Donating/free leasing your horse to a therapeutic riding center: your experiences?

[ASB_Stars]

I have a home bred gelding, who was a very well schooled dressage horse, on loan to a local program. The program is managed by a very dear friend, and I do have a contract. In fact, the contract states that should she leave the program, I can remove the gelding immediately.

They work very hard to keep him happy. I find that these programs generally do have older horses, as they need experienced, well trained horses for their students. Thus, the good ones know what kind of maintenance they need to do to keep these holder horses going.

I would NOT have loaned him to a number of other programs in this area, including one with International prominence. However, as long as my friend is there, I trust that he is well taken care of. I am also up there every two weeks, so I do lay my hands on him, and check him out.

[TheMountainsAreCalli]

THANK YOU everyone for your kind words of advice and experience. My mare is 21 and has some mild arthritic changes in her knees-- she is still sound (without injections or treatments) and she still loves to work. She’s a dude horse, a packer and a lesson horse, and is exceptionally tolerant of all things going on around her/under her/over her (ie: you can shoot a gun off her, walk across cracking ice, or a super high swaying bridge, etc). I don’t know if she wants to be a therapeutic horse, but I think she’s a good candidate for one.

We’re in a very rural area, so I don’t get much of a choice in riding centers. The nearest one is an hour away, but it gives me the heebie jeebies just from its website, and they clearly sell A LOT of horses. There are three other centers, each about 3 hours from me, where I could at least get up and see her every few months. I am only interested in free leasing, as she can stay here and retire when/if her arthritis gets too much to carry a rider. But for now, I just hate to see her wasting away in the pasture.

Again, I really appreciate everyone’s advice, and I will be sure to have a very clear contract if I am able to find the right place to take her. You all have made me feel a little better about even letting her out of my sight! It’s such a tough decision to think about.