BTB: Retirement thoughts

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Retirement thoughts Posted: 22 May 2011 11:44 AM PDT Throwleigh Farm I think alot about retirement. Oh -- not mine, Harv's. There is a farm in Virginia, Throwleigh Farm, that is a reasonably priced retirement facility with a decent/good reputation. For $150/month your retired horse is kept at a large, family-owned farm on a many-acred pasture with other old, old guys. Trimming and shots are included. You can't visit without an appointment, though. There is a place in Pittstown PA called Ryerss Farm, and for a hefty one-time sum ($4-6,000) they'll take your old guy off your hands entirely.  They provide a little more hands-on/individualized care than Throwleight, plus a stall (when needed).  As a non-profit,  they have volunteers and you can visit during their open hours. I donate to Ryerss and Harv is on the waiting list (has been for about 3 years).  Outsource my own horse's retirement? Lately I'm thinking that "outsourcing" Harv's retirement is not an option, at least not while it's financially an option for me to keep him myself. Why? Aging has not made Harv lower maintenance. He's never been a high maintenance horse, but I see things now that need to be monitored closely -- his weight, his teeth, his arthritis, for example. No one will care about this more than I do. Harvey loves attention. While lots of retirement places do some interaction with the horses, Harv loves having people around to fuss over him. He's had this all of his life. I don't see changing that. Harv knows me. Since he was nine years old, Harv has had me around, checking on him, fussing over him, riding him, annoying him (pulling his mane for example), feeding him, rubbing his ears.  Turning him over to someone else will feel like abandonment. I want him around. Every day. Harv is finally starting to look his age, old gentleman that he is. As his health becomes more fragile, he needs his routine, he needs many pairs of eyes on him, and he needs the kind of monitoring a retirement barn will have trouble providing. He will have this as long as I can make it happen. Final options I've had casual conversations with a friend. I don't know if either of could actually follow through, but both of us have said that rather than let our horses out of our control in their old age, we'd put them down. Too many horses end up in the wrong hands or in bad circumstances when they're "given away" or adopted out.  Put an old, but otherwise reasonably healthy horse down? I don't know if I could really do this, and whether it is an ultimately selfish act or a thoughtful one, an act of kindness or the ultimate in exerting control over an animal. I hope never to have to put this thinking to the test.

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