Bringing old faithful out of retirement

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SJB33

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Last week I had to have my young horse put to sleep :( We had plans to take on the world in dressage but it just wasn't to be.

In a weeks time my beautiful old girl will be going to the livery yard and I'm wondering if it's possible to bring her out if retirement at the grand old age of 29? She's been retired for about 5 years and just potters about costing me a fortune in hard feed :D.

She can be a little bit stiff and obviously has no muscle tone at the moment so a) I'm not sure if it's fair in her at all and b) if it is how the heck do I go about doing it? We have a lunge ring, two arenas and a walker to hand.

I'd appreciate ant thoughts.
 
She was retired as I'd not ridden her much during the time I was pregnant with my two children. I hadn't ridden her much so thought the natural thing to do was to retire her.
 
If u take it slowly and build her back up, maybe starting with in hand walking or the walker then i dont see why not. As long as you take it into consideration that she may have a stiff day every now and then. Sorry to hear about your youngster
 
Hi,

sorry to hear about your young horse :-(

As for your old girl, I think it is all dependent on how she is and what you hope to achieve. I have just helped someone bring their retired horse back into work, because the old mare was not so happy fully retired. She had some issues that meant she was not fit for "normal" fittening work, so we were imaginative.

We did a lot of in hand groundwork, including working with items such as flags and plastic in a quiet way so she could practice "being good" and trusting her owner. When this was going well we introduced some long reining, easy to do in walk only, and again practicing compliance. We led her out in hand in a quiet environment, introduced tack, and even did some ride and lead with her as the led horse. This was all on quiet lanes, with a foot person to step in if things got exciting (she was an old TB ex racehorse).

Finally, after a walk long rein session with full tack the owner mounted up, all quiet and good, and wandered around the arena at walk. This led the way to a regular "play" in hand followed by a wander around the arena at walk mounted. Finally she could walk mounted around the quiet lanes we had already practiced.

This is it for her, as an older horse with issues the owner has no ambitions other than to have a play in an arena, mostly at walk, and a wander around the lanes. The horse is happier with the extra input and interest. The owner is enjoying quality time with her horse. Funnily enough the physical issues the horse has had have improved with the gentle exercise.

Everyone a winner!
 
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Thank you. I don't know if it's just because I feel a bit lost that I'm thinking about this. I'll work out if it is best for my old girl when I take her up to the yard. But it's good to know if it's possible.
 
Definitely possible :) I wouldn't lunge or put on the walker just because it can aggravate any stiffness she does have being on a circle like that. Hacking is the best fittening work for an oldie I've found, plenty of straight lines and hills :)
 
It should be perfectly possible and in fact she will probably love having a job once again. I think the key is slow and gentle and listen to her, she'll let you know if you're asking too much. I've just witness two old ponies reliving their youth due to increased work - they look years younger and are obviously having a fantastic time; it's lovely to watch.
 
PonyIAmNotFood said:
Definitely possible :) I wouldn't lunge or put on the walker just because it can aggravate any stiffness she does have being on a circle like that. Hacking is the best fittening work for an oldie I've found, plenty of straight lines and hills :)
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^^this^^

A couple of mine wouldn't be able to do circles, due to injury, but hack perfectly well (and not slowly either).
 
My first pony was a very old man. He was a livery at the riding school and well into his 30's the owner offered me him on free loan. We brought him back into work very slowly and he thrived! We won a chase me charlie cans competition at our local show when he was about 40!
 
Agree with others re the lunging and the walker. I've done this to a few of our retired companions over the years, and they loved it, weren't as old, but took the ex racer to a show cross and had to circle several times in the last field to enable me to stop him :D

I would take her for a few walks in hand and maybe long rein her if you can both do it, then tbh if she's ok I would just get on. If she's had 24/7 turnout, or a good amount they'll be some muscle there, just build it up, walk hacks starting at ten mins an increasing IMHO :)
 
Lots of hacking up and down hils in walk for a good few weeks then gradually adding bits of schooling and some trot to the hacking and you should be good to go. I Would however get her started on a good joint supplement if you havent already :)
 
I think it is definitely possible but I would stay away from any lungeing or really any work more than walking on soft surfaces. Maybe just some in hand road work initially, building up the length of time and progressing to doing it with saddle etc on to help build the muscles back up. Then maybe get on board and do similar, just building up the length of time working. Although some suppling exercises maybe help, I would keep things like circles etc to big loops so you are not asking for too much but also are asking her for more than just walking in straight lines.
 
HaffiesRock said:
My first pony was a very old man. He was a livery at the riding school and well into his 30's the owner offered me him on free loan. We brought him back into work very slowly and he thrived! We won a chase me charlie cans competition at our local show when he was about 40!
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Wow that is impressive
 
Black Beastie said:
Lots of hacking up and down hils in walk for a good few weeks then gradually adding bits of schooling and some trot to the hacking and you should be good to go. I Would however get her started on a good joint supplement if you havent already :)
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I haven't yet but have been having a look around for joint supplements, does anyone have any recommendations?
 
Cortaflex is great and is what my vet recommends.

I did exactly the same this year after having my younger horse PTS. Both my 23 year old and 16 year old have come back into light work with a view to doing some low level RC stuff. As long as you build up fitness slowly and listen to what they're bodies are trying to tell you then I'm sure she'll be fine.
 
SJB33 said:
I haven't yet but have been having a look around for joint supplements, does anyone have any recommendations?
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I have had great results with Naf superflex powder but was just too costly for my budget so now I make my own from equimins glucosamine, 900g, 1kg of tumeric, 500g of cinnamon and 500g of monks pepper/chasteberry as an oldie supplement he gets one 15g scoop per feed over two/three feeds in winter and two scoops per one feed in summer :)

Maxaflex is also a good one but the supplier round here stopped doing it and travelling for it wasnt cost effective.
 
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