There are few things as endearing as an older horse that understands and has confidence in the routine of his life.
Yet even though they give us moments to cherish every day, in my experience, their ability to cope with change sometimes gets weaker with age.
Pebbles provided a reminder of this for all of us this week.
Love this video and you are so right – these older horses deserve better. Unfortunately, they often don’t get what they deserve. Two years ago. I adopted a senior warm blood, who was either 25 or 26, from a rescue group in our area. They had gotten him from an auction. In his past, he was a showjumper and then for whatever reason (aged out, injuries out?) ended up at auction. He was purchased at that time by kids camp, but then the camp closed, and this poor guy found himself back at auction. He was rescued then and taken to a horse sancuary. Six months after he went to the rescue, I adopted him. I can’t even imagine how he has dealt with all of those changes in his life, and I feel very sad that he had to do that. He will be with me til the end of his life, whenever that may be. That’s the promise I’ve made to him.
God bless you Lori. He is so lucky that you found him. Thanks. That makes my day…:-)
It’s good that you figured out that it was the stall change that was the source of his stress and that you thought to move him back. 👍👍👍
I have 5 horses. Three of them are retired. The 2 I ride are 14 & 18. It’s very stressful financially but I will keep them all forever. There is no way I would ever part with any of them. I know it upsets the herd & the individual horse when he is added to or taken away from a herd. I hate seeing that happen. When a horse becomes physically unable to live comfortable, I won’t let them suffer. I’ve had 5 or 6 put down during my life & one died on his own.
This was a lovely video Pat. The care you show your horses extends to all aspects of their lives, even as or especially as they age. What a great place for Pebbles to live.
Glad to hear you discovered the issue with Pebbles. It only goes to show how much of a personality they have. I just wish more people were sensitive to this.