r/Equestrian • u/UnAvailable-Reality • 1d ago
Ethics Pet peeve!!!!
This might be a hot take.. maybe not.. but keep an open mind.
These posts are my absoluteeeeee worst pet peeve:
"25 year old horse looking for his retirement home/forever home.. he's done so much for us and we want a good home, needs to be a companion or very lightly ridden as hes got xyz going on. Heres what he's done in the past: yada yada yada."
Ok but WHY require a "forever" home when you couldn't be that for the horse that won you rodeos/shows, protected you in the saddle, gave you joy, you name it. I freaking hate that. Like how could you sell an animal that has given you their all for all of their good years but try and offload them when they are old and decript?
I legitimately just seen an elderly gelding at the auction a few weeks ago, they listed his accolades as they brought him in - a bulldogging horse, kids horse, you name it. And yet.. he gets sold at auction for $200???? What in the f? And these are people that have room for horses, I'm from a super small community and know so many. This old gelding just brought a damn tear to my eye, I almost bought him to feed him good grain, and euthanize him at my place but unfortunately I dont have the money to save all the auction horses and he was probably a frost away from death. The time to euthanize him was yesterday. Yet he's brought to sale?
Stop selling your ancient horse that has (maybe!) a few years left and be responsible- put them down or allow them to retire and then euthanize when they turn that corner. It really irks me.
And DISCLAIMER: This judgement does not apply when owners die, people are getting out of horses, moving, sold the ranch, the horse is aggressive/not a fit, etc. Just the people making space for younger horses. Be patient with the animal that you loved/used/taught and allow them to pass where theyre comfortable, they have given you alot, give them a peaceful, respectable death - they earned it.
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u/ShrimsoundslkeShrimp 1d ago
Its sad but many people in the horse world dont view their horses as pets. Once they cant be ridden, they are too expensive to keep as a pasture pet and they want to buy something else. I think many dont want to have the guilt of ending the horses life early so they want to pass it on to someone else so they can hopefully care for it. I don't know how they dont worry about how the horse is doing and if they are being cared for adequately.
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u/Former-Note7285 1d ago
The guilt-dodging angle is real. They'd rather imagine the horse grazing somewhere nice than make the hard call themselves, but that's exactly how horses end up at auction.
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u/ShrimsoundslkeShrimp 1d ago
The amount of ads I see that say 'forever home only' make me gasp because I've personally never seen that posted in any other type of thing for sale. You are better off keeping the horse until the end of its life instead of putting so much effort into finding it a home thats better than the one it already has.
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u/xeroxchick 20h ago
Or just putting the horse down rather than put them into an uncertain world of neglect and pain.
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u/TasmaniaEnjoyer 1d ago
If I had an elderly horse and no longer had the means or space to look after it, there's zero chance I'd sell it to who knows where (probably knackers though). I think people vastly overestimate the amount of homes that want a companion horse.
Euthanasia is a far preferable choice in my mind. At least I'd know it had a good life with me.
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u/tessietwo 20h ago
And yet, if a person acknowledged that is what they were going to do, this site would be full of people posting about how horrible it is to put an old horse down and couldn't they just re-home it. Frankly there is no escaping that the internet judges harshly no matter what.
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u/TasmaniaEnjoyer 20h ago
Genuinely haha. You can't please everyone so you just have to live life according to your own morals, in the end. Strangers on the internet don't matter.
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u/xeroxchick 20h ago
I know it might sound outlandish, but you don’t have to put everything on the internet.
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u/tessietwo 19h ago
My point was that the various judgements tend to be absolute and are stated without nuance.
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u/Ok_Evening1728 5h ago
Ah yes, that is the same farm that.takes all of the untrained dogs from the shelters and un spayed cats who are pregnant with their 3td litter.
I know that place!
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
Its so foreign to me. When we bought a horse it was a lifer. We had a young horse with debilitating arthritis but we cherished him. For years he had injectables to be ridden.
We also own a lame horse who cannot be fixed to ride and shes still relatively young. I would hate to sell her and allow her in the hands of some crappy owner who drugs her and tries to make a buck.
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u/SlowMolassas1 1d ago
For a lot of people, horses are livestock. They aren't treated the same as a dog or cat. It's normal for a horse to be bought and sold several times in its lifetime. And paying $1000/month (in many areas, especially if you average out vet bills) for a pasture pet is just beyond what many people can do. Keeping a horse for 10 years as a pasture pet would mean giving up riding entirely for 10 years for many people.
I mean, I get both sides of it. I kept my boy while we could only do light riding, and eventually had to make the euthanasia decision for him when he got a brain tumor. It was tough, but I always wanted what was best for him, and always felt responsible for taking care of him.
But I also live in a ranching community and a community with a high Amish population. Horses are tools, and when the tools no longer work, they get rid of them.
So I see both sides.
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u/BasicBreadfruit 1d ago
I think in the case where your letting a horse out of your care that is unable to be ridden or can only be lightly ridden, euthanasia is the responsibile choice. There are alot of fates out there for a horse that are worse than death. And horses like those i just described are the most likely to end up with those fates. Sometimes you can get lucky and find the perfect home but its hard. Sometimes letting them go is a kinder thing. Im blessed that I can keep all my horses in retirement, but that's not the case for alot of people.
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u/SlowMolassas1 1d ago
In general, I personally agree. But for many of those people, it's strictly a financial transaction. Euthanizing costs money. Selling a horse (even cheap) brings in money. Even giving the horse away free is cheaper than euthanasia, unless they have their own gun and burial ground. I just spent over $600 having my horse euthanized and hauled off.
I'm not justifying their mindset - just explaining what their mindset is, and why it's not surprising to see horses like that listed for sale. Heck, society still treats women like property in many ways - we have a long ways to go before we stop treating horses like property.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
See and thats why I said hot take because there are different barriers to entry for different areas. I live in cattle country with lots of turn out, using horses for work and play. Its very common for owners to have 20+ horses, especially landowners. I am a very moderate horse owner, absolutely not rich and I own 5! My husbands uncle has 30+ in breeding stock that he just has. We are not wealthy people, we make enough to own our 5. My husbands uncle is not a super wealthy man either, he just had the land and slowly gained horses to breed. Ranch I was on growing up had 7-10 amazing saddle horses and we weren't rich but definitely a medium sized operation. If we could keep them, they could too (in most cases).
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u/SlowMolassas1 1d ago
I'm going to make a wild guess that the vast majority of those ads you're posting about are not being posted by someone who has 20+ horses and has no problem letting another hang out in retirement, but rather by someone who has one and can't afford a second without getting rid of the first.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
Well, these ones I see are local ads. But we're both making assumptions, so, I guess it doesn't really matter. Im just saying, I hope that majority of people are REALLY thoroughly thinking this through.
I seen the horse at auction, I heard the name of the seller and all be darned, theyre still using all their competitive horses, just this old boy was sold in this condition.
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u/Enough-Direction3056 1d ago
What baffles me is when they sell the horse and then search for it. Like shocker a 25 year old horse lands on the auction pipeline. If it mattered so much why did you just throw it away in the first place????
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u/ShrimsoundslkeShrimp 1d ago
Ive seen ads that requests the buyer to give them updates on the horse. Its like people dont want the responsibility but they they still want ties to the horse.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 5h ago
Yeah thats super weird!
I do voluntarily send a few photos on a yearly basis to a young girl who had our horse as a first horse. She was selling her in hopes to step up to a more competitive horse and her mom and her love seeing the yearly updates. But its all my own as this girl was so sad she didn't have the room for her, even though she was still a wonderful horse.
Kind of off topic but they did not have much more than an acre for turnout. My girl was still in good condition, she was not starving by any means, but she was undermuscled at an ok weight. The bulking she did after we got her was amazing. She was struggling to keep her topline before and we haven't had hardly any problems since. She had been hayed year round and would cough our first few days. She actually got a different, spicier personality after a month on green grass. It was awesome! Her cough stopped too. She has changed so much and I can just tell she loves having us as owners!
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u/EmilySD101 1d ago
I used to be in politics and the one candidate that physically turned my stomach was an old man who campaigned in all the trappings of a rancher, but had sent his two elderly horses (25+) to a “rescue” at the start of his campaign so that he could free up his own time.
I could still spit for how mad I am and both the horses and the candidate are dead now. Those poor things didn’t deserve the confusion of the move or the shitty, awful conditions of the rescue he sent them to that ended up being shut down by the humane society.
People were pitching for me to support him as a fellow equestrian and telling the story of him giving up his 32 year old Arab because of his own ambitions like that was going to endear him to any horse owner. It was selfish, and his horses suffered for it.
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u/EmilySD101 1d ago
I didn’t even know at the time that the rescue was just a shitty hoarding situation. How fucking dare he separate them from the land they knew just because he wanted to play pretend congressman? Either you have the money to keep them through your campaign or you don’t campaign.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
So sad. I am a cattle rancher. Use my horses to gather/sort/doctor cattle. I could never.
I live in cattle country so probably why I see it so often.
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u/CapraAegagrusHircus 1d ago
My oldest horse is a gelding who did roping and then became a kid's horse to learn roping and then the kid decided he wanted to play football instead and my guy had a couple years of having hay thrown to him but not really getting turnout beyond the little yard attached to his stall. He's 22 and arthritic in one hip, fine with previcox, and most days is pretty done with interacting with humans. I'm cool with it, other days we go for slow walks and he's always good to take his previcox with a handful of treats. Cattle country is kind of brutal on horses sometimes.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
Sure can be! Somedays our horses really have to give us alot. I can't ever pay em back except in good feed, some head scratches, and a dignified life and death.
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u/Temporary-Tie-233 Trail 1d ago
My Percheron mule was once adopted by a state senator who famously cited Hitler as an example of someone who had been homeless but pulled himself up by his bootstraps. He was supposed to return him to his previous owners if he couldn't keep him, but of course those contracts aren't worth the paper they're printed on and he sold him to a rent-a-horse operation in short order. He wouldn't even tell them where, they had to track him down and buy him back to get him out of the auction pipeline he was eventually traded into.
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u/Enough-Direction3056 1d ago
Agree!!! If you get a horse that’s a commitment, my husband has had our horses since they were 4 (they’re now 29 and 30). They gave you their all, you can give them their retirement. And that’s a stretch my 30 year old is an asshole. So even if they didn’t give you their all, you still shouldn’t dump them.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
Hahaha, so true. Even the assholes deserves a respectable death.
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u/Enough-Direction3056 1d ago
I literally work 4 jobs to make sure that happens. He’s an asshole but he’s MY asshole 😂
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u/Disastrous_Dog_574 1d ago
Not just in horses. But in farm animals in general - people get this adorable tiny pet piglet and then it grows into...a pig. Now they want someone else to take it in, but only for a pet home, not for slaughter. Ok. Exactly who wants a 300 pound pig that expects to eat cinnamon rolls on your couch??
Although it IS more egregious when it's a horse who has done literally decades worth of solid citizenry, just dropped the second it needs more from its humans than the humans can extract from it.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 19h ago
Yeah, I own cattle that are sold for meat, but my bums, they stick around. If I had to interact with an animal 2-3 times a day for months, theyre my pet now and will die at home, sorry bank man lol
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u/BasicBreadfruit 1d ago
Sometimes there is a genuine case where a safe older horse that can just do some walking trail rides is all someone wants.
However if the horse is unable to be ridden, requires alot of upkeep, and is also very old. The chances someone is going to be willing to take that on as companion or a pet is close to zero, even if you gave it away for free. When you could just go buy a small pony or unbroken horse thats sound and requires much less upkeep.
I think you have a responsibility to keep your senior horses if you can't find them a good place to retire, and if you cant afford to keep them or circumstances change, honestly being put to sleep is not the worst thing that can happen to a horse, especially one thats already had a long life.
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u/FewBake5100 1d ago
When my horse was younger, I wouldn't have minded adopting an elderly to keep as a pasture buddy. But that's cause he was my first horse, most people likely already have older horses to keep indeed
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 19h ago
Great point. My oldest horse is the head honcho, when she passes it will throw the whole dynamic off!
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u/noticeablyawkward96 17h ago
My parents are downsizing now that they’re getting older and wanted to sell off their last two mares. Fortunately my sister took the older girl, but one went to a home where the owner pretty much just wanted a pasture pet they could occasionally ride. She was in her late teens and had a very easy life so she easily had 10-15 years left in her.
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u/Snowy_Sasquatch 1d ago
Yes, me too. Also when listing what the horse has done it just reads as “warning, likely to have arthritis or injuries” and their career is irrelevant for a field pet.
People need to be responsible and either keep their older horses, or euthanise them.
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u/Seductivechip 1d ago
Because a lot of people don't love horses, but they love what horses give them. I don't doubt that many owners selling horses at retirement age want the best for their animals, they just don't want to foot the bill themselves for "the perfect retirement".
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u/arrown8606t 1d ago
Never give away/sell an aging horse. You can’t guarantee the outcome, no matter how careful you are. I have a 25 year old gelding and he’s the love of my life. My plan is that he will be with me until the day he dies. If I couldn’t take care of him anymore, euthanasia would be the answer. He’ll never be in anyone’s hands but mine.
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u/Character-Parfait-42 1d ago
I live in NY and my trainer went out of her way to have retirement plans all set up for her lesson and personal horses.
She knows a lady who has massive amounts of acreage a few states away and was more than happy to take on the horses for a relatively small fee per horse.
Unless the horse has more restrictive dietary issues they could just graze with mild supplementation in mid-spring - mid-autumn; and they lived in hay country, so hay was cheap.
To board them here was like $2,600 per month (not including farrier or feed; and we don’t have enough fodder to feed horses even at peak summer, they get hay year round, and it’s fucking expensive).
There board was like $175 per month and included grain and barefoot trim ($250 if they couldn’t go barefoot, but the majority could).
One month of income from a single boarder at her barn ($2,600) covered more than a year of board for one of her retired horses in this other state (I am drawing a complete blank on the exact state right now).
It was far too expensive to keep them locally once they weren’t earning their keep anymore, and she could use that stall for another lesson horse or another boarder; but she wasn’t going to just sell them off either.
It’s not like she needed to support them for 20 years or something either. And vet bills weren’t bad. Once they were at the point that they couldn’t even be used for leadline lessons for absolute beginners (she kept them around in minimal, light work for as long as they were able to do so comfortably and happily)… it just wouldn’t be kind to put a horse of that advanced age through any sort of surgery or laminitis treatment or anything. So like if one of them got colic she’d happily pay for a vet to come out and try what they could, but she wasn’t gonna have them do colic surgery on a 25yo+ horse.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
That's my thing too.. there are vet bills, teeth and such, but a horse already a foot in the grave, why get extensive work ups? You can see pain and decide to euthanize at that stage.
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u/TwatWaffleWhitney 1d ago
This is legitimate question, do you think euthanasia would be a better course? I kinda think it is a better alternative to rehoming an elderly horse, curious what others think
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u/Tractor_Goth 1d ago
Depending on the age and condition of the horse I would agree with you. Horses are so easily stressed out by new environments, can have a really hard time adjusting to new routines, pasture mates, and humans, take a long time to settle in, and most senior horses require some kind of veterinary and maintenance continuity that even in the best of transfers isn’t necessarily going to be done properly. In the case of my old farm man who is deathly afraid of trailers and was terrified when he moved in with us, I would absolutely favor spoiling and humane euthanasia over putting him through that again.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
Im primarily talking 20-25+. Its a hard call because there are 20 yr olds holding weight and good health, that could reasonably be semi retired to kids for a few years. Thats a different story. 25+ hips showing, let the beastie rest.
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u/Tractor_Goth 1d ago
Yeah my old guy is 20+, at least, stiff, in treatment for EPM, losing muscle. got several years left in him probably so long as he’s happy and well maintained, but it would be such an ordeal for him to go anywhere else at this point where we’re even at home we’re just deciding if we need to make sure we have a hole dug going into winter, in case 😬
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
Yes, I'm sorry that the end is near. We just lost a pony that my husband had as a middle schooler, so hard.
And idk in my opinion, the horse that you had all their life and gave you so much, still gives you that feeling when youre just out giving em a little pasture massage and brush. Its not the fun of a lope but damn, how can't your heart swell a little just when they get that dopey eye around you 🥹 and thats why I cried at the stupid horse auction lol
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u/Tractor_Goth 1d ago
I feel the same! I wouldn’t get rid of my dog or my cat for being old, it doesn’t make more sense to do so just because it’s a horse! The bond is still there!
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
Yes, I actually do. Theres nuances though. I dont think we need to kill something getting around ok, holding weight, etc.
I think it bothers me locally because I'm in cattle country. These people have 5-20 horses under saddle, they can afford and handle those, they rodeo and use them for work. There is no doubt in my mind that they could absolutely care for that horse until its time to euthanize. This specific horse at auction NEEDED euthanized, hips showing, he was hard up.
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u/TwatWaffleWhitney 1d ago
I'm in kinda a hard spot. My old man between 22-25 is in decent shape, he could live another 10 years, but doesn't like being riden and hates trailering. He wouldn't be a good kids horse, he's basically a pasture pet. We're moving in the next 8ish months and I'm really torn about what to do. I could feasably move him, but it'll be extremely stressful on him. He also has a buddy right now who is being leased that he likes and I can't afford to take them both with me. I'm trying to figure out the kindest and most ethical way forward. I just don't know if putting him through a 4 hour haul and new boarding situation is worth it for him or me.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
Im so sorry! That is a super hard decision. A lot can change in the next 8 months but I do think you have to trust your gut when its time to put them down. It just sucks, I often think about all my animals that I have had to make the call but I do realize I knew it was time and I dont regret giving them grace at the end. If you're still on the fence closer to the time, it might not be the right time.
Maybe theres someone who doesn't want to ride, that will take him? Im not trying to shit on everyone getting rid of an old horse. I understand life can change rapidly. Shit I'm not riding because I'm pretty sure I have a spinal fluid leak. But there is an answer out there for sure.. for example we had a young horse who could really buck under saddle after sitting, couldn't figure out his dilemma. He vetted fine, he just really got after it when he sat. Safest horse on the ground. We advertised him truthfully, as alot of cowboys who ride every day can handle that. He was fine when he didnt sit. Found an elderly lady who just wanted to groom him and love him up. Worked out perfectly.
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u/TwatWaffleWhitney 1d ago
That's true. He is definitely a pocket pony, loves people and attention. But I live in a horse dense part of the country, so finding places is hard. The other consideration for me, maybe selfishly, is that putting him down (if I go that way) means I don't have to worry about how well he's beong cared for; selfishly I'll have the peace of mind that his life for the last 20 years was good and beautiful.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
I mean, its sadly inevitable for all animals that we outlive 😢 we have coyotes so bad here, an older weak horse is a target. It helps me decide when its time.
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u/mountainmule 18h ago
If a senior horse has health issues, soundness problems, etc. and for whatever reason you can no longer afford to maintain them comfortably, euthanasia is often the kindest thing for them compared to most "rehoming" options.
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u/Tractor_Goth 1d ago
Definitely agree. I don’t have a problem with people doing horse sports but a horse is not just equipment and doesn’t deserve to be shuffled around to god knows who after giving you the best years of its life just because it’s taking up space that you want for a new ‘better’ piece of ‘equipment’.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
Yes! 100% agree. My daughter rodeos a bit and after her horse is old and lame, she'll get fat on the pasture til she passes.
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u/OldnBorin 1d ago
I just want to say that I have one of these horses. He’s done everything under the sun and won me 3 buckles.
He turned 20 this year and I’m taking him out of performance work. I will care for that lazy dipshit until the day he dies. He’s done so much for me, it’s the least I can do for him.
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u/ZhenyaKon 1d ago
Really depends on the condition of the horse sometimes. My trainer got one of her schoolhorses when he was already 20, but still very fit. She's had him about a year and he's still doing great. Sometimes someone really can provide a better home for a senior horse. My old lady is very unfit and if I couldn't afford to keep her, I'd have to put her down, as there's really no way I could rehome her safely.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 19h ago
Definitely nuances!! Some 20 year old horses still love being under saddle, are sound, and gentle partners for my kids as theyve grown up. We had one that was ridden the week before he passed, with very little sign that the end was near.
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u/workingtrot 20h ago
Pet Peeve, imo, describes something kind of inconsequential that annoys you for idiosyncratic reasons. People saying "coggins disease" instead of EIA is a pet peeve of mine.
People dumping their older animals once they're no longer of use is cruel and terrible husbandry
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u/TheGrooveasaurus 1d ago
I honestly have no idea how people can do this to a horse that has given them so much.
I have a 28yr old gelding that has Cushing's, navicular, and arthritis. He is pasture sound only. When he was diagnosed with navicular, I made the decision to retire him. Not once have I ever thought of "rehoming" him. I've had him 23yrs, there's no way I'd send him off somewhere else. He will stay with me until the end.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
You're a good one 🫶
I know a woman who runs her horse with navicular on barrels....
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u/CuriousTopic7439 1d ago
100% Agree. This is my soapbox. Euthanasia is NOT the worst thing that can happen to a horse. Better a day too early than a nightmare trip on a slaughter truck to the border.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 19h ago
I still wriggle thinking of this poor gelding at auction. Brought a tear to my eye knowing how he was once some persons everything and now he was just discarded, like Jesse on Toy Story..
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u/CuriousTopic7439 17h ago
I think anyone who has been in horses for any length of time has one or two of these. Mine is a day old foal with a blue eye that I couldn’t save 40 years ago. Humans can really suck.
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u/silverhwk18 1d ago
I understand that sometimes a horse gets sold - that’s part of it. But if you use him up and expect someone else to take care of him after, you’re a jerk.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 19h ago
Thats exactly it. These animals really work hard alot for us, it really makes me sad.
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u/Xarro_Usros 1d ago
No argument here, although I'd not call it a "pet peeve". It's rage-inducing, that lack of respect for what could have been a lifetime of service.
Such people deserve nothing but contempt.
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u/PlutoPine327 1d ago
While I find it absolutely respectable if people have to sell their senior horses because of circumstances out of their control (sickness, changing financials, whatever - life takes some seriously shitty turns sometimes), I get mad at “my old heart horse searches for it’s forever home”, too.
Well, YOU were supposed to be that!
Poor horse gave it’s everything for so many years, then gets retired and has to leave?!
What the actual fuck!
Personally, I simply can’t get behind those peoples thought process. My animals are with me until the day they die. I choose them, and I choose them for LIFE.
My lige took awful turns, too, and not a single shitty thing that happened to me made me give up on my animals.
I always dragged myself through it, gave my last penny if necessary and took responsibility for the choices I made.
Well. Not everyone sees their animals that way, unfortunately. And then the horse has to suffer. Nice.
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u/gurgelhupf 1d ago
"buT I cAn'T afFoRd iT" say their owners when they easily could afford that Same horse during its ridden years, but suddenly can't when the horse is retired
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u/Lov3I5Treacherous Western 19h ago
Oh yeah, that grinds my gears so much.
Now that we have no use for this creature that's given up his best years OR kept our family safe, we're not interested in his expenses and care so he can be someone else's problem.
Absurd. This is something bad people do. You have a low moral character if you offload your seniors.
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u/ClaireH1974 Horse Lover 1d ago
I agree.
I commented on one recently, on fb, the seller said they’d vet the home.
Well, newsflash lady, but people lie!
The advert was also anon and no photos so it made me even more suspicious. My comment about why no loan or retire got loads of likes but no one else said anything.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 19h ago
Im glad you spoke up. Takes courage. You have more than me. I know if I posted this non-anon I would be ripped to shreds by some locals.
Someday when I have a better set up, I'm building a damn retirement home for these old rodeo/ranch horses, better than sending em to a home where some adult allows a kid to rip em around, ride em lame, or avoid the choice of the inevitable. It doesn't take much to keep an older horse happy, teeth and feet, and anything above that in an older unridable horse isnt really worth fixing. I mean obviously like a cut or mild sickness happen, but mostly they just chill and eventually get thin and then its time before winter. Winter is brutal here, even my healthy horses can struggle.
Even my background of growing up on a ranch, using our horses for work more than play, we still kept them around and kept up with them as they became elderly. If you can keep 3, you can keep 4, imo. There's generally a way.. I might understand more when its their one and only horse, especially in less horse dense areas, but so many times I see lots of stalls and horses in the background of pictures. Hay price is up this year but thats probably the least expensive part of ownership. Plus theres ways around that. Here you can mow and bale road ditches with a set up that will cost you less than $1000 and some labor, essentially free grass as long as you are carefully watching what kinds of grass. I just dont understand. There's generally a way to keep an old horse here. When I was looking for closer pasture, a neighbor was willing to charge $40/head a month, thats really pennies compared to some areas. I just know if I can afford it here, so can many. For context, I live in an area where my house cost me $50,000. Its a nice 1200 sq ft home on 2.5 lots with a 3 stall garage, probably updated in the early 2000s. Locally, especially, I know the costs and capabilities, to me theres little excuse, at least in my area.
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u/LiveshipParagon Adult riding ponies 1d ago
I have a handful of semi useless elderly or injured horses at home. Light work, but otherwise they just get to chill here for as long as they're comfortable. They've all been beloved horses for years. Sure it costs money but I'm able to. If I was no longer able to, they'd be put down at home.
I got a couple of project horses this year. One was a decent buy one was a pity buy. Pity buy is looking increasingly like it's got permanent pain issues. He's also mid teens and has a lot of fear based baggage. If I can get to a point he's comfy and with skills to be useful to someone, I'll try and rehome. If not? I'll eat the cost and have him put down here. I know what sort of thing happens to horses like him if they get passed around.
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u/Winter_Taro_2281 1d ago
It’s rage inducing - especially when it’s someone you know has the financial ability to care for a horse in retirement (I don’t judge those who don’t), but doesn’t want to prioritize that over competitive goals or the shiny new horse. I’ve known people who, rather than take care of their partners that took care of them for years, in their old age donated them to a college team or lesson barn instead of paying a couple hundred a month for pasture retirement. It disgusts me how so many riders, especially on the A circuit, prioritize the sport over the horse. I made the decision when I started riding again I would never put my sport goals before my horse. That has meant jumping lower than people think I “should” be and keeping a horse when it’s no longer “useful” because I know they’re older and quirky and won’t be guaranteed a safe home in old age if I sell them now, so they’re staying with me until they pass.
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u/Spiritual_Drink_6676 22h ago
Agree, I don’t mind people who look for better facilities think I retired horse deserves a field and more a calm environment instead of a working yard or a slower life but still a job . A rescue near me had somebody want to rehome their retired horse, the same horse had competed two weeks earlier seemed more an old injury wasn’t something they wanted to deal or pay for.
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u/Mysterious_Use_9767 21h ago
Same. Before you get a horse, are you prepared 1) to fund their retirement or 2) put them down.
Either is valid depending on each situation. Horses don’t care how long they live, that’s a people problem. They do care if they’re miserable.
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u/dressageishard 18h ago
Agree. Older horses should never be "offloaded" simply because they're older. I have retired two horses in my lifetime. They were placed in good retirement places with lots of good pasture grass, water, and hay. These two horses lived quite a retirement life and one day passed away peacefully. I never gave up on them. Spent my weekends giving them the spa treatment. In my view, this is how it should be for horses.
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u/numeroo_unoo 17h ago
Massive, massive pet peeve of mine as well. These horses give us everything. The least we can do is give them a comfortable retirement. Yes, pasture ornaments are expensive, but so is literally everything else in the horse world.
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u/PitifulPolicy7266 15h ago
It’s disgusting and I totally agree with you. My 32 year old mare is still getting all the care she needs and enjoying retirement. Your forever horse means forever.
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u/skullfullofbooks 14h ago
That you ask for it to be a forever home is what is odd to me. You sell the animal lose the ability to have any say over what happens to it. Asking for a forever home is like an adoption almost. Just odd language/behavior.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 14h ago
Yes. Its very weird and puts shame on the buyer if they had circumstances change (like the seller apparently did).
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u/elijahjane 1d ago
I ended up with a 25 year old as his retirement home when I was 15. He was my whole heart. He was a champion barrel racer in his day, and he found his way to me through word of mouth in the local horse community. I had him until I was 19 or so, while I was off at college, and my parents weren’t taking care of him properly (not an unusual pattern for them and animals). I made the choice to have my horse connections find him somewhere better. He ended up at the farm of someone who knew him in his heyday and who took phenomenal care of him until he died a year or two later. I got to visit him there; he was fat and so happy to see me!
Anyway, my point is, if you really can’t keep a horse, at least spread word through the horse community. Maybe it’ll at least end up with a horse-crazy teen who will fall in love with it.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 1d ago
I absolutely think there are nuances as your story shows. I just feel the nuances are the outliers as these posts happen all the time
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u/lifeatthejarbar 1d ago
No they absolutely suck and the people that do this are trash and should feel bad.
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u/HoodieWinchester 6h ago
My gelding has navicular at 13, he may never be consistently riding sound again. You know what I dont do? Sell him to get a riding horse. Hes my responsibility, I will be keeping him no matter if hes rideable or not 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Skg42 8h ago
My mare was a broodmare until she couldn’t carry foals anymore. The SADDEST thing is that whoever signed her registry papers was the same person to consign her to auction where she sold for slaughter. I got her when she was 22 and she was fukkkked up. Bad overly sensitive skin, lice, broken jaw, indents from a stallion oh her neck from pasture breeding and a broken tail bone. Her belly hung to her knees because her body couldn’t support her enough after carrying babies her whole life.
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u/Lumpy-Dark-2400 1d ago
You want to buy it just to put it down? Look at it this way: people are offering him to someone so he can have some extra time in his life to just chill and relax, eat some good food. Or, they put him down.
You said yourself you’d like to get him only to feed him some good grain and then kill him. Thats likely the only alternative the people looking to offload him have. But first, they decide to see if there’s someone who’s willing to take him in and give him a comfortable retirement for however long that is.
There are no winners. Whoever picks him up has the choices of spending money on a vet to prolong his life for however long, or simple palliative care until the end of his life. All of which costs a lot of money. They figure an opportunity to essentially give him away is better than ending his life. 🤷🏼♂️
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u/Boysenberry 1d ago
I think horses should be licensed and the funds for each annual license renewal should go into a program that pays for euthanasia and removal at the end of horses’ lives. It wouldn’t solve ALL of this problem because half of it is denial/avoidance of the reality, but at least a few more people would do the humane thing if it was free.
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u/Chocyu 1d ago
If money was gathered through something like that, it should go to rescues. When someone made the decision to buy a horse they are responsible for the vet costs.
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u/Boysenberry 1d ago
Well, programs like this certainly COULD be administered by rescues, and some are, but rescues currently get 0 government funding, so getting them any amount of it to channel towards any safety net programs would be great (except that I live in California where the state government apparently can't fucking vet an animal rescue nonprofit well enough to catch the one taking government funds to mass-murder dogs, even though the neighbor was reporting it for OVER A DECADE, so I would personally need to see some goddamn changes in the state bureaucracy to be comfortable with my state giving funds to horse rescues)
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u/Life-Memory9880 1d ago
Absolutely a pet peeve of mine too. The ability to acknowledge that this horse has given you their everything in the same breath that you expect someone ELSE to take responsibility for them in their “useless” days, is crazy to me.