Horse retirement

[Maplestirrup]

Has anybody got any first hand experience of sending your horse to a retirement home? Any recommendations of retirement livery would be welcome. All tales and experiences, good or bad, welcome as I need to consider all views that I have not even thought about. This is a big decision for me, so I need to get it right.
24/7 turnout with field shelters, hay, feed, 2 daily checks, rug changing, feet trimming would be ideal.
Sadly DH can't stay with me and I need to find a suitable retirement home.
Thanks in advance.

I sent my gelding to Monshall Retirement in Devon. He had damaged his tendon and I had just had DD & could not cope with doing the box rest so I needed grass livery. I couldn't find anything suitable for a reasonable price in my area (Surrey) so I sent him down to Devon.
He was supposed to come back after a year but he's still there 4yrs on and he's so happy I'd feel guilty bringing him back.
They go out in massive fields with well chosen fieldmates. Mine doesn't have a rug but he is a fatty. Others do have rugs on. They get haylage in the winter, feet sorted and visited at least 2x a day. I don't think they have field shelters but there is loads of natural shelter.
There is a facebook page and Nat posts loads of pics so you can see. There are a few others in Devon/Cornwall and also in Wales.
I guess you need to think about how often you want to visit and how far you would travel. Monshall have horses from all over the country and I think she has a caravan you can stay in for visits.

Thanks for that. Monshall is about 5 hours from me, and I would like to beable to visit quite regularly, so something closer would be great. Can I ask how often you visit your retired chap? Are you close is just to the home?