Emergency Horse Care
by Karen Pickering
I've written often about learning life's lessons, and that has never been more clear to me than over the past few months, during which I've faced plenty of challenges including a sick horse, a totaled car, and surgery. I think it's appropriate that our coming issue theme is "Boarding and Training," because I've been thinking a lot about boarding lately.
My husband and neighbors aren't horse people, so as I recover from my accident and surgery, finding the best way to care for my horses has presented a bit of a challenge for me. I am sure many of you have faced this, too, whether through health concerns or simply needing to travel. What do we do when we can't care for our own horses? What if we can't afford to board? With the help of family and friends, April and Dawn are getting by, but it's tough on everyone, horses included.
What do you do when you can't keep up with your horses' care? Do you have a quick and easy way of introducing non-horse people to horse care so they can fill in safely and effectively in your absence?
I encourage you all to think about what you would do to care for your horses if you became unable to care for them for a period of time. If you have a plan, share it with us! Either post a comment to this blog entry or email your thoughts to editor@nwhorsesource.com with the subject line "Emergency Horse Care." I'd really like to get a conversation going about the best way to handle this kind of situation. Horse owners and horses alike can benefit from the sharing of knowledge!
Labels: boarding, horse care
posted by NWHS at
9:52 AM
3 Comments:
Hi Karen,
So sorry to hear about your predicament. I can sympathize with you, but do not totally know what it is like because I come from a different perspective - one of a chronic boarder (by necessity). I have a non-horsey husband, and so I cannot imagine having to ask him to take care of my horse if I were too sick or ill to do it! I have longed to have my horse in my backyard for 8 long years, ever since I first brought her "home" to the first boarding barn. However, I do recognize the value in not having to ask him to do anything for the horse. Its just $, no manual labor :). So, I guess I should count my blessings that I have someone who will clean her stall and feed her when I cannot come out, even if it were for days or heaven forbid a few weeks. I have thought about this, though, for the day when we have property and I can have my horse in my backyard. I will search out the horse sitters that will come out on a daily basis. Alternatively, all the boarding situations that I have been in have been month-to-month, so the horse could be boarded temporarily (a bit stressful on them with all the changes but if you must, that would be an option). I have found that almost everything involved with my horse has been complicated and yet at the same time so very simple if I just follow some basics and follow my heart.
Best to you and yours,
Eleanor
I just wanted to say I think it's cool that somebody's addressing this. I'm 14 and taking care of our ten y.o. gelding and 23 y.o. mare. I'm needing some answers when it comes to horse emergencies- how to be prepared, what to do, all that, especially with a senior horse. So thanks for posting this!
Hey, thank you for taking the time to comment. I want to use this venue to start a conversation about what others do in this situation. Sometimes we just don't think about these situations until we're faced with them. The horses and I are doing fine and are surviving this ordeal but being prepared is always in order. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to this blog!
Karen
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