Equine population explosion. In today’s society, not only is there a human over population problem but, also an equine population explosion. With the advent of shipped frozen semen in the 1980’s, every back yard mare owner began a “breeding program”. It was then convenient to breed to a big time stallion who might have been 1000 miles away. Before they knew it they had a mare in foal, a weanling and a yearling. Those horses are now in their 20’s.

Horses are living longer.  Advances in Veterinary care and medicines allow horses to live longer.  Even if it is past their athletic usefulness.  Unlike humans, all horses are expected to be athletes. 

The Premarin Market In the 1990’s we started hearing about Premarin, the wonder drug for women suffering through menopause. The by-product of this drug was the thousands of live foals it produced. Now, we are hearing that many of these Premarin farms are going to be shut down leaving a lot of mares out of a “job”. What happens to them? The ones who are not lucky enough to be rescued or adopted will go to slaughter houses. To most horse owners this concept is unacceptable.

People’s lives change For a number of reasons, horse owners may become unable to keep or care for their beloved equine friend. When the economy swings downward, some have to cut back on luxury items or may have to relocate for employment. Divorce also spells trouble for horses. Sometimes horses outlive their owners, or the owner becomes too elderly to care for or afford their horses. With open spaces closing in and real estate prices climbing, horse owners become desperate and have no choice but to take the horse to auction. Auctions very often lead to slaughter houses.

Why a Retirement Farm? Equine rescue organizations do their best to relocate and/or retrain neglected, abused or just plain unwanted horses. The job is overwhelming! Retirement Farms fill a critical need by giving safe permanent homes to older horses thus allowing rescue networks to concentrate on the younger horse that has a more useful lifespan. The idea of a retirement farm is not a new idea. There are facilities across the country, some of which have been in existence for 20 years or more. Many started up in order to accommodate horses retiring from the racing industry, hundreds of which could not be retrained for pleasure or sport due to injury.