EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
So I met my wife, we fell in love and got married. I had started on a pasture to have a couple of longhorns and she mentioned that one of her dreams was to have horses. I didn't see an issue over having a couple of horses instead of a couple of longhorns. Both are grass eaters and something to look at. After we got married, one of her friends at the Hospital where she worked was in an accident. A girl was texting and ran a red light, hitting his car and breaking his legs and hip. He was never supposed to walk again, but eventually did with a lot of pain. They had a dozen horses, which was their passion. After the accident, he wasn't able to take care of them anymore and they began to become neglected. My wife, Karen, was offered two, which we both agreed to. We got to work on finishing off the pasture and building a small barn for them.
Somehow two horses became five horses and we where overwhelmed. I take full responsibility in this mistake. My ignorance and pie in the sky attitude left me totally unprepared for how much grass five hungry horses could eat, and how they could eat non stop for two weeks straight!!!! My 5 acre pasture wasn't enough after a couple of days and I added another 7 acres real fast. That wasn't enough either, and then we started buying round bales. They are all fat and healthy now, but after 3 years of having them, my wife has not done anything with them.
Her goal has always to be able to ride them, but she works full time, she is finishing off her PhD and now we have two show dogs that also cost us a fortune every month. Her true passion is the dogs. She can always find time for them, all her best friends are part of the show dog world, she talks about the dogs every day. The horses are just something that we have, and do nothing with but feed and take pictures of every now and then.
In February we learned that she has colon cancer. At 53, with zero family history, she finally learned why she would have cramps so bad she couldn't get out of bed all day. Fortunately, it was caught early and it has not spread. Chemo and Radiation are working and the cancer is dying. She is mostly bed ridden and unable to do much of anything during treatment. It's extremely painful and uncomfortable.
I've come to not like the horses. I feed them every day, and of the five, two are very pushy. One of them has bitten me twice. I'm not a horse person, they where to make my wife happy. She says she loves them, but never did anything with them before she got sick, and now that she is sick, probably never will. I've brought up getting rid of the two trouble makers and she breaks down crying, or gets angry and comes back at me that we should just get rid of all the animals. I like the chickens, goats and our pig, and I'm fine with the other three horses, but not the two trouble makers.
They are both quarter horses with papers that show top champions in their background that are in the quarter horse hall of fame. She says they are worth a lot of money, but I'm well aware of saying that and somebody else thinking that are never the same thing. I'd give them away if I could. They are three years old, never been riden, in great shape and probably bored out of their minds because they don't have a job or something to do. One boy who has been cut, and a girl.
My first question is advice on how to get her to agree to get rid of those two horses?
My second question, is how have you found a good home for horses? In my experience, when you give something away, most often the person taking it cannot afford it, and doesn't take care of it very well. They do not have anything invested in it, so they don't put anything more into it. If I put a price on them, that limits who will be interested. Same thing with the fact that they are not trained, and have never been rode decreases their value. I'm not looking for money, but worry that if there is no money exchanged, they will end up going to a bad place.
Thank you for any advice that you have.
The mare has the white face
This is the gelding
Somehow two horses became five horses and we where overwhelmed. I take full responsibility in this mistake. My ignorance and pie in the sky attitude left me totally unprepared for how much grass five hungry horses could eat, and how they could eat non stop for two weeks straight!!!! My 5 acre pasture wasn't enough after a couple of days and I added another 7 acres real fast. That wasn't enough either, and then we started buying round bales. They are all fat and healthy now, but after 3 years of having them, my wife has not done anything with them.
Her goal has always to be able to ride them, but she works full time, she is finishing off her PhD and now we have two show dogs that also cost us a fortune every month. Her true passion is the dogs. She can always find time for them, all her best friends are part of the show dog world, she talks about the dogs every day. The horses are just something that we have, and do nothing with but feed and take pictures of every now and then.
In February we learned that she has colon cancer. At 53, with zero family history, she finally learned why she would have cramps so bad she couldn't get out of bed all day. Fortunately, it was caught early and it has not spread. Chemo and Radiation are working and the cancer is dying. She is mostly bed ridden and unable to do much of anything during treatment. It's extremely painful and uncomfortable.
I've come to not like the horses. I feed them every day, and of the five, two are very pushy. One of them has bitten me twice. I'm not a horse person, they where to make my wife happy. She says she loves them, but never did anything with them before she got sick, and now that she is sick, probably never will. I've brought up getting rid of the two trouble makers and she breaks down crying, or gets angry and comes back at me that we should just get rid of all the animals. I like the chickens, goats and our pig, and I'm fine with the other three horses, but not the two trouble makers.
They are both quarter horses with papers that show top champions in their background that are in the quarter horse hall of fame. She says they are worth a lot of money, but I'm well aware of saying that and somebody else thinking that are never the same thing. I'd give them away if I could. They are three years old, never been riden, in great shape and probably bored out of their minds because they don't have a job or something to do. One boy who has been cut, and a girl.
My first question is advice on how to get her to agree to get rid of those two horses?
My second question, is how have you found a good home for horses? In my experience, when you give something away, most often the person taking it cannot afford it, and doesn't take care of it very well. They do not have anything invested in it, so they don't put anything more into it. If I put a price on them, that limits who will be interested. Same thing with the fact that they are not trained, and have never been rode decreases their value. I'm not looking for money, but worry that if there is no money exchanged, they will end up going to a bad place.
Thank you for any advice that you have.
The mare has the white face
This is the gelding
Its tough we had a few we re homed and got back to re home again. She always stays in touch with all the horses that we re home She rides only one. I have one on farm lease for $50 a week All of them are rescues The horses are more her thing I ride once in awhile. Its about 10k a year for up keep. When we re home one she cry's for weeks Its hard to find a good home but if you look around it can be done .
