How many of you guys have veterans & what do you do with them?

Porkie

Porkie

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 May 2007
Messages
581
Location
Kent
Visit site
My boy is 26. I have loaned him for 16 mths and have brought him back into full work over this time after he was expelled from his retirement home
crazy.gif
doh! He also had time of after this due to a serious knee injury which should have prevented him ever being ridden again, but he had other ideas about that!!!
grin.gif


He is a cheeky monkey who is always escaping from his stable when I am not looking. He has given me so much confidence and taught me so much ! We do something most nights now, 30-40 mins light schooling or up to an hour hacking, mainly walking up and down hills and a little bit of trotting on the flat (with the occassional canter if the ground if soft enough!) I spoil him rotten in return and my friends say he has me well and truely 'wrapped round his hoof' !!
tongue.gif
We have started going out and about in the trailer with a friend and he luuurves to travel and see the sights, he'll literally knock you out the way to get on!!! He is such a joy to do in every way and I never dreamed I would have such a bond with a horse ! I will be forever in his debt for what he has taught and given to me !!! I am so very lucky that his owner is just so happy to let me take care of him as though he was mine! She is on the same yard and wouldn't let him go anywhere else at his age as she has had him 20 years and wants to make sure is is well looked after ............. but she has another horse and not enough hours in the day ........!

I think I love him more for his age as he has had many years to learn all the tricks in the book and gives him such character
smile.gif


Just wondered if there are any other golden oldie enthusiasts out there ????

Do you think I do too much work with mine? He's fitter than he's been in years, dropped some of his excess weight and his coat is gleaming. He's seems happy to do what I am doing and am hoping I will instinctively know when to start cutting back his workload ......... ???!!!
 
I have a couple of horses who are over 20 years old and they are still going strong.

I think the very worst thing you can do to an oldie is one day to plonk it out in the field and just leave it. If the horse is still enthusiastic to go out.....keep at it! And no I don't think you are doing too much on your horse. You'll know when it is time to slow down, but by the sounds of it, now is not that time.
smile.gif
 
I thinkn you have a clone of my 25yo (even down to recovering from serious knee injury).
I do whatever I want with him and age very rarely comes into it. As long as I get him fit enough he can hunt/event all day with horses a fifth of his age and stil e bouncing at the end, and he throws an absolute wobbly if we take our other 2 horses out and leave him behind.
Good luck with your boy. As long as he is fit, I really can't see you doing him any harm. Go for it.

Fiona
 
Ah, he sounds lovely and like he's really enjoying life with you...I'm sure he'll let you know when his work load needs cutting down, but it doesn't sound like it does at the moment. He sounds like a happy bunny
smile.gif
 
I think if you were doing too much with him, he would tell you, i used to ide a 24yr old who was supposed to be semi-retired but after me iding her fo about 2 months her owner asked if i would like to bring her back into full work and start competing her again!!! As she just LOVED it!!! We competed in a few local club events and the last one we did was 1m
tongue.gif
Then unfortunatly her tendons started to play up so she had to be semi-retied on only hacke dout 3 times a week - during this time she became such a handful that her owner was thinking about putting her back into full work.....but i then got my horse so she decided to find her a retirement field....and she is still a handful today (she gets ridden occasionally because she can't be left in the field on her own!!)
tongue.gif
 
We have some ponies who are around 30 years old and still do light work, they thought about retiring one but he hates it, and loves being ridden even if its not much! most the oldies at my yard are still used lightly, vet has always commented on how well they look, and that unless they cant its no bad thing if they work lightly and keep them stimulated
 
[ QUOTE ]
I thinkn you have a clone of my 25yo (even down to recovering from serious knee injury).
and he throws an absolute wobbly if we take our other 2 horses out and leave him behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

Really Fiona - Out of interest how did you're knee injury happen? Mine too loves to just be one of the boys and if the others hack out without us he has a proper strop!

We have just started hacking out alone (which I he hasn't been doing for about 10 years) and I am so pleased as he has been good as gold and seems to really enjoy it, always happy to go forward and he's like 'where we going then mum, which way'...... when we box up and go out his little face is a picture when I open the door - his eyes are sooo big and full of interest! We are having heaps of fun! Glad to hear all your oldie guys 'n girls are also doing so well!
smile.gif


I'm glad you all think his workload is ok, I assume he will tell me when he needs to start slowing but never having had a horse before, especially an oldie I'm always 'just wondering.....' !!! Last night we did some canter poles in the school and you'd have thought they were huge jumps - he absolutely leaps them!!
grin.gif
(even though he's not meant to jump like that cos of his knee!!) We were told we are allowed to do pole though ...........
 
April in my signature is 23.

Before my YO got her she was off for 2 years with a tendon injury, she's completely recovered now and as you can see from pics she is back doing everything from X country to SJ, Trec and Dressage (all at local levels).

She is much happier being back in work and was quite depressed when I started riding her.
She's now looking much more healthy and happy and I will do everything with her for as long as she can.
I checked with my instructor before upping her workload this year and she basically said do what you can and if it becomes to much they will soon tell you!

You sound exactly how I feel about April, I'm so proud of her and how she looks and I love her personality (once I got the better of it!! She was a right horror to start with lol)

Hope you have fun with him for a long time to come xx
 
[ QUOTE ]
You sound exactly how I feel about April, I'm so proud of her and how she looks and I love her personality (once I got the better of it!! She was a right horror to start with lol)

Hope you have fun with him for a long time to come xx

[/ QUOTE ]

April looks fab - well done you!
smile.gif
And yes I do, I absolutely adore him and am so proud of him - and of what we have acheived together. I do worry sometimes that I have let myself get soooo attached to an older chap, and how long I will have him for etc. etc. and then I think about how much joy he has given me already and hopefully for a few years to come and think it is sooo worth it! I couldn't give him up now even if I wanted to! We are a team! When he is in the field and I call him he whinnys and comes to the fence now and when he did it the first time a few weeks ago I got all emotional!
blush.gif


Hope you continue down a great track with April too ....... I love to chat to people who also have veterans so if you (or any of you with veterans) ever want to chat just PM me
smile.gif
xx
 
They do let you know when its time to slow down a bit so dont worry about the work you're doing! My boy was 22ish and out jumping 1-1.10 when he started stopping. I then realised that he was wasn't happy to jump the bigger tracks and that he was getting a sore the day after so you couldnt jump 2 days in a row. Though he absolutely loved cross country, show jumping was too hard on his joints. I always found that the more work I did with him the better as long as it wasn't too extreme as it kept him from getting too stiff.

It is horrible when you realise that you've got to reduce their workload but they will tell you. I let my boy go to a novice so he can potter around and enjoy the rest of life without any pressure but I still really miss him 18mths later.
 
Well my oldie is 30 and still a handful! He is now only hacked out about 5 times a week for up to 2 hours a time. He is in fab condition and is not showing any signs of wanting to stop! In fact a vet that was in our yard only thought he was 16
shocked.gif
I was well chuffed!! He will let you know when he has done too much. Keeping his slim is a good thing too, You sound like you and he are having fun. Ive had mine 24 years love hime more now than ever
smile.gif
Keep him going and enjoy!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Well my oldie is 30 and still a handful! In fact a vet that was in our yard only thought he was 16
shocked.gif
I was well chuffed!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Lol !
grin.gif
I know isn't it just great when someone says something like that! As I said mine is 26 and the vet came to do his jabs the other day and thought he looked no more than about 13/14 yrs!! I was also very chuffed, couldn't stop
grin.gif
ing!! I hope mine is still a handful at 30 ! I certainly won't moan at that !!

Am also very lucky as he has fantastic teeth! The dentist made a little crack about his weight last time (which we have got rid of some now I might add) 'oh I see he likes his food, well I'm sorry to say ......' (and I thought something bad was coming...) .....'that he'll be able to eat all the better now !!! '
shocked.gif
I had to laugh at that !!

I'm so pleased reading all the replies to my post that so many veterans are still out there, happy healthy and enjoying life!

grin.gif
Go the oldies !!!
grin.gif
 
mine is in her 20s, and not doing anything at the moment. She has a very sore back and is lame (Arthritis or knee injury) so we're still trying to get the back man and possibly vet out! She still charges round the field and I think she'd much rather be ridden
frown.gif
 
I have a 20 yr ld TB who still thinks she is 10 - she has tested my vet knowledge since I have had her (when she was 15) and has had choke, colic, her neck hair fell off (no reason - even the vets were perplexed), she windsucks and cribs bites and two years ago was diagnosed with Navicular. However with good management (drugs when neccesary but hasn't had any for some time), nerve blocks and egg bar shoes she is pretty much constantly sound and does a very nice dressage test when it is asked of her - no jumping for her now but she is a fab hack and a perfect dressage schoolmistress and absolutely bomb proof on roads.
If I could just get her to be a bit less accident prone (she ran into a tree at a canter in her field last week getting out of her greedy boyfriends' way) I might have the perfect veteran!!!

Actually whilst I am here a little question - I took her showing last year and she looked fab and performed fantastically (in a veteran class) and had manners to burn compared to the rest but was put last just because she was wearing egg bars - does that seem right???
 
I have a 17 year old 14.2hh and my closest friend at the yard has a 26 year old TB mare.

Both do pretty much the same things - showing, a little bit of show jumping and this year we have started doing sponsored rides. On Sunday they completed 12 miles and could have happily gone around a 2nd time! We were in the forest and both jumped a rather large fir tree which had fallen over.

Far from being retired these 2 are doing more this year than they have in the past 5 and loving it! Obviously we are concious of the fact they are older and spend a lot of the rides walking but when do have a good canter we catch up on riders who previously overtook us everytime!

My boy only jumps small because of me but can happily still clear 4ft+ if asked!
 
My 21yo spent the last hunting season as master's horse hunting hounds. He's not as nippy as he used to be, but would be very put out if he didn't get his hunting fix! As you can see, he's still got a pop in him!

pups2006-0091.jpg
 
I still occassionally ride my very first pony who's now 20. Id love to hack him daily but I feel Im too big and heavy for him so only ride him nown and again. Rode him today and he was crazy! He actually took off with me..... wouldnt think he was 20 at all! He absolutely loves it though.

I agree the worst thing to do is to suddenly chuck them in a field doing nothing else. My boy definately gets bored if not ridden for a while.
 
It is lovely reading about all these oldies who are still going strong. My boy Merlin (chestnut Welsh D in my avatar & sig) is at least 21 but is still going strong, took him to a farm ride at the weekend & he was still bouncing after 6 miles and can easily out-gallop OH's 9yo!
He doesn't jump as much or as high as he used to (and that is fine by me as he has spent years teaching me how to jump!) but still likes jumping little fences & will actually take you over without you having any say in it if you're not careful!
Here's hoping he is still going strong for years.
 
Buuuuuuurth! She has had a quiet winter, I still ride her from time to time on soft ground as she is no longer shod, and at 26 she is becoming stiff. She hunted with me until she was 24 where she put in her first and last stop and at this point we knew she had to hang up the life long job of hunting, she hates being semi retired and would love to be worked again.
 
I have 3 horses, 2 of which classed a veterans..... the other following close behind at the age of 14.
My oldest (38) is obviously retired. My other horse is 19 this month, and i still compete him in unaffiliated SJ up to 3ft6 and do unaffiliated dressage at novice level and considering our first unaffiliated ODE in September. The 14 yr old, i've just started to do 'dressage' with her (she was raced then did nothing due to an injury) but we're crap lol!
Gotta love the golden oldies!
 
My old boy (21) bottom right in siggy is still going strong still competes at SJ and Dr, i think he would die of boredom if he didnt work, he has such an active brain.
 
My old lad is 37ish now (maybe even older). He is retired, not due to any specific reason other than I feel I am too heavy to ride him.

He will quite happily come out on a hack with me and my other horse Milly.

He has sooooooooooooooooooo much characture it is untrue. He also knows every trick in the book!!
grin.gif


He lives out 24/7 and the little sod even popped a 5 bar gate a few months ago, as he decided he wasn't staying in the field!
grin.gif


I worry like hell every winter and wonder if I will ever get him through it. This this time of year he just blooms.
grin.gif
 
My childhood pony, Mon-ami is 27 years old this year and she still does local shows, long hacks, teaches children and is this months Spillers Pony of the Month! She loves working and I don't know what we would do without her.

She has problems keeping her weight at the moment but we are managing to sort it out.
 
Lovely to hear about all these oldies still going strong, my cob mare is 19 and still charges off the yard when we hack out, she loves going out and I love riding her but my friend keeps telling me my mare should be taking things easy at her age, so I've been worrying that I'm doing too much with her.
 
this is my 26 year old boy, we still do everything but at lower height, up to 2ft9 only, he loves life, shows, hacking, XC likes to embarass me with funny dressage tests! They will let you know when they have had enough. I have found over the last few years, my boy has found a new zest for life!!

t2.jpg

BY PERMISSION OF SHOWGROUNDPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
titch2-1.jpg


titch3-1.jpg

NB: pulling my arms out of their sockets!!
 
32yr old Trixe is exmoor x, and goes out for regular walks in hand, unfortunately I have no rider small or brave neough to ride her, if i did shed still be in work.
Shadow is 28 and goes out for light hacks, but she has severe arthritis of the hocks dso cant do much.
Also Boo is just a vet at 16, but can only do hacking from this point on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top