Looking for advice please - what to do with an older pony

[TurnipFish]

I have a 22 year old pony & whilst she is fit enough to ride and has many good points she does suffer from very bad sweet itch & not everyone is able to handle her (she is v intelligent & will pull faces & threaten people if they’re not confident.) Due to becoming a single parent & my dc’s progressing in another sport (they don’t ride) I am struggling for time and money to care for her. To be honest my gut feeling is euthanasia as it guarantees her future but I don’t have the finances for that at present & I at least need to consider all options first. Any ideas?

Speaking as someone who's had many golden oldies..... I think that it is possible to find a companion home or someone who will take on her idiosyncrasies. However, I have seen too many ponies neglected.
I think if you cannot through your contacts find someone for her then the best thing is euthanasia. I know others won't agree. I think it is the responsible and kind thing to do. She won't know any different and she won't suffer.

I do agree. If I had an older pony that I couldn't safely rehome, I would consider PTS.

A 22yo pony with severe sweet itch and a bad temper? That you cannot afford to keep? PTS.

Have you considered retirement livery? For horses that are field sound and get on well in a herd these places can be like horsey heaven, they live out a in a big field somewhere very rural with minimal human interference (only enough to manage necessary health issues and feed etc in winter)... it doesn't come for free of course but if you are already paying for livery then you may find it's cheaper, even including the cost of additional management for her sweet itch.

Or you might get lucky and find someone confident/experienced who is prepared to take her on a long term loan if she is good to ride - I would want to screen homes very very carefully and have them be local enough that I could visit fairly regularly though. I've heard too many horror stories of seemingly nice capable families taking on a semi-retired horse/pony as a light hack or companion and either over-working it into the ground or neglecting it.to enter into it lightly... you would also have to be prepared to take the pony back at short notice so finances would need to allow you to pay for livery/grazing for at least a month or two at any time (but again if you are currently paying these costs you could set aside this for 2-3 months as an emergency fund for if you have to take her back?)...

If you have thoroughly explored all those options which is the responsible and kind thing to do IMO, and you are sure you can't financially manage to keep her even with some sacrifices, then PTS in their own surroundings and at the end of a long happy life is by far from the worst thing that can happen to an older pony. You'll get plenty of people IRL and on here telling you it's 'cruel' etc but frankly she won't know a thing about it, horses have no concept of going before their time or fear of death or anything existential like that...

Does she live out? They are much less work when they do and I’ve known many old ponies, even ones with sweet itch, do really well out, though they need a good fly rug in the midge season.
Is she fit and well in other ways? 22 isn’t that old for a pony, several in our herd are mid to late twenties and are fit and well.
You say she’s rideable? A competent local teen may well jump at the chance of a pony to ride and not be worried about grumpy faces. Word of mouth or local horsey Facebook pages?

Turnout in a retirement herd may be another option good for her and less work for you than mucking our. I personally think we owe it to our loyal friends to do everything we can for them in their golden years. I would always pts a horse that was in pain or suffering but if yours is fit and well apart from sweet itch, which should be improving at this time of year, I’d see if you can give her a good life in a herd.

I would check out local retirement livery. As someone else said, you CAN find places that chuck them out 24/7 in a herd, its costs very little, and apart from being checked daily, hayed and watered, they are pretty much left to their own devices.

You won't pay nearly as much as proper livery, you won't have to actually look after the pony, but you will know she is safe and cared for.

If that isn't an option then, sadly, PTS is probably the only alternative. People wanting companion ponies generally want trouble free and no health issues - although sweet-itch is easy enough to manage if you know what you're doing.