When my old horse was about 12, he pulled both front suspensories and I retired him from rides (mostly LDs, 1 50). When he turned 20, he started having problems with arthritis in his left front, which I treated with Adequan. At that time, I was mostly doing arena work with him. At age 23, he was starting to *look* old - his back was starting to sag, he had a pot belly.
I started him back on trail riding that year - first just at a walk. As he got into better shape, I added trot, and the canter. At age 24, I entered him in a 15-mile fun ride, and kept up his conditioning program. At age 25, I entered and completed an LD. We finished mid-pack.
During this time, his arthritis got better, his topline came back up to level, and his belly firmed up. Just before I lost him to a broken leg, the vet made a comment about how he looked more like a 16 year old than a 25 year old. When I started taking him back out on trail, in his old stomping grounds, he would stop and gaze around - just looking at the scenery he hadn't seen in a nearly a decade (and he remembered all the trails). Sometimes, he would try and take another trail back out rather than toward the trailer.
I don't think that "giving him a rest" would have been doing him any favors.
On Jul 10, 2008, at 9:28 AM, sherman wrote:
The point is that a fit horse, even fit for 50s, is a healthy horse, will have better muscle tone, will be able to eat a lot without getting fat, will continue getting all the care and attention that a horse being used gets, compared to a retired horse, and yes, it may have a stroke and die without ever retiring. I say good. Does anyone ask any horse if they want to go even 10 miles? Like Heidi said, if one has to push a horse to do the work, maybe it shouldn’t be done regardless of the horse’s age. Otherwise, why would you treat a healthy older horse any different than a younger horse?
Kathy
I don,t care what anyone says about some special old horse. What I say is what,s the point???? Did anyone ask the horse???? I,ve had several old horses full of the devil, doesn,t mean a thing, it,s just the way they have always been. Give um a rest. jvm
