Do You Think You Owe Your Horse A Retirement?

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Mithras

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What do you do with your horses when due to age-related degenerative conditions, such as spavin, they can no longer work or compete at the level they used to?

Do you retire them/give them life a bit easier, sell them or pts?

I keep seeing so many 14-18 year old horses advertised for sale of late, suitable only for hacking. Alternatively, people's horses just seem to "disappear" or be pts for a sudden onset condition around this age.

Personally, I think they deserve a retirement if they have served you well and aren't costing a fortune in vet's bills.
 
I think they deserve to have a nice retirement if they can no longer work, i would never just sell my boy if he couldn't do the things we are doing now. id be quite happy to just pootle about on hacks a few times a week untill he couldn't do that anymore then i would pts because i know he would go crazy and be really bored without being ridden
 
No, not really. I'd only keep a horse in retirement because I wanted to, I don't think there is any obligation or debt to repay by doing it.
 
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Definitely yes.....my girl is 18 this year and will be with me until she dies. Hopefully I will be in a position to have a riding horse as well when she needs to retire, but if I can't then so be it. She has given me years of fun (and hopefully will continue to for a few more years) the least I can do for her is provide a comfortable retirement.
 
In an ideal world yes.

I currently have a 20yo mare who is semi retired and she is starting to get a little bit stiff now. At the moment I can offer her a home for life - but - I rent my grazing. So, if my circumstances changed I would have her PTS before I would pass her around.

She is a wonderful old girl and has given me years of pleasure and 4 beautiful foals and the very least I owe her is a decent, dignified end.
 
I think so. They aren't tools, they are pets and work hard for us and bring us, hopefully, a lot of fun and pleasure. My old girl was retired due to arthritis and a dipping back which would have made fitting a saddle properly nigh on impossible. I had just as much fun taking her out for walks, grazing in hand while I brushed her and occasionally going to a local show for the in-hand veteran class. I always got enormous pleasure from just being with her anyway, riding was merely a bonus. She enjoyed 8 years of retirement until she was put down due to the ever-worsening arthritis.
 
I think you DO owe them a debt though. They aren't machines. I think it's like a marriage, for better or worse. If you take on the responsibility and enjoy the good years with them, then you have to support them in the older years.

Flame, could you honestly get enjoyment from a horse for years and then sell it on as a pensioner, not knowing if it would end up at a market or meatman?
 
No one can predict their circumstances, but ideally yes and I do find it sad to see older horses sold on.

Our old mare retired from hunting in her early twenties and riding comepletely a couple of years later, but she lived out her retirement at home until 32 - she owed us nothing and we owed her everything, she had been with us for 23 years and not passing her from pillar to post was the absolute least we could do.
 
paddi22 said:
Flame, could you honestly get enjoyment from a horse for years and then sell it on as a pensioner, not knowing if it would end up at a market or meatman?
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No but I've had a middle-aged, field ornament horse pts and I'm comfortable with that decision.

ETA, why do you think professional yards aren't full up with twenty-five year old field ornaments?
 
Well, ours generally stay for life but it's easier as we have our own land. Currently we have a 29yo retired tb, a semi-retired 27yo pony and my 22yo who is pretty much in full work still. The others we have are 13 and 4 but most likely will be with us til the end
 
In an ideal world and if you want to - yes.

But, I think you have more of an obligation to your horse to ensure that he has a secure future once he has reached a certain age / stage in life. This may mean retirement. This may mean PTS. It may mean finding a new home.

It does mean being responsible and not passing on a horse who may end up being abused due to its age and circumstances. I hate seeing all of the older horses being re-homed simply because it can't do what its owners want it to any more. And they are too cowardly to make the right decision.
 
Yes, if i was in situation then i would definately!
However i understand that sometimes people feel different about it and also money could be an issue.
 
Think it depends on the situation and the horse. My 23 year old WB is retired and had been for the last four years because o can afford to keep him and he's happy being retired (and is the ideal companion and doesn't bat an eye lid when left on his own)
If he was a stress head that hated retirement then I wouldn't think twice about pts. It would be the kindest thing. I certainly don't agree with passing on a crook old horse.
 
Yes, I do think they deserve a retirement. Riding isn't the be all and end all in horse ownership. I got just as much pleasure sitting next to them both for 40 mins, as they snoozed in the sun last week. I sat on the headcollars I'd taken in to catch them, with the intention of riding one after...needless to say it didn't happen!
 
Personally, yes. However I have my own land etc so have no livery costs to pay.

I would still try to ensure he had a job though, even just as a companion, as it makes it easier to justify the bills!
 
Yes and no :o
I see nothing wrong with selling on a horse in its late teens as a schoolmaster, because it can't/won't compete at the level it used to. After all, they are in real demand for young/green jockeys to learn the ropes.
Having said that, I'd rather put down a ''light hack'' then sell it on.
I have 2 mares who are 19 years old, none of them ridden, one is my retired grade A that I have bought unbacked at 4yo, she's in foal and about to drop me her second foal. the other I bought for nominal sum last year with the purpose of putting in foal, as it happens, she didn't conceive and has been eating my grass/hay/haylage for the last year; I'll have another go at AI-ing her, but if she doesn't conceive this time, she will just wander around the property until she pops her clogs.
I am in a fortunate position to be able to accommodate a few retired ones without depriving myself of riding horses, though. If I kept them at livery, I would consider their future more carefully.
 
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amymay said:
Which no one would criticise. But not what the original question was.
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Really? I thought the question was do you owe your horse a retirement. I don't think I do, i think i owe them a nice life while I am responsible for them and a quick way out. That's all, no retirement unless i fancied keeping a pet horse, which I have done as well. I was trying to answer the question.
 
I do think my now 22 yo def deserves a good retirement - when that will be o don't know! :-) Pony though has done nothing more than light hacking though for years, not because he couldn't do more but more down to time, as in I don't have it, and unfortunately he isn't reliable enough to he loaned out to or ridden by just anyone. Shame really as he's great to handle and has exceptional manners on the ground. So, he's had a cushy life for many years now!
 
Yes, but not necessarily because they have served me well but because they are sentient beings.
I bought a horse which initially turned out to be a bit of a duff deal. I had the option of returning to the dealer (who would most likely sent her to market or buted to re sell) or I could keep her as a pasture ornament.

I kept her because I thought someone had had their money's worth out of her and she deserved something in return from a human being.
Luckily she came sound and sane and is now an absolute cracker.

So, yes, I'd keep the unworkable one's and only sell the useful ones. Unfortunately for me.:o
 
in an ideal world!

but if mine gets to 20+ and i ca no longer keep her i owe her to be pts than passed around!....

mines 2...so a long way to go before she retires i hope!!
 
martlin said:
Yes and no :o
I see nothing wrong with selling on a horse in its late teens as a schoolmaster, because it can't/won't compete at the level it used to. After all, they are in real demand for young/green jockeys to learn the ropes.
Having said that, I'd rather put down a ''light hack'' then sell it on.
I have 2 mares who are 19 years old, none of them ridden, one is my retired grade A that I have bought unbacked at 4yo, she's in foal and about to drop me her second foal. the other I bought for nominal sum last year with the purpose of putting in foal, as it happens, she didn't conceive and has been eating my grass/hay/haylage for the last year; I'll have another go at AI-ing her, but if she doesn't conceive this time, she will just wander around the property until she pops her clogs.
I am in a fortunate position to be able to accommodate a few retired ones without depriving myself of riding horses, though. If I kept them at livery, I would consider their future more carefully.
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This, pretty much exactly.
 
Yes and no, if you have the right circumstances then yes, if they change for the worse then it makes sense to me to pts.

As the owner of two retired lads, who can't afford a riding horse I do sort of understand why people pts so they can have a riding horse. But its not something I'd ever do myself, my boys are my pets and they are happy retired. Whether the big lad makes another winter is questionable, he didn't come out of this one all that well, and he's had at least one small partial seizure that I've seen (and goodness knows how many I haven't) so clearly old age is catching up with him.
 
When I have had a long term Fuzzy, who is no longer able to be ridden due to an unsoundness or illness problem, then if all well enough to be able to be in a field, they have a summer out at grass before being PTS.

Some just do not want to be field ornaments, so why give them - and you - stress in trying to manage them, far better to let them be PTS.

Would not ever pass on any of mine that are useful as only companion, there are plenty out there already.

Sounds hard to some, but at least I know where mine have gone...........
 
Flame_ said:
Really? I thought the question was do you owe your horse a retirement. I don't think I do, i think i owe them a nice life while I am responsible for them and a quick way out. That's all, no retirement unless i fancied keeping a pet horse, which I have done as well. I was trying to answer the question.
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That's fair enough if you PTS, my question was would you sell it o?n (you see so many ads for elderly horses and it's heartbreaking) I have no issue with someone taking responsibility.

Although I do think there is a personal moral issue if someone HAS the means to keep an older field ornament, and chooses not to as its too inconvenient. It's not a horses fault if it can't be ridden. I have one field ornament and not a lot of money, but I feel morally it's the right thing to let him enjoy his life as long as I can afford it. If I could no longer afford it I'd have him PTS, but till then I try my hardest to keep him enjoying life.
 
I didn't 'owe' my horse anything, he was a complete waste of money, huge sums on remedial treatment then retired lame 2yrs after purchase. He was 11 when I retired him and he lived until he was 25 / 26 and I had him PTS.

The big factor was that he was a lovely person and had had a rough start to life and I was determined that I would make sure he had a quality life thereafter.

The big decider was that I could afford to have him retired on part livery and pay for a new horse aswell. If finances hadn't allowed this I would have made a different choice.
 
BBH said:
The big decider was that I could afford to have him retired on part livery and pay for a new horse as well. If finances hadn't allowed this I would have made a different choice.
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And I think that is it in a nutshell. I had a 10 year old put down because I simply could not afford the livery bills for a retired horse. It was pretty devastating to be honest. But finances 100% played a part in that decision - and I so wish things had been different.
 
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