Cat_W
New User
In the not too distant future I’m thinking of stopping riding and selling my young horse as I’m struggling for time. But I have a 19 year old retired horse so I would love some ideas for what to do for a companion for him or any alternative retirement suggestions.
He’s 16hh and retired due to arthritis on one dannilon per day. He’s easy going but still likes the occasional hoon about the field. He’ll live out and has lived on his own which when he was in work suited him ok, but it really doesn’t seem right for him to spend his retirement bored and alone (and he doesn’t count our three cattle in a nearby field as companions).
I’m hoping someone will have an idea of what would make a good retirement plan that isn’t going to involve getting a companion pony that will end up costing just as much to insure, shoe, etc. as the youngster I’m thinking of selling.
Would goats or a donkey be an option? Or would someone keep a retired horse/horses here on livery to live out with him?
We’ve got about 8 acres of grazing in post and railed paddocks and a field shelter and happy to invest in a mobile shelter too. Plus stabling, but I’d prefer a solution that doesn’t need daily mucking out & turning out.
We also wondered if someone would rent the yard for a cheap amount who had horses that were also not ridden. My husband would love for him to go elsewhere as a companion, but I’m trying to come up with ways to keep him here that won’t end up costing us as it seems crazy to send him off to someone else when we have all the space here. Plus he needs an eye keeping on his waistline to make sure he doesn’t get laminitis, so not sure he’d be a low maintenance companion.
Any suggestions at all would be so appreciated?
He’s 16hh and retired due to arthritis on one dannilon per day. He’s easy going but still likes the occasional hoon about the field. He’ll live out and has lived on his own which when he was in work suited him ok, but it really doesn’t seem right for him to spend his retirement bored and alone (and he doesn’t count our three cattle in a nearby field as companions).
I’m hoping someone will have an idea of what would make a good retirement plan that isn’t going to involve getting a companion pony that will end up costing just as much to insure, shoe, etc. as the youngster I’m thinking of selling.
Would goats or a donkey be an option? Or would someone keep a retired horse/horses here on livery to live out with him?
We’ve got about 8 acres of grazing in post and railed paddocks and a field shelter and happy to invest in a mobile shelter too. Plus stabling, but I’d prefer a solution that doesn’t need daily mucking out & turning out.
We also wondered if someone would rent the yard for a cheap amount who had horses that were also not ridden. My husband would love for him to go elsewhere as a companion, but I’m trying to come up with ways to keep him here that won’t end up costing us as it seems crazy to send him off to someone else when we have all the space here. Plus he needs an eye keeping on his waistline to make sure he doesn’t get laminitis, so not sure he’d be a low maintenance companion.
Any suggestions at all would be so appreciated?
