A Horse’s Guide to Retirement Bliss
The WORRIES
At the end of your performance horse’s career, you may be stuck wondering where their life goes after being accustomed to the last 10-15 years living in a stall, being groomed, ridden, and shown - the staples of their life. When these horses reach retirement age, a lot of people have a hard time transitioning their horses to their next chapter. The common worries include:
He’s used to going in his stall at night.
He’ll miss being groomed every day.
He’ll miss going for rides.
He doesn’t know how to interact with other horses.
These concerns are born from owners simply wanting the best for their horses. And I get it. It’s a lot like sending a kid off to college and wondering, “Did I teach them enough to stay out of trouble?” “Will they miss me?” “Will they be happy?”
Natural Instincts
Despite putting our horse’s into unnatural lifestyles, their instincts are still very much alive. If you’ve been riding your horse and he spooks at a shadow, puddle, dog, etc. those instincts are still there. If he’s gotten sour leaving his buddies in the barn or called for them as he’s gotten on the trailer, they’re still there. So while we’ve trained our horses to be athletes and dance partners, we haven’t killed their natural way of being. Reintroducing them to life in a herd like they hopefully grew up as foals/youngsters, gives them the ultimate level of comfort. Way beyond coming in at night, being groomed, going for rides, etc.
The people with the most concerns tend to be dressage riders. No fault of their own, they just happen to own horses that have been bred to be the most sensitive, ‘hot’, athletic... the list goes on. And these horses are often looked after meticulously, with extra bubble wrap. One horse that came to Rancho Agave to retire had a reputation for being aggressive and pushy, very much giving off “alpha energy”. He acted like a stallion even though he was a gelding. He’d strike or kick at horses as they’d walk by him. He even got his leg caught in a fence at his previous barn kicking at another horse in a paddock as he was walking by. Understandably, the owner hesitated to put him into a herd for fear of collateral damage. The worries of whether or not he’d try to kill another horse or hurt himself grew when he showed the same behaviors at Rancho Agave even though he wasn’t in work. So, he lived alone for quite a while. We had to build an extra strong paddock (the “bull pen” we called it) with extra boards and hot wire for him because he would kick the fence if another horse even looked his way. He whinnied when horses would leave and was constantly on alert, dropping weight and showing that he was clearly stressed. He showed all the behavior of a lead stallion, but no opportunity for him to actually be with his herd.
The Transition
Finally, I decided we had to try something. We have two retired OTTBs, a mother and son duo, that lived together. I thought their temperaments would work with this horse. Despite some antics on the way to the pasture to introduce him to his new herd, their meet-and-greet was the smoothest of any I’ve had. Since their introduction, he has become the leader of the herd. The fence hasn’t been kicked and you rarely hear him whinny (only when he calls to the mares across the way). He has a newfound alignment in his role and purpose, and the whole dynamic of the farm shifted once he found his place.
I have also tried to rename and change the framework around his behavior. What we consider to be “asshole” behavior is in reality the job of a stallion. He tells the other horses what to do and ultimately has the hardest job of all. He‘s not a dictator, but rather a leader. He looks after the rest of the herd. His head pops up first when there is a perceived threat and he is often the one standing over the others as they take their naps. He can be very “extra” and I do catch myself calling him an asshole because his behavior can seem a bit ridiculous (to me, as a human), but he truly is looking after and protecting his own.
Back to Horses
Despite the initial challenges owners face during the retirement transition, I always reassure them that this process lets their horses rediscover their most natural state. It might take a minute for horses to readjust or find their place in the pecking order, the benefits of living in a herd dramatically outweigh the apprehension of changing their daily routine.
You see horses true personalities and preferences come out when they join the herd. Many more intricate dynamics than us playing with them in their stalls or grazing them on the leadrope… How they move with one another, gallop across the field and play when the weather turns, the habits and relationships that they form together. This is not to say that our horses “in work” are miserable or that the environments we put them in completely shut down their personalities. I think we know a lot about our horses and owners give it their best to give their horses a happy life in work, but we can’t deny that the framework is unnatural for them. I have horses of my own that work 6 days/week, travel, show, etc. and I spend an enormous amount of time with them. I know them both very well. But I do look forward to their retirement (whenever that day comes) so I can see that other layer of them truly being horses.