Retirement, donation, or euthanasia:

What is best for a horse you cannot sell?

plan for retirement | donation options | euthanasia

Retirement:

It's extremely likely your horse will live well beyond his ability to be ridden. Today's horses often live into their 30s.

But it's extremely hard to find a good home for an unrideable and/or elderly horse. Even when offered "free to good home" there may be no takers. From the buyers' point of view: it costs just as much to feed a rideable horse as it does an un-rideable one, so most people aren't interested in a pasture pal.

What you can do is budget and plan, the same way you would for your own retirement.

Retirement board is available. Expect to see more retirement-only boarding barns appear. Right now the challenge is finding ones with openings. Try google or asking around locally. It may or may not be cheaper than regular board, depending on the facility. However, because these can be in more rural areas (since owners don't come to ride), expenses should be lower therefore making general boarding a bit more affordable.

Non-profit retirement organizations exist, though most have waiting lists. Examples are Ryerss (PA) or Old Friends (KY). They accept full responsibility for the horse for the rest of his life, though ownership does need to be signed over.

"Donating" the horse to a shelter, rescue, school, therapeutic program:

When considering if your horse might be suitable to give to an organization, consider a few things:

Check into the policies of the organization first:

Not all shelters or rescues are "no kill"; in other words, some do put down animals who have been there awhile to make room for more. Your horse might be one who is put down.
Not all shelters take back horses they adopt out. Your horse may be homeless if the person who adopts him one day can no longer keep him. Ask them if they always take back every horse they place. They should be willing to show you the written adoption contract required when someone goes to adopt your former horse; this will state if the horse must come back (or not).
Not all shelters are opposed to horse slaughter. A few actively lobby to increase it. This may or may not bother you, but it's something to be aware of.
Horses that turn out as not suitable for therapeutic programs are almost always sold. How carefully they decide where the horse goes varies. Some schools and riding programs may take horses straight to the nearest auction.
Unsound or elderly horses are generally not very suitable to be donated to riding, therapy, or adoption programs. Vet schools may accept them, but the horse is usually kept comfortable while studied, then euthanized when the study ends.
It's ok to ask the organization what happens to a horse if he's unsuitable, is no longer needed, or is retired.

Check the non-profit status of anyone claiming to offer you a tax deduction. You can do so by going to GuideStar or direct to the IRS List 78. Unfortunately there is at least one large, well-known "rescue" currently promising donors tax deductions for their horses, yet they are not nor ever were a non-profit.

For it to be a helpful donation, the horse should be current on care. Please have your horse's vaccinations, Coggins, teeth, and farrier all up to date.

You may be responsible for the cost of transporting the horse.

Donation isn't right for all horses -- what would be in this horse's best interest?

Who accepts horses?

Use your local phone book to find schools or universities in your area. Wikipedia also lists vet schools in the US.
Call your local vet schools to see if they accept horses for research. New Bolton, for example, accepts a small number but only at certain times of the year.
Find your nearest therapeutic riding centers
Find shelters / rescues : equinerescue.info list or ghostfleet US and Canada list. Also go to Petfinder.com to see who has horses for adoption in your area & contact them.
Use google to search for what's in your region.

Euthanasia

In some cases, it might be best to put the horse down. If the horse is suffering or may suffer in the hands of someone less educated about his needs, perhaps it's time to let him go.

Visit the euthanasia page for additional information about planning, knowing when it's time, costs, options, and burial/disposal.