Maintaining competition horses.....

H

H-J

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How often do you all have backs done, physio, dentists etc...

Because to be honest am getting pretty fed up with Dexter and his ailments!! He passed a 5* vetting with flying colours when I bought him in August.

I have his back done every 6 weeks
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and he is sore everytime. I have his saddles fitted every 6mths and his teeth done every 6mths. He plays non stop in the field and keeps making himself sore and im sick of it!! He only goes out for 4hrs a day, but is out with about another 7 horses, not ideal but life im afraid!

He has numerous supplements and is now on redi grass as there isnt much grass, he has huge feeds and is heavily rugged as loses weight easily full TB.

Will bring him back into work now and see if still lame behind and if so I think I may scream very very loudly!!!

Does anyone have one that eats this much money!!!
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Sorry another rant!
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Yep !! Totally know what you mean!

Dexter is a full TB isnt he?

I honestly believe that this is all 'par of the course' with a TB.

Every single TB Ive had has been like this, every mixed breed horse has been fine. Obviously you cant tar them all with the same brush but most TB;s are just not bred to be tough, sound horses!
 
Yes he is full TB.

I wish I had known this before I bought him!!
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Am so down at the moment about horses, im sick of them to be honest!
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Andy is a quite a high maintenence horse too..
shoeing every 4 weeks (about £100 a set) + foot suppliment (TB feet)
physio every 3 months
teeth every 9 months..
about £30/40 worth of feed every month
he is very accident prone but had been much better since we have been at new yard (since July '07) as he is either out on his own or with just one other horse..

i feel your pain.!!
 
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Yes he is full TB.

I wish I had known this before I bought him!!
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Am so down at the moment about horses, im sick of them to be honest!
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I know how you feel
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I say to myself time and time again, Irish Bog Ponies are the way to go!! But then they would be no fun to ride would they
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But im not really getting much riding done at the mo
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Have 2 "broken" ponies
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Feel like selling him and just having Spider as a hack!
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Dentist once a year, never have back or physio or anything else unless I suspect a problem, only used them a verysmall number of times. But I breed my own or buy as yearlings and produce them very slowly, this may be coincidence it may not, as I have only owned a small number it's hard to say. The only time I have bought an er horses it had soundness problems, but not toally unexpectd in her cae.
 
def dentist annually unless its a horse i know has mouth issues then checked every 6 months brilliant dentist totally honest says if no work required, never have a back check if thought something was wrong would ask vet, as dont think the "miracles" these back people claim to do can possibly work, or someone would sort mine, someone recently had a pelvis put back in by the physio
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, blacksmith as required by individual horse, usually around 8 weeks longer for some ponies, too many holes actually damage feet so you want enough growth, saddle fitting can usually tell myself if saddle not fitting properly and try a diff one, horses do not have to bankrupt you, vets fees as and when essential can be crippling enough
 
It does get hard at times.
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Bane has full hard feeds twice a day throughout summer (even with our lush grass!) and twice the amount in winter with readigrass and haylege as well. Shoeing is £70 a time and he has to have every 5/6 weeks - he is forever losing them as well so costs me more time and money. He had 3 rugs on this winter to keep his weight on - a fleece, heavyunder quilt and heavy weight outdoor.

He has saddle checked roughly every 4 months due to his weight changes. Get teeth done every 6 months. Back was done every 6 months but once he starts competing again I will probably get it done more regularly.

And don't get me started on vet bills!
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Worked out that in the 3 years I have owned him (come May) he would have had at least a year off with box rest, lameness etc. I have paid over £500 in vets bills for "minor" injuries (that doesn't include the insurance claims for his pedal bone and his current injury or general stuff eg jabs
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My intermediate horse used to be incredibly high maintenance...until I gave up eventing.

He needed shoeing every 3-4 weeks with bar shoes and pads, he was on a megga joint supplement costing £150 for two month supply, he had to have physio every month, he lost weight easily and had to be given v expensive conditioning feed. He also went through a number of saddles before we found one that fitted him, and even then it needed checking regularly.

It all got a bit much, and I got to the stage where I only felt comfortable eventing him on perfect going due to his feet, so many withdrawals later, I decided to call it a day and retire him from eventing.

Now he's a dressage horse that show jumps, or a show jumper that does dressage, depending on which way you look at it, and I would say he's low maintenance.

Gone are the bar shoes and pads, the monthly physio, and the very expensive supplement has been replaced by cortaflex. He's become a good doer since he's not hareing round the countryside any more and exists on 3/4 of a scoop of country cubes twice a day. His saddles now fit well as he has a bit of fat to support them.

He's also much, much happier, has developed a mean extended trot and pings over 1m30...on a nice surface of course!

So, there's your answer, give up eventing and take up dressage and/or showjumping!!!
 
He is also shod every 5 weeks, but has poor to no growth. But if left any longer feet get in bad condition and crack
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Just had a bit of good news that may be getting something else to event soon, hopefully this wont need so much maintenance!
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I know how you feel I say to myself time and time again, Irish Bog Ponies are the way to go!! But then they would be no fun to ride would they

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Oi!! Nothing wrong with irish bog ponies!! I have lots of fun with mine!!
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Mine gets shod every 5 weeks, back checked every 3-6mnths, saddler every 6mnths and dentist every 6mnths. Very rarely *touches wood madly* have a problem with him, as now he has stopped losing shoes!!!
 
I have a horse just like yours - except he's warmblood!! I seem to have the physio or chiro here every week for him.

With regards feet - have you tried Kevin Bacon? this is a dressing that you put on the feet, it is water based so unlike many others it doesn't actually create a barrier on the hoof. I used to use it on a horse who had bad feet. He used to lose shoes all the time and then as a result the hoof wall would crumble and crack. The feet ended up being really good and I could keep shoes on in most circumstances. Interestingly when I sold him and they didn't continue the Kevin Bacon they were losing shoes all the time!!

I have the dentist every 4 months to keep right on top of the competition horses mouths. One horse has a slightly misshapen mouth and has always needed to be done this regular and as I often have youngsters in they also tend to need regular checks.

With regards a sore back - I have invested in an equissage - expensive I know but I have found it helps to mentally relax the horses before work and also to start on the way to loosening them off and also helps as a a preventative measure if you use it after work as well.

Also google a company called "BACK ON TRACK" I have been given a couple of their products and have found these help to keep the muscles warm preventing soreness and stiffness.

If you are having to use a lot of rugs to keep weight on your horse I would suggest you pick all your rugs up in one go. feel the weight of them and how much strain that puts on you. Now imagine wearing them all the time. Whilst you are trying to keep your horse warm it might be too much weight for him to carry all the time. Maybe consider investing in a thicker single rug.

Feed wise -Baileys offer FREE yard visits where they will do you a feed plan for your horse with no obligation to buy their products.

For my 18hh who is always suffering from one problem or other I actually found a can of guiness a day has helped him to put on weight - however it is NOT competition legal.

I have also found that by investing in a WOW saddle I am able to make little alterations easily and it the air creates a softer ride for the horse. All my horses have freer/more movement in the WOW and I can adjust to fit them all properly myself.

Hope some of this helps. Don't despair you'll get some riding out of him soon!!
 
I queried it with BD and they rang the testing company.

Guiness contains illegal ingredients (think it is the Barley Hops). HOWEVER the dope testers ran a trial test. ie they fed guiness to a horse and then tested the horse. The result was a negative test.

BD said that whilst Guiness is illegal some horses digest it in such a way that the test shows negative. If I wanted to be sure how my horse would test I could elect to have my horse tested and so would know whether or not I could continue to feed it.

So it is illegal but your horse may not show it up.
 
Hmm, interesting to know, thank you! Have found it is good for a bit of a boost when he is working hard, so he gets acouple of cans a week when competing/having lessons etc. May have to reconsider what i feed
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Shame as it is so much cheaper than any other "boost" suppliment!!
 
Welcome to my world H_J. Hector, also known as The Malingerer, started eventing at 6, having had a fractured splint bone at 5 which delayed his start. He then was diagnosed with Low Grade Tying-Up Syndrome (or EPSM), so has to have a special diet now.

He did a full season as a 6yo, then came out as a 7yo and wasn't right after his second event, so was off from mid-May until mid-August while we got his bloods right (low grade virus). Then he went lame mid-September and had problems with his hind suspensories, and came right ready to event in June last year. He had injections to ease a sore sacroiliac before he started, and did 6 events last year, culminating in a double clear at Weston**. I invested in a FMB magnetic rug last year, which helps no end with any sore bits.

Ok, so he's precious, but he's also very capable and promises to be all the things I would dearly love him to be. I try not to wrap him up in cotton wool but I am quite careful with him, and never put my foot to the floor cross country if the ground isn't right (assuming I run at all). He's 7/8 TB and 1/8 Cleveland Bay, so you would think with a little bit of common blood in him he'd be a bit more robust, wouldn't you?

My horses are shod every 5 weeks, teeth done every year and chiropractor(sp?) if they've had a crash or feel really badly "out"/ crooked. They have no supplements other than electrolytes when they need them, and are always toasty warm and well fed.
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Yep !! Totally know what you mean!

Dexter is a full TB isnt he?

I honestly believe that this is all 'par of the course' with a TB.

Every single TB Ive had has been like this, every mixed breed horse has been fine. Obviously you cant tar them all with the same brush but most TB;s are just not bred to be tough, sound horses!

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Oi! I have one TB who eats nothing but hay, I give him a bucket of chop at feed time so he doesnt feel abandoned, he is as tough as they come (but very ticklish), and my other TB is a bit more high maintenance feed wise but he is never sick or sorry and I even recieved a huge compliment this morning from our hunt Master who said I do very well to hunt him over our country (the last meet on Saturday was exceedingly wet and stony!).
Do you think that sometimes we look for problems that may not affect the horse as much as we think?? I have their backs seen to after a fall or if I think somethings not right, and teeth get checked annually!
 
I have a very high maintenance warmblood. Needs dentist at least every half year due to some bad dentistry in Holland when he was a baby. Chiro regularly when in work - at least every eight weeks or so. Farrier not too bad, but can't go longer than five weeks or he gets crippled - blessed with poor foot balance. Needs to be on a probiotic all the time and a joint supplement. Has already had one general anesthetic, and is about to go in for another - both for bone chips from various self inflicted injuries. I despair.
 
sounds like our mare, second time in 6 months she has had a bad back, physio reckons she just IS a bad back type horse ...hmmmmmm
my oddly put together lad, if done minimal with (ridden and chucked out) tends to pootle along without any problems!
 
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