Pros and Cons of Horse Adoption?

[Angela_Freda]

@Crashing Boar

I grew up watching my grandfather buy and sell at local auctions, and I was first one up (no stirrups in case they flip!) a couple of days after they came home. So the art of seeking the “diamond in the rough” from the revolving door of the marketplace is lifetime familiarity for me. I’m now the age he was then (egad!)

Around a dozen times over the years I’ve purchased (that is, PURCHASED!) horses below market value who were in need of an “upgrade.” Several, including the one I competed successfully for many years, had issues that had them bound for “the pipeline” as they were not amateur rides. One I rode for the next 21 years; another I sold in 3 as we just didn’t get along.

Twice I’ve taken a chance on an unbroke youngster; one is now 14 and I can and do trust him with my life; My Little Pony for my old age. The other became a cripple at 5 taking a bad step in a flat walk in a shallow mud puddle. I keep her as a gorgeous pasture puff. The point here is that you NEVER know until you buy and try. BUY. It’s important to remember also that you can ALWAYS SELL! And auctions are not evil; they efficiently bring ready buyers and motivated sellers together.

When the Great Recession hit hard here in '08, I had people practically throwing horses at me. I “upgraded” two locals whose prospects were frankly starvation; both emaciated, unkempt and under $500.00. Both were sucessfully rehabbed and were attractive, safe and useful for a number of years. But I bought them directly from the owners who were in difficulty, and neither signed restrictive “contracts” nor paid an outrageous premium for a glorified flipper’s virtue-signaling.

After reading this thread, just to see I checked the “Available Horses” of the rescue closest to me; their offerings all are selling (SELLING!) for $1,000.00 or more over what they’d bring at New Holland, very far above fair market value. This is frankly nuts. In a short list of five, three of them had:

(1) Chronic Laminitis/Cushing’s Syndrome
(2) Neurological due to EPM
(3) Required very expensive special shoeing and not sound even then.

For what possible reason would one saddle oneself (sorry!) with such a mess?

Another rescue specifies the horse MUST have 24/7 turnout (in a small, populous state where 1 barn in 300 can provide that) and can never be bred or shown. SHOWN? As in, no 4-H or Pony Club even though it might be the perfect horse for such use? Might explain why said rescue is drowning in un-“adopted” horses that never seem to move on.

So here are my tips:

Know the hard upper limit of your budget, and realistically the purchase price is the least of it.

Go to the sales or to sale barns with a knowledgeable PRO to whom you will pay a commission.

Be realistic about your skills, aspirations and life realities.

Try and make a match, but if it’s obvious the horse isn’t suitable, it goes back where it came from ASAP.

Some great opinions up-thread about all these realities; listen to the advice.

Good Luck!

And all those same disasters could befall said auction buy.

Whereas if you adopt from a GOOD rescue that does a thorough qt, ppe, retraining, and has a good contract that stipulates they will take those back if it ever needs somewhere to go, if something like laminitis happens down to road, the horse has somewhere to go.

In other words, it goes back where it came from. ;). But where it’s not at risk for a bad ending, and we do care about that, don’t we?

You can’t pick the worst rescue and say “see, getting a horse from a rescue is a bad idea”
Well… Duh.
But the problem isn’t all rescues, but this one…

Sure, adopting from a bad rescue is a bad idea.
Adopting from a rescue who’s work you admire, that does a thorough job, and has a contract you like… not so much.
Iow, it depends.

[Equkelly]

I think it depends on the rescue and it depends on what the horse will be used for. I’ve seen very successful adoptions for people who just want a quiet trail horse that maybe isn’t sound enough to be competitive anymore. Some, not all, but some rescues do a very good job with restarting and retraining the horses that come in. A lot of the horses that go through have absolutely nothing wrong with them but they just came from idiot backyardigan owners that don’t know how to ride let alone train horses.

[candyappy]

After asking my husband what he thought about my getting a youngster and getting a completely " non negative, non positive" response,( blank stare) I waited a week for the idea to sink in and then showed him a picture of the yearling I was looking at on the rescues website.

He said “if you like him, go see what he is like and get him”. He then added " if you snooze you lose". That is all I was waiting for! Here I go…

[summerhorse]

I have adopted a few. I went the adoption route because I thought it would be a safety net for the horse if something happened to me. The first time Didn’t go so well. When I fell on hard times I thought about selling her to some upper level event/dressage, etc. people but of course they would want the option to breed in the future. The rescue said no. I should have ignored them and sold her anyway because when push came to shove and the horse HAD to move somewhere they wouldn’t take her back or even cover her under their contracts. I did find a home for her but she ended up breaking a leg in the pasture (no fault of the owner) and I wonder if she’d be alive today if I had sold her to the other person. Needless to say that rescue wrote itself out of my will along with many other pet rescues who likewise had restrictive contracts but refused to take back pets (one dog tried to kill my other dogs numerous times, no mention of that when I adopted her) or in the case of another even commit to taking back and rehoming the cats and dogs I got from them IF I DIED. Despite having contracts that forbid the transfer of the same pets to someone else without their approval and a new adoption contract! My advice would be if you want a pasture potato then adopt, if you want a competition horse or something you might want or need to sell later on buy it.

[summerfield]

@Crashing Boar

Another rescue specifies the horse MUST have 24/7 turnout (in a small, populous state where 1 barn in 300 can provide that) and can never be bred or shown. SHOWN? As in, no 4-H or Pony Club even though it might be the perfect horse for such use? Might explain why said rescue is drowning in un-“adopted” horses that never seem to move on.

We must live in the same state, as I was about the post about a rescue with these exact requirements. 24/7 turnout is so uncommon in this area that it negates like 95% of boarders. Sad that I could also never take a rescue to a little schooling show!

[cloudy18]

I adopted my mare. She was green broke and just what I was looking for. My friend adopted her pasturemate, a former reining horse. Another friend adopted her Fjord from the place and is doing Dressage with him. There are plenty of success stories coming from this one place. Is it for everyone? No. And horses do get returned. It’s okay, it’s a safety net for both horse and adopter. There is a 5 year contract which is ridiculously simple to uphold and at the end of that time ownership is transferred. Horses can be shown, just not bred.

It really depends on what you are looking for and if the rescue is reputable. There are likely more out there that are bad than good, unfortunately.

[FatDinah]

I would think that a rescue including the right to reclaim at any time would just be using that in case of an emergency, such as finding one of their horses in a starvation/neglect situation. Something not used except for that “black swan” situation.

[candyappy]

My adopted boy is home !! The golden boy on the right!!

The process wasn’t too bad. I had to be evaluated on my handling and riding skills( at their farm) and my facilities and proof of my current horses --health/farrier needs submitted( both by pictures via email) . Once approved ownership was transferred to me.

He is 100% mine and all they ask is the chance to take him back if for some reason I can no longer keep him. the reason for that is to try and keep him out of same conditions he was rescued from.

he is an 18 month old QH gelding. I loved him immediately. He has a great mind, is quiet, calm and just takes everything in stride and is a lovely mover. My 2 girls adore him and after a few days he went to pasture with them with zero issues.

[Gogogirl]

The Naughty Pony that is the bane of my existence is a rescue and he was saved by a woman who was realistic in the pricing and the marketing of horses that she rescued. She did four or five a year, rehabbed, saddle broke, and sold them for very good prices. The horses did not come with a buy back demand and very seldom were there complaints and she has an excellent reputation in the horse world. My pony came out of junk yard at 7 months old with his pregnant mom in deplorable conditions. She lost his mom when she prematurely delivered the baby. Her children loved the Naughty pony and to this day we send her updates on him and his escapades. She always tells me he is the one that she would always have a place for at her home.

I had looked at a lot of rescues in the area before my purchase and either could not afford them or steered clear due to the an unclear history of what was going on with them. Never felt like I got the full story on their prospects. I ended up going with the Pony because when I got there she handed me the lead rope showed me his tack and told me to let her know when we were ready to ride. The ironic thing in all of this was she only advertised him one day because her kids loved him and she really didn’t think she could find him a good safe home but when I called she decided to give me a chance. t was incredible experience and now 5 years later it is still clear as day.

[McGurk]

Are there good, reputable rescues that do a good job? Absolutely. And do I love hearing rescue/adoption success stories? Also, absolutely!

The difficulty arises in the difference between expectation and reality, and in how well the rescue screens and rehabs horses they take in. If the rescue doesn’t have the ability to evaluate under saddle and do some training, the potential for adoptable horses is much lower.

My earlier point still stands - if a horse is sound and useful, it usually finds a home outside the rescue and adoption route. Usually, not always. It’s not that all horses a rescue offers are unsound or unsuitable, it’s that they ended up in the rescue pipeline for a reason. Sometimes the reason is the previous owner wasn’t aware of the resources to sell or give away on their own, sometimes they have a problem that is easily solved by the rescue - better diet, better fitting tack. But often, a horse ends up at a rescue because it can’t be sold or given away easily because of intractable problems. Or problems that the average amateur horseowner doesn’t have the skill or the financial resources to take on.

Look at rescues before other options? Absolutely! But go in with your eyes wide open, and buyer and adopter beware.

[Guilherme]

@McGurk

Are there good, reputable rescues that do a good job? Absolutely. And do I love hearing rescue/adoption success stories? Also, absolutely!

The difficulty arises in the difference between expectation and reality, and in how well the rescue screens and rehabs horses they take in. If the rescue doesn’t have the ability to evaluate under saddle and do some training, the potential for adoptable horses is much lower.

My earlier point still stands - if a horse is sound and useful, it usually finds a home outside the rescue and adoption route. Usually, not always. It’s not that all horses a rescue offers are unsound or unsuitable, it’s that they ended up in the rescue pipeline for a reason. Sometimes the reason is the previous owner wasn’t aware of the resources to sell or give away on their own, sometimes they have a problem that is easily solved by the rescue - better diet, better fitting tack. But often, a horse ends up at a rescue because it can’t be sold or given away easily because of intractable problems. Or problems that the average amateur horseowner doesn’t have the skill or the financial resources to take on.

Look at rescues before other options? Absolutely! But go in with your eyes wide open, and buyer and adopter beware.

This is the best post on “adoption” in a very long time. Well done.

G.

[16_Hands]

I recently purchased a very nice QH/Paint gelding and turns out he was pulled from a kill pen. Why someone would discard such a lovely guy is a mystery.

[Malda]

@16 Hands

I recently purchased a very nice QH/Paint gelding and turns out he was pulled from a kill pen. Why someone would discard such a lovely guy is a mystery.

Same here. I have a very pretty palomino QH with papers, well-bred, and over-all a good girl. I was able to trace her and it looks like the cattle ranch she was bred on closed and dumped all their horses at an auction/kill pen. You never know what ends up at an auction or rescue. IMO it’s always worth checking out, just go in with your eyes open and ask questions.

Forgot to mention, a friend adopted a nice Arab from a rescue that allowed her to ride the horse for three weeks (five days a week) to make sure they were a good match.