When to call it quits?
I currently have a 22 year old OTTB retired jumper. He's in great shape; bright eyed, dappled and very ridable, but he is starting to have the good and bad days that senior horses have and he needs to be worked every day, to some extent, to keep him going. i had the vet out last month to inject his hocks and to my surprise, the vet said it won't hurt to inject him, but his real issues are muscular. i was relieved, but that created a whole new set of issues i have to deal with. i have had the Rolfer out and I stretch him every day before and after work; and he had his first chiro & acupuncture appointment as well. he will continue to have the Rolfing appointments once a month and chiropractic as needed. he is on a strong joint supp and i wash or alcohol his legs after every session and use vetrolin as if it ran like water. i also do Myofascial release work on him in between Rolfing sessions. on top of that, i have to be at farm 7 days a week because...well, to be honest, i need to make sure he has grain, hay and water. (seriously, i've posted about this before. i really like the barn i am at now, but my guy still sits without water sometimes, doesn't get his grain, enough hay etc. no boarding facility is perfect and by comparison to the other barns I have been at in King County, this place is the Taj Mahal of barns I can board at without being in a program. they just don't exist here and what would I do with a 22 y/o at Pot Creek anyway?) i'm roughly spending $1k a month +/-, plus gas money and my time. i can hardly remember a weekend i did something other than go to the farm.
i adore my guy; he's just kind of cool. i really like his personality, but i would like to learn to like other greenie-nag personalities too. i decided 5 years ago, due to how much i liked him and how high maintenance he is, that he was family and a keeper. i knew at the time i had out grown him, but he was a really cool and talented horse with a big heart, so it was an easy conclusion to arrive at. i also thought i would be more financially secure than i am at this point in my life, and had no idea I would be living in Seattle where the horse world is very different and basic care is at a premium. my income has more than doubled since then, but so have my expenses. i am spending all of my time and money keeping him comfortable instead of working toward something, or accomplishing any of my goals - riding or otherwise. my skills have deteriorated by riding one horse [on and off due to a myriad of farrier issues we've faced] and being far removed from showing and training. i had a humbling experience today when i casually thought i would build my leg back up by riding without stirrups and i couldn't post. i think i was 11 the last time that happened to me. :(
to get to the point, when do you call it quits? at what point do you stop trying to just keep the old guys going? my guy moves well, although stiff and tight some days, and loves having a job, so i'm afraid of taking it away from him. he is not lesson horse material and his feet prevent him from living in a pasture in the ankle deep mud of the pacific northwest and will need fancy nikes until the end. there is not much of a market for a 22 year old not child safe, high maintenance, accident prone, OTTB gelding who thinks he is a stallion, so i'm not trying to sell him. i'm just wondering at what point are we supposed to stop trying? at what point is it ok to let them grow old?
ETA: I'm not pushing him to do his old job anymore, and I'm not planning on throwing him in a field tomorrow. I'm just wondering if there is a point that we should just call it quits. I don't want him to spend his final days three legged or in pain.
i adore my guy; he's just kind of cool. i really like his personality, but i would like to learn to like other greenie-nag personalities too. i decided 5 years ago, due to how much i liked him and how high maintenance he is, that he was family and a keeper. i knew at the time i had out grown him, but he was a really cool and talented horse with a big heart, so it was an easy conclusion to arrive at. i also thought i would be more financially secure than i am at this point in my life, and had no idea I would be living in Seattle where the horse world is very different and basic care is at a premium. my income has more than doubled since then, but so have my expenses. i am spending all of my time and money keeping him comfortable instead of working toward something, or accomplishing any of my goals - riding or otherwise. my skills have deteriorated by riding one horse [on and off due to a myriad of farrier issues we've faced] and being far removed from showing and training. i had a humbling experience today when i casually thought i would build my leg back up by riding without stirrups and i couldn't post. i think i was 11 the last time that happened to me. :(
to get to the point, when do you call it quits? at what point do you stop trying to just keep the old guys going? my guy moves well, although stiff and tight some days, and loves having a job, so i'm afraid of taking it away from him. he is not lesson horse material and his feet prevent him from living in a pasture in the ankle deep mud of the pacific northwest and will need fancy nikes until the end. there is not much of a market for a 22 year old not child safe, high maintenance, accident prone, OTTB gelding who thinks he is a stallion, so i'm not trying to sell him. i'm just wondering at what point are we supposed to stop trying? at what point is it ok to let them grow old?
ETA: I'm not pushing him to do his old job anymore, and I'm not planning on throwing him in a field tomorrow. I'm just wondering if there is a point that we should just call it quits. I don't want him to spend his final days three legged or in pain.