Would you continue to board a lame horse?

She might be enjoying her horse. Or feels a responsibility to take care of it and not put it down. Have you seen the horse limp or trip or appear lame? Has she ever ridden it? Perhaps she is afraid of it or really doesn't know how to ride or can't. Not sure. If the horse is in good health and taken care of then that is her business.

I mean, as the property owner I really wouldn’t care. If the horse is being cared for and the money is there to pay for full service then the rest of it isn’t really that important. (It is, but not from a business point of view) the exercises is on the owners wants. I’ve seen horses being neglected and not ridden because of the owners laziness or lack of interest, so it’s admirable that she is at least willing to pay to ensure his basic needs are being cared for.

One of my horses has soundness issues. It took me most of last year to get him to the point that I can really start ridding him again and he had around a month of straight stall rest and any time I’m worried about a flare up he gets stall rest to prevent any bigger issues. 

I also work at a barn and we have several “geriatric and injured programs” for rescue horses and we call it the “staycation” package for boarders with horses that can’t really be ridden or have health limitations. Some of them are on only field rest with weather considerations and some of them are on stall rest as needed with out door turn out in outdoor paneled stalls or the miniature paddocks or round pens. 

We currently have a 8 year old on stall rest for the next two months and we have a 12 y/o mare that usually ends up in a stall for about 4-5 months out of the year. They’re both young and watching them move neither one of them look unridable, but if they were worked regularly or ridden then they have bad flair ups and are put on stall rest again. Their owners both still want them to be happy and have comfortable lives, so they just pay for their care and let them enjoy the attention from the staff. We also have a horse that is in great health but the owner is in poor health, so they rarely come and see him. But he’s still well care for by the barn even if our staff doesn't ride the boarder horses. She cares that he’s taken care of even if it can’t be her to do it and that’s what matters. 

She's just a crappy horse owner. She's not a horse person, she may own a horse but that's it. She's just looking for somewhere to dump her horse because it's not what she wants but hasn't the heart to sell it. Being a horse person doesn't mean allowing other's to do your work for you, but if she pays then why are you bothered?

You don't understand it because you're shallow and think a horse's life must revolve around you. You sound like the kind of horse owner who thinks a horse should service you and once it can't it goes without consideration. There are tons of you people in the horse world. Riding isn't the bee all and end all. Learn some humanity. The horse is probably lame due to the idiot people in it's life causing it an injury. You sound like a teenage troll not an adult business woman. This "owner" pays? So why are you sticking your nose into her business and judging her. You sound like a barn witch. 

"Would you continue to board a lame horse?"

Why does it matter that the horse isn't sound?   Many horses aren't sound.  

"So I really don't see the point of owning a horse you can't enjoy."

If you think riding a horse is the only way to have a relationship or enjoy them, you are a moron.   My horse is 30 and hasn't been sound in years.   Responsible, loving owners don't throw away their horses because they have medical issues.

Maybe she doesn't spend as much time with the horse as you'd like, but the horse isn't neglected  He has YOU and his pasture buddies 24/7/365.

Yes, I would in your case, because you are contractually obligated to do so. The horse may have a longstanding, chronic medical problem, such as navicular or arthritis, that is keeping him or her out of work. Or he/she may have an old injury that never completely healed. As long as the owner is paying your board on time, and is paying for the horse's care herself, YOU have nothing to complain about.

It's also possible that this horse was purchased as a companion animal and pasture pet. We've got a boarder at our barn who has a horse like that. It's not a big deal, as long as the animal is getting proper care and the bills are being paid when they should be.

MY horse has had some back and hoof issues for several months now that are only just now getting resolved. I haven't been able to do anything with him all winter, but that doesn't mean I want to get rid of him. He needs time to heal and recover, and I am willing to give him that.

Strange question.  Don't know why this would bother you at all.  Along with being none of your business, aren't you getting paid?    Many, many people own horses that are just "pasture pets".  I give them credit for making sure the horse gets a good retirement and a good end.   It's not like horses stand around pining to be ridden or worked.  

We’ve had a few of that type of lawn ornaments over the years.

It’s up to the owner weather they want to pay the board and vet fees, maybe it’s a special horse or has some deep meaning to them, who knows.  It’s not like the diagnosis was permanently lame, no hope of recovery.

Our gray Morgan Arrow was 25 years old when we bought him off the kill truck for the price of the meat, I think he was $125 or there abouts.   His first papers stated he was 14 years old but he was an estate holdover that had lived in a 12 by 12 foot pen for 5 years.   We pastured him for months after the vet check and fattened him up, let him free roam with the other horses in pasture.  He really was a gentle old man, very well mannered.  The vet guessed him to be about 20 ish not 14, possibly older.  

A year after we bought him the grayish horse changed his color to a gorgeous dark charcoal grey with black points, white Sox.  His ground manners were excellent and he seemed bomb proof.  My daughter decided to put all her love and effort into this old still thin but not skinny gent, she started him getting in shape for riding by lunging and ponying him on trail rides, he soon fell in love with her and followed her everywhere.  He even tagged along on trail rides for fun and kept her company when she did barn chores.

When we had one of the instructors try him out to see what he knew we were shocked that he had been dressage trained and was quite skilled in many things she tried.  My daughter wanted to learn dressage on him, she begged to have him as her schooling horse.   After he had X-rays and got vet checked (silly for a kill truck horse)     So he started his new life as her horse,  we did find he was tattooed and got his aapctual papers which put him at 26 now.

At best I thought she would get a year, maybe two with him and once she was older would choose a different horse...five years down the road, she’s riding him in local competitions for under 18.  Best friends ever, he not showing his age.

Things went great until we got new boarders in with younger obnoxious geldings. Arrow was bitten in the back, directly on the spine by one of the boys.  We thought a month or two at rest and he would be fine.  A year, several xrays later......  one of the vertebrae was chipped, there were bone fragments around the bite scar and we boarded him for another 14 years, his last year he lived at the neighbors with her foals, she wanted a gentle horse to help teach the babies and keep them calm.

My daughter gave up a lot to help pay his board, she put in a lot of hours at the stable to make money to spend on treats and fun things for him. By now he was on college peleted senior food as he had few teeth left.

We were willing to pay all hospital, vet fees and indoor heated boarding on a horse that couldn’t even be sat on.  He wasn’t in pain until you put any weight on him.  We did use him for a demonstration horse how to groom them for little kids just starting with horses, but other than a pretty lawn ornament he had no real function.  We loved him, he was sweet, well mannered and smart.   

I know Arrow is just one of hundreds of unusable horses that are out there in this world, but what does it say for us, about a horse that once was sound and useful that we cared for enough to buy, we dump the minute something happens to and don’t give it a chance to recover.   I understand that some people can’t afford it, but if you can and have the means to why not?

shes probably attached to that horse

maybe she likes that horse so she keeps him