The bond you have with your horse is special. Horses and humans have a strong ability to create emotional bonds with one another, which can make saying goodbye incredibly difficult. Unfortunately, it’s inevitable for all cherished pets. It may feel as though you’ve lost a member of the family. While letting go is a challenge, you can preserve their memory and honor the relationship you shared. But how do you decide how to commemorate a horse that gave you so much joy?
If you or someone close to you has recently been through the passing of their beloved companion, finding a proper method can be tough. This list of horse memorial gifts and ideas will help you find the perfect way to commemorate them.
1. Keepsake Urns
If you plan to have your horse cremated, it’s essential to have a proper place to store their cremains. The right urn can be a beautiful way to honor your horse’s memory. Keepsake urns are elegant and can serve as both a memorial and conversation piece. You can personalize them with custom engraved nameplates and a bronze bust. These timeless urns provide a respectful resting place that allows you to keep your horse close and create a lasting tribute.
2. Decorative Urns
Beyond the classic keepsake style, you can also choose from several forms of decorative urns. While they provide a resting place for your horse, they can also serve as a decorative piece in your home. If you want to incorporate it as a display piece, tack box urns are a perfect choice. They provide ample room for cremains as well as an upper compartment perfect for storing ribbons, horseshoes, hair, pictures or any other form of memorabilia.
With tack box urns, you can keep them closed and private or keep the lid open and display the various keepsakes you wish to show. You may also include nameplates and custom engravings on the outside.
3. Photo Books
Throughout the time you and your horse spent together, you’ve probably collected a considerable amount of photos. Rather than keep these pictures scattered and out of sight stored in boxes, folders on your computer or albums on your phone, compile them into a photo book. If you like to keep collections of your family photos or find joy in looking through pictures, why not create a special book to honor your horse?
You can go the old fashioned route, printing physical copies and assembling the book by hand. Or, you can use one of many websites that make compiling digital images in a book format easy. If you choose to create the album online, it’ll look cohesive and professional without much effort. However, creating an album on your own may help you through the grieving process, as you can sit with each picture and organize them by hand.
Also, if you choose to print and compile the photos yourself, you can include more than just pictures in the album. Instead, you can make it into more of a scrapbook, pairing ribbons, notes, hair and other belongings with the photos. You can organize the items however you wish and create a personal keepsake to share with others and preserve precious memories.
4. Painted Portraits
One of the most popular ways to commemorate the loss of a pet is through images, whether that means displaying photos or customizing an item with their likeness. Many artists who offer customized crafts, prints or projects by commissions are honored to memorialize pets. Some artists individually paint portraits of animals, based on a photo of your choice. This creative keepsake makes a perfect wall decoration for your home.
With a hand-painted portrait, you’ll have a beautiful piece of art to remind you of your beloved horse. Depending on the artist, you can typically choose between several sizes of canvas. Make sure you consider where you want to place the painting before ordering a large commissioned piece. You need to know you’ll have ample room to hang it proudly. You can also opt for a smaller portrait, which you can include in a wall collage or shadow box.
5. Horseshoes
Many horse owners like to remember their pets by keeping their horseshoes after they pass. They are personal items that hold a lot of meaning and are a great size for many different kinds of memorials. You can frame them on their own, adding an engraved nameplate or other customization, or include them as a part of a larger display. Horseshoes fit well in frames, tack box urns, shadowboxes or on plaques. They’re great for wall displays in your home or as a remembrance piece in your barn.
Along with their shoes, you can also create an arrangement out of your horse’s tack. Stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits and any other pieces of equipment individual to your horse are also excellent display pieces. It may be challenging to use a saddle, especially in your home, but the smaller pieces should fit nicely in shadowboxes or as wall hangings. With pictures, tack and horseshoes, you can create a beautiful tribute to your dear friend.
6. Plaques
Simple and classic, a plaque is an excellent way to memorialize your horse. You can order one with custom engravings, including an image of your horse and any messages you wish. Plaques can serve several purposes as well. For one, you can use it to decorate the walls of your home. You can also nail it on the stall where you kept your horse to dedicate that space to them. Plaques also make unique markers for your companion’s resting place.
7. Jewelry
Most forms of horse memorials are stationary, as they’re meant to be display pieces on walls, on shelves or in gardens and barns. But ordering custom jewelry is an excellent way to keep your beloved pet with you wherever you go. Jewelry that keeps your horse’s memory close is commemorative and personal, and it can even serve as your lucky charm. Depending on where you order from, there are many different choices, including:
- Glass beads: Suitable for a necklace or bracelet, you can custom order glass beads. You can choose the colors, and you may be able to include strands of your horse’s hair or a portion of their cremains inside the beads. Each bead is handmade and unique.
- Pendants: A custom-made pendant is another form of necklace or bracelet piece that is available in different designs. While you can order simple engravings, jewelers may also offer pendants that hold small portions of cremains.
- Nameplates: If you want something more classic, you can order leather wristbands with custom engraved nameplates. They resemble horse tack and keep your horse’s name at your side.
A thoughtful piece of jewelry makes an excellent gift for someone who has recently lost their horse or serves as a small wearable memorial.
8. Horsehair Keepsakes
You spend a lot of time grooming and caring for your horse. Hours and hours go into making sure they’re clean and healthy and brushing their beautiful mane and tail. Once your horse passes away, it’s easy to miss the time spent grooming them. It’s a crucial part of ownership as well as valuable bonding time. For this reason, horsehair keepsakes make sentimental memorial pieces.
If you’ve saved clippings of your horse’s mane or tail, you can create several kinds of keepsakes, including:
- Jewelry: Artists who make custom jewelry can create pieces out of your horse’s hair, from earrings and rings to braided bracelets and necklaces. Hair is versatile to work with, so talented artisans can make almost any kind of jewelry you desire. It can include charms, pendants and other accessories to personalize it further or include your horse’s name.
- Pottery: Horsehair pottery has a distinctive, unique look, but it can also include your horse’s hair for a personal touch. Artists can take strands of hair and sear them on to any ceramic form, creating dark swirls on the surface of the piece. You can commission potters to make vases and jars of varying shapes and sizes, or an urn to hold the cremains of your horse. With the right tools, some may even be able to make a horse bust.
- Wall hangings: A braided lock of your horse’s hair is perfect for hanging on your wall in a frame. It also makes an excellent addition to a shadow box, alongside other items.
It’s easy to have a sentimental attachment to your horse’s hair. By making it into a keepsake, you can keep a piece of your friend close.
9. Shadow Boxes
Shadow boxes are one of the most customizable forms of pet memorials. You can create them in whatever size you desire, include anything that will fit under the glass lid and organize the items as you wish. Also, if you use the right supplies, you can reorganize the items and change the look of the display over time.
When you create a shadow box in memory of your horse, you can include:
- Awards: If your horse competed in shows and won ribbons or other prizes, these awards make great additions to any display.
- Hair: Braided locks of hair are precious keepsakes. You can keep them neat and clean in an enclosed shadowbox.
- Horseshoes: With a large enough box, you can fit one or multiple of your horse’s shoes alongside other items.
- Photos: A picture is worth a thousand words. Photos of your horse can turn a collection of items into a sentimental memorial.
- Tack: If you want to preserve your horse’s tack, hanging it in a shadowbox will make it look particularly special.
Memorials can be whatever you want them to be. Shadow boxes allow you to be creative and include items that you find memorable or important.
10. Engraved Stones
While many forms of memorials are meant to be inside your home or barn, sometimes it’s more appropriate to place in it an outdoor setting. If you want to create a commemorative spot outside, you should consider an engraved stone with your horse’s name and a few words of dedication. You can use it to mark your companion’s final resting place or dedicate a small garden, part of your pasture or a space in your yard to your horse’s memory.
11. Sponsored Memorial Classes
If you and your horse competed regularly at a particular horse show, one of the best ways to honor your pet’s memory is to sponsor a memorial class. This supports the sport you shared and encourages others to create bonds with their horses and practice the same level of teamwork. You can even name the class after your horse to ensure their continued legacy.
12. Commissioned Sculptures
Along with other artists, sculptors may take commissions to create custom pieces based on pictures of your horse. They can create a full-body statue or a bust of your horse out of a variety of materials. It all depends on what you’re looking for and what your budget is.
Sculptors can use a variety of materials to create statues, including wood, clay and cast bronze. If the artist is familiar with ceramics and Raku pottery, they may even be able to sear strands of your horse’s hair to the outside. This technique creates a unique horsehair pattern. A sculpture of your companion can serve as a memorial piece and a beautiful decoration for your home.
Glassblowers may even be able to create custom glass art. While they may not be able to recreate a likeness of your pet, they can make a memorial piece that includes a small amount of your horse’s cremains.
13. Donations
Memorials don’t have to be physical objects. They are meant to honor the lives of those who have passed on. But they can also benefit the lives of other horses and riders. In remembrance of your companion, you can donate to a horse rescue, riding facility or equine therapy ranch. Donating in your horse’s name is a great way to preserve their memory and support a good cause. Consider giving to the ranch where you adopted or worked with your horse.
14. An Organized Gathering
Whether or not you create a physical memorial for your horse, you can always hold a commemorative service or organize one for the sake of someone close to you. Gather close friends and family, including other riders who knew the special horse. Spend some time sharing stories and memories while enjoying each others’ company. It’s a wonderful way to send off your friend and mourn your loss in the presence of those who care about you.
Memorialize Your Horse With Agape Pet Services
When a companion passes away, it can be a painful loss. We want to help you send off your horse in a respectful and gentle manner. Agape Pet Services offers many different kinds of memorial items, from custom keepsakes and jewelry to specialized urns. With our horse memorial ideas, you’ll find the perfect way to honor your loved one’s memory.
We also offer horse cremation services. Our compassionate professionals will take care of all transportation as gently as possible. We’ll deliver the cremains back to your home if you request an individual cremation. If you’d like, you can also schedule a private viewing and request bereavement support.
Agape Pet Services is dedicated to helping you through your time of mourning — review our equine cremation services or contact us for more information.
