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milkmaid

Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 551
Location: western isles

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 11 7:00 pm Post subject:

this isn't a cow or a goat and to be honest i have a freind who had a dairy farmer who kept a cow long after she stopped being productive because she was special she was 19 when she went ,it even happens with farmers , spent 4 years just chilling with the herd ,and went as she starting showing any signs that she was going down hill believe you me if the vet said she was suffering she would go ,
i think i have my answer ,
i'm afraid i knew what your answer would be when you saw this

the competing was a dream maybe even a hope ,but not the be all end all
and an 12 month old horse takes the same time to back no matter what the quality ,it's the work that it takes to get there ,which she enjoys

thank you for the advice ,i'll talk to her about the different feeding and ulcers i think will have to be investigated ,it's their money and i'm sure they will make the right decision for the horse and them

Last edited by milkmaid on Tue Nov 22, 11 8:26 pm; edited 1 time in total

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 11 7:33 pm Post subject:

milkmaid wrote:

i'm sure they will make the right decision for the horse and them

I think that's the right attitude. So long as the animal isn't suffering and they can afford what it needs and they are both happy too, that is what is important. It's more than an purely economic thing with some animals.

(I have a pensioned off hen, if it makes you feel any better. Not the same league, but I am pretty unemotional about performance and input=output in the birds and she is a definite aberration

)

T.G

Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 7280
Location: Somewhere you're not

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 11 7:44 pm Post subject:

Milkmaid, have a ead at this article - it's excellent advice

https://www.equineiridology.eu/oat.php

The whole site is very good. The iridologist i've used here trained with this lady over in france and eventually I plan to (already spoken to her about it) train with her myself in iridology.

If I had more time to read properly the problem I'd try and help more but I have a little too much on my plate as is atm. If i get chance later in the week I'll come back to this.

Sorry i can't help further x

milkmaid

Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 551
Location: western isles

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 11 7:50 pm Post subject:
thank you that looks interesting

TTouch Homestead

Joined: 13 Oct 2011
Posts: 703
Location: Cardigan, West Wales

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 11 8:17 pm Post subject:

It might be worth them also getting in touch with someone who does equine ttouch. Sarah Fisher is the head honcho in UK and works out of Bath but travels throughout Europe. i am not sure if there is an equine pracitioner up that neck of the woods. If nothing else it will enable them to try something different, non invasive and supportive of other methods, alternative or conventional.

www.tilleyfarm.co.uk is the main website.

milkmaid

Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 551
Location: western isles

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 11 8:25 pm Post subject:
thanks

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 11 10:01 pm Post subject:

milkmaid wrote:

this isn't a cow or a goat

That's right, it's an animal though & no different. What you need to establish is their relationship towards this animal, a pet is a totally different kettle of fish to a work horse. It may be that the competing was just a justification for keeping it on. Or maybe they just need to accept that it is a pet, but it makes a big difference either way.

Mrs R

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 11 9:56 am Post subject:

milkmaid wrote:

this isn't a cow or a goat

Makes no difference, the only thing that makes it different is your relationship to the animal, not what species it is. Horses are food to a lot of people and cows and goats are draft/companion animals to a lot of people.

You seem to have jumped to a conclusion about what my answer is, before you even posted, which isn't very fair and turns out to be inaccurate - I merely said they need to decide what this animal is. It was yourself who mentioned the competing dream, it seemed to me it must be important to them to have devoted 5 combined years, a lot of money and given up on having children for. My mistake

IF competing is nothing to do with it then why is anyone thinking about disposing of the animal? They like it, what's the problem?

Last edited by Mrs R on Wed Nov 23, 11 10:01 am; edited 1 time in total

Mrs R

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 11 9:58 am Post subject:

Chez wrote:

milkmaid wrote:

i'm sure they will make the right decision for the horse and them

It's more than an purely economic thing with some animals.

They need to decide which it is though, and whether they realistically have the facilities and finances to keep an animal going like that, even if they do decide she's just a pet.

Mrs R

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 11 10:09 am Post subject:

On the subject of backing youngsters, yes it may take time, doesn't need to be a 12month old though; what about a young horse who's been trained and is ready to go?

For every 'rescued' horse that takes years to bring round (or not) how many nice natured, healthy, strong and talented young horses end up in salami? The horse trade's very cut throat right now and I know there's lots of murmerings about good animals ending up as cat food - yet still this attitude? Again fine if the animal is your beloved pet but for competing and thinking about the quality of british horses, it's another kettle of fish.

I used to work in a horse sanctuary and in the end couldn't believe the amount of resources, labour and money that went into keeping hundreds of useless and unwanted animals alive til the end of their days, and how many times is this repeated on each yard around the country? (Then cows get blamed for trumping a bit while they wait to become our dinner in a mere 2years lol). Meanwhile the europeans/australians etc. are laughing at us as they merrily cull rubbish and produce top quality winners, which british people crawl over each other to get their hands on!

milkmaid

Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 551
Location: western isles

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 11 10:15 am Post subject:
as i said thank you ,for the interesting links ,

Mrs R

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 11 11:49 am Post subject:
Care to fill me in on the justification for your rudeness milkmaid?

milkmaid

Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 551
Location: western isles

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 11 12:06 pm Post subject:

i sort of ended a couple of posts ago ,i know how things work in the horse industry and often i have to make a choice for our livestock,if they are unproductive one way or another ,i'm not sure after the last couple of posts were put on it had to carry on ,and to be honest i'm just about to move my sheep to winter grazing where one of my favorites that i've owned for 6 years is then going on in a couple of weeks time to the slaughter house i booked her in this morning ,because she's not going toi be as productive after this winter ,so yep i'm aware of the unproductive facts ,but for someone like the lad invovled who has always kept pets then it's not so cut and dried and your comments about leaving an animal to suffer were quite unjustified
sorry can we draw a line under it now

Mrs R

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 11 12:08 pm Post subject:

sorry, what comments about leaving an animal to suffer?

I was replying to your original post, which did make a big deal about the competition side of things and implied that the animal wasnt a mere pet, you yourself asked about disposal methods and I was merely agreeing with you. It seems that since I did (which went against your prediction I guess somehow?) you did a u-turn and have been rude to me. Rather unfair.

T.G

Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 7280
Location: Somewhere you're not

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 11 8:48 pm Post subject:

Right my heads in a slightly better place at th moment, so...

How old is the mare? � I�d say if she�s 10 or less then it�s probably worthwhile hanging in there and giving her another season to see if she makes good BUT give yourself a cut off time. If she�s over 12 I�d seriously be asking questions, such as: (reason i say 12 is the prognosis could be time - simple as that - and time can be the most costly but best care)

Is she a pet, a project, a bet with myself, or a real event prospect, what is my aim?
Can I realistically afford the continuation of this high end level of horse management � as in, time/money/emotions?
What do I realistically see the long term outcome being?

Also; why has she only been sat on once in the 2 years, is this behavioural, illness, or nervousness (rider or horse)?

Get her to start back with groundwork � everyone forgets this and rushes to back them, groundwork � clues in the name

� is the foundation. If you can get a horse to behave on the ground then you should have no issue in the saddle being in the saddle is the easier way of controlling a horse of the two.

Try a hackamore - bitless bridle - re mouth. Also, the lack of riding is this due to back issues? Do ou have anyone who does iridology in your area? Fabulous diagnostic aid.

The abscess sound like over feeding too rich a diet, imo � horses can�t be sick so anything comes out in their feet � giving her too rich a diet won�t keep weight on her it will just cause problems. Linseed �there is a wrong and right way to feed this so DO be careful; Boiled barely � good for keeping on weight as is flaked maize.

Racehorses � In general I tend not to trouble myself with (although I have and have been talked into helping out with a few I try to avoid like the plague)� without being harsh, it�s like expecting the average Joe to drive a F1 to the local corner store every now-and-again without expecting issues. It is often better that a racehorse once raced is shot after a working life than ending up on a yard with some well meaning person who hasn�t much of a clue. I know it�s not a popular opinion but loving something sometimes means you have to make the grownup decisions and being a grownup tends to mean you�re often the perceived bad guy.

Thoroughbreds � are beautiful animals but racehorses and thoroughbreds are not necessarily the same thing, I know many TB�s who event, PP, hunt etc, but have never raced and were never brought up in that lifestyle, and some were never bred with the intention to race � which racehorses are.

My TBx mare was prone to a recurring deep rooted abscess, we have had it treated with antibiotics, by the vet cutting it out, by the farrier cutting it out, but in the end it just came back from time to time, especially if she had been on hard feed � her sire was a US reg racehorse called Yachtsman. Her mother was a pure bred showing quality shire (she was the mare who was kindly poisoned by some tw&t earlier this year).

If you can PM Northmoor � I know she�s had quiet a substantial amount to do with racehorses and her knowledge of them will be much better than my own. I�ll PM you my number if she wants to call me pass it her on.

HTH

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