I have a 17 year old hunter that I want to donate to a reputable college program. He is difficult and needs to be a very good regular program. He should have 4-5 years left - he is still sound - but I want to find the right place and I don’t want him to be located near me as I don’t want to see him at shows once he is gone. How do you find out which colleges might be looking to add a horse? I also think he will be happier and easier in a warmer climate - New England, upper Midwest is likely not a good place for him. I am in the Mid-Atlantic area. I also don;t have the time to ship somewhere as I work full-time and my weekends are really full with house and farm work. Any suggestions?
You most likely just have to call the college and speak to the instructor/manager about their current needs. Recommend being completely honest about the horse’s soundness, abilities, and behaviors - you don’t know what they need or want but it is better for everyone if the situation is clear. Regarding shipping, I assume that if you donate (esp. far away) that you will have to pay the shipper as part of your donation.
Outside of the mid-Atlantic, I know of William Woods University in mid-Missouri as having a large H/J program with donated horses and a variety of student riding ability levels.
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Is the horse the same one you had asked about donating a couple years ago?
https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/f…fficult-hunter
A difficult horse is likely not going to be a good fit for a college program. This is a newish thread that might have some good info for you:
https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/f…ecommendations
Also this from 2015: https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/f…d-bad-and-ugly
And this for good measure: https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/9741013-donating-unsellable-horse-to-riding-school
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How difficult a ride? Our equestrian team is always looking for useful hunters!
Keep in mind that when you donate, oftentimes the horses get sold so the program makes some money. They don’t always stay in the program. Be sure you’re okay with that. You will no longer have a say in where the horse ends up.
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This is not the same horse. A different horse.
I don’t think I could donate him with the possibility that he would be sold, sent to slaughter, or even a vet school. Just not worth it to me any way. I would rather just turn him out and let him retire early.
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I’m not saying I think they’re sold to slaughter, but often they are sold to individuals. And who knows where they go from there. I know my local university will sell horses. (Middle TN State University). So just be aware and really look into it. Some schools may offer them back to you if they are no longer being used in the program.
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I handled equine donations for a large university for seven years. If we accepted a donation, we constantly monitored the horse to make sure it was thriving in the program. If we thought the horse no longer benefited from being in the program, we would retire it and put it up for sale. Potential buyers had to meet certain criteria. We could not financially support a horse not in the program for the rest of their life and this way, they could still benefit from a lighter workload.
Keep in mind, programs have their own criteria in looking for donations. Age is a major factor. Typically we looked for horses between 5-15 years of age, but did evaluate each horse on a case-by-case basis and occasionally made exceptions.
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I donated a horse to a seven-sisters college program back when I was riding in the A/A’s many moons ago. He was sound and athletic but a little quirky at times – not dangerous, just quirky. I contacted tons of colleges and they seemed to have similar requirements. Horse is shipped to college at the owner’s expense for a trial period. If trial went well, horse was accepted as a donation. Paperwork was exchanged and owner relinquished all rights.
After the donation, I do know my fellow was leased for a summer to one of the students who took him to shows. At the time, summer leases were not uncommon to help defray the cost of the equine program. A few years later he was sold to a student who continued to show him for a time. Despite having a lifetime USEF membership, I lost touch with his whereabouts.
When you sell a horse or donate, there are no guarantees the horse will stay with the new owner forever. If that isn’t a tenable a option for your personal situation, retiring him under your care and control might be a better option.
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HIS best bet is to turn him out and retire early.
You have 0 control over his future the second you sign him over.
College programs often face reduced budgets or even program elimination in more and more cases. This forces them to reduce or even “liquidate” their head count. A difficult horse will be the first to go.
Don’t put him through that.
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In my mind it was Patch at Mount Holyoke :lol: a personal favourite! This describes him to a tee.
And most horses sold into a program are sold later if they aren’t the dead quiet beginner friendly who can die while some monkey is sitting on them.
Colleges don’t take unsaleable, unuseable donated horses to slaughter, they just put them down to avoid carrying the expenses a day longer then necessary.
Some programs are great but, honestly, the cost to support a late teen aged horse that’s difficult few riders would be available for is going to make this horse very hard to place in a good program.
OP, what did you do with the other horse you were thinking about donating, the fancy one that spun people off?
We donated my fellow to Mount Holyoke! But his name was “Kiss”
I graduated in 2004, and sadly I don’t remember a Kiss 
but good on you for donating to mhc! Those horses live a pretty sweet life!
I think we donated in 2005, so we missed you by a year or two. The people at the college were lovely and the facility seemed quite nice.
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His age is likely to be a pretty big strike against him as a donation. Most programs I am familiar with have a cap of 15 for a donation. The one my friend works for will take older leases that can be returned to an owner when the time comes
rockonxox provided you with a couple of threads with all of the information you need in regards to the ins and outs of donating a horse.
I will repeat what I said in one of those threads. As an Equine Appraiser, I do a lot of donation appraisals for various Universities, Colleges and private schools across North America. They are mandatory if the horse is worth over $5,000 US. Few schools are willing to take on a difficult horse, regardless of how fancy they are. They just do not work in their programs as the cost of upkeep outweighs the benefits when few riders can use the horse. Everyone seems to think they have a horse worthy of donation…but most do not fit the criteria set out by the schools. As well, most of the horses that are donated to schools do not stay in the programs permanently and many schools call me a few years later to reappraise the same horse once the school is ready to resell them.
Not meaning to upset you in any way, but if this is not the same horse as the one in your thread from 2016 and this is the second horse in two years that is so difficult that equine donation is your only option, I think you need to consider changing your criteria when you go looking for your next show horse. The common denominator for both difficult horses is you. Either your trainer is not doing a good enough job finding you the right horse, you aren’t being picky enough in finding the right horse or the training program needs to change. I don’t think it is normal for someone to find themself in this situation again within a two year period. Stepping off my soapbox now.
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Small world. I knew this horse. A friend of mine at the time had him on summer lease in the summer of…gosh, 2000, 2001? Dark bay with a couple white ankles and a snip?
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Yes! Lovely lovely guy! Slightly quirky :lol: sold on shortly after I graduated. I would have loved to have him.
