of leasing as it is what I did for many years before pulling the trigger on my own horse. I think I am just exhausted of leasing as it is what I pursued knowing the benefits of it, and wanted to direct my energy into riding my own horse. Clearly, that has back fired.

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I have been fortunate enough to be riding other horses while dealing with filly’s health issues. The plan for her was to be my future jumper, she is built for it and has the bloodlines to boot. This is essentially what I was looking for (and now still am).

I have been considering pasture board for her at a lower cost facility to potentially turn her out for the next few years. I am still waiting on hearing what sport horse vet has to say before I make any decisions. Yes I have leased for many many years prior to purchasing, both half and full leases with lease fees. It is a bit harder and costly to get full leases where I live as I am up north and most quality leases come from southern Ontario. I know I am being stubborn not wanting to enter into another lease.

I feel you, OP. I have one that I had to retire at age 13 (he is now 16 and will probably outlive me!) and I haven’t been able to afford another horse. I’ve been leasing but like you, leasing really isn’t for me.

Figure out what you’ll do with Horse #1 first then run your finances and see if they allow for another horse. Best of luck!

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Sounds like right now is not a good financial time in your life to own, not the one you have or a second one?

In a couple years, pregnant, then with an infant, who knows where your horse life would be?

I would say, do something with the current one and for horse fix lease, take lessons.

Don’t commit to owning and caring for a horse emotionally and financially until it fits better in the life you expect the next few years.
That would make more sense right now.

Especially without the complete support of a SO.

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Years ago, I had an early retiree slip through the cracks at his good home & end up in peril. Managed to get him out of there, but never again will I risk that. I’ve opted for euthanasia for the couple of horses with similar circumstances I’ve had since. Young retired horses can be a handful & then some. Not every retirement farm or person in search of a companion horse understands & is equipped to handle that. Just something to consider.

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Thank you for doing right by those horses.

As someone who has recently waded through a plethora of offers for free horses needing retirement or light duty homes, my opinion is that the number of horses needing such homes far exceeds the number of homes available. The surplus horses are at risk.

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I can’t because I’ve done the same thing. I think many of us have. Horses are fragile and heartbreaking, but somehow they keep us coming back for more.

I have a WB who didn’t make it to Grand Prix until he was 17 due to a long list of bizarre lameness issues. During his worst years I swore I would never buy another horse. Around when he reached GP though, I bought a yearling Hanoverian to be my next dressage horse. He went permanently, three-legged lame at 4 and had to be euthanized at 5 (it ended up being DSLD). I was heartbroken and swore off buying baby horses because you can’t be sure what you’re getting and too much can go wrong. My next purchase was a Craigslist pony who was an awesome project but not a keeper due to her size. After I resold her to a wonderful home, I decided to buy the opposite of a baby WB: a 7 yo OTTB with 30+ starts, from a very reputable reseller. I figured if he had survived that much, he must not have any weird lurking congenital issues like the baby WB. Well, he had other issues (severely anxious, randomly explosive, tripping). So then I decided to do the whole “buy a horse who’s successfully doing what you want to do” thing and bought a 9 yo TB who was successfully eventing at Prelim (I had switched to eventing for a while). He was affordable because he’s not a great mover for dressage. He has turned out to be absolutely perfect for me and I adore him! But I do miss upper-level dressage so I’m shopping for a dressage prospect to bring along while I continue eventing my beloved TB, and can you guess what I’m looking at again? Yup, baby WBs.

Horses are a form of insanity.

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On buying horses …

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