In this episode of the Senior Horsemanship Podcast, I talk about planning for after us. That is planning for our horses' care if we can't care for them anymore.
One possibility is to adopt a horse from a rescue like Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society. Bluebonnet retains ownership of the horse and will always take the horse back if the adopter can't care for it. Bluebonnet will also provide training and fostering to make the horse more adoptable. If you don't live in Texas, perhaps there's a rescue with similar policies.
Another option is to provide for your horses in your estate plan. We'll be talking with an attorney in a future podcast about estate planning for horses and pets too.
Thanks for listening to the Senior Horsemanship Podcast.
Paul Sherland:
One of the things that we ought to do, but tend to avoid doing is to make plans for what will happen to our animals if we die or become incapable of taking care of them. This is a quote from a post on the Tamarack Hill Facebook page by Denny Emerson. Welcome to the Senior Horsemanship Podcast, which was the Second Half Horsemanship Podcast. We'll be talking about better horsemanship in the senior part of life. For most of us, that means horsemanship for the love of it. That means horsemanship where we always put the best interests of the horse first and foremost. I'm your host, Paul Sherland. Denny Emerson's Facebook post goes on to describe what happened to a Morgan mare by the name of Catch a Cloud when her owner developed cognitive issues. A neighbor fed and watered the mare. But because she was hard to catch and could be cranky the mare was left in the stall for months. Luckily someone else heard about Cloud's situation and contacted the owner's son who lived hundreds of miles away. Cloud was moved to a new safe place. This happens frequently. I volunteer with the Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society here in Texas and it seems that many of the horses that come in to rescue are from homes where the owner died or can't care for the horse anymore. I attended Karen Rohlf's Transform Your Business Seminar several years ago and talked with a participant from the UK about rescue horses. She said that many horses come into rescue there from similar situations. She made the point that usually the owners stop training and riding the horses because of human health or horse training or health issues. But they keep the horses as pasture pets for some time. But when something happens to the owner, there are often no records or witnesses of the horse's level of training or health records. Sometimes the horses are neglected and arrive at rescue in poor condition. In his Facebook post, Denny Emerson suggests having a conversation with family or close friends. But he also says that such conversations can be hard. So, what do you recommend doing? What planning have you done for your horses? One possibility is to adopt a horse from a rescue like Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society. The rescue retains ownership of the horse, If the adopter can't care for the horse anymore, the horse is taken back by the rescue and a new adopter is found. If the horse needs training or healthcare to become more adoptable, that's provided by the rescue. Of course not all rescues operate this way, but some do. If you're in Texas and you're thinking about getting a horse for your senior years, please contact Bluebonnet and check out the horses they have available. If you live elsewhere check the rescues in your area to see if they have similar policies. One other possibility is to make sure that your horses are covered in your estate planning. In a future podcast, I'll be talking to an attorney about how someone might establish a trust for the care of a horse in an estate plan. But when you create an estate plan for your family, please be sure to talk with your lawyer about how your horse and pets will be taken care of. Just having a conversation with family and friends is probably just a starting point. Horse care and pet care should be part of your estate plan. A related issue is training. If a horse has transferred to a rescue or sold when the owner dies, there's often little or nothing known about the horse's training. To fix this the owner should document the horse's training in writing. An even better way might be to document the horse's training and health issues, using videos. I'll be doing that with my horses as a way to demonstrate video as a means of health and training documentation. So what level of training am I aiming for? Here's a possible statement of a goal from Australian horseman, Tom Roberts. He says, if you are fond of a horse and wish to do him a favor the train him well. Teach him good manners, good habits, both in the stable and under saddle. You need never worry about the future of such a horse if for any reason you may have to part with him. You assure him a friends, wherever he goes. Perhaps the greatest kindness you can do any horse is to educate him well. I'm working on the website for Senior Horsemanship, with the goal of getting it up and running this month. If you have comments or feedback about this podcast episode or any of the podcasts please visit one of my other websites. Saddle up again, dot com and contact me there. I appreciate your comments.