“A special message for kind owners of senior horses seeking help…
Over the years various owners have reached out to us because they were facing their own financial or physical hardship and could no longer care for their senior equines. On occasion we said yes. Often, we came to regret this decision. The horses were lovely and the owners so kind, but the horses did not thrive after leaving their longtime homes. Like seniors of any species, a certain ‘elasticity” is gone. To the horse, they seem to feel forgotten or thrown away, surrounded by strangers, and our water tastes different and our hay is different and our routines are not the same…and their person is gone.
If you have a senior horse, and are faced with having to end care, please consider humane euthanasia at home. A horse is not overthinking the idea of longevity, and they would like to end where they have been happy. This is a decision to be made only with the support of your DVM, and while it is a very difficult decision to make, it is one of the most important parts of ownership. We have this phone call nearly every week with an owner who needs to feel support. What I share with them is that when we attend auctions, and purchase a sweet old horse, it is never the longtime owner who sold it there, but the third or fourth person the horse was passed along to, after it left its home. We share this and we live by it. We help our seniors at Rosemary Farm Sanctuary over the Rainbow Bridge and celebrate the life they loved here.
If this is a discussion you would like to have, we are here to talk. Your vet is also the most important person to help decide if now is the right time. Please consider this, shared with much love. And thank you for caring for a horse into its senior years. That is a lovely gift you have bestowed upon your friend.”
– Dawn Robyn, Founder & Executive Director
