Joint care of the competion horse (any level) - H&H article

Interesting that a lot of people seem to think there could be a worry, as a trainer, to raise a soundness issue with someone coming for lessons. In a one-off clinic I can understand that more but with my regular eventing trainer in fact I have often discussed soundness issues/ management with her, and appreciate her knowledge. Indeed, my newly acquired KS horse will be going to her with me to ride and have an assessment and a good chat about how we manage her, plans, etc. Then again, my trainer knows that I want this input from her and I have openly asked for it. I'd say that it would be missing a trick to go to lessons with an experienced event trainer and not also take advantage of their knowlege on management issues also......
 
Completely agree with last two posts. I do " old fashioned" fitness/ bringing back into work and refer to it as such because it's so out of the norm.

I've liveried beside horses that have been left >6wks and get ridden hard in a school in an "outline", trot, canter, jump and dropped again until the next notion strikes, "fittened" in a week because owner wants to go to clinic/ lesson/ comp that wkend. I keep my neck wound in and turn a blind eye because I can't fix or change it but it kills me. The horses are clearly in a level of discomfort if not pain.
 
Kelpie said:
Interesting that a lot of people seem to think there could be a worry, as a trainer, to raise a soundness issue with someone coming for lessons. In a one-off clinic I can understand that more but with my regular eventing trainer in fact I have often discussed soundness issues/ management with her, and appreciate her knowledge. Indeed, my newly acquired KS horse will be going to her with me to ride and have an assessment and a good chat about how we manage her, plans, etc. Then again, my trainer knows that I want this input from her and I have openly asked for it. I'd say that it would be missing a trick to go to lessons with an experienced event trainer and not also take advantage of their knowlege on management issues also......
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I think we were really talking about one off situations. With a regular trainer I would absolutely expect that level of communication and investment.

That said, I know a lot of people who will simply not go back to a trainer who raises an issue, usually saying something like the trainer doesn't 'get' their horse. As I said, they are grownups and perfectly able to make their own decisions. It's also true that there is never a single solution to a problem and different trainers may deal with a situation like that in different ways.

Just one qualifier, don't necessarily assume the best riders are the best horsemen. It's often true, of course, but I'm often surprised how little very skilled competitive riders know about vet work, rehab, even day to day management. It takes a village to keep good horses on the road and most top riders outsource that sort of thing to the best people they can find. I'm not saying they aren't equipped to judge, but they may be even quicker to see a problem and seek a specialist opinion.
 
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