Skeeter's Tale Continues

You may or may not have read some of my articles addressing a problem many horse owners face at one time or another. What do you do with the beloved horse when he spends more time standing in the pasture than being ridden or loved on by your family?by Debi Metcalfe

Life changes. Children grow up and move away. They go to college. You may not be able to afford feeding the horse. You may be getting to old to care for the horse. There are so many reasons one faces that forces you to think of selling the horse to another “forever” home.

If you have been keeping up with what is really happening to our old friends more times than not, you know that somewhere down the road the horse you love could be on a truck bound for the border because someone didn’t love him like you do.

You meant to do the right thing for him. You thought you found a good home for him. You thought that it was going to be a forever home.

We hear those statements every week here at Stolen Horse International when people find out that their good intentions went terribly wrong.

Because we work with the victims and hear all the stories about good intentions gone wrong, we did our best to make sure ours went right. It did.

Our daughter rode him through college and a little beyond. Then life happen and she moved away and seldom came home. When she did she didn't have time to ride Skeeter. We knew he needed a job. Although we had many people who wanted to purchase him, we decided to activate our plan for his future.We bought Skeeter from a horse auction when he was 12 years old for our daughter when she was 12 years old. We are doing our best to make sure he does not go to a horse auction ever again.

He was leased to friends of ours (with a contract) for 7 years (I think) and he had a wonderful home. Now he is home with us again and at the age of 29 is making friends with our neighbor’s granddaughter. We expect he will also be Riley's-Cory's daughter-ride, too.

Skeeter is starting his next chapter with our family. It doesn't always work. We know that life’s best laid out plans can go wrong too. But if you plan ahead and put the right safeguards in place, you may have the good luck we have had with our lease. This is what can happen when you plan ahead, implement your plan and take care of your horse through old age instead of selling them.

It is New Year’s Day and I want to go eat my black-eyed peas and collard greens so I am going to make this short.

10 Steps to Safeguard Your Horse into His Old Age

Take pictures of your horse—all 4 sides—special markings and scars—winter and summer.

1. ID your horse with a visible mark as a deterrent. A freeze brand works great for this but don’t expect it to be used as a way to trace back to you as the owner in most situations.
2. ID with a microchip so you have a VIN number inside of your horse at all times. (Contact us to find out which frequency you should use.)
3. Register your microchip with the company’s registry and with our NetPosse Identification Program (NIP), an all ID registry.
4. When it comes time to let your horse go to a new home, take your time and select his new home wisely. Just because someone is your friend or family is simply not enough.
5. 
   Once you find the person you think is the right fit write out a very thorough lease agreement with some very specific language on how the horse is to be used, fed, and your rights as the owner. Only the right person will sign a lease that has language in it pertaining to what happens if your horse disappears. Click here to read more about what to include in your lease.
6. Sign the lease and renew it each year.
7. Make sure you include pictures of you in the lease noted as the owner of the horse. Also, include the fact that the horse has registered ID and put the pictures in the lease to prove it. Don't put the microchip number in the lease or any registration information in the paperwork. Keep that info to yourself.
8. Make sure the horse is no further way than you can visit easily. The further away the horse is the more likely you are to have problems. Definitely do not cross state lines.
9. Visit your several times a year and do not always call ahead when you do. Don’t forget to put this in your lease—impromptu inspections are allowed.

You can click the following links to review Skeeter‘s journey before today.

Hope this help you keep your horse safe.

More articles about Skeeter's journey:

Is there an alternative to selling or giving my horse away?

Free Horse or Free Lease

This is Skeeter, age 29. Our safety plan has kept him safe and loved even when

he was away from our farm. Now back, he is teaching another generation to ride.