A horse is not a sofa, writes Carolyn Henderson
It’s a fact of life that a horse or pony may change homes several times during his lifetime. Often, it’s for understandable and unavoidable reasons – but sometimes, it isn’t.
We live in the age of disposable goods. It’s easy and simple to get rid of a sofa you’re fed up with and the knock-on effect is that we’re also in the age of the throwaway horse.
The adverts are heart-breaking. “Must be gone by the weekend” says a social media post with a picture of the sort of horse you see at every riding club event. “Offers welcome.”
Other posts are even worse. “Want rid of” is the blunt and callous post about a little piebald yearling.
Recently, a woman in Stoke-on-Trent found a pony in her garden. It turned out that her granddaughter had responded to a post on an online adverts site from a woman who said she didn’t want the pony any more and that he would be put to sleep if no one had him.
The girl gave her grandmother’s address and the pony – a skinny little colt, covered in mites - was dumped there. He’s now in the care of World Horse Welfare, but this isn’t an isolated case.
If you have a horse you need to re-home, you need to accept your responsibility and do right by him. That has nothing to do with affection. Good dealers aren’t fond of the horses they sell, but they try and make sure they go to suitable new owners, not least because their professional reputations depend upon it.
Sometimes, doing the right thing means doing the hardest thing of all. If you can’t sell a horse because of his age or a soundness issue that means he can’t be ridden, you might decide to find him a home as a companion, with safeguards in place.
That isn’t always easy. In some cases, it won’t happen. That’s when you have to ask yourself whether it’s better to end a horse’s life than to risk him falling into the wrong hands.
Offer a home to one of those unwanted youngsters or “summer projects”, as long as you know what you’re taking on and will accept responsibility for the animal if things change or go wrong. If you have the patience and commitment, you might be able to write a happy ending to his story.
Just look at Blue Cross Jack. He was found abandoned (above), and three years later, he’s qualified for a showing championship at this year’s Royal International Horse Show. Sheila Henry took him on and did the groundwork to introduce him to riding and driving, and her friend Lacey Smith (pictured) rides him at shows.
It’s a fantastic story, and it’s lovely to know that Jack’s future is secure. If only the same were true for all those whose owners “want rid” of them by the weekend.
Horses might be working animals rather than pets, but they deserve respect. Anyone who can’t accept that should stick to sofas.