How do you afford retirement if you board?

[OldLadyYoungOTTB]

I feel like when I buy a horse, I should take care of it for life, either myself or by making sure it goes to a good home. Well, my horse is currently on pasture board hoping to recover from a ligament injury. I’m not optimistic about that but we’ll see.

Meanwhile, I bought a second, and while things are going well with that horse, I worry what will happen if this one gets injured. I can afford two horses, but definitely not three, and the reality is if a person is unlucky, it wouldn’t be unheard of to have multiple retired horses. I don’t have a farm of my own, although for the price of pasture board I don’t think it would be much, if any cheaper to have the horse at home.

I KNOW this is part of horse ownership, but does this mean that unless you can afford multiple horses you shouldn’t have any horse at all?

[KLeaphart]

Not really sure what you’re asking here.

Many people can only afford one horse. Those who have their own land often have money saved for a horse’s retirement so that they can have another horse to ride.

If you don’t have the funds to retire another horse, why not lease something instead? Injuries are obviously common with horses, so worrying won’t do any good. If your horse doesn’t recover, you have options: sell (for light riding/trail), retire, or euthanize.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

I don’t think it means you shouldn’t have horses. There are a number of ways to retire a horse. but the method sort of depends on the health and abilities of the horse and what is available in your area - a friend with a farm, Therapeutic Riding programs, colleges with good riding programs, small inexpensive farms/farmettes, etc.

I didn’t buy my farm to retire my horse, but to be with him more frequently. Due to illness, I couldn’t drive back and forth to the barn. And I’d always wanted a farm anyway. Seemed to solve two issues at once for me. But farm ownership is definitely not for everyone & the first few years of having a farm can be time consuming and well, costly.

And in my area, pasture board at a nice barn would cost 3 times what it costs me to keep my guys at home. But that would vary quite widely depending on the part of the country you’re in, as real estate, taxes, feed and even hay prices are so different in different markets. For instance, nice locally grown Bermuda is $6 to $6.50 a bale, whereas in other areas it could be double that, easily.

[retiredhorse]

There are more options than ownership or not riding at all; it doesn’t have to be either/or. You don’t have to own a horse in order to ride, or keep buying more if one gets injured. Some people don’t buy a second horse and wait for their one-and-only to recover*. Or sell/give away/put down/find somewhere super cheap to retire (if possible/doable), before they can buy another one.

That said, I don’t currently ride in part because I can only afford one horse, who is on retirement board. But if I really wanted to, I could take lessons somewhere or find a horse to lease. It just hasn’t been a priority for me recently.

*If you have a trainer, you could convey your willingness to ride/hack horses that are riderless. If you’re sufficiently competent as a rider, most trainers I know welcome having the extra (free) help. If other people know you are willing to ride, and are good at it, and care well for the horses, it builds connections and you may end up knowing someone who is willing to offer cheap(er) pasture/retirement board, or has horse that needs riding, or the right one to lease who can match your riding goals. Leasing, as mentioned, is also a viable option and may be preferable to ownership if this worry is surpassing your enjoyment of having a horse or two.

If your horse ends up serviceably sound, but not up to the level you’d like to ride at, you could find a lease for him too; you’d retain ownership and have control of how he ends up, but it would temporarily lighten your bills on him. Even a “free lease” where they pay you no lease fee, but pay for all horse’s expenses, might be a situation to look into, given the right person and if it frees up enough funds for you to continue riding.

Also, if you have multiple horses getting injured in similar ways, I’d look into the management of the horses and facility. When we moved from first boarding barn/trainer to second, injuries still happened, but less frequently/severely – we also knew more about horses as time went on, but there was a lot not quite right about the first place that we didn’t realize (that point when you don’t know yet that there’s a lot you don’t know) until we were away from it and experienced different management/training styles.

[GoodTimes]

I would say that it means you have to make the hard decision of riding vs retiring. If you can only afford to own one and it gets hurt either you stop riding as often and commit to your horse until it dies, or you sell/give away or euthanize to free up finances for a sound horse.

Personally I’m in the first camp. If my horse ended up being a pasture ornament I’d be sad to hang up my boots but I remind myself that the little girl who begged for riding lessons way back when wasn’t lured in by dreams of going to the Olympics, she just wanted to pet ponies and feed them treats.

Experienced riders often have an easy enough time finding free rides any way. A lesson a week, or partboarding can be an inexpensive way to stay in the saddle too. Leasing is an option, but would be fairly expensive to do year after year.

[OldLadyYoungOTTB]

@KLeaphart

Not really sure what you’re asking here.

Really just asking how people who don’t have a farm to bring them home to handle it.

@retiredhorse

Also, if you have multiple horses getting injured in similar ways, I’d look into the management of the horses and facility. When we moved from first boarding barn/trainer to second, injuries still happened, but less frequently/severely – we also knew more about horses as time went on, but there was a lot not quite right about the first place that we didn’t realize (that point when you don’t know yet that there’s a lot you don’t know) until we were away from it and experienced different management/training styles.

That isn’t the issue. It’s a great barn. First accident was a freak thing; second horse is doing fine but just thinking of how common injuries can be with performance horses in general.

@GoodTimes

Experienced riders often have an easy enough time finding free rides any way. A lesson a week, or partboarding can be an inexpensive way to stay in the saddle too. Leasing is an option, but would be fairly expensive to do year after year.

That’s a good idea. I don’t care about competing; it’s my kids who are interested in that. Once they are out of the house I’m fine with paying for their old rides to be retired while I catch rides on others. I am competent enough; my trainer has allowed me to ride horses to help out before.

I guess the short answer here is I need to worry less about it and hope for the best!

[Tuesday_s_Child]

I’m in this boat now myself, many years sooner than I thought/hoped for. My mare foundered twice last year, so I moved her from the fancy indoor board place to a low key backyard barn with good care for a year. The owner there takes in a lot of OTTBs so I was able to ride them for a little while without having to pay extra. The riding facilities were pretty limited though, so I ended up part boarding another horse somewhere else. My girl is now at my coach’s parents farm which is about an hour away so I don’t make it up there very often, but she’s doing great (was never much into people anyway so she’s happy as a clam out with one other horse!) and it’s way cheaper since it’s very bare bones.

Hubby and I were house hunting anyway, but now we’re seriously considering a bit of acreage, then I could keep my horse plus maybe get another one or two to keep her company and ride myself. Not sure if that’s the road I want to go down since I know it’ll be a lot of work, but I’m barely managing to ride once a week right now since my schedule is crazy, and it’s killing me! I’d love to look out the window and have the ponies right there, even if I still only ride once a week It’s a tough situation but ultimately I think you need to know what you want out of being with horses (riding? competing? just spending time around them?) and what you can live with with regards to plans for your retiree. I think some people may have put down my mare since at one point she was so bad she couldn’t even hobble out of her stall. Others probably would’ve spent thousands on treatments - I aimed for a happy medium that I was comfortable with, and now have a semi-sound pasture pet for the foreseeable future. Not what I wanted (she’s only 15), but I am ok with the choices I made and have adjusted my riding goals accordingly.

[2tempe]

OP - If you end up w/ two retired horses and cant afford a riding horse, well then you are pretty much on hold. Look for less costly retirement options where care is still good; look to rehome one or both; consider euthanizing if appropriate; find a low cost lease or do catch rides. Its not really that complicated, though it may not be what you want.

I had one old horse retired and one horse that was showing. she went through 3 years, beginning at age 11 of wither trauma, two colic surgeries, stifle problem and a case of enteritis. Every time I got her back to work, something else happened. I had to go with the flow.
Finally a part lease fell into my lap; awesome horse. Not long after, my retired horse had to be put down and I ended up buying the lease horse. The mare is now 16, and I retired her a year ago with possible degenerative suspensory problems in both hinds. (she is on every “no extraordinary measures” list I could think of but I’m convinced she will live to be 30 now that she doesn’t have a job, lol.)

[RAyers]

How do I afford retirement if I board a horse? I keep working until I die. I’ll never be able to retire.

[dani0303]

The needs of a retired equine are generally quite different than that of a performance horse. You no longer need a facility with an arena. Unless your horse has special needs they likely no longer need a stall. Essentially in my part of the country retirement board is a large field with a shelter and a safe fence. That often brings the price of board from $400 down to about $150-200. That generally leaves money for a half lease or continued lessons on another equine.

[joiedevie99]

@dani0303

The needs of a retired equine are generally quite different than that of a performance horse. You no longer need a facility with an arena. Unless your horse has special needs they likely no longer need a stall. Essentially in my part of the country retirement board is a large field with a shelter and a safe fence. That often brings the price of board from $400 down to about $150-200. That generally leaves money for a half lease or continued lessons on another equine.

A retired equine also doesn’t need to be so close by. I pay quite heftily to have my riding horses near my home and work (close-in suburbs). I have one at a lay-up facility about an hour further out, and he costs me 1/3 what he would cost here. If I were to fully retire him in that area, I could do it for 1/6 of what I pay for the riding horses here.

[foggythistle]

I kept my senior (boarded) for 10 years without riding him. I did part-lease a horse for about 10 months of that, but other than that, I did not ride. It was my choice. I could have afforded another horse, but I was not willing to. My choice on what to do with my dollars.

[OldLadyYoungOTTB]

@dani0303

The needs of a retired equine are generally quite different than that of a performance horse. You no longer need a facility with an arena. Unless your horse has special needs they likely no longer need a stall. Essentially in my part of the country retirement board is a large field with a shelter and a safe fence. That often brings the price of board from $400 down to about $150-200. That generally leaves money for a half lease or continued lessons on another equine.

That’s a good point. If the retirement becomes permanent I’ll look for a retirement location for him.

[Moesha]

I am in this boat and it is tough- I have a retired horse whose board is no different than a show horse- but he deserves it- he carried me into divisions and classes that I had only dreamed of- so I think it really depends on you- what you think is the right thing to do. I love him to death; he is now in his 30’s and while it is tough and my budget cries from two- I would not have it any other way. But I know that not all people think like me so I don’t judge others for the choices they make. My Mare is going to be the same she is insane- but i love her and while I could sell her I am not sure she would end up in a good home- so we will continue showing and she will be a super star one day and evil incarnate the next ! LOL it is what it is!

[RacetrackReject]

@Moesha

I am in this boat and it is tough- I have a retired horse whose board is no different than a show horse- … LOL it is what it is!

This is me as well. My retired horse is on full board even though I don’t have him brought in every day (he doesn’t like to be in). He has a private paddock with his own little run in and is fed and blanketed so that he can stay out, but is brought in during cold and wet weather. He’s in his 20s and the barn is 25ish miles away from me. Sometimes they’ll throw another horse in with him for a bit, but he’s fine either way as he has horses on 3 sides of him. He also has a paddock that is across from a walkway leading off of the main barn aisle, so he can “talk” to people when they go by and they will visit with him. This satisfies his more social nature as he’s always been a people over horses type of horse. I do make sacrifices to keep him in this manner, but I feel it’s my responsibility so I do it and, mostly, don’t complain about it.

[Redlei44]

For me it depends on the individual horse and owner situation. Talking to friends who have recently dealt with this, the hardest part is when your riding horse budget is already a stretch, so even retiring one to a comparatively inexpensive boarding situation is financially tough. $400 a month (or whatever) in total expenses for an easy retiree may be a lot less than $2500 in training board/expenses, but it’s still a good chunk of change.

Among myself, friends, and family, there is a wide variety of opinions re: one’s obligation to maintain a retiree at all cost, vs. free leasing for a low-level “job”, vs. giving away to a good pasture puff home (if possible), vs. aggressive “do not resuscitate” plan, vs. euthanasia.

All you can do is decide what works for you and go from there. Others in the thread have made good points about how you might still get saddle time if your retiree expenses preclude owning another.