23yo Advertised as Broodmare!! Eeek!

I did know a TB mare (aged) whose back looked like that but she was retired at 15 and lived till her late 20's! Rugging was a pain but she was OK.

Looking at that I thought what a wonderful idea - I have a 22 old mare who does not look her age, she has bred a mare (to Di Maggio) and is graded, done all the performance and has the record - I can sell her!! Make money!

Not. At. All. I was always aware when I put her on loan as a hack after her eventing was over that I could well have her back. I sold another horse when he hit 13 because I could not afford to end up with 3 on livery (can't really afford 2 but thats another story) but always knew I would keep her till the end.
 
Dr Deb Bennett says in her Ranger article that

when the back drops significantly, the position and functioning of all the internal organs is affected.
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Unfortunately, I don't think that a nice retirement would be that 'nice' for her. :(
 
It is heart breaking - I could sit here and cry.

Poor mare - if the vet said she wasn't in pain she could live on for a few years, taking it easy - but not as a broodmare mare! I dread to think what will happen to her as she is being sold!

And as for the gelding - she says he needs riding 2 hours a day, 4-5 times a week or he will buck?? With arthritus so bad he can't lift his legs for blacksmith?

Wish I could win the lottery then I could buy them both for a happy retirement!
 
Spotsrock said:
light hack, 2 hours a day?? Artritis so bad he can't be shod behind but 2 hours a day????
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Right, devil's advocate here because I am not remotely convinced that gelding should be passed on, and the mare certainly shouldn't be. But for my devil's advocate bit: my mare has spavins and does much better in work. The vet has advised me to keep her in work and yes that can easily be 2-3 hours a day if we do a long hack or sponsored ride. However, she finds it uncomfortable to be shod behind (just with one of our farriers, not with the other) as he holds her legs very high and when he hammers the nails in after holding her leg up for a while she objects. I spoke to the vet about it and she decided that the best solution was to give her two bute prior to shoeing as she is most comfortable with lateral extensions. As we don't know the woman, she might just possibly be referring to something like this. Arthritic horses do do better with work than retirement and if I only rode mine every six weeks like she says in the advert she would be very stiff.
Still, whether that management should be passed on to someone else is a whole different kettle of fish.
 
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