# Companion animals to retired mare



## pasomountain (Dec 19, 2018)

I think most horses prefer to be with other horses although there are exceptions. Have you considered a mini horse or donkey? To keep costs down maybe you could learn how to do a basic natural horse trim and trim their feet yourself.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

If you decided to try a companion animal, it would be best to see how she responds to them before committing to bringing her home. Some horses will harm smaller animals, by kicking, biting or being too aggressive over space. It all depends on the individual horse. Some like goats, some kick goats.

My thought would be if you don't want to keep two horses, move her to a simpler boarding barn where she can be retired but still around other horses. 

I was interested to know about the term retirement age. It might just be the way you are putting it, but horses might retire from work anywhere from age 7 with an injury to 30+ if healthy. I would not consider retiring a horse due to an age, because it is healthier to keep exercising them as long as possible. I've been on long rides with people riding horses over 30. But if a horse is unsound and old, then of course they will need to retire.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

gottatrot said:


> I was interested to know about the term retirement age. It might just be the way you are putting it, but horses might retire from work anywhere from age 7 with an injury to 30+ if healthy. I would not consider retiring a horse due to an age, because it is healthier to keep exercising them as long as possible. I've been on long rides with people riding horses over 30. But if a horse is unsound and old, then of course they will need to retire.


That's really quite true. My 30yo TB was sound right till the end, and probably would have kept going on if he hadn't colicked. Of course, he wasn't working really hard by that point, but he did so love to canter, and I'd ordered a new saddle for him (western endurance because there was a chance I was going to be able to go riding with friends off property (nothing too strenuous) that he never got to wear. My current gelding is 22 and still going strong as ever, don't see him quittin any time soon. And exercise is definitely important for the oldies to keep them limber. Even something as loight as 30 minutes under saddle at the walk. Or in the case of my retired mare (who didn't so much as retire from riding as much as it was me getting hurt and not being able to bring back 2 horses into work at the same time once I was physically able to ride again, and then she got diagnosed with DSLD and can't carry the weight of an adult anyway) who benefits from being ponied by my gelding.


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## Alayna (Jun 10, 2021)

gottatrot said:


> If you decided to try a companion animal, it would be best to see how she responds to them before committing to bringing her home. Some horses will harm smaller animals, by kicking, biting or being too aggressive over space. It all depends on the individual horse. Some like goats, some kick goats.
> 
> My thought would be if you don't want to keep two horses, move her to a simpler boarding barn where she can be retired but still around other horses.
> 
> I was interested to know about the term retirement age. It might just be the way you are putting it, but horses might retire from work anywhere from age 7 with an injury to 30+ if healthy. I would not consider retiring a horse due to an age, because it is healthier to keep exercising them as long as possible. I've been on long rides with people riding horses over 30. But if a horse is unsound and old, then of course they will need to retire.


Thank you for the reply and the reassurance. She is completely sound right now with no health issues (except for missing an eye due to uveitis and a bacterial infection but she is completely healed from that with no complications or negative impacts to daily life). I still jump her and she rides and moves like she’s 12 years old (or at least what I think a 12 year old would move like, being completely healthy and energetic). She is my first horse so I always have this tiny worry in the back of my head that her age will suddenly hit her and her health or soundness will quickly decline. I know it’s not anything that I should worry about since she has never shown any signs of something like that happening. I am not planning on retiring her until she tells me that she needs it. I was simply asking around for peoples opinions and I’d be very happy not to act on the suggestions for another ten years. I do appreciate your suggestions and recounting of your personal experiences.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

@Alayna 

Sounds like your mare still has plenty of gas left in the tank, and should still be going strong. My gelding is 22, and aside from me adding a joint supplement (in cookie form) his routine daily care hasn't changed from when I brought him home at 8. 

It may be that over time, you'll scale back the kind of work she gets (i.e. less jumping, less speed work, more walking, etc.). My first horse was very much like that. I got him at 18 (as a wee kid so he was my pony club mount and an excellent schoolmaster). He jumped until he was about 25, and then pretty much went from show horse to trail mount at that point. Still loved to canter though, we had a blast on trails. He was riding sound well into his later years (in fact, my last ride on him had been 4 days before he colicked). I think there's retirement, and then there's _retirement_. Your mare might never get to that point and she might be perfectly happy toddling along down the trails or around the arena or whatever right to the end. Even my senior mare who's "retired" gets out to see the world. Only thing she's actually retired from is riding, I think she'd be OK with a kid riding her, but I don't dislike any kids of my acquaintance enough to find that out. 😂


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

What about fostering a horse for a rescue? From what I recall with the rescues I've seen, they take care of medical care and farrier work, as well as some or all of their feed.


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