She held her breathe. He didn’t. He just took off and never looked back, instantly becoming the wild horse of his dreams. Who are the candidates for pasture? Old age has
brought several horses whose competitive careers have ended to Lori Finch, owner of Paradise Acres in Orland, California. Competition burnout is another reason that some as young as ten have come to her retirement fields. Injuries, new and old, have retired horses to her pastures. “A lot of horses come to me with injuries, and a year later they are not the same horses. They’ve benefited from walking all day, stretching muscles and tendons. They will fix themselves, running around getting exercise,” Lori says. Not all injured horses are accepted into her facility. She
tells me about a horse with a torn suspensory ligament that was hanging by a thread that came to her despite the veterinarian’s warning against it. “The owner wanted him to have ‘one happy day’ in the field,” Lori recalls. “I turned her down. I told her she was setting the horse up for a death sentence and I would have to deal with the sadness of put- ting him down. Since he had never been out in pasture, he won’t know what he has been missing.” Some horses don’t have the temperament for communal
living. Lori sent one couple packing when the proud cut gelding ran through the fence to get to the mares, and the mare he arrived with tried to jump the fence to land in the gelding pasture. “I let her be with the boys as long as she behaved. Then she became mean and kicked her pasture mates. That didn’t work for me. They’re supposed to be re- tired and relaxed and enjoying themselves.” Even if a horse hasn’t been in pasture since he was at his
mother’s side, the “stall babies,” as Lori calls them, usually adjust just fine, though sometimes it takes time and they probably will still want to urinate in a stall. A good retirement home will be neat and clean. Manure will be picked up and water troughs will be washed out. Tidiness indicates that the ones in charge are doing more than just collecting a board check. How comfortable and healthy do the current pasture horses look? Lori feeds the horses in their own shelter twice a day so that they aren’t competing for food. It’s also the time when she gives them a complete health check. In the morning they all stay in until everyone is done eating so that the low horse on the totem pole that eats slowly isn’t panicked about everyone leaving him. Not all facilities with large pastures give their residents the daily or twice daily once over. But that’s the time that Lori tends to minor wounds and gives medications, for example, to the two Cushing’s disease horses. She also blankets even though the shelters are open 24/7 with free choice grass hay. She keeps a dry lot pasture for the fatties in spring. When checking out a facility, how do they help the
horses acclimate to the big pasture? Hopefully the man- ager will gradually introduce a new horse to the wide open spaces and green irrigated fields. Be aware that some
facilities have places to ride while others don’t or don’t al- low owners to ride. The owners often have the hardest adjustment, Lori
has observed. “The horses go through a mourning period for their person. The first week they are confused and de- pressed. Then when the owner comes back a week later, the horse will totally ignore her, seemingly angry at the owner. The horse will come up to me. Then the next time the owner comes, all is forgiven and horse is all over her,” she explains. “Some people cry when they leave their horses here; others come back once or twice a year. My biggest compliment is when someone says ‘I miss my horse, but I don’t worry about him.‘”
HORSES HEALING HUMANS What about a retirement where reading horses’ minds helps others to repair own their minds? Life as an equine assisted psychotherapy horse could be perfect. While helping peo- ple, these horses get to hang out with a herd and express themselves. Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) is an innovative, trans-
formative program using the herd dynamics of horses as co-facilitators. Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is an effective form of experiential therapy, using horses as co- therapists for emotional growth and learning. Prime human candidates for EAP have been at-risk youth and Middle East war veterans and their families. Three Warmbloods are major players in the drama at
Shepherd Youth Ranch in Franklinton, North Carolina, where court-assigned at-risk youth, some from gangs, some balancing between big life changes, meet up with Sake, Ferro and Abraham. Eighteen-hand Holsteiner Sake stood watching the boys
assigned to Shepherd by the court after their scuffle with the law. They returned the stare. His size did nothing to in- timidate them. They had seen and done things that scored a 10 on the 1-10 scale of danger and intensity. Actually in their world, size matters, and to them, such a big boy as Sake must be the herd leader. They nod approval as
Two of the Warmbloods at Shepherd Youth Ranch: Abraham (left) and Ferro (right).
Warmbloods Today 33
Courtesy Shepherd Youth Ranch
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