how do you know when to retire?

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heresannie

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hiya, im fairly new to this forum and was just looking for some advice for the future. how do you know when to retire your horse? and would you wind them down slowly (so.long as not due to an injury) so they dont suddenly loose all the muscle? choc biccies for everyone!!
 
I have never retired one of my own, my 23yr old retired from proper competing & hunting due to injury but is still happy doing unaffil & local shows. When she starts showing signs that she isn't enjoying stuff anymore as much I will start slowing down gradually, or cutting out whatever activity she isn't enjoying as much. She's 14.2 & unless she has a rapid decline I fully intend my daughter to move onto her in 18months or so when she'll be 9 & have a few years of fun together. Only her teeth give away her age at the moment & after 21 years I know her well enough to know when its time. I think unless injury calls a sudden halt, older horses are better carrying on with whatever level of work they are happy with as long as possible.
 
I only had one I sort of retired. In her case there was no real decision as such. There came a point when I felt she should not be jumped anymore. Later on we just moved into going out more slowly and for shorter periods of time. About 4 months before she died she started to creak when I rode so I moved over to just taking her out riding my other one and leading her. The sessions were reasonably short by then but she really enjoyed it. I also walked her out in hand. It really was not a conscious choice and I did not get to the point where I realised I would never ride her again until she passed on. Her daughter on the other hand got retired suddenly and I found that hard to suddenly go from working to not overnight. She on the other hand was and is perfectly happy. In an ideal situation I would wind down gradually to give both of you time to adjust mentally as much as anything.
 
Literally retired my boy this week, aged 18, he has strained both front check ligaments for the second time, in himself he is very well and field sound, i am completely gutted and have a lot of people who have said give him another chance, but he has been good to me and deserves a nice retirement, I would be gutted if his check ligament went 'properly' whilst riding him if I kept him going for my own selfish needs.....
 
Thinking about this too. My 21 year old has ems and is on box rest for twisted pedal bone at the moment so when he gets back on the go again think it will be retirement. Hate to think of it for him as he loves a wee toodle but it will be whatever he's comfortable with.
 
My old horse was about 21 when she made it plain that she did not like doing a second dressage test. She was always forward going and one day, I found I had no petrol in the tank for a second test. So I actually stopped competing in dressage - in those days it was on grass. She was always a fab hack, with boundless energy. Again, one day when I was a fair distance from home, she felt tired. She was checked by the vet, and there was nothing wrong, but these were subtle signs for me, that she wanted to take life slower, so we wound down our activities. Sadly she had a field accident so she was never properly retired.
 
If there's no 'need' to retire them I prefer to keep them going, I don't see why a healthy horse should be retired and I don't think it is always good for them.

My little ginger horse made his own decision last year when he did a tendon in the field :rolleyes: I still walk him 2 - 3 miles in hand a day and make sure he has a decent groom, and he is out 24/7 so hasn't actually dropped too much muscle, even considering the winter of box rest he had.
 
My old chap told me when. He was 29 and, although he always set out keen and bright, he was getting breathless and tired rather quickly, didn't have his usual get up and go on all day feel any more. He also started tripping in trot and canter, not often, and not always, but enough that I thought it wasn't really safe to keep going. Vet check confirmed his heart murmur had got worse and that his lungs were very crackly. He's been retired for two years now and still looks great, loves galloping around with his herd, but I'm no longer worried about him face-planting both of us or worse! If he goes over the bridge while having a blast in the field, there are worse ways. If he'd done it underneath me, I don't think I'd have forgiven myself!
 
When we had a crashing fall :(

Mine retired in stages really. As I had more children and less time, we started doing only local shows and I mostly hacked. Then when the children started riding, he went on shorter, slower hacks to accompany them. I did take him with the children for an hour or 2 hunting. He was 29 the last time he hunted. He tripped and fell on the road when he was 32. The vet said he was fine to be ridden, but I thought we were both lucky to walk away with bruises - he was 32. But I would say the muscle fell off him and from always looking young he aged quite quickly.
He was PTS falling another fall in his field after zooming about.
 
thanks for all the replies, annie has seemed a bit down this week and not enjoying being ridden as much as normal. is healthy etc so i put it down to the weather, she normally makes it very clear when she doesnt want to do something and she hasn't been like that, just a bit down. someone said maybe shes trying to tell you she wants to wind down a bit amd it just got me thinking. i dont want to ride her for my own satisfaction, she normally loves going out and doing things.
 
(pressed post too soon!) will see how she is in a few days and just take it easy, hopefully the grass will grow, weather pick.up and she will get the spring back in her step! :)
 
Blue slowed down a bit when he was about 20, but then started to escape from fields and wind up the other horses and all manner of naughty things :D

So now i am too big to ride much but i walk him out in hand all over my local area(running along beside when he canters or my sister leads him off her horse :D) and try to take him to the odd show etc even just as a companion

I am hoping to do a fun ride with him in August, well in my case a walk!
 
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