SO1
Well-Known Member
My pony is 19 and had some injuries in the couple of years - currently on box rest for his 2nd soft tissue injury in 18 months. I was chatting to my vet about possibly retiring him as he is said the less exercise he does the less likely he is to get injured and with age the tendons and ligaments are not are strong.
He was in full work before the 2nd injury except I was not jumping him as I was being careful due to the first injury (different structure, different leg). The vet is hopeful he will return to light work and said it would a shame to retire him whilst he still do things.
However I don't want him to be reinjuring him on regular basis, the only problem with retirement is that even in daily work I struggle to keep his weight under control as he is such a good doer so I just cannot see how I can safely retire him at least not anywhere near where I live in London. In some ways we are lucky as all the yards within commuting distance have all year turnout on good grazing whereas what I need for his retirement is somewhere with very little grass where ideally he could live out with a field shelter and company or in at night. It would need to be part livery due to my working hours and in a non covid-19 year needing to travel for work. I am currently on part livery at a lovely yard where the level of care is excellent and he is settled but the grass is very rich and muzzling is tricky as he gets it off a lot and he is already on soaked hay.
Prior to his injuries I had no retirement plan for him I just presumed he would keep on going in enough work for long enough to keep his weight reasonably under control and then he would be at the age when he was a less good doer so weight control would not be so much of a thing. I am not looking to buy another horse or same money by retiring somewhere cheap but thought of sending him far away where I could not see him often is very upsetting but I am actually thinking I have no other option because of the weigh control issue.
I expect maybe I have been rather remiss in thinking he would be one of those veterans still being in active in work in his 20's especially after seeing so many ponies in their late 20 being in the veteran classes at Windsor.
I suppose the whole idea of these retirement yards are that they can cater for people who don't have a suitable yard locally where they can retire their horse, but after hearing of awful things happening to horses that are sent away where their owners can't check on them all the time I just feel a bit worried about that option but then I also don't want him getting obese and getting laminitic which is the risk if I keep him retired locally. Besides he is my friend and I have him 14 years so the thought not being able to see him whenever I feel like is very sad.
I am hoping that I get another year or so of ridden work out of him if recovers from this injury which my vet thinks he will do - he is not lame in walk so he will at least be field sound whatever the outcome but long term if he gets another soft tissue injury then I will retire him and I need to be prepared for that I think and starting looking at a few options.
Do most people have a retirement plan for their horses or are you luckily not to need one as the yard you on is suitable for retired horses.
He was in full work before the 2nd injury except I was not jumping him as I was being careful due to the first injury (different structure, different leg). The vet is hopeful he will return to light work and said it would a shame to retire him whilst he still do things.
However I don't want him to be reinjuring him on regular basis, the only problem with retirement is that even in daily work I struggle to keep his weight under control as he is such a good doer so I just cannot see how I can safely retire him at least not anywhere near where I live in London. In some ways we are lucky as all the yards within commuting distance have all year turnout on good grazing whereas what I need for his retirement is somewhere with very little grass where ideally he could live out with a field shelter and company or in at night. It would need to be part livery due to my working hours and in a non covid-19 year needing to travel for work. I am currently on part livery at a lovely yard where the level of care is excellent and he is settled but the grass is very rich and muzzling is tricky as he gets it off a lot and he is already on soaked hay.
Prior to his injuries I had no retirement plan for him I just presumed he would keep on going in enough work for long enough to keep his weight reasonably under control and then he would be at the age when he was a less good doer so weight control would not be so much of a thing. I am not looking to buy another horse or same money by retiring somewhere cheap but thought of sending him far away where I could not see him often is very upsetting but I am actually thinking I have no other option because of the weigh control issue.
I expect maybe I have been rather remiss in thinking he would be one of those veterans still being in active in work in his 20's especially after seeing so many ponies in their late 20 being in the veteran classes at Windsor.
I suppose the whole idea of these retirement yards are that they can cater for people who don't have a suitable yard locally where they can retire their horse, but after hearing of awful things happening to horses that are sent away where their owners can't check on them all the time I just feel a bit worried about that option but then I also don't want him getting obese and getting laminitic which is the risk if I keep him retired locally. Besides he is my friend and I have him 14 years so the thought not being able to see him whenever I feel like is very sad.
I am hoping that I get another year or so of ridden work out of him if recovers from this injury which my vet thinks he will do - he is not lame in walk so he will at least be field sound whatever the outcome but long term if he gets another soft tissue injury then I will retire him and I need to be prepared for that I think and starting looking at a few options.
Do most people have a retirement plan for their horses or are you luckily not to need one as the yard you on is suitable for retired horses.