22/03/2022
*** PLEASE DO NOT GIVE AWAY/SELL YOUR OLD and/or UNRIDEABLE HORSES ***
Today I did one of the saddest euthanasias I have done in a long time. This wasnât a client of mine, and to be fair, it actually wasnât this personâs fault. I donât normally go out to non-clients, but I wasnât going to say no when I was told the horse had collapsed and couldnât get up.
I arrived to find an emaciated 20+ year old, riddled with lice. The client had been sold the mare 7 weeks ago, and told she was a 7 year old. The old mare was gobbling away at feed, so she genuinely was just too weak and emaciated to stand. With some really good, strong help, we tried twice to get her up, but she just didnât want to. So I made the quick decision to let her go.
No horse should end his or her life like that. She was scared, and whickered at me when I came back with the catheter and Somulose. She went with no dignity, in a place she had been for just a couple of months.
I want to cry when I see these awful posts on social media, offering a 20 year old horse for sale âas a companionâ, for ÂŁ50, or âfree to good homeâ. I want to cry even more when I see posts on social media, with people in complete and utter shock and disbelief that the âbeloved/much loved etcâ horse, that they gave away just two months ago, was now being sold as a ridden horse.
Iâm sorry, but wake up. Not many people really want to take on an old horse and the associated vet bills. I do appreciate there are exceptions, but if you are going to give your old or unrideable horse away, do NOT expect to then be able to take the moral high ground when heâs advertised two weeks later. Heâs not your property at that point, and, unless your circumstances drastically changed, you didnât care enough about him to now be âdevastatedâ and âappalledâ that heâs being moved on again. I do understand that circumstances can change, but the kindest thing in most (not all) cases at this point, is to let your horse be put to sleep with you, at the home he has known for many years.
A horse is as expensive to keep as a companion as it is a riding horse, so not many people want to take on old or unrideable horses. Or if they do, they donât have the money to be able to look after the horse properly.
It is obviously completely different if you have known that person for many years, and know the home the horse will be going to, and I know several old horses who have been successfully rehomed to friends, or at least acquaintances.
You could also try a reputable rescue centre, if your financial circumstances changed, but many of these are full to bursting. Rescue centres normally ensure that if the home doesnât work out, the horse is returned to them again, and therefore wonât be passed around.
If you canât look after your old and/or unrideable horse, then do the responsible thing, and if you canât rehome to a person you know extremely well, have them put to sleep at home, with you by their side. Donât let someone you donât know, have the horse for free, and sell him two weeks later as a lot younger, or âbuted up as a ridden horse. Your horse deserves better.
Photo of my old man, Harold, who is rising 22 this year! He hasnât been ridden for a few years now, and is just an expensive field/stable ornamentâŚ.as is MollyâŚ.as is MojoâŚ.as is William đ¤Śââď¸đ
