Please forgive my rambling bits of "uh dearie, shouldn't you be waiting for the short bus to pick you up" illiciting dialogue. But I just wanted to say, before I pass out, possibly in my bed, that I am so grateful that I consider love, friendsship, companionship and joy to be things that make my horse "useful."
There was an argument on a local board about euthing. Oh the horse isn't useful so she can't afford to keep said horse.
Am I missing some tax write-offs here? I mean if my horse is eating and farting out in a field somewhere, should I be getting some sort of monetary benefits from this that I am not aware of?
Because clearly there is a difference in cost. What with all these people saying that "JuniprJumpsJarls" the warmblood has broken his stifle. And oh no, they cannot win any ribbons with him! Suddenly, QUITE suddenly her 12x9 stall is a hundred acres full of BEARS and MOINTAIN LIONS and and fiscal communists oh hoes! What was a set sum for a set number of services suddenly becomes impossibly high! Or.... no.... it doesn't??
Well that is rather confusing now isn't it.
Much more confusing, and relevant, are the people who have numerous horses and just want to geo rid of a horse they can afford to but don't want to own because it is injured. That horse isn't fun any more. It's a broken toy. Toss it out, free to good home, bye bye home, hello mister meat man.
If you are boarding the horse someplace there she is safe and happy, you could continue to keep her until her quality of life is no longer good, and then euth her. You could send her to a retirement facility wherein she will be treated well until it is time for her to die.
But
You
Do
NOT just trade off a horse you know is in pain with serious problems. You can't sell them as pasture pets. Pasture pets are so easy to find. People in this economy aren't really gonna have a lot of money for pasture pets, to clean up other people's messes. And then those people could sell to auction... sell to slaughter. "oh but it gives them a CHANCE that way!!!" It gives therm a chance yes, no guarantee. They don't understand ANY OF THIS. They are scared, they are in a strange place, in crazy unnatural conditions. They are in pain. The odds are very very bad that whatever situation they end up in will be good. Quite likely the way low end auctions go these days, they will go to slaughter.
If your horse is healthy, if your horse is sound, and a great prospect, or well-trained, fine, get a good buyer, sell your horse if that's what you feel you must do.
But if you have some old crippled thing that is suffering and "useless" you need to find a way to either retire your horse yourself so you can continually check in on him or her, or you need to put your horse down, No one else is guaranteed to ever care about your horse as much as you do.
Reading all that...I am ever so grateful that a horse who is happy, a horse who is mostly comfortable, who is loving, enjoying life, loving his herdmates and his people, but who happens to not be ridable, is still in MY mind "useful" and not needing to be disposed of by sending it off to a stranger.
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