On average, The Shea Center program horses serve for about ten years before retiring. When looking for new program horses, the preferred age is between 6 and 15 years old, allowing many optimal years of serving our clients. Many factors are considered when pondering retirement to ensure the horse is happy and healthy throughout the program. The Shea Center veterinarian and equine team consider several factors when making horse retirement decisions.

So, where do the horses go when they retire?

The Shea Center is dedicated to fostering enduring partnerships with donors and retirement facilities, ensuring our horses receive the best care in retirement. For horses on loan or donated to us, we offer to reunite them with their original owners before finding the perfect retirement spot.

Finding the right fit in terms of environment is crucial. Some factors to consider are the overall environment and climate. Our program horses are around different daily interactions, receiving many treats and pets. We have established an excellent relationship with a facility in Fallbrook, California, where a handful of our horses have gone since retirement. At this facility, the horses go out into a large fenced-in space during the day and are brought in at night to a stall. They still receive horse and human interaction daily.

Other facilities we consider are more hands-off, where the horses roam in pastures daily. The Shea Center looks at the whole horse, their environments, and where they would do best based on their personalities and experiences. For example, we don’t want to change a horse’s climate abruptly, such as going from warm to snowy and cold weather.