In the cycle of life, there are beginnings and endings, fresh starts and culminations. There are sayings such as, “when one door closes, another opens” and “all good things must come to an end.”
But how do you know? When is the right time to turn the page and start a new chapter? We’ve all faced these conundrums in our daily lives and when making decisions on behalf of our four-legged companions.
We do the best we can by assessing the situation and gathering the most information we can before making a final decision. But ultimately, any major decision for a horse owner is usually a difficult one. Whether it be deciding on a course of action for vet care or making the decision to end your horse’s show career, these decisions weigh heavy on our minds.
We talked to a few national level competitors who shared their advice and thoughts on when to retire a show horse.
For the health of the horse
Hauling across the country, prepping, longing, riding and showing weekend after weekend can wear on our bank accounts, bodies, hearts and minds. This also starts to wear on our show partners. Even with the best care, we know there comes a time when it is not fair to push a horse to perform at a level they used to.
Kim Lloyd Wright, who recently retired multiple AQHA World and Congress Champion, Blended Choclate, told us, “Ben’s retirement from the show pen was an easy decision, but yet, very hard. Ben loved his job and was a delight to show. But all that took a toll on his body both physically and mentally. There wasn’t anything left for Ben to win, he won it all. He is comfortable these days and loves his daily turnout time plus the occasional rides in the arena.” (Kim and Ben pictured right)
A Certain Vino had a storybook career and retired in 2016 after winning a Congress and AQHA World Championship in the Senior Western Pleasure as well as a Reserve World Championship in the Amateur Western Pleasure. We spoke with longtime owner and rider, Darcy Reeve and asked her thoughts on the right time to retire a horse.
“I don’t know that anyone ever feels confident about the perfect time to retire a horse, but there were a lot of factors that made our decision easier. With Vino, we knew that there was really nowhere to go but down. There was nothing left for him to accomplish, and we wanted him to go out while still being competitive and at the top of his game.”
Throughout his career, Vino won countless Congress Championships, High Points, and NSBA World titles along with 15 AQHA World titles.
“We also realized that he was getting older and harder to maintain. We never wanted to haul a horse up and down the road that had to be put back together at every stop and spend every day at the vet trailer while at the shows just to keep the streak going. It’s never easy to make the decision of when a horse is done, but we always have the mentality to do what’s right for the horse. That’s why we kept him going for as long as we did, and ended his career when we did.”
Retiring doesn’t have to mean complete retirement
Many times we think that horses retired from the show pen are living the easy life in a pasture with no thoughts of entering a competition again. However, that isn’t always the case. We spoke with Courtney and Dave Archer, who own A Good N Hot Machine about the future plans for “Goody.” (Courtney and Goody pictured right)
Goody has “semi-retired” meaning that she is only retiring from the Open pen. Courtney said, “Dave’s ride on her at the AQHA World Show in the Senior Western Pleasure was her last ride as an open horse, but I will still show her in the Amateur or if we have a youth or novice amateur who wants to show her, then we will do that.”
Goody has proven herself at the highest level of competition at the Congress and World Shows but still has so much to offer and teach a youth or novice that may potentially show her in the future. “She has made the finals at the World Show every year for us in the Junior and Senior Pleasure, so it was our turn to do something for her. We made a promise to her at the beginning of the year that the World Show would be her last trip around the Open pen and she gave Dave the ride of a lifetime in the finals.”
Archer continues, “For everything Goody has given to us and to anybody that has ever swung a leg over her, she deserves to kick back, relax and only have to show in one class. She has a forever home with us,” Courtney told us.
So, just because a horse may retire from one discipline or class, doesn’t mean the horse cannot continue to compete in a different capacity.
When retirement is near
We also spoke with decorated Select competitor, Cathy Corrigan Frank, who owns two older geldings that “are in the twilight of their careers,” as she says. Both horses are still showing and are still highly competitive. Tamu Zippin Asset (Grey), who is now 18 and Hanks A Skip N Zippo (Hank), who is 17.
Both of these horses are still showing. However, Kathy realizes that at any point, it may be time to consider retiring them from the show pen. She has made arrangements with Grey’s previous owner to live his later years with her and has promised to keep her in the loop should any decisions about his future need to be made. Hank will retire and live out his finals days with Cathy when the time comes.
When not to retire
Many stallions typically compete at a young age for major titles and then retire from the show pen and stand for breeding. There are a few horses that do not fit in this mold and showed much longer than a stallion traditionally would. Extremely Hot Chips, a 2006 stallion, just recently retired from the show pen and John Simon, a 2006 stallion, is still showing.
We talked with Erin Bradshaw, who recently piloted John to an APHA World Championship in Amateur Trail and Amateur Sr. Western Pleasure for the fourth year in a row. “As we have always said, John was never purchased as a breeding horse, he was bought as a replacement for my show horse at the time. When a stallion is as great minded and his job is as easy as it is for John is, it only emphasizes the reason we haven’t retired him,” Erin told us.
John continues to produce champion offspring while still racking up world titles of his own. Erin also said, “The other thing that I believe is that as long as he enjoys it and isn’t sour, he will always be with us at shows. One world champion is different than ten, and I think when you hit a certain point, you can’t take that away from any horse. He has nothing more to prove to us.”
Year after year, John continues to produce champion offspring while still racking up world titles of his own.
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While all of these owners chose to retire their horses at different ages and at different levels of retirement, one common theme arises – these owners put the horse first and made the decision with the utmost respect and dignity for their show companion.
When making the decision to retire your own show horse, keep these examples of true love and commitment in mind. As long as you are making the decision with your horse’s mental and physical health as the priority, the timing will always be right.
About the Author: Julie Hoefling was born and raised in Akron, Michigan but now resides in Cave Creek, Arizona with her husband, Jerry. She works at Kahala Brands as a Director of Marketing. Julie shows her horse, Shady Impulse in the Novice Amateur Western All-Around events under the guidance of Ryan and Andrea Kail.
