What to do with a horse I can not afford, cannot ride, but cannot bare to sell

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Have some frank discussions with your vet…but you also need to have discussions with your parents. You may need to find a working situation while you are in school…or see if they will cover the lame horse for you while you are in school…perhaps as a loan. Perhaps the compromise will be that you do not compete or find a more affordable for your parents way keep your rideable horse.

You have some tough decisions…and tough choices. But it is part of life, growing up and having horses. And while this sucks…the good does out way the bad.

[kiwichick]

Sorry OP but I think you need to Euth too.
And if you are going to be in the OTTB game with eventers, this is going to be a situation you will face more than just this once.
The horses we want to retire with us are those that served us well, were our horses of a lifetime, changed us to teh core as horse owners, and took us to heights (places whatever) we never dreamed possible.
That could be your next horse.
Sesmoid fractures generally heal ok, but I was of the impression they werent eventers after that injury.
He has a good 20 years left of life, and for someone school age thats a huge committment.
Ive put unsound ones down too, it doesnt get easier, but you do know that its the right thing to do, rather than an uncertain future.

[HeyJealousy]

I currently have my 13 year old TB gelding who is pasture sound only and will be keeping him for the rest of his life. He is at a beautiful retirement farm that takes excellent care of him and is close by so I can visit him whenever I want to. It’s really a perfect situation except for the financial commitment, but he is a special horse to me in that I galloped him on the track and bought him after 100 races to give him a soft place to land. I knew when I bought him he might never be sound enough to ride and I personally feel I owe it to him to pay for him for the rest of his life.

THAT SAID…if this was a horse I didn’t have such an emotional connection with or a horse that was in pain, I would have euthanized. If my horse ever shows signs of discomfort or pain he will be euthanized. There’s nothing wrong with euthanizing a young horse in pain, especially one you are struggling to afford. Like everyone has said, the horse doesn’t understand euthanasia and this might be the kindest thing you can do for him.

[Nestor]

I would be looking into finding a less expensive place to keep horse #2 (the sound one) and see if your parents will help you with horse #1. Especially if you could keep them at the same place.

Many barns have some flexibility in allowing boarders to work off some board, usually by doing late night feedings or cleaning stalls on weekends. This is how I’ve afforded my horse through high school, college, and beyond. Maybe you do some extra work on your school breaks and summers to pay more for both horses, and your parents help you out during the school year.

I’ve had 2 horses in a situation similar to yours - my first horse had to be retired, and I was full leasing another horse to ride (who was then given to me). I kept the retired horse a 1/2 mile away from the riding horse at a quiet backyard barn for relatively cheap. Because it was nearly next door to my riding horse, I could be there all the time. My parents paid board on my riding horse, I paid everything else for both. It was hard. I was in law school at the time, so I had more flexibility in my schedule, and I made sure I fit in as much barn work as I could, including cleaning stalls before classes, and going back to the barn in the evenings after classes to ride and work some more. It really was killing me financially, even with how much I was working. My retired horse ended up with a traumatic injury (complete tear of his DDFT, as a complication of his prior treatments for navicular disease) after less than a year in this situation, and could not be rehabbed (we tried). So while putting him down was heart-wrenching, it also was a relief financially. I may not have had a choice in putting him down, but it ended the same as other folks here have pointed out.

[findeight]

Somebody said earlier…Lame = Pain. It makes your heart feel good to support a lame horse. Horse hurts.

This is not aimed at anybody in particular, just an increasing trend on this topic.

See a lot of assumptions in these posts. Life happens. No one can know if they will even be alive in 20 years let alone financially able to support a horse. Parents are even more likely not to be around and/or able to support their children or their animals in 20 years. All it takes is one life threatening medical diagnosis, a life changing injury, messy divorce for you or messier empty nest divorce for your parents.

But if you know for sure that will never ever happen to you or your parents in the next 20 years? Good for you knowing Horse will never, ever have a forced sale in its future. Might be a mistake to assume that’s going to be true for everybody though or to criticize them, especially if they are in an area where there’s no 2-300 pasture board options left. Whts true for you in your situation may not be true in anybody else’s.

[NC001]

This may be unpopular but if your parents can afford it I would start there trying to work it out with them to cover some of the costs when you go back to school and you cover the rest. As a parent and animal lover myself I wouldnt be able to say no IF i could afford it (unless I felt the horse was suffering/in pain then I would euthanize).

[CHT]

What about part leasing the new horse while you are in school, and putting that money towards paying for horse #1 to give him some time to see if the treatment for him works?

I also don’t have a problem with someone making hard choices about a lame horse so they can afford a horse they can ride, as long as your solution for the first horse is ethical/humane and not just shuffling him onto someone else who may not have his best interest in mind.

[vineyridge]

I think that you should try to arrange something so the lame horse has six or more months, preferably a year, completely off and pasture boarding. If after that time, he is still unrideable, I’d euthanize him. If he gets worse or more lame, I’d euthanize sooner.

I think that would be fair to the horse.