Giving Up Your Horse

 In This Chapter

• Determining whether you’ve outgrown your horse
• Selling a horse the humane way (and finding alternatives to selling)

Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever, including human/horse relationships. Your horse may get so old that you can no longer ride him. Perhaps lifestyle changes prevent your having time for your horse. Maybe your first horse has taught you so much that you’ve outgrown him. You may find yourself wanting a horse that can provide a new challenge.

When these situations arise, do the right thing by your horse. He deserves it. A horse isn’t an object to be discarded when he has outlived his usefulness. Horses are feeling creatures capable of suffering, and so are deserving of consideration. In this chapter, we first warn you about the dangers of public auctions and slaughterhouses, and then tell you about telltale signs that you’ve outgrown your horse and provide several options on how to give up your horse.

Beware of Killer Buyers

Every year, hundreds of thousands of horses are slaughtered and the meat sold for human consumption in parts of Europe and Asia. This fate befalls not only to old, lame animals, but young, rideable horses in their prime. How can this be? A perfectly rideable horse can land at a slaughterhouse merely because the horse was sold at an auction and purchased by a killer buyer. The killer buyer gets the horse at a price that’s less than what the horse will be worth as meat, making the animal worth more dead than alive.

In the United States, few regulations govern the transportation of slaughter-bound horses. Consequently, the animals are crowded into double-decker cattle trucks and sent on several-day journeys to slaughterhouses with no food or water for the duration of the trip. All the horses suffer under these conditions, but the infirm, the very old, and the very young suffer the most.

Debate rages in the horse world over the issue of slaughter. Some people believe that slaughter is a practical solution for the disposal of thousands of unwanted horses and argue that as soon as the horse arrives at the slaughterhouse, his death is quick and painless. Others offer proof that the end doesn’t always come swiftly and feel that slaughter is no way for an animal to end up after serving his life as a companion to humankind.

The opponents of horse slaughter succeeded in passing a law in California in 1999 to outlaw the practice of selling a horse for slaughter, although reports of horses shipped out of state to be sold for this purpose abound. Humane groups are currently working on national legislation to ban the practice of horse slaughter in the United States, ending this method of horse disposal. Until a nationwide ban on the practice is enacted, horses in the U.S. will continue to be slaughtered for human consumption elsewhere in the world. Some experts believe that even a U.S. ban against horse slaughter won’t stop the practice because many killer buyers will simply ship horses to Canada, where horse slaughter is legal.

Remember

We aren’t telling you this news to bum you out, but rather to make you aware. We want you to be aware of what happens to horses that are casually sold or given away after they’ve outlived their usefulness, or are simply unwanted. If you don’t give much thought to what happens to your horse after you sell him, he’ll likely end up at a public auction, where he may be bought by a killer buyer and shipped to slaughter.

We assume that you love your horse too much to see him end up this way. With this fact in mind, we tell you how you can protect your horse so he doesn’t find himself in this situation, while at the same time meeting your own needs to get a different horse or get out of horse ownership altogether.

Figuring Out if You Need to Move On

You may have trouble imagining a time when you don’t want to or can’t ride your companion anymore. Yet it happens to horse owners all the time. If you lose interest in riding or if your horse can’t be ridden, your decision not to ride your horse anymore is pretty cut-and-dried. But if you simply outgrow your horse, the decision to stop riding him isn’t so easy. This is a gray area, where the question of whether your skills have surpassed your horse’s skills is a bit subjective. Emotions can muddle the situation even more, making the decision an agonizing one.

Seeing signs of outgrowing your horse

One day, you may look at your horse and realize that you’ve learned more from him than you ever could have imagined. He served as your guide to an exciting but uncertain world. But now you feel both comfortable and confident in that world, and life with your horse is beginning to get a bit stagnant. If you suspect you’re outgrowing your horse, certain signs can help you determine the truth. Examine yourself for these feelings and situations:

- You used to love riding your horse, but you’re getting bored. You’ve varied your riding routine and pursued different riding activities, but nothing makes riding your horse fun. You’re certain the problem isn’t riding itself because whenever you ride someone else’s horse, you find the experience exhilarating.

- You enjoyed learning to ride on your horse, but now that you’re more competent, you want to get involved in a competitive activity (see Chapter Competing on Horseback for details). Your horse is a great beginner’s horse but he’s not a show horse. You have no hope of moving into competition if you keep him as your mount.

- You feel you’ve mastered the basics of horsemanship and now want to move up to the next level within your discipline so you can become a better rider. Or, maybe you want to change to a different discipline (see Chapter Selecting a Riding Discipline for discipline details). Your horse is holding you back because he doesn’t have the athletic ability to help you get to the next level or to work in another discipline.

If any of these scenarios apply to you and your horse, talk with your trainer or another equine expert who is familiar with both your riding ability and your horse to see whether that person agrees that you’re outgrowing your horse.

Deciding your next step

When you’re certain that you’ve outgrown your horse, you must decide what you’re going to do. If moving on in your riding is important to you, you need to get a new horse. You can keep your first horse and care for him in addition to your new horse, or you can find a new life for your first horse and replace him with another horse.

If your urges to learn more aren’t more important than your relationship with your horse, consider keeping him and continuing to ride him while taking lessons on other horses, or put your desires to grow aside. Although many horse people believe that you may be doing a disservice to yourself by following this latter option, there’s something to be said for loyalty, dedication, and commitment to your old friend.

Looking at Options for Your Old Friend

After you make the decision to stop riding your first horse in favor of getting another one (or even leaving the hobby completely), think long and hard about what you’re going to do with Old Faithful. You can protect your horse from the slaughterhouse, and we tell you how in the following sections.

Selling

Remember

Selling your horse outright is the riskiest option for your horse in terms of his long-term future, especially if he’s in the upper age range (20 years or older). Yet selling is the most common way of divesting oneself of an unwanted horse. If you’re determined to sell your horse and recover your investment but are concerned about where the horse ends up, follow these guidelines:

- Find out the meat market price for horses in your area (usually around $1 per pound), and price your horse considerably higher than what he would sell for at slaughter. This way, killer buyers won’t be interested in him because they won’t be able to make money by reselling him for slaughter.

- Don’t consign your horse to a public auction. The majority of horses purchased for slaughter come from public auctions.

- Don’t sell your horse to a horse dealer who ships horses to slaughter (ask him if you aren’t sure). Your horse may end up on a truck to the slaughterhouse instead of being purchased by someone who wants to ride him.

- Sell your horse only to a good home. Screen potential buyers by asking them questions such as whether they’ve owned a horse before (and if so, what happened to him), their intended uses for the horse, the type of housing the horse will receive, and what they plan to do with your horse when they no longer want him. Ask to see where the horse will be kept, and check out the facilities to make sure they’re well maintained. Watch the prospective buyer ride the horse, and think about whether the horse is a good match for the buyer. If it doesn’t appear that the horse and the buyer get along (the horse seems unhappy when being ridden by this person), decline to sell the horse. Selling your horse to someone who isn’t a good fit may result in your horse being resold at some point down the line.

- Be cautious about potential buyers. Unscrupulous people in the horse world sometimes pretend to be buying a horse to ride when in reality they intend the animal for slaughter. Combat this problem by asking potential buyers plenty of questions about themselves and their intent for the horse, and don’t hesitate to say no if you get a bad feeling. Keeping your horse’s price tag well above meat value helps keep these buyers away.

- Offer a buy-back option on the horse. Tell the buyer you want to buy the horse back at the purchase price at any time in the horse’s life if the owner decides he no longer wants the horse.

Leasing

If your horse is still healthy and sound, the best alternative to selling him is to lease him (Chapter Preparing to Make Your Purchase has full details on leasing). When you lease your horse, you still maintain control over his ultimate destiny while divesting yourself of the time and financial responsibilities of ownership. In a lease situation, the lessee pays you a sum for use of the horse, in addition to whatever other costs you want to charge (board, shoes, and preventive veterinary care are the norm in full leases). The lessee cares for and rides the horse while you collect the fee.

The three typical types of leases are

- A full lease, where someone rides and cares for your horse off your premises.

- A full lease with stipulations, where the lessee rides and cares for your horse on your property or at an approved facility.

- A partial lease, where the lessee shares use of the horse with you or another partial lessee.

Warning!

Some headaches come with leasing. If the horse develops a major health or training problem, you need to get involved. If your lessee stops making payments to you or backs out of the lease, you have to deal with the problem. But if you truly care about your horse’s future, leasing is surely the best way to go.

Donation to a program

If your horse is healthy and sound, donation to a special riding program is an excellent alternative to selling him because most centers for therapeutic riding accept donations of horses. Centers typically look for horses that are quiet, gentle, and forgiving to inexperienced riders. In turn, the horse receives excellent care. Plus, you may even be able to go visit him from time to time.

If you contact a therapeutic riding center and offer your horse for donation, center personnel will want to evaluate the horse to make sure that he has the right disposition for the job. If the horse passes muster, you can grant the center legal possession and receive a charitable tax write-off for your trouble.

Remember

Although this option can be great for an older horse, we want to caution you about two things regarding donating your horse:

- Make sure that you donate your horse to a legitimate organization. Con artists often present themselves as representing a therapeutic riding program when they’re really procuring free horses to sell for slaughter. Ask for proof of the group’s nonprofit status, and pay their stables a visit. If in doubt, contact your state government to determine whether the group is registered as a nonprofit therapeutic riding program.

- Find out the therapeutic riding program’s policy on disposing of horses who are no longer needed. Most therapeutic riding organizations euthanize horses that are too old or ill to perform their duties. However, some organizations sell the horses for slaughter. Get the group’s policy in writing. If the group sells horses to slaughter, decline to donate your horse or stipulate in writing that you’re donating your horse only if you’re allowed to take the horse back or buy him back at meat price when he’s no longer needed in the program. The horse may be returned to you when he is very old and sick, but at least with this arrangement, you can have the horse humanely euthanized instead of sending him off to slaughter.

Gift to a family member

If your horse is rideable but you’ve outgrown him, consider passing him along to someone in your immediate family. Perhaps your oldest child is getting more interested in riding and wants her own horse. Maybe your spouse hasn’t been riding much but wants to and could benefit from the teachings of your old veteran. Of course, this option only works if your family can afford to keep two horses. If not, consider passing your horse along to a relative who seriously wants to get into riding. You can sell the horse to your relative for a nominal fee or even give the horse away, but only under one condition: that the relative won’t eventually resell the horse, but will instead sell or give the horse back to you. Get this agreement in writing so the relative feels obligated to stick to it.

Retirement

Probably the kindest option for an older horse is to retire him. Retirement is also practical because older horses tend to be harder to sell. After years of service, older horses often need and deserve a break from regular work. A pasture is the best place for a retired horse, but you can’t put him out there and forget about him. He still needs daily care, grooming, veterinary care, and TLC.

Warning!

Retiring a horse to pasture is a good idea, but retiring a horse to a stall or a small, grassless paddock is not the best route to take. If your horse has nothing to graze on and is confined in a small space, he will deteriorate due to the lack of exercise and mental stimulation. If you don’t have your own pasture, you can rent one, either at a boarding facility or a private equine property. The most convenient arrangement is to board your horse in a pasture where daily care is part of the boarding agreement. Even with this arrangement, try to find a pasture that isn’t too far from where you live so you can check on your horse on regular basis (see Chapter Housing Your Horse Comfortably for information on providing a pasture for your horse).

If you can’t find a pasture where your horse receives daily care from the pasture’s owner or management, you need to do the work yourself. Doing so means grooming the horse, checking him for illness or injury, and providing him the necessary medication or supplements.

Euthanasia

If you’re no longer riding your horse because he’s old and lame, and you can’t afford to retire him, consider euthanasia. Although losing a companion after all he’s done for you is painful, euthanizing him is a much kinder end than being shipped off to slaughter. You can think of the minimal cost of the euthanasia and disposal of the body (either by burial on your own property, cremation by a pet cemetery, or livestock removal service to a rendering plant) as your final gift to your old friend. See Chapter Examining and Treating Equine Health Troubles for more information on euthanasia.

by Audrey Pavia with Janice Posnikoff,DVM