Would you sell property where you buried a horse?

[phrgirl4]

I lost my “forever horse” last week to a torsion colic. He is buried on my property. My plan was to build a house there in the spring. However, a property just became available that is quite nice and wouldn’t require building a house.

Ordinarily, I’d wait several months before any decision making, but the real estate market doesn’t tend to lend itself to that. The thought of leaving the property where he is buried (and where “his” barn, and “his” arena are) brings me to tears. But I fully recognize that the pain is still very fresh.

So I’m asking the question to gauge whether I’m likely to feel differently down the road - have you sold a property with a special horse buried there? Or have you chosen not to? Would just like some outside ideas and opinions as I’m still very scattered.

[TheJenners]

Did you by chance save any hair or anything that you could bring to a possible new property??

[cutter99]

I have done it and would again, but to me it is not about a body or a place to visit. It is about the memories and the feelings I got from that particular animal.

[csaper58]

Your Forever Horse is waiting across the rainbow bridge for you.

Live where you will thrive.

[AKB]

Dead is dead. If you were buried on the property and he were alive, your horse would move to the new place with hardly a thought. The time to think about a horse’s feelings is when he is alive. Do something good in your horse’s name and then buy the new farm. When you see him again, he will tell you that you did right.

[Bluey]

Burying horses is about how some people feel.
It is not really ecologically sensible.
There are places you can’t do that any more and with good reason.

We learned long ago burying anything was questionable.
There is no persistence of the physical once dead.
Anything alive is what it was while alive.
Once dead, I would move forward from what was left.

Cherish the memories, is what we wrap around ourselves.
Remembrance is what matters in the end, the memories left forever with us.

I would move if that is where life takes you now.

[trubandloki]

Do you want to stay where you will have to say “I wish I had bought that other place” for the next bunch of years?

Your special horse is gone. His body will not be upset if you leave.
At your new barn hang his halter somewhere in the barn and that barn will be his barn too.

[arabhorse2]

I have my best boy buried on my property. It’s been 9 years since his death, and I would have no qualms whatsoever about selling if a more appropriate place became available.

You’re too close to the pain just yet to see it unemotionally, but it really IS just a body in the ground. His memories live in you, and those will go with you.

[Callista17]

That was my only big hang up selling this place, and I didn’t, I am still here.

A better situation didn’t work out though, and this was still my best option.

[invinoveritas]

You can have him exhumed and moved to your new place.

[shakeytails]

I would be more upset about leaving behind the dogs that are buried here.

We had purchased this farm but were still living on the old farm, and we had to put an old dog down. We chose to bury him under a tree in one of the fields here rather than on the farm we knew we’d sooner be moving away from. He was later joined by his daughter as well as a couple of other house dogs. The 3 wonderful farm dogs we’ve lost are buried under a tree in front of the barn, where they can be close to and watch over their horses.

[2DogsFarm]

[QUOTE=TheJenners;8959594]
Did you by chance save any hair or anything that you could bring to a possible new property??[/QUOTE]

I lost DH’s horse before my barn was ready to move horses into.
His grooming halter still hangs on a stall & has been used by 2 who followed him.
My TB, who did move to the farm, is also gone & circumstance did not allow me to bury him onsite.
His grooming halter hangs on what was his stall, but has not been used since I lost him.
Both are fitting memorials to me.

Like others have said:
What you leave behind is not important if it impedes your future happiness.

{HUGS} on your loss.
Maybe, before you move, plant a tree (apple?) on the grave.
Something you can see when you pass the old place.

[King_s_Ransom]

I agree that you are too close to the pain right now, and I understand your feelings. I have two buried here, and when we laid King to rest, I sort of felt like I could never leave…could not bring myself to leave him here alone.

But with time, I realize he is not in the ground. He is in my heart and with me every day, all the time, wherever I go.

I could leave now. I would really hate to leave this place we built together, but that is more about this place than about him being here. Like I said, he goes with me wherever I go.

Hugs to you. If this other place is right, go ahead and try not to feel guilty. if it’s not right, then something else will be.

[msj]

(((((HUGS)))))

It’s hard to lose them but you still have the wonderful memories and probably pictures to remember them. :yes:

I’ve got 4 horses buried in my back pasture. I bought the farm originally so I would have a place to bury a special horse. He did go first and the other 3 followed him.

Right now I’m out of horses and stare at the empty barn/indoor and the outdoor arena as well as the pastures. I mow the pastures a bit lower now as I have no horses eating the grass but did offer the pastures to a neighbor towards the end of summer as her horses had consumed virtually all the grass in their pastures.

I know I’m going to eventually sell the farm and move to a senior independant living facility but I really love where I live and figure as long as I can maintain the exterior (i.e. mowing and gardening) I’ll stay. I’m 5 minutes from a small village with all the basics and 15 minutes from a large mall so whatever I can’t get locally I order online. I put in a whole house generator years ago as I’m all electric and when the lines are down, I don’t have to worry. I’ve got great neighbors and honestly dread the thought of apartment living with neighbors on both sides and above and below. Even the separate patio homes that some senior facilities have aren’t really private enough for me. Then again I may just stay where I am with nursing staff as needed and hire landscape crews to do the mowing and gardening.

[HungarianHippo]

When I buried Kips Bay, it was with the thought that HE was in his favorite place, up on the hill looking over the pastures. So in that sense, it’s not about keeping him with me, it’s about him being where he was happy. But I’ve also kept mementos, like my first horse’s stall plaque that I’ve saved since I was 16, and goes where I go. So that part is for me, keeping the memories with me.

[walkinthewalk]

To-date, I have three horses, Eight dogs, and five cats laid to rest on my farm. Still two horses and ??? Dogs/cats to go.

I am retired and hopefully will take my last breaths here.

Whomever buys this property at the estate auction had darn well better have a kind heart toward animals, or I feel sorry for them:uhoh::uhoh:

If I had to move ahead of schedule, it wouldn’t bother me to leave my crew behind. I met my goal to see them safely laid to rest and their bodies don’t know the difference:)

[fordtraktor]

Most of my past horses are actually on my dad’s farm. I have one here too, but it wouldn’t cause me not to sell if I needed. I would be sure to point out the horse graveyard to any buyers and would put a big rock on the graves. Just think, if you were boarding you wouldn’t stay in the wrong situation for your current horse because a previous mount was buried on the BO’s farm.

[SharonA]

Well, some might say that this was your horse sending you a sign that your work together was complete, he was fine, and this is his way of telling you that it is okay for you to move on.

((HUGS))

[Rackonteur]

I am very sorry for your loss, phrgirl4.

Maybe moving to the new place will give you a new outlook on life. The house will shelter you, it is there for you, and maybe the change of scene will do you good.

Keep his halter but don’t be too quick to hang it up in the new barn. Keep it 'til you’re ready to see it every day, when you can look at it without tears.

(If you decide to move to the new place.)

[SuzieQNutter]

You need to accept certain facts.

Odds are:-

You will outlive several horses, dogs and cats.

You will most probably outlive your parents. Accept this now. Yes grieve when it happens but it is a part of life and should not change or affect your life.