Has anyone kept an unrideable horse on full livery?

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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When I decide to buy my own horse, I have this niggling question which I don't know the answer to. What would I do if the horse become unrideable? I appreciate that all horses get old and will eventually slow down, but I'm talking about what I would do if I brought a 10 year old and a year later he sustained an injury which left him field sound, but not able to work.

In an ideal world I would say that a horse is for life and that I would keep him at grass livery and either buy another or just be content with looking after a horse I can't ride. However, in the real world, I can't keep a horse at grass livery or any kind of DIY livery. Any horse which I buy has to be kept at least on part livery if not full livery. This will cost about £500 per month. Having waited a very long time to have a horse, and made sacrafrices in terms of money and time away from the family, I don't want to pay £500 a month for a horse I can't ride.

So what would I do? Obviously try and find him another home, but if I couldn't would I have him PTS and buy another who I could ride? Has anyone done this? It sound very callous and not a nice way to reward an animal who I have provided a home for, but in reality what else could I do? There are so many companion horses looking for homes, what happens to the ones who don't get one? Am I an evil person to even consider this and if I am, perhaps I shouldn't be thinking of buying a horse in the first place?
 
I would imagine this is how many people end up with companion horses/ponies of all shapes and sizes.
I am looking for a companion at the moment and I have been offered all sorts.
Ex hunters of 17.2hh to 30 year old ponies.
Personally it would depend on quality of life for the animal and ideally I'd find grass livery for it but if it couldnt live out then I would try and rehome as a companion.
Maybe your thinking about things too much though! :wink:
 
I knew a fellow livery who had two horses that couldn't be ridden, beautiful animals they were but sadly both lame through one thing or another. They were both kept on half-livery. They were both about 10 or 11 age wise. I don't know the full story (didn't like to pry) but I think that she had accepted it as her lot.
I don't know how I'd have coped in a similar situation at that time, it isn't ideal is it? It isn't selfish to think about when you get a horse that you want to ride it either - that is afterall, why we buy 'em.
Luckily now, I'd be ok as ours are at home, and can retire with ease. Appreciate it must be very tough if you're paying on a livery yard. But, as clashnoir has said, maybe you're thinking things through a bit too much? Sort of "cross that bridge" when you get to it?
 
Your thinking about it to much ;)

No reason why you couldn't put un rideable horse that was field sound on full grass livery ? I've been to two yards where they offer full grass livery, the horse lives out 24/7 they will do rug changes, feed (extra £), worming, farrier appointments and daily checks and included in that is the cost of all field maintenance. The owner only has to turn up every time they want to ride and give the horse a groom before hand if it's not rugged and dirty. My two were kept at this place for a while, and even though I checked them every day the yard still did as part of the service and I got a call one morning (on a Sunday as mine like to see the vets on Sundays :rolleyes:) saying 'XX has been kicked or somehow injured himself, we've strapped it up and cold hosed it. Which vet do you want us to call ? Do you want to come up or us deal with it with our yard vet ?' I was really impressed and as I was 40 mins away they were able to deal with it first when the vet of my choice arrived and then hubby took over.

Failing that, then full retirement livery ? I too would be pretty loathsome to sell a horse as a companion to someone else, I've heard to many tales where they are sold on as riding horses. So if I was in the position of not being able to look after it myself, then I would send it to a retirement livery if there were none with a decent drive away. There are plenty of good ones in the south that offer that, and I would visit probably once a week or fortnight depending on family circumstances.
 
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This is very close to home at the moment, as I am facing similar circumstances to the ones you describe.
I have not thought through fully what I will do, but one thing I know and can state as a fact is that I will never pass on my horse to some one else once he is unrideable.
He became unrideable in my care, therefore I will take care of him or PTS.
Many people may disagree with me, but I know far too many instances of horses being treated to make them temporarily sound, and then passed on
 
There are just so many companions looking for homes, I would have to consider getting him PTS if I were in your situation. In my opinion, I would say it is the responsible thing to do, rather than not finding a home for him, or finding one where he might be sold on(to goodness knows where).

But I would not worry about it too much, as others say, you can cross that bridge if you ever come to it...which you probably wont! so stop worrying and go find your dream horse :D
 
I think this is a very difficult one and the outcome has to be determined by individual circumstances and certainly no one should be judged whatever the outcome, at the end of the day depending on the age, it could mean a lot of years of expense and circumstances change - weighed up with quality of life for both equine and owner if it was not something that could be easily continued........

We had Josh for 5 years before he became unsuitable for riding at the age of 10, he was eventually PTS 8 years later - it was a lot of expense and worry but we were lucky in that we are on DIY livery - very reasonable and he was good companion for our mare - people thought we were mad keeping him but we wouldn't have changed things if we had hindsight on what it was to bring,we chose to bring him into our lives and made the choice to keep him knowing it was a long term comitment - we couldn't sell him on to an uncertain future he had enough of that in his past and he had too much to give without being ridden to be PTS- infact it was shorter than we had hoped and we still miss him dearly 4 years on.

I think you could drive yourself mad thinking about what if's - until it happens(or if it happens) you just don't know what you would do...... worry about tomorrow when it comes life is too short - I hope you find the horse of your dreams and are lucky enough not to have to ever answer the question, don't think your evil for thinking about it, more taking future responsibility seriously as it should be, just don't go OTT or you will never take the plunge.
 
This is an interesting thread
My first horse became virtually unrideable (well, light hacking only) about a year after I got her. She developed ringbone and was very unsound on a tight circle but sound enough in a straight line to continue hacking, dependent on ground conditions.
I work long hours and have a long commute so had to keep her on part/full livery as I couldn't manage DIY/grass livery
For me, having her on part/full livery for the foreseeable future wasn't going to work for me (livery was £300 at the time plus shoes etc) but at the same time I had a responsibility to do the best for my horse
However, when it happened I was very fortunate in that one of her old owners was desperate to have her back despite knowing of her problems which I was very honest about
And it worked out fine for us this time - just thought I would share my story/experience with you
 
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i have two pensioners, aged 20, one retired aged 9. never occured to me to have her pts, she was my horse, my responsibility, if i couldn't keep her why would anyone else want to? she is happy as a clam.

for me, i would give up riding or find one to share and keep the unsound one. i could never justify having an otherwise healthy horse pts just for convenience but many people do.

for me, having a horse is having a member of the family, not a car to be traded in or on.

i don't think it is ever too soon to think about these issues as they often have to be faced. before i had land of my own, i shared horses, i couldn't justify having one of my own on full livery to ride twice a week. so i didn't have one.

even though i have my own land, it costs just the same to keep an pensioner as one in work - all my equines come in at night, are fed hay overnight, hard feed, rugged, have the farrier, are wormed, have the vet. no difference whether they are rideable or not.

not all horses can be kept on a grass livery and not all yards can provide this anyway. there are some 'retirement yards' which take pensioners only, but again, many of them say it costs about the same to keep a pensioner - they can do it cheaper as they are usually in wales or places where land is cheaper, not in the M25 belt.
 
I also think you are thinking too much about it! It's an interesting and important question to think about and to gather information about the options, but as long as it's not part of your decision making process about whether or not to get a horse. There are a million and one things that could ultimately happen when anyone gets a horse. No-one can prevent fluke accidents or unfortunate illnesses. You would just have to deal with whatever came your way. I would imagine that's all part of owning a horse?

It's a bit like buying a car. You wouldn't not buy one just because it might blow a head gasket. It also might not!!

The only way to make sure it definitely wouldn't happen would be not to buy a horse - but I don't think that is what you should base your decision on!

Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
I think you can 'what if' forever on any topic and never actually get down to doing anything.

Sometimes you just have to go for it and figure it out as you go along. Things will go wrong sometimes but it is unlikely that you will face the worst possible scenario.

I just don't think you can go through life over-analysing every possible situation. You need to be aware of things that might come up but in a balanced way.

I got a book for Christmas that might be suitable for you Mary Poppins - 'Women who think too much.' :wink:
 
You could get a horse vetted, get it home and the next day it could trash its self in the field. Stop thinking so much :redcarded:

If the horse was older and had a good life but could no longer be ridden and it was a case of not being able to afford two then I could understand if someone wanted to PTS. I would worry about companion loan just incase someone tried to ride etc.

A younger horse is a difficult one as it doesnt seem fair to pts, I would hope that I could offer a grass livery 24/7 and at least do inhand shows and hacks out in hand.
 
i have one retired lame field ornament and did have a box-rest ornament until she finally came sound! - i am lucky in that i can afford 2 horses and have the type of horses and the time to be able to have them on DIY. But if i were to have two lame horses then i would just accept it, keep them and ride other peoples horses!

I also agree in that i wouldnt pass around an un-rideable horse.....I love my animals and wouldnt pass them on, would consider PTS for the horses health but not my financial gain/ability to afford another....oh i dunno....each to their own and i really dont think anyone has the right to judge your decisions....

but anyhow, i am sure you wouldnt have to make the decision anyway as whatever horse you buy will be perfect and be rideable forever...unlike mine :(
 
Maybe I do think too much, but is that such a bad thing when it comes to horses? My fears come from a very real situation which has happened to a good friend of mine. She brought her horse as a 3 year old, only rode 3 to 4 times a week and never very hard work, mainly hacking with some light schooling. Her horse had a field injury, has been off work for almost a year and she is waiting to see if this is going to be permanent. Her horse is only 8 years old.

I think that I see a horse in the same light as having a child. Once they are here, you can't just give them back when times get tough. Or maybe you can....

Perhaps I should go and buy that book!
 
I think you might be overthinking things too though I think it is sensible to consider things! I dont think you ever really know what you would do until it happens.

I always thought that I would have my horse on Full livery. On his first yard, he was on full livery 2 days a week and turned out 1 or 2 times per week. He is now on a diy yard and I would imagine that I will always keep him on diy now.

I thought I had it all sorted out but the reality of horse ownership changed everything!
 
I agree with dt', I have a retired one, then bought one to ride as well, when times got tough and I was commuting I had to put them on livery but could not afford both of them, so i sold the ridden one, podge, and kept Minnie. She is my responsibility and I would never ever pts as apart from her bad leg. She is perky and llving a lovely retirement, she gives Sam a run for his money still! Minnie was retired after only 6 months of me having her, unfortunate but I would not change it for the world:smug:
 
No harm in thinking but I think you are thinking about it too much. It's not likely to happen and you can't think out all eventualities.

What's more likely for me is that something happens with hubby's work and I can't afford to keep mine at all rather than ending up with an unrideable Joy. Doesn't make me think any differently about how I keep my horses now. I'd deal with any eventuality if and when it comes.
 
I have a 16.2hh field ornament called Faye, I just bought a riding pony for me and my daughter to share. Faye is turnout 24/7 rugged, groomed when needed, has her feet trimmed, health checks etc. When she cannot cope with this she will be PTS in our field. I think we have a duty to care for them as they get older or infirm.
 
Personally wouldn't put a horse to sleep who is happy in the field.

One thing to add to what other have said, is if you are still looking (not yet found one) have 'good doer' as a factor in making your choice of horse. If you would like the option of retiring a horse to live out full time, then include that in your initial search.

It makes a big difference to budget, and you can find very forward going and lively horses who could potentially live out full time. I would personally retire most horses onto grass full time anyway, and look at the options going onto 'full grass livery' if time/money is an issue.

Try not to worry, but it might give you some peace of mind if you choose a horse that could be cheap to retire if something happens to make them unrideable.
 
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