How sound are your 'older' horses

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racingdemon

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I'm talking really low grade unlevelness on a turn on the hard? I'm curious really & I'll give a bit of background

My horse (main horse) has been off most of the season, with what was a very slight nigglely feeling that he just wasn't travelling , & that culminated in him stopping at a fence at home (very not him) so, investigated & long & short medicated his coffin joints & fitted wedged bar shoes, he came level, back in work, all good, then last week he went lame again (properly lame rather than unsound if you know what I mean, slight nick to same leg, questioned coincidence or not, obv no work & now 'sound' in a straight line, but still slight unlevelness on a turn (on the hard) (vet came Friday but we ran out of time doing other horses to look properly, so he's coming back)

So..... My question is, at what age do you start to accept general low grade unlevelness & stop actively treating and investigating??

This horse has evented, but that's looking unlikely to continue, but if I can get him right he's a fantastic hunter & has a job doing that forever & day (body withstanding!)

I've had hunters in the past that would jump & gallop all day, but trot them on a circle & it was always a bit ooooch ouch, but careful management & lots of tlc kept them going well into their 20's, so I know in theory if I can get him comfy again, I should be able to keep him happy, but I'm getting to that point with his insurance that there isn't much left to claim for & how much money do I then chuck at him, when a reasonable rest could do enough to get him right

Does that make sense? Any thoughts would be interesting

Sweet chilli pasta & badoit tonight :-)
 
My 17 year old lost his normal zest for jumping this summer, I was very worried & took him off to the vets. Couldn't find anything obvious wrong, on the trotting up & lunging on hard surface bits vet said he wasn't 100% sound,he was sound on the work up on the softer surface in the school. The vet said it was only what he would expect in a horse of his age. We did months bute trial with not really a dramatic improvement , then horse was off for 6 wks with sore feet from shoeing eventually leading to a abscess then he was sound & I went away for a holiday! I'd already decided to not pursue it any further as the horse has been in & out of vets with other issues for 2 yrs,maxed out his insurance twice & I've spent a fortune! However in the last few wks he seems to be regaining his normal enthusiastic approach to jumping, I think his reluctance may have been down to either his headshaking due to a sinus problem or him becoming increasingly footsore in the summer months. Either way he's much happier at the moment so I'll see what next summer brings & have already decided to get a youngster to bring on & so I can semi-retire him. He does have a joint supplement in winter but not summer as refuses to eat any feed in summer & I avoid rough,stony ground in the summer as he's just not happy walking on it.
 
My 19 year old has arthritis in most joints. Has had hocks and coffin joint medicated in past with varying improvements. He is quite happy and sound on a straight line but 1 tents lame on a circle. He now just does light hacks on a low level of bute and is quite happy on this.
 
My 17 yr old (low mileage) has shown lameness for the first time this year. He has been on joint supplements on preventative basis for probably 6/7 years.

He has been assessed at vets and is sound in straight line, sound on right rein (even on small concrete circle with left leg nerve blocked) but unlevel on left due to ringbone. Whilst I can technically ride him sound, I think that would accelerate the joint deteriation. Hence, we are medicating the joint.

Vet has advised to keep him in full work, except jumping.

Confess he is now on a mountain of supplements and I'm toying with buying the "Jacks Hydrotherapy boots" or possibly the ARC equine unit.

I think I would want to do at least basic lame examination with an older horse, if only to eliminate a cushings induced laminitis. Having read a bit about it recently, I was shocked how minor the visible symptoms can be.
 
My 25 year old and my 18 year old are all perfectly sound. I'm not sure I would accept low grade lameness if they are still being ridden. If they are retired and field sound then I would accept low level lameness. I am very attached to mine however and will always get the vet for any lameness :)!
 
my 22 year old (competed upto 1m25 as a younger man, then took me around courses from 16years old onwards upto 1m10) - he lost his ''buzz'' for showjumping at around 19/20 (photo on the left of my siggy is him at 20!), so I stopped showjumping him and now do the odd hunter trial on him and he does hunting in the winter.

so far *touch wood* he has only been lame once since we've owned him since 2007...!!!


If he had low grade lameness whilst still in work i would investigate - however if turned out/field sound I might not. suppose it depends on the situation?
 
My ex-racer raced last at 11 so hes fairly high mileage, he's now 16 and other than an old tendon injury (which touch wood is ok!) he is sound as a pound! Just taken his back shoes off which i thought may show up any sore areas in legs/back but so far so good!

He has annual physio or more if i feel he needs it.

I think its a little like people, they are all made differently, some can take a hard life with no real ill effects and other can be wrapped up in cotton wool and can have every ailment under the sun! (we have one of those on our yard too!)
 
Our 18yr old does everything the 8yr old does, jumps, dressages, lessons and hacks. Perfectly sound, obviously stiffer than the 8yr old but is great. He had a lameness issue a few years back as he had a chipped bone, he was aloud time to rest and recuperate and has never had a moments issue since. He's fed well and given appropriate supplements.
 
Our 22 year would never pass a trot up but he hunts twice a week. One day he will say no out hunting and he will be retired. For me having known him since he was 5 the most marked thing is his change in musculature, it has deteriorated the older he has got and he is fed more now to retain condition. I think the musculature fits in with the stiffer he has got over the years. He still looks amazing and the vets can never believe he is the age he is and he was still bucking round the field this morning!

My old horse who had hock issues was never pulled up as being unsound but he would have been 2/10 maybe? He is now 1/10 but doing a much easier life and its comes out in looking slightly stiff behind rather than lameness.

Interesting as was having this conversation the other day and is any older horse 100%? I bet most advanced horses find ways of coping and are not 100% sound.
 
I think some can be. My 25 year old certainly is. He doesn't suffer from arthritis and does extremely well in Novice dressage still. Maybe it depends on previous work life? Ie horses that did lits of eventing/jumping/hunting etc will show more wear when they are older?
 
Interesting thread! My 18 year old eventer wasn't sound this year which was investigated and found to be arthitic changes to his pastern joint.. He was only ever lame on a hard circle... Joint has been medicated and he is doing novice dressage, looking to move elementary next year.. He won't jump again and I have to be careful about what work I do on hard ground.. He also has natural balance shoes and so far so good!!
 
My 21yr old is sound as a pound for flatwork and hacking but after jumping (which he can still do) the next day he is stiff so we just dont jump :D

Hes pretty much semi retired now as I have no facilities other than a field and everything is soaking and with working three jobs I just dont have the time to fitten him for comps :)

Will bring him back into work in the spring though and we might do some endurance, common rides and maybe a wee bit of stressage/ahowing depending on finances and him of course :D
 
My 19 year old ex dressage cob is as sound as a pound. He is fairly high mileage, as his previous life before me (I have owned him for 8 years) was riding school and RDA, with novice riders on his back, as he is such a good natured boy. He lives out pretty much 24/7, is fed on a couple of small scoops of glucosamine a day from the vets and is hacked about 3 times a week. I got on him Saturday after he had been inthe field for 2 days and it was like riding a much younger horse.

He has always hated being schooled and lunged, so we dont lunge any more and schooling is something we do for about 10 minutes after a long old warm up and only when its too dark to hack. We do a lot of messing around in the arena with Mini TX, ie cantering the length of the arena and racing and hooning around, but no tight turning.

To be fair to him, he is semi retired now - I dont want to fully retire him just yet, he is happy, loves his hacking and looks forward to getting off the yard. He also gets to go the odd party as wel with Mini TX for a bit of a laugh. I dont jump him any more as he quite obviously is not enjoying it any more - I dont enjoy it much so its a no brainer.

I think to be fair they will tell you themselves what is what. I lost a lot of weight so I could carry on riding him well into his 20s and beyond, and he seems full of it and long may that continue.
 
Cheeky was 21 when we got him and had lived a long and high-octane life. He'd team-chased at open level until he was 19, and had quite a chequered past with back problems following a fall and stuff. You had to interpret soundness differently with him.

He never tracked up. It was a case of if he was moving consistently. He would take me to fences, and jump in a certain way. If he got stuttery, then he was feeling the ground/ his arthritis a bit. He had a tendency to go lame mid-dressage test, and then be sound out of the arena. So no, in the conventional sense he was never what would be passed as sound by the vet. Especially flexions/ a small circle...

He was happy though. When it was hard, or cold, he got bute. The vet knew him and was happy with him and he loved working. When he went lame properly, and was PTS about 6 months after having had a summer of bossing Reg about and enjoying the sun. That was when he was about 27. He was a my absolute joy, and he was sound for HIM. That's what was important to me.
 
My 18 year old is a little stiff when she is first asked to work, especially if she has been stabled. I think it is in her shoulder and from a nasty fall she had about 10 years ago.

If she is competing I will give her Devil's claw and Superfles, the rest of the time she just has a broad spectrum supplement. I think if she were loosened up she would fly through a vetting, her joints are fab, but she threw in the towel eventing on a hard surface in the Spring, so I think she is feeling her age a bit.

She has a lightweight sharer who wants to do a bit of everythuing at a low level, and apart from going on hard ground i think horse will enjoy that.

As Lec said, the main difference is in her shape, she has a belly at the moment, where I think she isn't working properly, so I think she'd enjoy more dressage training.
 
One of mine is 19, had him from a three year old and has always been sound as a pound. I did a bit of everything with him and BE up to Novice, he has started to show his age a bit and has been slightly lame (2/10) on a circle. Had the Vet out and we are just managing him. We've tried a few different supplements and he needs half a bute occasionally. He's still working happily and is better for it, he is fine to hack, school and do farm rides, a bit of combined training etc. I think it's a balance between keeping them in a level of work that will keep them mentally stimulated and stop them from seizing up and recognising that even low level lameness is indicative of discomfort. You know your horse best and I think they keep going longer if you keep doing something with them. What that 'something' consists of is up to you to decide.
 
My chap is 26 and it's only the last couple of years he's started to get a bit creaky round the edges. I retired him from endurance competition at 22 when we achieved our last national mileage award, but we've carried on doing the odd short pleasure ride. He's still 'sound' to ride as long as he stays within his comfort zone but without a low dose of bute can struggle with the extremes of bending his joints (ie farrier visits, horse stiles).
 
My nearly-18yo isn't sound but he's happy and that's what I go by. He has spavins in his hocks and ringbone in front. Over the years I've spent (well, my insurance!!) loads on investigations and treatments which work for a while but won't ever cure him. Vet came out to do his jabs recently and can't believe how well he looks for a horse with so many issues. About 18 months ago I made a decision that he would no longer do anything but hack and hunt, with the occasional bit of light schooling thrown in (he schools better when he's hunting because he's generally much more forward thinking), and he thrived on it. He did 8 days (I think) plus all of the hacking to keep him fit for it. No, he wasn't completely sound but who would expect a 17yo 17hh IDx with arthritis everywhere to be? He occasionally has a course of Adequan and has Danilon daily (one sachet, two when he's hunting.. shoot me now but he's a big horse and he likes to work, he gets v depressed when he isn't in work).

He's spent this summer doing fun rides and the occasional bit of low level DR with my sharer, and is now going home to his owners (I've had him for years on long term loan) to hack, nanny baby horses and do the odd bit of hunting. They know not to expect a completely sound horse and that he has Danilon to work, and they're happy with that. I spent a long time agonising over his soundness and eventually realised that at his age, size and with the issues he has, he was never going to be 100%. As long as he's been happy and comfortable, we've done whatever he was capable of. He doesn't want to go in circles all day long schooling now but I think he'll continue hacking and light hunting for several years to come.
 
I've got two oldies, 24 year old 17.2hh TB/ID Gelding, retired from ridden work when he was 8, bone disease in both front cannons,previously had done two seasons hunting and showing, was advised to have him PTS, but he has been ok as a field ornament and was also told he would get worse, well he hasn't, just got stiffer, but he is happy and is carrying just the right amount of weight, once he starts to drop off then I know he is telling me something, but whilst he is happy I an happy, other one is 21 year old 16hh TB Mare, done a bit of everything, from WH/SJ to Team Chasing/Hunting, slight change in coffin joint, soundish, doesn't like circles, so she is hacked twice a week and that keep her happy, think if she was left in the field she would go "off" very quickly, happy and very healthy in herself at the moment....
 
My girl is almost 20. At the beginning of the year she went a bit lame but then appeared to recover but then noticed her being really stiff and a bit lame on the left rein on the lunge. Started her on equiflex joint supplement and bailey's performance balancer and within weeks she was moving completely normally again. Just had the physio out and she was really really impressed with how she looked and said she is one of the most supple and fit older horses she treats. She only noticed a tiny tiny lameness on the hard ground when trotting up which must be her arthiritis.

She is a thoughbred though and has a really tough life before we got her. She is also the kind of horse that would let you know if she was in pain. Physio said, when she stops being so speedy (she likes to go 100mph everywhere) you will know its time to slow down her work.
 
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