Do you owe your horse a retirement?

"After all, you only live one life and have a right to enjoy it".

Does this not apply to the horse's life too? You love a bit of controversy you big tease!
If we thought of people the same way then I would have been PTS ages ago cos I'm pretty useless!
I've got two 'broken' horses in retirement which is a bit of an arse to be honest but I will do it for as long as I can afford to because they're both happy and sound enough - just can't work. If circumstances change then I'd face tough decisions but I wouldn't shirk my responsibility to them. In the meantime I will continue to browse the pages of Horse and Hound looking at beautiful youngsters for sale at astronomical prices before giving in and buying some problematic no-hoper so I've got something to moan about again! Ah we're gluttons for punishment but I think horsey people love being able to say they're penniless and starving in order to keep their horses - most of them still manage to get pissed on a regular basis and have a pair of DuBarry's in the back of their 4x4! Oops I really shouldn't drink Cider.. night all x
 
Depends how attached to the Horse I was and the situation involved...

If its a Horse that I dont have a long history with and was not attached to then..
If i had the space and to keep one safely happily and healthy then i would.
If i hadnt, then assuming their is a valid reason Horse is in retirement, Horse would then be PTS...like another poster said they would get one more summer of being a horse then gone...

The Horse wouldnt know any better...

It would be a different story with a long term pet ..then retirement would be very very likely to happen!sentimentality at work
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If there was a problem with being able to keep a pet,id be asking for help..the same as id do if it was my Dog or Granny
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That said most of the Horses Ive only come across have been working animals or are being bought to sell on.So Ive learned not to get to attached

...bar one showjumping pony (very much a pet as well as a worker)who is now in retirement after around 28 years of competing,breeding and teaching I dont think I know any old horses....
 
My mum has a horse that has been retired for over 12 years!

She has navicular and is field sound but hasn't been ridden since she was 14.

We adore her, she is completely happy with her life of leisure and otherwise in great shape.


I will do the same for Tara whenever the time comes; having lost my last horse to grass sickness at a very young age, a retirement for Tara is something I pray that I get to experience!
 
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Clearly you are all too soft/sentimental.
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Thanks for the replies.
S
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Just remind us of your own situation, Shills?

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I've never been in that situation but personally I think it depends a lot on the circumstances.

I think if possible the horse should be kept useful as long as possible so I would consider loaning to a light hack home if the horse was up to it as a first option.

If it couldn't be ridden at all and was field sound without daily medication, and would be happy to be turned out and retired and I could afford to keep it I'm not sure i could bring myself to PTS just so I could afford a new one. I think I'd see whether I could find a companion loan home.

If the horse was the type that wouldn't be happy chucked out in a field with some mates to do his own thing then I would PTS, or if he required a lot of treatment to keep him field sound, or if there were other issues as well then I would PTS.

I would PTS if I could no longer keep any horse and couldn't find a long term loan home, better that than some unscrupulous buyer.....

I hope I'm never faced with a major dilema over this.
 
Im in a lucky position that I can afford my oldey and bring on my baby. I can say however, that if I couldnt afford to keep 2, absolutely no way, no how, I would rather my oldey be PTS than sold on. Hes had a wonderful life and the thought of him potentially ending up somewhere horrible would rip me to pieces.
I do not say the above lightly, i'd work 100 hours a day to keep my boys and so would my hubby (although he doesnt know that!)
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Hard decision though, they aren't cheap, even in retirement and if you cant ride them, they become expensive ornaments.
 
Dear Shils - you must be soooo bored, you little devil you!!

I replied about my old gelding (who I did retire at 32) on your other post regarding the morality of selling older animals, so won't go into that one again.

I also have a 12yr old mare who is currently having three months off roaming the field due to a sacroiliac injury from which I do not at this stage know if she will fully recover or not.

I do not owe this horse anything. I bought her at six and we have had lameness issues from sidebone and laminitis since she was eight. We now have the current injury, and basically all of her problems have resulted in me being able to do very few of things I actually intended to do when I bought her. I do show her under saddle and in hand, but I actually wanted a horse to do xc and hunt with. We jumped our first fence together in August last year, and she's been lame since September so that hasn't exactly worked out!

I love this horse more than any other I have owned. If she proves to be unrideable I am not going to retire her at this age - she will be PTS. I do not approve of the old "it's ok, she's a mare, you can breed from her" field of thought - that will only result in me having two horses I can't ride (until the foal is old enough) and in any case would not resolve the issue. Nor, much as I love her, do I want to keep a horse for what could be another 20 or more years without being able to ride.

In this case, without proper excercise, her laminitis would probably be uncontrollable anyway as she is a fat cob and her quality of life would possibly deteriorate because of that.

I owe my horse either a pain-free life in which we can do things together that we both enjoy (she actually hates not being ridden and gets quite "off" with me when she isn't in work) or she will be PTS at home.

Either way she has a home for life, but personally I believe that owing a horse a retirement depends on the age and circumstances. If she was 15 years older then retirement would be an option, but not at 12.
 
It's only the owner that has a problem with putting a horse to sleep. The horse does not know about "missing" years of happy (or not so happy) retirement. He wasn't looking forward to the day he didn't have to go to work any more. He wasn't even looking forward to tomorrow, he was just enjoying (or not enjoying) today.

There are far worse outcomes for a horse than to be quietly dead. If anyone reading this would choose to put a horse down so that they can keep one that they can ride, there is nothing wrong with that at all.

Far better that than some of the horses I see around being allowed to dwindle into a miserable old age full of arthritis, half blind and with no teeth to eat properly, because the owner can't face their own pain if they let go.

Do we "owe" an old horse a retirement? No, we owe them a quick and painless death. If we choose to give them a retirement, the only one it really makes any difference to is us.
 
I think there is nothing worse than seeing any horse stood bored in a field/stable unable to run round and be a horse because of pain/injury. Kept going for the owners selfish needs. I have seen far too many people do this, and i think its cruel.

Every horse is unique, but the instinct in them, is still the same. it shouldl be able to run, and interact with other horses and feel safe. its knowing when to call it a day and doing right by them that really makes the difference here.
Horses dont have a concept of the future like humans do. they dont aspire to do great things in there life.

If a horse is retired then genrally its becasue they are no longer sound enougth to work any more. If the horse has spent its whole life working and enjoying the routeen of work then suddenly taking that away from them and expecting them to just sit in a field bored is wrong.

Horses need to keep active and move round. If you can keep your horse pain free and active mentally, and if they are thriving on this then i see nothing wrong with giving them a few good years. if the horse isnt thriving, and has lost that sparkle from its eye then its time to call it a day.



Many yards dont have the faccilities to accomidate retired horses humainly and responsibly. Most of the time these oldies are either cooped up in stables with nothing to do bored out of there skull. Or they are simply shoved into a field and forgotton about.


I think we owe it to our horses to offer them management that works for them at any given time. regardless of there age/aliments/problems ect.
 
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It's only the owner that has a problem with putting a horse to sleep. The horse does not know about "missing" years of happy (or not so happy) retirement. He wasn't looking forward to the day he didn't have to go to work any more. He wasn't even looking forward to tomorrow, he was just enjoying (or not enjoying) today.

There are far worse outcomes for a horse than to be quietly dead. If anyone reading this would choose to put a horse down so that they can keep one that they can ride, there is nothing wrong with that at all.

Far better that than some of the horses I see around being allowed to dwindle into a miserable old age full of arthritis, half blind and with no teeth to eat properly, because the owner can't face their own pain if they let go.

Do we "owe" an old horse a retirement? No, we owe them a quick and painless death. If we choose to give them a retirement, the only one it really makes any difference to is us.

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i agree with this!
 
Yes, we owe our horses a retirement, and I walk that talk. If they are physically ill or infirm and unable to enjoy life being a horse in a field then we should make the tough decision. I don't think we have the right to have them killed just because they are old, surplus to requirements and won't really understand what's happening to them.
 
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Many yards dont have the faccilities to accomidate retired horses humainly and responsibly. Most of the time these oldies are either cooped up in stables with nothing to do bored out of there skull. Or they are simply shoved into a field and forgotton about.



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I think we are very lucky to have founds the yard we did!
It's filled with old rescued horses that they have taken on for no financial gain whatsoever and they are all treated very well - mollycoddled more than mine anyway
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We have full livery but my mum goes to visit P every other day for grooming, work in hand and general one to one interaction. Horse is totally content and happy - but as soon as she's not or if her condition drops the hard decision will of course be made.


My own horse hasn't been ridden since the 12th Dec because of the snow - she doesn't seem bothered! So their lives are the same right now - big pets lol xx
 
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