take over old horse?

[AnneS]

Hi,

I was not online for a while. Had a lot of stress at work.

My YO called me at work and put me in a difficult situation. I used to ride her 18 year old Arabian mare. Now she tried to get her in foal. They took out the vet and he said that she has a chronic uterus infection. She has no pain, but she can never have babies. For YO the horse is only an economic drawback now.

There are two alternatives:
1) YO puts her down :(
2) YO gives her to me for free :)

I love this horse very much and she is like a teacher to me in riding and very reliable. I would love to thank yes. On the other hand she will cost a lot to keep. I will get half price for the box but she still needs food, ferrier and vaccinations, and I have Ginger who cost me a lot and I will have to wait with her driving in because of the money. The other problem is that it is impossible to insure her because she is too old. If she gets seriously ill I would be forced to put her down.

Do you have some advice for me? I am a bit shaky now and have to think over it.

Thanks in advance

/AnneS

[sam_pring]

if u arent willing to take her on because of the financial issues can the owner not loan her out as a companian to someone else. if she is healthy enough to have a few more happy years i dont think it is really fair to put her down.

Im sure if u cant have her there is someone out there who will want her. can she still be ridden? ie hacked out?

good luck :D

do u live in the uk? if so u can get insurance for older horses, my pony is 25 and u can insure them with petplan and a few others, difference insurance plan tho and doesnt cover the same things.

[AnneS]

I maybe can pay for the box and the food, but when she gets ill it will be a problem. I thought about someone who wants to share her with me too. She can still be ridden and hacked out. She is a great confidence giver although she likes to run fast.

No I do not live in the UK, I live in Sweden. I will take a look if there is some insurance company who insures older horses.

I dont think it is fair either to put her down. But since I live in Sweden I met a lot of people who are really fast with the thought to put an animal down when it causes problems.

If Ill decide for not taking her over I will look for someone who wants to have her. This will be a bit hard because there are too many who wants the perfect and reliable show horse.

[NoviceNic]

AnneS - Be careful as the YO doesn't want to make the decision to put her Arab down so she has given you the chance to loan her. But what happens if the Arab does get ill. Surely you would have to pass it with the YO first if you could have her put to sleep. If the YO says NO you would have the responsibilty of vet bills to keep Arab alive and then the YO may want her Arab back. What I am really trying to say is the YO doesn't want to make the decision to put her to sleep therefore she has really put the ball in your court and made you feel guilty enough to loan her. ;)

[AnneS]

NoviceNic-no, the YO wants to give her to me, not on loan, she would be mine.
I slept on the matter and came to the conclusion that I probably do not have the money to keep her. I do not know if my job is save.

Another thing came to my mind: if I keep her I will get more emotional tied to her. Then the decision to put her to sleep will be much harder.

I will speak to the YO if she can give her away to someone else. I believe there are a lot of people who would be happy to have such a reliable horse. This seems to be her last chance.