Equine Retirement Farm Clients Where do they come from?
Where Do the Retired Horses Come From?
Our Equine Retirement Farm Clients. Who are they?
I am often asked where do the retirees come from? Surprisingly, all of the horses do not come from our local area.
Of course we have horses here from middle Tennessee, but we also have horses here from across the United States and Canada.
Some of the states represented include California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Washington, Louisiana, Tennessee, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, in addition to Ontario and British Columbia, Canada.
Why do people send their
retired horses to our farm from out of state?
Horse owners choose to retire their horses with us, which may be quite a distance from where they live, for many reasons. The Tennessee climate is appealing to many, as their horse will not have the long, hard winters of the northern states and Canada or the extreme heat and humidty of more southern states. Our large, well maintained pastures are another draw for many of our clients. Horses are herd animals but they also like to have their own space. We allow approximately two acres per horse in our pastures. This allows for good grazing and also means the horses never feel crowded.
In some areas land prices are very high due to development pressure. Simply due to the cost of land in these areas most boarding facilities cannot afford to have a large acreage with large pastures. The horses retired with us thrive when they are allowed to be out in a large pasture with other horses. Our stall boarders and our pasture boarders enjoy group turnout in our large pastures. These same horses, prior to retirement, often did not enjoy turnout in a small space either alone or with another horse. Our clients are searching for the ideal retirement situation for their horses, and often that means choosing a facility that is not in their local area.
What are the backgrounds of
the horses retired on your farm?
About Our
Equine Retirement Farm Clients...
The horses enjoying retirement at Paradigm Farms hail from a wide variety of breeds and
disciplines. Some of the breeds represented on our
farm include various warmblood breeds, thoroughbreds, Arabians,
quarter horses, several ponies and even a miniature horse. They were ridden in a variety of
disciplines, and our residents have competed through Grand Prix
dressage, Grand Prix jumping, "A" circuit hunters, upper level
eventing, polo, barrel racing and gymkhana events. Other residents on our retirement farm did not show at all and enjoyed trail and pleasure riding with their owners and were treasured family pets. We are certain that they have a
lot to talk about with each other as they discuss what they used
to do when they went to the "office"!
Why are the horses retired? Are
the retirees all older horses?
About Our
Equine Retirement Farm Clients...
The horses on the farm are retired for a variety of reasons. Our youngest retiree is 6, and we'll protect the age of our oldest retire (we will say that he is much older than 10!). Some of the horses are retired due to soundness issues, some due to injury, some due to illness and some are retired because their owners felt they had worked hard for a long time and deserved to just be a horse.
To learn more about some of the retired horses on our farm please visit our
meet the residents page.
