04/15/2026
And a friendly reminder that rescues are not retirement homes for horses. ❤️🩹
We can only take in ones that have hopes of being adopted back out or else we cannot continue our work.
If we took in every 25+ year old horse we would be full immediately. We aren’t being cruel.
Euthanasia is a humane option especially when horses tend to hide pain and discomfort so well.
A tough pill to swallow: no longer wanting to pay to care for a horse when you cannot ride them is a statement that you love riding more than the horse.
And before anyone gets defensive, I get it.
I used to have this mindset, too.
I used to defend it.
But, if our love for an animal was greater than our love for riding, we would not be able to bear with parting with a beloved friend even if it meant that how we go about being able to ride looks different.
The Horse industry views horses as disposable.
It is far to normalize to give them away when they are no longer useable for riding.
What this then results in is a world that is flooded with horses who are no longer wanted when they cannot be ridden.
And there simply are not enough homes to accommodate them.
For everyone happy ending where a horse is lucky enough to find someone who will take them on and care for them into end of life, there are many more who do not have the same story.
Horses who go through home after home, sometimes being sold as rideable and worked through pain…
Horses who fall into the auction pipeline…
You name it.
The point being, something in our industry needs to change.
We need to be building a horse people who love horses as much or more than riding.
It is not sustainable to hold riding with such a great importance that horses are no longer wanted when they cannot be ridden.
The entire mindset is reliant on viewing horses as disposable and lying to ourselves about what realities horses are facing when their owners don’t want them when they become injured or need retirement.
It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s a necessary one.
In a world where horses are loved more than riding, people keep their horses when they are at their most vulnerable.
They don’t pawn them off to be someone else’s problem.
Yes, horses can be expensive, but that doesn’t make it any more justifiable.
It is just as harmful and selfish as it would be to give away your elderly arthritic dog because they can’t go on as long of walks anymore.
People get into Horse ownership knowing the costs associated with it.
And that cost doesn’t change when we could no longer ride, the only thing that changes is the willingness to pay for it.
If you are getting into horses with a transactional mindset, consider leasing instead of purchasing.
That way, if the Horse can no longer be ridden, they aren’t your problem. You can move onto the next rideable horse.
Otherwise, start getting comfortable with being honest with yourself and what your behaviour actually exposes about your motivations. No
