One of those Wee Small Hours thoughts

Frances144

Frances144

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Dec 21, 2011
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Shetland, UK
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If I could not ride, and had always had my riding horse in livery, would you still in your old age, keep a horse at livery just to hug and love and be around?

I think I would.

But..... I have my own land and no livery payments.

I think I need to have a horse(s) or pony(s) just so I could see them and smell them and hear them and love them. I would need that in my very old age. It is part of my happiness.
 
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I've always been on a livery yard of some description (ranging from DIY to full livery) so yes, providing I could still afford it and physically do the work associated with them if necessary. And had a back up solution, should the worst happen.

I'm not at old age yet, but personally, if Pete retired tomorrow he'd stay where he was on full livery and my (currently hypothetical) second would either join him or be kept at a different yard.
 
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Yes and yes I’ll always want them around me. We can only ride one out of our three and they cost more in supplements and feed than a mortgage but I don’t do anything else they are my hobby, life and passion - I have no great riding aspirations just feel lucky to get on board as and when. If I was still on a yard I’d still have kept Storm going because she’s my friend and I get so much from her just being around. Each to their own and I appreciate not everyone wants to pay livery for giant expensive pets.
 
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I think it is the riding and ground work - that I like. Evidence is that when Maisie was retired, I groomed her once a week and it tailed off. I wanted my Sundays back to cook proper lunch or go to an art gallery. I like grooming. I guess I am good at it because I have groomed extra horses at every yard. But I want to be riding the horse really (any horse will do) like the little girl having a donkey ride on holiday.
I find I think about riding a lot. Grand daughter reports back on riding my share. I told yard I would be back next Spring and I really hope I shall.
 
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It's a predominantly outdoor activity @Skib, is there any reason why you feel you can't go back until spring? I would have though that as long as you took and used hand sanitiser you'd be fairly safe particularly if you wear gloves to tack up and ride since the tack is used by other people.
 
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I'll have one as long as someone's willing to wheel me up close for hugs and smells. I waited for so long to have a horse that I'm still obsessed with riding, watching, touching and smelling them, whenever I can. I spend as much time just stroking and looking at mine as I do riding him. It fills a gap that was there from age 4 to age 34. OH says I'm a different person when I've been up the field and had my fix.
 
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Absolutely yes, I don’t have my own land and have no choice but to have Belle on livery, there is no way she’ll be abandoned when I can no longer ride her, the best part of having her is not the riding, it’s just the pure joy of being around her.
 
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Yes, I don't have my own land, so always been on livery.

We spend so many hours looking after them that riding is a teeny part of it. I didn't ride today but did something with her, to some mine looks retired already. :)
 
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Most of mine don't do anything and i have them at home so they are just part of the furniture. I managed to buy Buddy simply because of this as there was a better offer for him to keep him at livery but as i said to the owner the moment he can't be ridden he will be gone, as the majority of folks - not on here - get shot once they can't ride and won't pay £400 or so a month for a horse they can't ride. Though why they think it is cheaper to keep them at home yourself is a mystery to me as the feed costs the same and you have to do all the work and pay for all the maintenance and repairs. I like watching them from the office window as i work and all of mine have retired and been buried up the field if possible. I would like to rehome the 2 younger donkeys as they are going to outlive me and it would give me a bit less work. One of them i really like the other one is a brat, and i won't miss him that much but Krug is a sweetie, but they are a pair now and I couldn't deprive Murphy of his pal.
 
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Ive known a number of people who have sold there horse as it was getting old so they could get a younger one. To me thats wrong. Its a bit like a dog they are for life not just for christmas.. But with a dog they have a shorter life expectancy than a horse. So we keep them generally till they die. But with a horse we dont know how long we might have them. So i think people find an elderly horse an imposition.

I couldnt part with chunky just because hes old. I admit i am stuggling with reducing his work load into retirement, but that what i got billy for to bring on and make up for wht i can no longer do with chunky. Who knows how long he has left it could be a year, or it could be 16 years.

Will i have a horse when im older to fuss. At present i guess im lucky i have my own land. It has to be managed somehow. Some of which is pretty steep so animals are the easiest way to manage it. I have the sheep and cows too to consider. Its going to very much depend on circumstances in the future. I would certainly not have as many animals as currently, what the menagerie will be i just dont know.
If i sold the land and moved i dont know. I think that will be down to my health. Maybe just buy a house or maybe buy a house with a small amount of flat land so i could either keep a horse or something.
I guess if really old i might rent my land for a livery so i could maybe have a horse fix. It is a pefect hacking spot. Its whether i could rent out to livery on the current land. People i find dont look after the land if its not theres. It tends to get trashed. I would want my land looked after.
I wouldnt go back to being on a livery yard though if i didnt have land. Id just go for riding lessons if i wanted a horse fix.
 
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chunky monkey said:
Ive known a number of people who have sold there horse as it was getting old so they could get a younger one. To me thats wrong. Its a bit like a dog they are for life not just for christmas.. But with a dog they have a shorter life expectancy than a horse. So we keep them generally till they die. But with a horse we dont know how long we might have them. So i think people find an elderly horse an imposition.
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I was really surprised by the number of people who asked me if I'd be getting rid of Jess or putting her down once her heart problem was diagnosed, my answer is she's earnt a retirement with me and as long as she's happy in the field!
 
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Jessey said:
I was really surprised by the number of people who asked me if I'd be getting rid of Jess or putting her down once her heart problem was diagnosed, my answer is she's earnt a retirement with me and as long as she's happy in the field!
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there was someone locally selling a 22 year old pony club little darling why on earth not keep her find someone to loan her but of course they wanted another pony for the kid. what happens to her if she goes lame in six months. I bought buddy age 19 knowing that he would have to retire with me, but that wasn't an issue, he is here forever till he goes up the field for the last time. Molly retired age 9 and died age 26.....not a bad life.
 
I spoke to the YO of being away for a year because I assumed that by next Spring the infection and reproduction rate in our London borough would be down and/or there would be a vaccine. Those of us who had a miserable time at boarding school can visualise those three terms and that is what I did.

I see that the guidance is that we can now go out and we are ordering masks but as yet, it is not compulsory to go out. It is individual choice.

Like most people we have a peer group. One friend who lives in a flat is going out and the rest who have gardens are not. If we live outside high infection areas, you are right it is better to go out now than to wait for the expected winter peak.

My difficulty is keeping my weight down. I need to lose 2 lbs before I am riding weight. And I dont feel fit enough to ride a horse.
eml, a riding teacher once on nr, used a wi-fit years ago and we bought one too. I used it so much that I wore a hole in the living room carpet running on the spot. I think it may have to come out of mothballs.
 
When i got Ramsey he was rising 4, and I joked that in 20 years everyone would know the mad old bat riding the doddery old grey pony. Well, that came to pass, as I predicted. When he was old and frail, I owed him a settled, cared for life until the end. I bought an older horse, Hogan, at 12, quite deliberately, so we'd have hopefully, and realistically, 10 years active together (maybe more!) And then both retire about the same time. I hope in 10 years, everyone will know the mad, even older bat, on the stroppy fat old cob.:D
 
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Huggy said:
10 years active together (maybe more!) And then both retire about the same time.
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You wont. Old riders never retire. In three years time the sum of horsey's age and mine will be 100. On riding forums that seems to be one target.
 
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Skib said:
You wont. Old riders never retire. In three years time the sum of horsey's age and mine will be 100. On riding forums that seems to be one target.
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Why on earth would that be a target? All it means is horse and rider are old, no great personal achievement in that. Now the chap who has the Tamarack Hill fb page is an inspiration, both in terms of general horsemanship and also what he does at his age! No 100 target for him, that would mean riding an older horse that pobably wouldn't be up to what he does.
 
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