To sell or not to sell...

[bergere]

my 23 year old Bay Icelandic Mare.....  this is going to be long...


Hate that my bad health is making the riding horses take a back seat....
add the heat of the summer and...


Found out my mini Maggie, has Cushings, is IR and just foundered. 
Having to put all Maggie's medical bills on the CareCard... not a good thing to do, but we have been hammered with tons of extra bills this spring.

Will be spending extra time with Maggie's care.  Now have to put her on Triple Crown safe Starch forage.  Only way to get a safe hay for her in this area.
Don't want to have to test every batch of hay I get, that could get really $$$$.   Good thing she is a mini and doesn't eat much.


A Lady is coming to see Stjarna this Sat..  She also has an imported 23 year old Icelandic mare...

so knows how to care for older horses. Stjarna sounds like a perfect match for her.



Keep flipping back and forth to wither I want to sell her.
Time is running out, if I decide not to sell her.


Stjarna loves going out on trail and loves the time spent with me.

I can trust her not to be a noodle head when out on trails, nice and steady. (unlike Dyfra.... she is still not quite road safe and can be a right noodle about some things)

She is easy going and no worries.

She is a great buddy to Dyfra
She helps keep the grass down.


On the other hand...

Am not riding much right now... at least until the Doc's figure out what meds I need to feel better.
Would be less worried to wither we can afford hay...

One less animal would be a lot easier on me, with only one horse to ride, not that I am able to ride much, right now.

Also won't have to buy Absorbine flex max any more... less cost that way too...

If I sell her, there would be extra work in keeping the pasture grass down.. as Dyfra shouldn't have much. (she gets over weight fast)  That means more mowing and spray for me...
Can barely keep up with the rest of the place.
Pretty sure it would be more work than letting her just sit in the pasture eating.

I do rely on DS while he is going to college... to earn his keep, he does the heavy farm work I can't do, and cleans the manure out of the pastures. He has two more years of College...
After that,, DH will have to do that work, or I would have to hire someone.  Or get one of those Horse manure pasture vacuums.

I hate getting older, hate bad health and hate that I am even thinking about this.
At the same time... the reason I make myself get out of bed in the morning, is because I have my animals.

My head is going to explode!!!  

[mollymckee]

I don't think there is a right choice, it's what you want to do. If there are doubts in your mind about selling, I'd keep her now. It will be easier to keep her than buy her back or replace her. I have found that most older horses are fine with being pets, as long as they have a pasture to move around in. My thoughts are probably influenced by the fact that I don't like to mow and I do like to see the horses and I enjoy taking care of them, even when I'm not riding. I also feel that a horse that has served me well should have a safe and well cared for old age. Keeping them is generally the only way to insure this.

I may look at things differently as we have a DD and her family a mile away and a nephew two miles away, both families will help us if needed. All of the kids have horses and would give ours a home if we couldn't take care of them so I don't have that worry either.

[bergere]

Thank you for posting.... is helping a lot to talk to someone.

This all started, when my health started tanking pretty bad.
I started feeling bad for my horses.

She does love going on rides, but I think she is just as happy being around everything she knows. I brought her in as a body score 1, rescue many years ago... spend a lot of money and time
getting her healthy again.  Lots of re training, as she was allowed to take advantage of people. 
Stjarna is now a great trail horse.
When I do ride, is just walk and tolt...  and she does that just fine.

Granted they are not brushed every day any more, but they have free feed hay, in slow net feeding bags. Plenty of pasture to play in. UTD on everything, hooves trimmed every 8 weeks...and so
on.
Pretty good life.

DS will be around for the next couple of years....  

No way in a million years could I afford to replace her, specially on this side of the country.  You are too right on that.  
Also really enjoy, watching them in the pasture, something very peaceful about it.

Right now, I am leaning towards keeping her.   Might be the wrong choice, I don't know, but I need to make up my mind very soon.

[Maura]

If riding is out, have you considered a cart? It may be easier on the horse to pull a little two wheeled cart than carrying you.

[bergere]

She has no problems carrying me at all. She loves going out on trail with me. 23 years old for an Icelandic, isn't old... Many are safely ridden into their 30's.
She is sound, happy and in good health.

Anyway, That is not the issue.. the issue is "Me"... and my bad health. Me not being able to take her out as much as she wants, specially on days she is begging to go out and I
just can't.


Have trained many horses in the past to cart. I thought about it.. but there really is no place to drive here. This road is beyond dangerous and I don't have a trailer.

[WindyRidge]

I think Molly's reply was excellent.

I think it is a truly rare horse that isn't just as happy to be a pasture puff as they are to be out riding. I'm sure she is doing just fine as a spoiled pasture pet and doesn't feel at all guilty the days she doesn't get ridden or brushed. You clearly have a lot of history with this mare, and reading between the lines it sounds to me like you really don't want to let her go but more feel like maybe you should because of all these various, sensible reasons. And it wouldn't be wrong if you do decide to sell her, especially if a new home has stumbled into your lap that you feel comfortable with. I would mention that I have the strong thought, if your health is an issue and you enjoy riding then having a safe, quiet horse to enjoy is priceless.

I had two horses when I got married. Did all their training myself and had them for 8 years. Once I got married and kids came, neither were a good fit for the family. So I sold them and moved on. The group of horses we have now is wonderful and we are very blessed to have them. They are by far a better fit for us than the two I sold. But... I still miss those other two and for all that I wouldn't trade any of my current group to get either one back, there's still a part of me that regrets ever letting them go. One I still know where he's at and am hopeful they will honor the right of first refusal contract he was sold with so I can bring him home to retire someday. The other I tried to get in touch with the lady that bought him several years later and was never able to. I know he went to a good home, and I just go on the hope he's still there and happy.

If you're this much on the fence, my armchair perspective says wait. Iceys are rare enough and valuable enough in this area I don't think you'd have trouble finding her a good home later on if you do get to a point where you are ready to (or need to) sell her.

[mollymckee]

I think I would keep her and if you feel the lady would be a good fit, get her contact info and tell her you will let her know if you decide to sell in the future. I don't think you want to sell, just think maybe you should. Don't let anyone pressure you, even yourself.

[bergere]

Thank you Both. You are very right Katie and Molly. Is what I needed.

Decided to keep her. When I am up to riding, it does make me feel better. And you are right again Katie, a good steady trail horse is worth its weight in gold and one that is an Icelandic is even harder to find that, that!

[aoconnor]

bergere, as much doubt as I hear in your post, I would say "when in doubt, don't". It is only your decision though, and if you feel she could be better with someone else, then so be it. But I can honestly say, a mare that age would most likely prefer to be with her "family" (you), than to be moved and have to fit in somewhere else at this stage, especially if there are other horses involved in either location. I have several old mares and geldings, I can't imagine having to think about placing them away from what they are so familiar with and love.

Just my two cents, but I completely agree with mollymckee...

[bergere]

This place is foreign to Stjarna, think she hates it here as much as I do. Going into our 4th summer here, and she is now, sort'a settling down. She would pace all the fences before and I know without a doubt
if she got out, she would of headed west. She was very happy at the old farm in Oregon.
This was not home to her, it did not smell right, too hot, too many bugs.....

Maggie and Dyfra have moved a number of places with me, so they are old hands at this. Though, they aren't happy with the heat or bugs, is really hard on them.

Dyfra and Stjarna were bred and raised in the PWN, Dyfra lived on the Wet side of WA and OR, with me, I ended up with Stjarna when I was in OR. They never knew anything different.

Maggie was originally from Texas, so she can handle the heat a little better. But she spent most of her life with me, in WA and OR too.

Now, Stjarna is used to the way I do things. She does get good care, as do all of them.

All I can do is hope, the Doc's can nail down what is wrong with me and help.

[mollymckee]

You may all end up out back out here at some point as well. I think you made the right choice, for you. Hopefully, things will look up medically.

[aoconnor]

Jun 10, 2015 13:50:23 GMT bergere said:

This place is foreign to Stjarna, think she hates it here as much as I do. Going into our 4th summer here, and she is now, sort'a settling down. She would pace all the fences before and I know without a doubt
if she got out, she would of headed west. She was very happy at the old farm in Oregon.
This was not home to her, it did not smell right, too hot, too many bugs.....

Maggie and Dyfra have moved a number of places with me, so they are old hands at this. Though, they aren't happy with the heat or bugs, is really hard on them.

Dyfra and Stjarna were bred and raised in the PWN, Dyfra lived on the Wet side of WA and OR, with me, I ended up with Stjarna when I was in OR. They never knew anything different.

Maggie was originally from Texas, so she can handle the heat a little better. But she spent most of her life with me, in WA and OR too.

Now, Stjarna is used to the way I do things. She does get good care, as do all of them.

All I can do is hope, the Doc's can nail down what is wrong with me and help.

I hear you about moving a horse from climate to climate. I moved my 3 Colorado born and raised horses to Georgia some time ago, they hated the humidity and bugs. So did I:-) When we moved to Texas I was so thankful we moved to north central Texas, not as much humidity and a little more similar climate to Colorado, though obviously a lot buggier here than there. But overall they do well...until the humidity creeps up and then they just swelter. My Texas born and raised horses handle it pretty darned well, but not my mountain horses. Oh well, such is life here! But I do suffer with them when they are so miserable in the hot humid times.