Stolen Horse--Man is BACK in jail!

[rodriguezpoultry]

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement throughout this entire ordeal. My subscriptions never updated me to your recent posts.

I cannot thank you enough.

Now for me feeling like a complete waste of human space. My car, after 5 years of faithful service to me, has passed the point of repair. I now, must make the most difficult decision of my existence.

I feel as though I must sell my beautiful boy. There is no other option that I can tell at this point. The board alone would be a car payment and his sale, as much as it sickens me, would be a sizable chunk of a down payment.

I am disgusted with myself. But what else is there that I can do? I can see no other options. My car won't even start. We have to scrap it out as parts. We can't have a single car. My husband is out of the country often and has to take his car several hours away at all hours of the day in order to make flights.

Please don't berate me. I'm disgusted with this decision as it is. I don't know what else I can do at this point. We may have to sell his trailer as well.

If ANYONE has any ideas, please message me.

I feel not only like I have let everyone on this thread down, but myself and my horse, my partner. My husband and I are both sick at the thought of selling him.

 

[Funky Feathers]

Oh, no!! So sorry to hear this. After all you went through to get him back. You're not a bad person, you can't afford to care for him and buy a car. Understandable. I'm sure there are others facing similar or worse situations. I know I could never give up my horse (had her for almost 20 years), but I don't know what I would do in your place. Ride my horse to work? No, that's 35 miles each way. Maybe you could sell him to a friend or acquaintance who lives near you so you could still see him. Just a thought? It would be a blessing if you could find a decent car cheap. I wish you the best.

 

[Kansaseq]

I am SO sorry to hear of your predicament. You are not a bad person, just a realistic person in a tough situation. Back in my twenties, I had to make the very same decision. My car had died and I needed a new one. Broke my heart, but my horse did end up in a good situation.

Some alternate suggestions; do you have a 401k you could cash in? You are still young enough to make it back, and maybe you could buy an older, reliable car for cash (like a Honda or Toyota, my CRV has 215k on it and still going strong).
Is there a cheaper place you could board him? I always used to keep my boy at pasture. Maybe the stable could use him as a lesson horse to help offset the board a bit? Could you clean stalls once a month to help offset the board?
Just a few suggestions. I hope you get to keep him, but if you don't, no one is going to blame or think badly of you. If you can't get to work, you can't very well pay board, can you? Try not to be so hard on yourself.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

The place I'm boarding him was the cheapest and safest around. Other places had 6 horses on a .5 acre lot. There was no grass and you have to pay for hay along with $150 in boarding.

The stable has 6 full-time workers already. And he's already on pasture board. They have 17 lesson horses as well.

I know there has to be a way, but no matter how I look, the coin looks the same on both sides.

 

[zazouse]

If you have a 401k you can borrow against it, you will pay yourself back ther 401k and a bit of intrest, ours is 5 percent.
we borrowed 32 thousand against ours, we paid it off in 5 years, payroll deduction and only paid 1500 dollars in intrest.

We were still able to contribute to the 401k but the company would not match it for the next year, then they matched our contribution just like always.

we use our 401k as a loan department because intrest rates and fees are to high even with goodcredit.

Just a thought if you have a 401k with a good amount of moneys.

Sure hope you can work this out, i know how hard it is to give some things up when you fell there is no other choice.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

As far as I know, I have no 401k.

I had no idea you could borrow against it. Plus, since I just moved to a different company, I didn't realize what the 401k did exactly.


Well this sucks. I know my last job had a horrible 401k and if you took from it, there were severe penalties.

 

[zazouse]

Yea you never want to take from a 401k unless you are not goning to make it without it, it ups your income if you take a hudge chunk so there are times when folks paid the taxes on it right off the bat and at the end of the year it was considered incom so when combinded with other income can throw you into a higher bracket and you ow even more taxes at the end of the year .

 

[Kansaseq]

Ropo, what happened with Max? Did you have to sell him?

 

[WIChookchick]

I don't know if you own your home, you can get a loan against it, AND you can get a payday loan. You need to talk to your husband, he can rent a car on an expense acct, and let you have his car.
Do you have a friend or relative you can borrow enough to get a cheap beater car? OR does some one you know have a "farm truck" or a spare vehicle?

If Max is well broke, perhaps you can let a local theraputic riding center use him. Or a local college, where you can keep in constant contact. Or a local 4H group with a "horseless"
program that would help a young person use your horse, and do a "free lease" on the property where he is at.

If you have good credit you can get a personal loan through your bank.

Also you need to talk to your husband, he may have better credit and can help you.
Remember though, once you sell Max, That's it, you can hope for the best, and ask for first rights to buy back, but once you sell him. That person can do anything they want to him.
perhaps it would be better to donate him, but again, if they sell him later on down the road, you are SOL.

Good thoughts for you and Max!!.. Also have you had a mechanic look at your car, it may be as simple as the battery cables needing to be replaced. It happened to my husbands car, a 100.00 fix after we towed it to a local garage.

 

[res]

What about doing an off-farm (or on-farm) free lease? Or even a paid lease. That way he is still yours, and under your control, but you won't have to pay for board (free lease) or you get help with board (paid lease). It won't get you any large sum of cash up front, but it can help with monthly expenses.

My husband has had to fly out at a moment's notice many times - sometimes commercially, sometimes with the military. If possible, I take him to the airport/base, so that I can have his car at home. But we have also relied on friends, co-workers, and even taxi service to get him to the airport.

Getting a home-equity loan isn't easy, and it isn't free. Many times you will have to pay appraisal fees up front, and closing fees. And the requirements for home-equity loans are getting very stringent. You may pay the appraisal fee only to find out you can't get the loan - then you are out several hundred dollars.

Payday loans may be quick, but the rates are sky-high. You will end up having to pay back MUCH more than you borrowed, and sometimes they have a VERY short term - meaning you have a very short period of time (weeks/months) to pay back the amount you borrowed.

I have horses, too. One of them I have had since 1987... He is a member of my family. Literally. But, I also know that I HAVE to put my family first, and if push came to shove, I would do what I had to. Although, I wouldn't sell him, because at his age and condition, the only one interested would be a kill buyer. But, I would put him down - he costs us several hundred a month in supplements, special feed, and medications.

I hope it all works out for you, and you are able to be at peace with whatever decision you have to make.