Titchy Reindeer
Well-Known Member
I realised it's been over a year since I first got my Old Lady, then aged 25. Despite my initial fears with taking on such an old horse, she's still with us and looking good (I think!). I would welcome some thoughts on her condition from the photo. My non-horsy dad keeps commenting on her ribs but my neighbours that have ponies think she looks good (I keep having to tell them which one is the "old one"!) and I do worry sometimes that I don't see her objectively.
Her ribs can show alarmingly depending on her position, then recede a bit when she moves. She has a little padding behind the shoulder and a tiny belly. I would like her a bit better covered, but I'm not sure it's realistically possible. She eats well, but not a lot, she tends to loose interest and stands there contemplating the meaning of life instead or goes for a march (and I do mean a proper ground eating march around the field). She has seen the dentist and has no issues to report and she will be having a cushings test in two weeks time at the same time as her vaccinations.
However her coat has taken on a bit of a shine, she has more hair on her face thanks to a change in fly mask and she no longer has goat feet (seedy toe on three out of four feet was not a great look). She is as subtle as a drunken bull in a china shop, brushing past me to stop with her rear in my face for a good scratch. She seems sometimes vaguely unaware of where her own feet are, leaving me hastily pulling my own out from under her hooves before they get crushed. Likewise ridden: she has "go", "go faster", "sort of stop but not for too long", "left" and "right". I have to remember that she doesn't know leg cues for turning or moving over, I have to use an open rein, which can lead to some comic over-steering. She more than makes up for all this by being kind, willing and friendly and putting up with her crazy owner. She comes when I call, stays alone while I ride Little Madam with minimal calling (the occasional hopeful call when she can hear my neighbours in their garden), enthusiastically carries me out hacking, ears forward and taking it all in her long stride, lets me lead Little Madam from her and lets me lead her from a bicycle (I did say I was crazy).
All in all, I am very lucky to have my Old Lady in my life.
Her ribs can show alarmingly depending on her position, then recede a bit when she moves. She has a little padding behind the shoulder and a tiny belly. I would like her a bit better covered, but I'm not sure it's realistically possible. She eats well, but not a lot, she tends to loose interest and stands there contemplating the meaning of life instead or goes for a march (and I do mean a proper ground eating march around the field). She has seen the dentist and has no issues to report and she will be having a cushings test in two weeks time at the same time as her vaccinations.
However her coat has taken on a bit of a shine, she has more hair on her face thanks to a change in fly mask and she no longer has goat feet (seedy toe on three out of four feet was not a great look). She is as subtle as a drunken bull in a china shop, brushing past me to stop with her rear in my face for a good scratch. She seems sometimes vaguely unaware of where her own feet are, leaving me hastily pulling my own out from under her hooves before they get crushed. Likewise ridden: she has "go", "go faster", "sort of stop but not for too long", "left" and "right". I have to remember that she doesn't know leg cues for turning or moving over, I have to use an open rein, which can lead to some comic over-steering. She more than makes up for all this by being kind, willing and friendly and putting up with her crazy owner. She comes when I call, stays alone while I ride Little Madam with minimal calling (the occasional hopeful call when she can hear my neighbours in their garden), enthusiastically carries me out hacking, ears forward and taking it all in her long stride, lets me lead Little Madam from her and lets me lead her from a bicycle (I did say I was crazy).
All in all, I am very lucky to have my Old Lady in my life.
