What to do with retired young horse? Please help.

little_flea

little_flea

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As some of you know, we have had problems with our beautiful 7 year old gelding all of this year - issues are still unresolved, and we STILL don't know whether reasons for behaviour is physical or mental - vets are divided and baffled.

To cut a long story short, we may be looking at retiring him. I don't really want to sell him/give him away to anyone that might try to ride him or pass him on - would like to either stay responsible for him, or to have it really, definitely confirmed that he is always going to be well looked after and not sold on.

I just don't know the best way to do this - I have looked into retirement livery but it costs £50 per week - so a lifetime of that would be very expensive.

What other options do I have? What would you do? He is a young, playful horse and can be highly strung so he isn't exactly a little shetland companion...

Surely there must be options to paying £200 a month for a horse you will never ride? Any suggestions or thoughts MUCH appreciated!
 
I can totally understand where you are coming from my horse was in light work from the age of 8 and has been retired since 12 and we have just kept him and treat him no differently but it does get you down when you are doing all that work and you are getting nothing back from them
 
I would contact some of the welfare/horse rescue charities. He's obviously not an appropriate case for them to take on, but they might have some suggestions for you to consider. They must get similar horses in which can't be ridden, but are still young.

Can't be much help otherwise as I hesitate to say what I would do in such a situation. I've actually had to do it before myself, I know the pros and cons and it's not an easy thing to even contemplate.
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I hope you come up with the right solution for you
 
I don't know the full situation as haven't seen your other threads, but maybe you could think about a farm park or something, where he can hang out in the field and get stroked and fussed by visitors? Or maybe somewhere he could be used to teach, like a college or vet school? He wouldn't be ridden but he'd have lots to do. Very hard situation, I hope you work something out.
 
Well I am applying to vet school this year so have been going to open days. At a couple of them they have a few resident horses that they use to teach on, they mentioned live anatomy, so horsey stands and walks and students can see the different muscles and things for example, they can practice bandaging and things, I suppose the teachers demonstrate looking for lameness etc. Not really sure, I just remember from the open days they have some non ridden residents. Don't know where they get them from or anything but another option you could look into.
 
£50/week sounds an awful lot for retirement livery. My horse just on grass livery only costs £40/week, he gets a daily visit, feet checked and a feed included. If I had to retire him I would keep him in the same way, he gets good care and there are enough people around to notice if anything is wrong, even if I didn't see him for a few days.

How much have you looked around? I am sure you could find a very simple setup somewhere for less than this.
 
There was a thread on here (not sure which section) a little time back about horses living at a blood bank; can't remember if it got the thumbs up but try looking in the archive.
 
I have a 17hh 4yr old and I'm keeping everything crossed that I wont be in the same situation shortly! Best wishes for finding him the perfect home x x
 
I am presuming that your horse has been seen by a specialist equine unit. If your current vets can give you no further help towards a diagnosis are there some other vets that might be able to help as a 2nd opinion?

I think it is tricky unless you know what is wrong with the horse as it could make a recovery. Maybe find a place where you can turn him out for a year at grass then reassess the situation. If you think it might be behavioural time out and then sympathetic rebacking might work.

It also depends on how much you like the horse and how much money you have and how important riding is to you.

What about a blood bank - ask your vets if there is one locally - dont have experience of these myself but I think the horses live out in a herd and are well looked after.

If your horse can live out 24/7 I also think you can find retirement livery for much cheaper price.
 
Hi,
My young horse was retired to a farm belonging to a company producing blood products in Buckinghamshire. The horses must be 16 by or aboveand live in herds and give blood every three weeks. They are bought from you but the farm will keep your details in case your horse is not suited to the life and can havevthem back in this case. Most horses take to it well. I visit them sometimes- they are in herds of 10-40 in very good grazing. They look very happy and their feet are always well trimmed. It's evident looking at the herds that most of the horses were probably in competition/racing. The farm is preston Farm at Claydon Botolph. Worth a look.
 
My horse had to be retired at 5 I was in the same position as you with regards to paying livery for a horse I couldn't ride, I don't earn a great wage and I had to choose. I found him a lovely permanent home as a companion to another horse who also couldn't be ridden.
 
your options are-

*blood bank
*shoot it
*loan as a companion.

Don't dump him on a charity, and at the end of the day your better off having him PTS than passing him on to an uncertain future
 
Thank you for your sensitive approach Towerhamlets
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Thanks everyone for your answers. I won't have him pts, he is a healthy young horse, I'd rather pay for retirement livery in that case. We are not quite there yet, but I may turn him away for a year and see if he can be brought back into work later and then reassess.
 
I think there is a place where they have horses as blood doners. They run in a herd so it would be a good life. It is difficult retiring a young horse at livery both from a financial point of view and them getting into mischief through boredom.
 
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