What do you plan to do when your horse retires?

What do you plan to do with your horse when he retires?

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My pony is 18 and is in semi retirement, i just hack him and occassionally will take him SJ. He will have a home with me for life, he was a fantastic pony for me taking me right up the competition ranks in SJ and Eventing, so he owes me nothing and i think he has earned a safe, comfortable retirement. I dont think i would ever contemplate selling him as i would never trust anyone else to look after him like he deserves lol!

He is on the same DIY livery as my youngster. I would like to have them both on private rented land eventually to keep costs down but thats so hard to find! I adore both of my horses, but if I had to let one go because i couldnt afford them both, it would have to be the youngster.
 
A friend of mine has a yard that she runs as a retirement livery yard... horses are out most of the time unless the weather is particularly grim or if health requirements dictate.

I'd be quite happy having one of my horses go to her as I know and trust her but not too sure how I'd feel about shipping them off to a retirement livery yard that I didn't happen to know. Fortunately I have my own land so it's not a big deal for me.

My old girl was with me until the age of 25 and we hunted right up until 6 months before she had to be PTC (her melanomas got the better of her). Even if she couldn't have been ridden, though, it would have been my honour to keep her for as long as she was comfortable staying on this earth as she was my horse of a lifetime.

I think there are some horses that you get more attached to than others for whatever reason. If your business or hobby is to buy horses, train them and then sell them then fair enough. However, I think if you've got your own horse that you ride + compete for a number of years and then something happens that you can't ride them any more, you owe it to the horse to do what's in their best interests. Hopefully that involves them staying where they are in a lovely field or something, and their not being pts just because they're now a money munching machine that's not rideable but saying that I'd rather see a horse pts than see a faithfull horse end up as one of these horror stories where you see someone having taken him on loan and then totally run him into the ground or something (not that I ever would pts for anything other than the reasons of the horse's health and comfort, personally I'd keep such a faithfull friend even if it meant not getting another neddie - but maybe that's easy for me to say when I have land so am unlikely to be faced with that choice?)
 
ow I have moved home life for Henry is much easier, he is currently keep on DIY livery at the Riding School, when the time comes that he is unable to do any work, he will move in with the retired and baby riding school horses on grass livery. Otherwise I would have to keep him on DIY.
He will stay with me and be cared for by me until he goes the the stable in the sky. I couldn't ship him off to be cared for by someone else, no matter how amazing it was.

However he is a special case, I'm not sure how I would feel if it were any other horse.
 
My horses are with me until they die, including the one who nearly killed me and is broken as of aged 8 :rolleyes:

I had looked into grazing livery nearby, with morning checks included, and the intention of going to give her an evening feed and still seeing her each day, but this was purely due to lack of grass at mine at the time, and her going through an unsettled phase as she came out of work.

I could never relinquish control and care of her altogether. My broken/retired horse still gives me an enormous amount of pleasure just being around her, and her loving temperament. I'd miss her like crazy if I didn't see her on a daily basis. :) Thankfully she seems to have settled a lot more in the last couple of months, so I hope she can stay right here with me. :)
 
Mine is with us forever. partly because my dad loves him to pieces and wants to hunt him when im not around, which would suit said horse fine as dad doesn't really jump, but horse will happily jump anything or nothing, but also because i can't sell him because he means the world to me.
Obviously if he goes lame etc. etc. we would reconsider what to do with him, but if he just needs a quieter life from eventing etc. he will just be used for hacking/gentle hunting etc...
I know that he wont be sold, hes part of the family now :)
 
My horse is gradually being wound down as he is an old man now. He's 26, and he's on bute a lot of the time but is very happy jumping competitively (round much smaller heights than we used to) and enjoying life with us. When he can no longer be ridden he'll probably go to the hunt- he's not the sort of horse who enjoys doing nothing. He has a very definite place in life and when he's not being ridden and used he gets quite dull and lifeless- he needs it I think.

Often, seeing polls like this I wonder if we've got the right plan for him. But then I know Cheeky very well and I love him beyond all else and I know that I wouldn't make a decision like that lightly or easily and when the time comes it will be whats best for him. Just don't really want that time to come tbh. It'll seem wierd, putting a perfectly healthy happy horse to sleep just because he can't be ridden to some people but I know 6 months down the line we'd be putting an unhappy horse who wasn't enjoying himself.
 
i am very lucky with mine, i have various friends who come and help me exercise my horses and they have usually 'eyed-up' the one they want. my pony is now 21yrs and he has gone to a pony club girl and now enjoys 2'3'' not 3'6'', and he loves it. my 2 mares are out with friends and they are all on a long term loan basis. the people who have my horses love them death. they know i will have them back if they no longer want them, but i have a feeling they will all be with them until they die.

My opinion (for my horses and my views so please, no one take this personally) is that my horses have been with me since they were young, have evented for me all their live's and i feel i owe it to them to look after them now. so even if no one wants to loan them as a hack they will stay with me.

My best friend has already announced she is having sadie mare (pic below far left) when she retires, she is only 14yrs!!!!!!!!
 
VictoriaSpicer said:
Thanks to everyone who has responded. Re earlier question about retiring, I mean can't be ridden - either through old age or injury.

So what would be your thoughts on retirement livery - would any of you consider this?

Thanks

Victoria
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In general, I'd say no. My first proper event horse was a bit older when I got him. I knew the moment he walked in to my life, he'd be with me till the day he died. Which he was, he died with his head in my arms after 12 fabulous years together. I loved him without reserve, and I'd never have put him to an "anonymous" yard just when he needed me to repay his amazing kindness with the best care possible in his dotage. In any case he was a cosseted, skinny TB type and needed cosy PJs and warm stables and fab grazing; not winters in a field fighting for his hay. I realise that this is probably a good service for some people though, but if you've had a horse a long time and have that special bond, I don't think it's fair to send them away. That said, circumstances often prevail, and I had one horse that was unsound for riding but generally fit and healthy. I was at the stage of my life that I wanted to move abroad for a bit and obviously couldn't sell him. The solution for him was the blood bank; they never sell them on and I knew he would be more than happy in a "herd" situation, as he wasn't a particularly people-oriented horse.

Now I'm lucky, I have my horses at home, and plenty grazing, so they will just stay with me being expensive field ornaments if the need arises. But being as they are 6 and 9, I hope I have some time before that happens:)
 
hmm going through this now - my mare has coffin joint degenerative joint disease and despite medication isn't staying sound enough to hack out :-( so it looksike retirement beckons - If I can keep her sound enough to be retired to the field then she will be, however the vet is due again next week, if the general consensus is that she won't be sound enough to retire to the field then I will make the decision to have her pts - not something I want to do to be honest but she has to be able to have a good quality of life in retirement - so keeping fingers crossed.
 
if i didn't have my own land, i'd definitely consider a retirement home for neddies, as long as it came highly recommended and i could visit frequently.
(fwiw now_loves_mares, i sold 1 of my former eventers last year, i'd had him about 9 yrs and found a lovely home for him as a hack and light dressage horse. i thought he might be miserable elsewhere as we did have a strong bond (i was happy to have him back immediately if he wasn't right for them) but he has struck up a great friendship with a few of his field mates and is much loved and fussed over.)
 
kerilli said:
if i didn't have my own land, i'd definitely consider a retirement home for neddies, as long as it came highly recommended and i could visit frequently.
(fwiw now_loves_mares, i sold 1 of my former eventers last year, i'd had him about 9 yrs and found a lovely home for him as a hack and light dressage horse. i thought he might be miserable elsewhere as we did have a strong bond (i was happy to have him back immediately if he wasn't right for them) but he has struck up a great friendship with a few of his field mates and is much loved and fussed over.)
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That's great that he's found a lovely home! I don't disagree, but do think that selling them to a home where they get proper attention (and in your case, work) is slightly different from retirement livery. While I'm sure most provide fabulous "care", I do think some horses have needs beyond the basics of food, water and shelter. Of my current two girls, one wouldn't give two ****s where she was, so long as there was plenty of grub. The other would hate it and pine and lose weight immediately.

On reflection though, I realise that the minute you have your own land, you develop a bit of a soap-box attitude to this (or I have); there's no way I could keep paying DIY livery for a string of retired horses, so I concede that my attitude may be different in other circumstances. And actually, I would happily offer homes to some of my friend's horses if they needed a less expensive retirement for them; but again only if I knew they'd be happy living out stuffing their faces at the ring-feeder.
 
I sometimes think we read our horses wrongly. Some like to be in herd, living out, others prefer the pampered in retirement, but you may not know until you try it. My old boy is at least 27 years old, he was retired 15 years ago. At first he was kept as he had always been kept (stabled at night, out to graze every day), but could not be worked. This perfect gent, with the most wonderful manners, changed. He dragged people around, barged them, and in the stable he weaved and box walked. So as a last resort he was turned out 24/7 all year round with resting hunters and retirees. He became so relaxed and happy, although he completely lost interest in me. Last summer I brought him back to the main yard, to be company for my yearling and brood mare who live out. It means he can have a bit of hard feed if needed - as he is not carrying as much weight now. But he will not be stabled again and will PTS when I feel his quality of life is low.
The real difference between the old boy and my others is how much Vet treatment I would allow.
 
All going well, I will keep him.

I have no intention of buying another horse TBH, he is my horse of a lifetime.

I am sitting my Leaving Cert. (A Levels equivalent) next year, and I was thinking of selling him before then as I intend to study Veterinary Medicine afterwards, possibly abroad. But, I have discussed it with my Father and he said he doesn't want me to sell him (as he is also rather fond of him :blushing: ), and wants to keep him into his retirement. He is still quite a young horse though! :)
 
Fudge is never going to be able to compete again following injury at the age of 13, the plan was that he would go to one of my closest friends yards on retirement livery, however it turns out I'm too much of a control freak and too attached :rolleyes: so he will remain with me for the rest of his days.

Lady the pony I had as a teenager is 22 now, she too will be with me for the rest of my days even though keeping both of them means I cannot afford something else that I can compete.

I have a cheap project pony that I'm aiming to bring on with a friend and then sell but other than that I'll be looking at sharing something that I can take out and compete.
 
If it was an early retirement due to lameness or injury I would love to have a foal from her.

But if she stays fit and healthy and its just a ripe old age issue she would stay with me on DIY livery for the rest of her days, She is my star who I love to bits and she will go no-where! I would have to move to a cheaper yard though, the one Im on now is a competition yard and not cheap!!
Top and tail of it is, she has a home with me for the rest of her days!!
 
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