Saying goodbye to your horse in Pembroke Pines
Whether your horse is at home, at a boarding barn or at an equine hospital, you have more choices than you might think in Pembroke Pines. This page explains each one in plain English.
- Plan ahead for a senior horse
- Weather and timing advice for Pembroke Pines
- Options when the nearest chamber is far
Pembroke Pines, Florida
Where horses live around Pembroke Pines, and why it matters
Heat and humidity make large-animal aftercare urgent in western Broward. A horse or goat that dies on a summer afternoon needs shade and quick collection, so call early in the day if you can. The high water table and sandy, often wet soil make on-property burial of a large animal difficult, which is why many owners here choose cremation or licensed disposal.
Pembroke Pines sits right next to Southwest Ranches and not far from Davie, two South Florida towns known for horse keeping, with equestrian estates, boarding barns, riding trails and small hobby farms with goats and poultry. When a horse or other large animal dies on one of these properties, check gate width, soft ground and where a truck with a winch can safely park.
The county extension office serving Pembroke Pines is one of the most useful calls you can make, and one of the least known. Extension agents field questions about livestock burial, composting and rendering every week, and they usually know which services still operate in the county. The call is free, and they'll tell you plainly what the local rules expect of a horse owner.
With roughly 176,714 residents, Pembroke Pines is the 11th-largest of the 235 Florida communities we cover. Hialeah, roughly 11 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Pembroke Pines run from there.
Our pages for Miramar (2 miles), Cooper City (3 miles) and Davie (5 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Pembroke Pines as well.
72.5%[1]
The NFDA projected Florida's cremation rate at 72.5% for 2024.
6.6 million[2]
There were an estimated 6.6 million horses in the United States in 2023, down from 7.2 million in 2017.
$600-$1,000[3]
Cremating a 1,000-pound horse was reported to cost about $600-$1,000, depending on location and the price of propane.
3-5% of body weight[4]
Embrace notes cremated remains typically weigh about 3-5% of the pet's original body weight.
The published sources behind those figures are Embrace Pet Insurance and Extension Horses (eXtension national Cooperative Extension).
Cremation habits in Florida, and your horse
Cremation is the norm for about 72.5%[1] of people in Florida, so plenty of families have already used a local pet crematory for a dog or cat, and it's the first number they ring when the horse dies. Most will kindly say they can't help, because their chamber is far too small. They'll often know who can, though, so the call isn't wasted.
Source for the Florida number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Pembroke Pines, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
Pembroke Pines weather and your horse's aftercare
Keep a spare tarp, an old halter you don't mind parting with and the numbers of your vet and one collection service on a card in the barn office. In a Pembroke Pines summer, when highs sit around 91°F, you don't want to lose an hour hunting for any of them while the day warms up.
In the hottest months (May, June, July, August, September and October), schedule a planned euthanasia for early morning. The ground is firmer, the air is cooler, the vet and the driver are fresher, and you're not racing the afternoon heat. Many owners book the truck for the same morning too, so their horse isn't left in a paddock through the hottest part of the day.
Budgeting for your horse's aftercare near Pembroke Pines
Horse cremation costs more for a simple reason: one horse fills most of a large-animal chamber, around 73% of chamber capacity[5] on our estimate, so each horse is cremated on its own. Per pound, that works out at about $0.80/lb[6] at midpoint prices, several times the cost of rendering or composting. Ask any provider serving Pembroke Pines to list the cremation and the haul separately.
We keep the detailed Florida price table on one page so it stays current: see Florida prices.
Free tool
Horse aftercare cost comparison
Compare equine cremation, burial, rendering and composting side by side.
Paperwork and permission in Florida
Moving a horse's body along a public road can fall under animal by-product or transport rules, which is one reason licensed collectors do most of this work. If you plan to trailer your horse to a provider yourself, ask the provider and the agriculture office in Florida whether you need anything in writing first. Cremation itself asks nothing of you.
To find your county or city office in Florida, start with the official Florida local government directory.
Home burial and scattering are governed at the Florida level first; our Florida rules summary has the detail. Then check whether Pembroke Pines or your HOA adds anything.
The first day, step by step
- Decide what you want back: ashes, a grave you can visit, or keepsakes only. That one choice narrows the options fast.
- Check what exists near you: an equine crematory, a renderer or fallen-stock collector, a backhoe operator, or room to compost.
- Check the rules with your county, state or council on burying or composting at home, and do it before you decide.
- Get two written quotes for the option you prefer, each including collection from your address.
- Ask the hard questions: will my horse be cremated alone, what tag or record follows the body, and will every bit of ash come home?
- Take keepsakes before collection, whichever route you choose.
- Plan for the ashes: a horse returns roughly 33 to 55 lb, far more than a standard urn holds.
Remembering your horse in Pembroke Pines
The Everglades begin at the western edge of Pembroke Pines, and much of the land between the city and the preserve has been kept as open space or ranch-style lots. Families there keep horses, ponies, goats, sheep and pigs as companions. For smaller animals, individual cremation is often possible; for a horse, costs rise, so ask for a written total including transport.
Every option Pembroke Pines families choose between is on the services page, or see what other families chose in the poll results, read our guides and latest articles, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures. Close to Pembroke Pines we also cover Jacksonville, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Port St. Lucie; the full list for Florida and for the United States is a click away.
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Free tools to help you plan
Horse aftercare cost comparison
Compare equine cremation, burial, rendering and composting side by side.
Aftercare options compared
Compare private, communal and water cremation with burial on cost, timing and what comes home.
Ashes weight estimator
See roughly how much ash to expect back, by species and body weight.
Questions people ask
Will I have to travel to Hialeah to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Hialeah (roughly 11 miles from Pembroke Pines) collect from here as a matter of routine, and the paperwork is done by email or phone. If you want to be present for a witnessed cremation, that is when the drive matters.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Pembroke Pines?
Usually yes. Miramar is about 2 miles away, Cooper City is about 3 miles away and Davie is about 5 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Pembroke Pines?
There is no frozen-ground season here; average lows stay above freezing all year. The other pressure point is August, when highs around 91°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Why does the Pembroke Pines page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) reports about 72.5%[1] of Florida residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Should I plan ahead if my horse is getting old?
Yes, quietly. Horses aged 20 and over have the highest yearly death rate in USDA data, 3.1%[8], and a plan made in calm conditions is kinder than one made in a crisis. Choose a provider, check access to the barn, note your budget and keepsake wishes, and leave a copy with whoever looks after your horse day to day.
Can I bury my horse on my own land in Florida?
Often yes, with conditions. Rules usually cover depth, soil cover, distance from wells, streams and property lines, and how quickly burial must happen. National extension guidance suggests a trench about 9 ft deep[9]. Check with your county or the Florida agriculture department before digging, and remember that you can't take a grave with you if you ever sell the land.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] The NFDA projected Florida's cremation rate at 72.5% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [2] There were an estimated 6.6 million horses in the United States in 2023, down from 7.2 million in 2017. American Horse Council - 2023 National Equine Economic Impact Study release, 2023.
- [3] Cremating a 1,000-pound horse was reported to cost about $600-$1,000, depending on location and the price of propane. Extension Horses (eXtension national Cooperative Extension) - Horse Disposal Options, 2019, 2019.
- [4] Embrace notes cremated remains typically weigh about 3-5% of the pet's original body weight. Embrace Pet Insurance - Bury or Cremate Your Dog? Costs, Pros & Cons, 2025.
- [5] A 1,100 lb horse uses about 73% of a 1,500 lb animal incinerator load, so large-animal units generally cremate one horse at a time. Our estimate: 1,100 / 1,500 x 100. How we calculate.
- [6] Midpoint horse cremation cost works out to about $0.80 per pound of body weight, versus about $0.14 per pound for rendering pickup and $0.23 per pound for on-farm composting. Our estimate: cremation $800 / 1,000 lb; rendering $137.50 / 1,000 lb; composting $275 / 1,200 lb. How we calculate.
- [7] Choosing on-farm composting instead of cremation saves a horse owner roughly $525 at midpoint prices (2012-2019 extension figures, not inflation-adjusted). Our estimate: $800 cremation midpoint - $275 composting midpoint. How we calculate.
- [8] Equids aged 20 years or older had a 3.1% annual mortality rate in the 2015 NAHMS study, the highest of any age group. USDA APHIS NAHMS - Equine Mortality in the United States, 2015 (published Feb 2017), 2015.
- [9] Extension guidance recommends a horse burial trench about 7 feet wide and 9 feet deep, covered by 3-4 feet of soil, and no fewer than 100 yards from wells and streams. Extension Horses (eXtension national Cooperative Extension) - Horse Disposal Options, 2019, 2019.
Get horse cremation options in Pembroke Pines
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