To not understand how people can treat horses like cars?

[IJustLovePirates]

I was looking at ‘active’ threads earlier and inadvertently stumbled across the Tack Room for horse owners. Which just reminded me of something that has bothered me for years....

How do people who profess to love their horses seem to continually swap them for faster/bigger/younger models. I live in a rural area, 8 see the adverts in the local farming supplements about horses that have been ‘outgrown’ . And people looking to upgrade/swap for a better horse.

Surely if you buy a child a horse, it should be like any other pet and you should expect to have it for life?

Or AIBU?

I know nothing about horses but surely as your child grows bigger and becomes better at riding they need a different horse to ride. Keeping a horse is expensive I imagine so you can't keep the ones which are outgrown. They are sold to someone who needs one that size. As long as each owner looks after the horse I can't see the problem.

Selling horses is very very normal, several people make livings buying and selling them.
Unlike most other pets they don’t live in your house, and I think many studies have shown they don’t bond with humans in the way that say, a dog would.

The demand for small, safe child’s ponies is incredible, most of them have a waiting list of local children who can offer them fantastic homes. Several horses get bored and stressed without the routine of work, and putting a child that’s too big/heavy on them is unfair for the pony.

Well horses are very expensive to keep and they’re quite large too. It’s not like putting a bike in the shed once you’ve outgrown it- you have to continue to fund their food and vet care, shoes, livery if necessary. If you are taking on a new horse that is the right size/ability then you need the money freed up from the first horse in order to buy it, and you need to pay for all its needs too. You could keep accumulating horses and let them live out their days with you (my dad did with his first mare) but it’s only possible if you have the money to do it.

Horses are a very different kettle of fish

A lot of horses aren’t happy to just plod around a paddock when they have been outgrown

They like to work. So moving onto a child who will use it, is better than being depressed in a field all day.

Children grow.

I do get what you mean OP but horses live a long time. If the horse or pony is too small for someone to ride it and exercise it then you can't just lead it about or have it stood in a field all day for the rest of it's life if its still young and active.
A lot of people loan their horses out on full or half loan so they don't have to sell them.

Horses aren't like other pets, they're in a strange limbo between pet and livestock ie they're by and large needed for a purpose. And by and large the horse itself is happier and healthier with the appropriate amount of exercise (not too much, but crucially also not too little).

Horses change hands fairly often, and often it's for the best. No point hanging onto a horse that you're scared of, giving it no exercise etc, when there's probably someone out there who would that same horse to gallop/jump etc. Also no point resenting a horse for being a plod when you want to be doing more, when there's probably someone else who would love a safe horse for very gentle riding.

But yes, it's a fine line before you start just treating a horse as a commodity. But then again, as I've said before, a life as a "pampered pet" really is not healthy for the majority of horses or ponies. I do see how it doesn't quite sit right with other pet owners though!

The thing is horses aren't pets, like it or not they are working animals (and big, dangerous expensive ones at that). There are a whole variety of industries that profit from the trade and use of horses - vegans I guess would be ethically opposed to any use of an animal for profit or human pleasure, but to me it's nowhere near as bad as the meat/dairy industries or even practices like the buying and selling of puppies).

That doesn't mean horses aren't loved and well taken care of (or should be!) but most won't be healthy and happy if they aren't worked regularly - ponies can easily live to be 25+ so in your example of a child's pony, if you bought him or her at the age of 10, child happily rode for 5 years before being outgrown, that's 10 years or more for the pony to stand in a field being bored - some horses could literally pine away if that was the case. Personally I think there's nothing at all wrong with selling or loaning on to a responsible, experienced home where they will have a job to do (usually children's ponies are circulated within a supportive local PC network so not lost sight of by former owners at all).

I do get a bit irritated by a few people I know that are constantly buying unsuitable animals (in some cases claiming to have 'rescued' them and begging for money/favours from people as a result) and then moving them on again immediately when they inevitably turn out to be too much for their beginner children to cope with and/or to have expensive health problems, but I don't think this is a problem with horse owners per se and just people in general that act without thinking... and I think these are the exception not the rule. Buying a horse is an expensive and time-consuming business so most people don't enter into it lightly...

And let’s be clear OP- a lot of people buy and sell dogs like they’re just an inanimate object too.

I'm a keep for life type of horse owner. But I can see the point of selling a small pony that has been outgrown. Far better it is loved by another child than left as a field ornament. I also believe that it is far better for horses to be kept in work where they can as it keeps their value. Not for financial reasons, but if something happens (eg ill health, change in circumstances etc) and you can no longer keep your horse it is far easier to find it a good long term home than if it has not been ridden for years. If the horse is going to a good caring home it can 100% be in the horses benefit.

There is the other end of the spectrum where people buy and sell on a whim with little regard to where the poor horse will end up. Those who seem to have little care as to where or who the horse may go to give me the rage.

I sold my beloved childhood pony when I went to Uni
There was nobody to ride her and it wasn’t fair on my Mum to expect her to do all the caring. We might have been able to find local children to help out but they might not have been reliable so when we had a offer to buy her from a lovely family home I sold her (for a token amount). She stayed with them until she died and was much loved but I absolutely sobbed when they came to collect her. Definitely didn’t treat her like a car

about horses that have been ‘outgrown’ . And people looking to upgrade/swap for a better horse.

Bigger. Not upgrade. Bigger. Or do you think ponies should carry people that are now too big and heavy for them?

Also, if you're wanting to go on rough hacks out, compete or even just have a horse that's a good fit for you then you will need to go for something specific and sometimes the one you have isn't suitable. A weak rider will be no good for a strong willed horse, it's for the good of the horse too.

Good post from @maxelly. This OPis reminding me of the diresomely twee anthropomorphism that seems to occur with some pet owners, often to the detriment of their pets. Horses aren’t the cute pooch you call your ‘fur baby’, they’re working animals.

Horses are just tools in the same way a car is a tool. Use it responsibly and it will give you years of service. But people's needs change, circumstances change. Try not to think of a horse as a living thing, think of it as an item that you purchase for a particular purpose - if your needs change, the item you need might change too. As long as people treat the horse to the minimum standard required by law, there's no harm in it.

It's probably just me, but the title "to not understand how people can treat horses like cars" immediately conjured up an image of the traffic warden sticking a parking ticket to Harold Steptoe's horse's face, because it was parked illegally!

It depends. Personally, I keep my animals for life. But I am fortunate to have the space and therefore the means to do so. And my horses live out 24/7. Not everyone has the resources though. The high costs involved in keeping a horse can make it hard to hold on to them forever, even if you are reluctant to sell. Its not their sale price as such but the cost of keeping them fed, housed, with regular teeth and hoof care, vets bills, tack, transport, lessons, etc. Its all very £££.

In the case of schoolmaster ponies who teach dc to ride, you will have the well trained ones with good temperaments passed around horsey families, but "passed around" in this instance means highly prized, very well cared for and loved, and living with knowledgeable people for five to eight years or so until the DC become too tall/heavy and move on to horses. So it will only move perhaps twice or three times in a lifetime and only to good homes. They rarely come on to the open market and are usually bought via word of mouth. You often find an "old" pony like this living a happy retirement with its last family.

In this instance I think a sale is justified because a good pony has a lot of miles and a wealth of experience and training behind it, and obviously small children have to learn on something very safe. And once the child or children are too big for it, it would be a waste of its experience and training to do nothing if it is still young enough and fit to be ridden by another child.

And despite what a lot of people think, a horse living with one or two companions in a featureless field doing nothing for years on end , isn't always the best scenario. Some horses are chilled and are fine with it. Some are miserable and need more stimulation, given that horses in the wild have to work a bit to find food and water and are constantly on the move, encountering different landscapes etc. My current horse is happy with his mates in the field but he absolutely loves to go out in the trailer to a show or on a ride in a different area for example and he is generally very curious about people and likes lots of attention from them.

By your theory OP any child that had a pony, would only be able to progress beyond first ridden level, if they were pretty wealthy, and had a lot of spare time. The vast majority of horse owners can only afford the time and money to manage one horse at a time. Given most DC would go through three or four as they grow and progress, it would just not be at all practical, or fair to keep them all. Then add in adults who buy a horse, then find either the horse is not right for them, or their circumstances change. Horses are just too expensive, and time consuming to keep if they are not right for you. No one can guarantee that in the 30 ish years horses often live, their circumstances won't change as life just doesn't work like that, hence a lot end up being sold on.

Also OP If you’ve ever had a horse that likes to dance some pretty holes into every damn rug they’ve ever had your bank balance would encourage you to find some other mug to have her her a new home better suited to meet her nonsense needs.

Looking at the for sale adverts tells you nothing of the huge number of horse owners who are in it for the long haul. Those who like me take their equine friend for life. Who will spend many credit cards on a sick friend when they get poorly. Who will keep their old mate until they lay them down for the last time.

YABU
Children outgrown ponies and so do adults - height/weight wise and also ability
You can't put a 5yo child on an advanced dressage horse generally for a bimble around the field because they're too small for the horse and not advanced enough
So first ponies are sought after as they are usually bombproof and passed on to be loved by the next child

@MotionActivatedDog

Also OP If you’ve ever had a horse that likes to dance some pretty holes into every damn rug they’ve ever had your bank balance would encourage you to find some other mug to have her her a new home better suited to meet her nonsense needs.

I have been known to threaten to trade mine for a sheep and take up knitting.

In an ideal world horses would only move on when the child has outgrown them but unfortunately this isn't always the case. There is an incredibly competitive snobbery in the horse world my family are part of and they always seem to be on the look out for a better 'model' to show and win prizes with.

I do feel sorry for their ponies who seem to spend more of their lives being carted about in the back of a horse lorry, driven for hours to jump at this show or that just so the child can win a pretty rosette and the mum can show off on Facebook !

I have been known to threaten to trade mine for a sheep and take up knitting.

😂😂😂

Why have you put it as 'outgrown'? Do you think they're lying?

That is literally what happens - a child has grown too big for the little pony that was once a perfect match.

If you can't provide the exercise your animal needs anymore then that is a welfare issue (Animal Welfare Act).

It's weird that you would refer to horses as "models" .

I don't know, are they a pet?
The people I know with horses use them for transport, no exception.

My horse has retired early and he's going precisely nowhere because he's my forever horse, he's the one I worked up to and I'm devastated he had to be retired 10 years too early really due to an injury which means he can't be ridden but won't shorten his life.
He wasn't someone else's forever horse because like people, horses have personalities and a clash of personality when you're sat on something 6ft high and that weighs half a ton isn't something you want to encourage.
He and I get on like a dream, 15 years together and we read each other like any couple.
But I moved on from horses to get him, and he moved on from other people to get me.
I mainly loaned until I was in the position to take a gift horse, the owner could afford to lose what they paid and gave him to me rather than him stand in a field somewhere or get passed from pillar to post.
I'm happy to sacrifice riding any horse to honour my responsibility to him, but it's not always desirable or feasible to do so, especially with children's ponies, they'd never get to be 'safe' and really be the old masters who teach people to ride properly if they only ever had one rider that stopped when they grew too big.
My horse got far more upset moving yards while still owned by me, and leaving his old herd, than leaving his owner of 4 years to come to me. They don't bond with humans in the same way dogs do.