talk to me about retirement...

[mortebella]

For your horse(s). Especially folks who have a schoolmaster, do you have a plan? What’s most important to you in a retirement facility? Have you heard of the type of financial arrangement where you make a one time donation, (like in the range of $8-10 K) and the horse has a home for the rest of his life, regardless of how long he lives? Does that appeal to you - and let’s say that comes with obvious and satisfactory safeguards that would alleviate concerns about your horse living a suspiciously short life afterward.

I’m asking because I feel like it’s an area in the horse industry where there’s a significant gap. I think an awful lot of horses just get moved down and down levels until there’s really no place left to go, and then it’s just a crap shoot where they land. To me these guys are so at risk, and so should not be after a lifetime of service. (I have one, and I shudder to think what might happen to him if he didn’t have a huge commitment from me.) I realize it’s impractical for everyone who rides competitive horses to provide every one of them with a forever home. It started me wondering what kind of business model could be created to fill this gap, and make a safety net for these guys.

[yellowbritches]

I have two forever horses right now. I don’t really foresee me getting another one after Toby. My older guy will be 32 in April and lives in my backyard. It is common knowledge that I intend to stay in the house I am in until he passes, though I do have a friend I would trust to board him with if I have to move. Honestly, I would not retire either of my guys to a “retirement” farm, as most of them are kind of a joke. Giant turnouts with suspect fencing and little to no supervision on a daily basis. I would always rather pay for either a spot of field board in a place I was comfortable with or even a stall, rather than do something like that. I also don’t like having my horses in another part of the state or out of state. I want to be able to check on them when I want, even if that isn’t daily (Toby is boarded somewhere I trust so much that I don’t NEED to see him daily). I was once told that if I had moved my old guy to a retirement farm I inquired about that I would only be allowed to see him every 6 months, and that was by appointment only. :eek:

Toby’s retirement will be something similar when he is ready to be done with working (which I have a feeling, barring injury, won’t be for a very long time, as he LOVES having a job and REALLY REALLY LOVES being a teacher).

Boarding has high overhead, which I think is often why “retirement” farms are basically just giant cow pastures. The ones that aren’t are terribly expensive, because they typically offer tons of hands on care. When I ran boarding barns, we made our profits (what little there was to be made) by offering lessons or training…or I ran barns for independently wealthy amateurs who could afford to break even or lose a bit ever year. Just a little food for thought. I can see the gap, too, but there’s likely a good reason why it’s there…boarding horses that can bring you little to no additional income with lessons, training, grooming, etc is a money losing operation.

[Duckz]

Lincoln is 17 this year and living the trail riding life with my mom in North Carolina. When either he or my mom are done with trail rides I’ll bring him back up to Maryland to retire at my friend’s farm. I figure it will run $250-$350/mo between board, trims, and vet visits. It’s close enough that I’ll be able to swing by whenever. Fingers crossed he’s happy and healthy and wants to cart little kids around on a leadline until he’s 40. I’ll happily pay his bills for that long. I’m really lucky to have that option, I know not everyone has access to a nice green field that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. And not all horses are suited to having their shoes pulled and being chucked out in a field 24/7.

I’ve heard of a gorgeous retirement facility down in Tennessee, but I get the impression that it’s pricey. Their entire business model is quality care for retirees. I haven’t heard of paying a lump sum, but I also haven’t looked into it that much. Regardless of the business model or the cost I would be nervous about sending my horse off where I couldn’t check in all the time.

[mortebella]

Yes, exactly, yellowbritches. Most everything “retirement” that I see that’s somewhat reasonably priced is SCARY. To me any place where you’re not welcome to see your horse anytime is a complete deal breaker. Rescue operations have an obvious potential for profit; even if the horses they take in aren’t going to be competitive, they can (usually) become good family horses with the right re-training and installation of great manners. Still yet, many rescues fail because of a lack of recognition that, non-profit or not, you have to have a mix of revenue streams to survive. But what, beyond boarding fees, is that potential mix of revenues to support old horses with no “future?” I’m asking COTHers to help me brainstorm here

There’s an assumption that old horses aren’t “good for anything.” I think that’s really wrong. I look at my horse - broke my heart when I had to decide to quit riding him, for his best interest - and I remember when it dawned on me, he’s always going to be a horse. He’s always going to have things to teach me, if I’m willing to value that. He can teach me about horse health, care and management, he can teach me about horse psychology and behavior, communication, body language and groundwork. What person who fancies themselves a horseman couldn’t use more of those things? He may not be able to make me a better rider, but he can still make me a better horseman. :sadsmile: And I think maybe the potential is there for the human to learn better when we’re not chasing some goal of our own.

You hear the criticism often, the horse industry is turning out riders instead of horsemen, that the competitive world is owned by the young rich somethings who hop off, fling the reins at a groom, and hop on another one, and don’t have the concept that “everything we do is for the benefit of the horse.” NOT after a trainwreck here, I’m just saying I hear it said, pretty often, by people who are in much better positions to judge than I. So I also see in this old horse conundrum an opportunity for young riders to learn a duty of care for their partners who are, after all, living beings.

[kcmel]

I had to retire an 8 YO. He is now 13 and is field boarded a few miles from my house. I have a small farm but only room for 2 horses. Since the retiree can’t handle being left alone, I can’t really keep him at home with one other horse unfortunately.

Ideally I would like to upgrade to a larger place, so that I could bring him home. Even though he is very close, with 2 other riding horses it is very hard to find time to visit him more than a couple of times a month. And I miss his silly face!

[Gestalt]

I see your concept and I think it is a wonderful concept. I don’t see it as an answer to all retirees. Having a facility that had paying students come and learn horse care would be a win-win for the older horses and students. I just don’t see very many people wanting to work that hard for an education in horses. If a regular training barn had a few retirees that students were required to care for, that would give a home to a couple oldies, but I don’t know if the cost of those retirees could be off-set by students. I’m thinking of some training barns that had school horses and recently got out of school horses because the cost of their upkeep didn’t outweigh the pay-in.

This does remind me of a trial study happening in one of the European countries where college kids live and eat at a nursing home in exchange for spending visiting time with the residents.

[FitToBeTied]

Ours stay with us until the day I have to bury them on our farm. I could not see turning any of them over to a retirement place.

[Mango20]

My retiree is at home, and future ones will be as well. Here’s my idea for a win/win retirement farm:

Farm doubles as a retirement farm and a before/after school care facility for elementary school students. The old horses can have a job as leadline or walk/trot lesson horses, or even just enjoy daily grooming by some short grooms. The farm would make most of its money from the before/after school care fees, which are usually quite high.

[mortebella]

Very intriguing concept, Mango20. It also addresses lack of fitness issues in young students, and the need for them to “unplug” from digital devices. I really like it.

[mortebella]

So I’m mostly hearing from folks who manage to keep theirs at home, and I think almost everybody would prefer this option. (I mainly bought my place so I could keep mine at home, because I knew that day would come - but it was a real stretch, and I have to imagine not realizable for many who do horse sports.) What about y’all that don’t have/can’t get/don’t want land?

[yellowbritches]

A friend of mine used two of her retirees in a therapy program for veterans. They would come with their families or SOs, and spend time getting to know the horses, then at some point would be asked to move their horse together around a ring with obstacles, using only their body language. It helped to teach empathy, help families bound again after tough separations, and help the veterans calm their minds and find some peace. It was an amazing program (I believe they also had talk therapy sessions, as well). We actually seriously considered bringing Neigh (my old guy) on board because the program was growing. She sadly passed away suddenly, and the program ended up merging with a local therapeutic riding program, I think.

So, just another interesting thought.

[SummerRose]

I board my elderly mare at a farm that offers retirement care. It is also a very active show facility so retirees are not their primary business.

I don’t think it’s a matter of a lack of farms that can/will provide excellent care for retired horses, I think it’s more a matter of cost and how much people are willing to spend on “useless” horses. Also, moving performance horses into easier work often makes sense - it keeps the horse in work, which is usually healthier for the horse, gives a younger/less skilled rider an opportunity to learn to ride on a seasoned horse, and allows people who can only afford one horse to keep riding. (I understand that it can be a downward slide for some horses but those people who aren’t willing to provide a soft landing already have retirement options available and choose not to use them.)

IME, caring for a retiree is often more expensive than caring for a healthy working horse (though less expensive than a horse in training/showing, of course). My mare has Cushings and is missing most of her teeth so she needs expensive complete feed which is soaked and fed at least twice a day. She needs daily medication and when she still had teeth, her grazing had to be managed carefully and that adds to the labor and maintenance costs incurred by the farm. On top of the cost, I’m paying for a horse that I can’t ride - something some people just aren’t willing to do. I think that in general, people are either able and willing to bear the expense or they’re not.

Good quality retirement boarding is needed but I’m not sure having more farms that offer retirement board would make a difference in how many horses are kept for life by the people who own them at their prime.

[mortebella]

Yes, yellowbritches! so much is being proven about the effectiveness of equine assisted therapies that I think the demand for it is going to continue to rise. Wise old horses are fabulous healers. I know there can be issues with “therapy” programs, too, (there was one near me that was a front for horse dealing :mad:) So much hinges on thorough scrutiny from the customers and transparency on the part of the organization. Awareness improves the likelihood of both.

This is great - see what I mean about brainstorming?! Thanks, everyone!

[mortebella]

SummerRose, I think part of the challenge is figuring out how much people can/will pay, who would like to give their old horses a quality retirement, but not at the expense of their other goals. For many, I think that means finding a considerably cheaper option than full board at an expensive place. But, as previously noted, just throwing an old horse out on field board is not necessarily a kindness.

I’m also curious: has anyone ever chosen euthanasia for relatively healthy horse you had no means to keep, rather than letting them face a precarious future by rehoming them? And the flip side of the coin, have any of you given up riding goals to care for one (or more) that was no longer “useful?”

Thanks to all of you for joining this discussion!

[HLMom]

I feel like this is the “dirty little secret” of hunter/jumper barns that cater to juniors. At our barn, most of the kids live a suburban lifestyle and are driven to the barn for riding lessons. If they stick with it, after a year or two the trainer really encourages them to buy a horse, on the theory that they can’t advance on the few lesson horses. Often, the most suitable horse will be a teenage schoolmaster type. There is no real discussion with the parents as to what will happen if, in a few years, the horse becomes unsaleable. We’ve had 3 girls in recent years whose horses had to be retired due to unsoundness. The girls go off to college… and now you have non-horsey parents responsible for an aged, unsaleable horse they really can’t take care of. It is a serious problem.

[mortebella]

HLMom, agreed! Situations like this, not uncommon, drive my concern.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

@mortebella

SummerRose, I think part of the challenge is figuring out how much people can/will pay, who would like to give their old horses a quality retirement, but not at the expense of their other goals. For many, I think that means finding a considerably cheaper option than full board at an expensive place. But, as previously noted, just throwing an old horse out on field board is not necessarily a kindness.

I’m also curious: has anyone ever chosen euthanasia for relatively healthy horse you had no means to keep, rather than letting them face a precarious future by rehoming them? And the flip side of the coin, have any of you given up riding goals to care for one (or more) that was no longer “useful?”

Thanks to all of you for joining this discussion!

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has guidelines for euthanasia.
https://aaep.org/horsehealth/euthanasia-most-difficult-decision
Relatively healthy horses generally don’t meet the criteria. As you would expect, vets land in different places with respect to this issue - some are more willing than others to put down a relatively healthy horse - relatively being relative.

I realize it’s a slippery slope in some ways, but I personally would like to see more acceptance of euthanasia as an option in more situations where the horse is relatively healthy but minimally useful for riding or any other traditional “using” purpose. Horses are long lived, resource intensive, and primarily recreational. Once they no longer are able to be used recreationally, the options for them diminish - and as @HLMom pointed out, lots of people get into ownership not knowing or appropriately planning for the horse’s future.

[mortebella]

Thanks for sharing those standards, Groom&Taxi! they do leave a lot of room IMO, undue financial burden, medication for the rest of its life, etc. There are lots who could come under those criteria…but I think if you’ve got a proper relationship with your vet, they’d be able to offer some meaningful counsel.

[yellowbritches]

"I’m also curious: has anyone ever chosen euthanasia for relatively healthy horse you had no means to keep, rather than letting them face a precarious future by rehoming them? And the flip side of the coin, have any of you given up riding goals to care for one (or more) that was no longer “useful?”

I had a 9 year old horse that after two years of trying to figure out why he had gone from delightful to dangerously nappy, that I ultimately donated to a vet school to use in a surgery study. He never woke up after he was put under for the surgery. He had a pretty sweet set up there for the few days he stayed there. I bawled my eyes out and got a hug from the woman who did his intake. Hind sight being 20/20 and having heard quite a few very similar stories over the years, I think he actually developed a brain tumor. I briefly entertained rehoming him, but he was sweet on the ground and moved soundly. I was terrified he’d either hurt someone (it’s a miracle he didn’t hurt me or my boss) or his bad behavior would have led to neglect. Had I been in a different point in my life (not a totally broke horse girl with a dangerous horse taking up a spot a paying customer could have), he’d be out in the field right now with Neigh.

[walkers60]

I have in my will a pet trust and any horse thats not able to be ridden and is over 20 I want euthanasia . I know that sound tough but I am more concerned about them ending up in trouble , hungry , hurt , sick than dying a few years early. Years have passed since I wrote that will and the old horses are over 25 now so I feel better about that decision.
I also really trust the manager of the pet trust and she knows if she thinks she can keep the old ones happy then go for it.
A friend of mine put down two horses this year, one was 26 and it was really hard to keep weight on him , the other was 30 and his life long companion. I know it was tough for her but she’s also getting old and taking care of these old horses especially in the winter was wearing her out.