Hi I thought I had it all worked out when we decided to move to Qatar we were coming out them my two boys would follow when the weather cooled down which is anytime now. I have looked around many yards while I have been here and some are beautiful with everything you could wish for apart from one on the most important things GRAZING. I am just wondering if I will be doing the right thing fetching my old gelding he will be 25 next year and I have owned him since he just turned 7, he detests the cold weather and is very miserable come winter time which is why I thought bringing him out into the sun would cheer him up he is very fit and healthy apart from being a little stiff when it's cold and my intentions are to bring him back into work when he gets here just really for pleasure riding on the beach and on the sand dunes he will be coming out with my young stallion I am just worried if the grazing issue will cause problems. I feel I will be making him happier here in the warm weather(or am I just being selfish) but will I really when he has been used to grazing fields for the last 25 years I suppose I was just hoping for other peoples opinions good or bad. I have my heart set on fetching my boys but would hate to think that the change in what they are used to may cause health issues I am sure my young boy will adapt but what about my oldie. Look forward to reading peoples views on this or any similar experiences. Thank you
I dont know about living permanently in hot weather but my 32 year old mare always did alot better in the winter time than in summer and she was out 24/7 (with a shelter that she never used)She sometimes struggled when it was relly sunny but would be out in the middle of the field in driving rain...we used to call it rain bathing!I know this is a big decision to make for you so good luck in whatever you decide.
What a hard decision to make.. think if it were me i could take 2 out of my 3.. as 2 are fine in the warmer weather but one would hate it.. Again good luck with what you decide....
Perhaps you could talk to someone already in Qatar. The person who springs to my mind is Bart manager at Al Rayyan. They have shipped out older horses and given them a superb life. He is extremely knowledgable and a really nice guy...although very busy !! He would be able to give you some ver good, sommon sense advice regarding acclimatizing the old guy. Let me know if you'd like his email.
Hi I lived in SA for 7 ish years and worked with horses that had come from England, they do aclimatize as they have fans going in stables that are all shaded and very airy and they are fed what looks like lucerne and all the horses look absolutely fab on it and they are hosed two/ three times a day............... but at the end of the day it is an extremely long hard journey, I did not take mine out, but you need to decide if your ever coming back because sometimes they will not let you bring the horses back as they can get a virus which stays in the blood it does not make them ill and you would never know they have it, but they test for it on re entry to the uk, so you can spend a fortune getting them back only to find they won't allow re entry............ I just was not prepared to take that risk, so have a serious thought about everything and Good Luck and Best Wishes.
I don't think all horse in Saudi are kept like that; they certainly weren't when I was there but that was 20 years ago.
Apart from the royal stables none of the horses I saw had fans etc in their stables, there were a lot of flies and absolutely no turnout.
The horses Bart looks after are very special and will have fabulous lives but you need to be absolutely sure that your horses will. I left my two geldings at full livery here when I went to Saudi so they had the lifestyle they were used to.
I hope whatever you decide it works out well for you and your horses but think carefully before you make the decision.
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Posted - 22 Nov 2008 : 07:47:32 AM
