What do you do with your aged stallions and mares.

[bevann]

Stallions who are no longer breeding are now geldings-mares just hang out here and keep me sane.I am caring for(cushings or IR mare 24 ,mare 23, mare 20), gelding 20 with melanoma,gelding 15, gelding 11 Feeding time is fun-lots of baggies with different meds.I am responsible for them and will continue to care for them until they die.They have served me well.I always check when I visit farms to see what happens to their older non productive horses-tells you lots about the character of the people.Many of us on here think of our animals as part of the family.

 

[targetsmom]

This is a scary topic for me because by the time our current horses are "aged", Gary and I will likely be long gone. But we do plan to make arrangements though a trust fund, for their care. We did just deal with this situation with our old riding gelding Target, and I have to say that I wish we treated family members the way he was treated. He was living out his retirement doing just about anything he wanted on our farm. He had the run of the place and loved watching the minis. When he started going downhill last fall, it was so fast that the vet who had just seen him was surprised. Blood tests indicated he had a massive infection and my vet even consulted a second vet to see if there was any hope. Both vets agreed that euthanasia was the only option. He is buried on our property.

In the shorter (we hope) term, when we decide to no longer breed, our plans are to geld our stallion because he would make an awesome gelding. He is already green broke to drive and has his Pinto Championship with performance points in trail and hunter. He and the broodmares can join the geldings and show mares as 4-H projects for as long as they (and we) are able.

Now I think there are situations where the best option may be to put a horse down. I knew someone with a big horse that was just wild and dangerous and had hurt her. Rather than take him to an auction where he might be bought by someone with a child or with less horse experience who might get badly hurt, she had the horse put down. I think that was a responsible decision.

 

[wildoak]

Just keep feeding them lol. I've had a couple of big horses I kept into their 30's, and am beginning to have a pretty good geriatric herd of minis. Both my sr stallions are in their mid teens and I have a good many mares from 16 up to 20 or so. They get to live the good life as long as they are able, unless the right "retirement" home falls into my lap.

Jan

 

[HGFarm]

Mine will retire here. My old stallion is 22 this year. He will never leave me. I had an old mare years ago that just retired and hung out and she lived to almost 30. My neighbors retire theirs too and have had a few into their 30's. Their old Morgan mare is 30 this year.... a mini stallion they have is about 31 now and infertile for years, but just lives the life of Riley and is doing really well. I feel they serve our purposes well and earn their retirement and deserve to live out their life in luxury and relaxation.

 

[Wings]

the space to retire mine here, as long as they are healthy and comfortable they can enjoy a well tended retirement that includes gelding for the stallions and slow introduction into permanent herd life.

However, I don't think of euthanasia as the worst of ends, it is much better than an auction or a badly chosen new home. Once these guys leave our hands we have no control over their lives. If for whatever reason I cannot care for a horse and doubt my ability to find the right home it is not an option I will shy away from. But I am very glad I have the space for mine so I am unlikely to face that!

 

[mdegner]

Like most responses thus far, we let them get old and die on the farm (god willing we are still alive). The oldest one we have right now is 19 but we stopped breeding her a couple of years ago and have another mare (12) we won't be breeding anymore either. Our older stallion (7) we gelded last year and are training to drive. If a good home appears for any of those horses, we will certainly let them go but, if not, we are happy to have them live out their lives here. If faced with a situation where we couldn't keep them and we had the choice between going to a sale or euthenasia, I would probably opt for euthenasia. Too many horrible things can happen at sales and afterwards and I wouldn't feel right about putting them out there like that. We also look at them like family and I would feel as though we betrayed them. Knowing they lived--and died--well would be my choice. Here's to hoping we don't have to ever make that decision...

 

[Riverrose28]

We currently have three over 30, two geldings and a mare, all enjoying their retirement, here, but, hubby and I have already discussed this. If something happens to either one of us where we couldn't take care of our beloved oldsters, they are to be put down by our vet, and buried here. I couldn't live with myself if they went to auction or to someone that wouldn't care properly for them. ONce horses are sold you don't know what happens to them, to sell a young one is one thing, the old timers is not an option with us. Our horses are our life, our loves, our babies.

 

[Lori W]

Like most, we keep them comfortably into their retirement. In fact, on our website under our 'Sales' page, here's what we say:

"While we currently don't have any of our Miniature horses actively for sale, we would consider reasonable offers on any horse in our herd, with the exception of our two stallions and our older brood mares (these ladies have earned their retirement with us!)."

 

[mel]

LOVE THEM!! My first stallion quietly passed at 34 and my second stallion is a grand old fella at the young age of 25. Ziggs is buried on the property and Sully will have a place next to him when his time comes. I have one mare who is sterile and is the best babysitter on the farm, she is worth her weight and then some in gold.

 

[Tony]

Xenon died here last year at age 27. However, his health was declining to the point that I was reluctantly considering putting him down. The stallions that I know of that have been put down was NOT because of no longer being useful, but because of health problems hindering their quality of life.

 

[Charlotte]

"What do you do with your aged stallions and mares. "

Love them.

 

[Riverdance]

I still have my first Mini and she will stay here till the end. I got her as a weanling. I also have one that I bought when she was 18, a producer of multiple AMHA world Grand Champions, when she was getting older, she was sold. I tracked her down and got her in foal at 18. I was hoping to get a filly out of her. She was in foal with a colt to an inferior stallion. Sold that colt and tried for that filly with one of my stallions, got another colt. She is now 24. I never got another foal out of her, though I tried. She was brought down with me from MN and will spend the rest of her days here on my farm. She may not have given me what I was looking for, but she gave the Miniature horse world some really fine babies. She does not begin to look old either. If people remember the Winks and Mickey Mouse Lines, she is a Mickey Mouse and Winks Excellence daughter.

 

[vvf]

Our stallion Jet Stream is 30 this year. I have been babying him for the last 3 -4 years and will continue to do so. I am very happy that we had a mild winter here, which made it easier for him.... But when the time comes, and I need to make the "hard" decision, that is what I will do. We have owned Jet since he was 2 months old, and he deserves the best care that I can give him.

I also have a few older mares that are retired and will live their days as pasture ornaments .

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

If it's a quality of life issue, I would put a horse down, it's the humane thing to do. Infertility isn't quality of life IMHO. We retire here or find retirement/pet homes for our older horses. Stallion's are gelded.

Right now we have a few in their 20's, all doing well, but the oldest at 26 is slowing down. Considering it's springish here and fairly warm, I'm wondering if this will be her last year, so we're monitoring her.

I sold two horses earlier this week to a woman that I love her philosophy on her animals - "I buy them, I bury them."

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have a couple of mares I would let go to good retirement homes, they are not that old (17) and will live another ten years in good health. They have served me well enough with foals, if I could find them a home that would give them a better home than mine I would let them go...on loan.

Some animals will stay forever- Rabbit is 33 this year, his last foal was born two years ago.

He was born here and he will die here.

 

[sedeh]

I figure they deserve a good retirement! My big horse lived until he was 37! I have placed some older mares with good homes. People that just want mini's for pets. It has always been with the caveat that they come back to me if they're not wanted anymore! This has worked well for me and I get regular reports from the people that have them! I did get my oldest girl back this year. She was a companion horse to a friends older mare, when the mare died they didn't want Desi there as a reminder...so she came back. I still get regular emails from them asking how she's doing though!