Old horse needs training again. Possible ?
- Thread starter Jessie the Horse
- Start date
skinnydipper
Well-Known Member
I know nothing about horses, the people who are replying to your post do. I would listen to them.
View
Well-Known Member
It’s possible, but as with so many other things around animals, just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
Taking her out in hand for leisurely walks and hand grazing is one thing. Not sure I would want to fitten her for ridden work - and she may not appear as fit or sound come the colder weather.
Pearlsasinger
Up in the clouds
The Fuzzy Furry
Getting old disgracefully
They aren't trying to argue, but offering a very valid experienced opinion.
However, you do say that in your opinion the horse is fit and also it 'being a farm pet' for a number of years.
One is a true statement, the other is not. Those with experience are trying to help with broadly similar advice, but you don't seem to want this. Why?
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CMcC
Well-Known Member
[QUOTE="When I do it will be with a saddle that fits well enough for a gentle ride. Checked by experienced livery staff.[/QUOTE]
Hopefully the experienced livery staff will be experienced enough to tell you that you need a qualified saddle fitter to check any saddle you intend to use.
Hopefully the experienced livery staff will be experienced enough to tell you that you need a qualified saddle fitter to check any saddle you intend to use.
Jessie the Horse
Active Member
You seem to know more about this horse than me. I've known it for 23 years. You don't know it at all. Please respect that fact and please don't be so argumentative. Thanks.
The Fuzzy Furry
Getting old disgracefully
Trying not to, but you are asking and making very novice statements.
Your posts in an earlier thread contradict other posts.
Anyone who posts in opposition to your plan is asked not to argue.
I'm out.....
Pearlsasinger
Up in the clouds
We know as much about the horse as you have told us and we can tell how much you know about horses from what you have posted.
Jessie the Horse
Active Member
Yes I am.
That's why I'm posting in the new riders section.
The Fuzzy Furry
Getting old disgracefully
That is why some very experienced users have offered advice.
But i think you don't want advice that you don't like, hence asking folk not to argue. ?
Cinnamontoast
Fais pas chier!
A horse that has been a field ornament for years will not be 'fit as'. At 23, she may look well, she certainly shouldn't be ridden until a vet has seen her, she's been seen by the farrier and has been built up over MONTHS to create muscle which she will be lacking almost entirely. If you want to go from her livery to your house and back, I suggest a bike.
Jessie the Horse
Active Member
A vet has seen her. As has a farrier.
The vet told me she is very muscular. I'm not sure she can ride a bike though.
Jessie the Horse
Active Member
Hence why I am posting in the new rider section.
Jessie the Horse
Active Member
Yes you do think that. Don't you.
Arzada
Well-Known Member
Always worth checking this when choosing a vet
Cinnamontoast
Fais pas chier!
Suggest you find another vet.
nutjob
Well-Known Member
Your absolutely right. No need to take any notice of randomers on internet forums. You've posted for advice but these people are deliberately telling you stuff you don't want to hear. I recommend picking one person who you have a personal connection with, in your case jump the moon. Stick to what they suggest and ignore all of these other folks.
All horses can ride a bike, she is just a bit out of practise. She will soon get back into it, they never forget, it's like riding a bike.
fetlock
Well-Known Member
You can tell it’s the summer holidays
Pearlsasinger
Up in the clouds
The simple answer to OP's question is 'no, it's not possible!'. For all the reasons that experienced, knowledgeable people have stated.
ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Dexter
Well-Known Member
get down on your hands and knees and let your core body muscles totally relax and droop. Then have someone place a weight on your back. Doesnt have to be hugely heavy, 15% of your own weight would be a good amount.
Feel how uncomfortable that is. Now tighten up your core and use your stomach muscles to lift your back upwards. It will feel completely different. That is the difference between looking "fit as" to a casual observer and being strong enough to be ridden. The strength of those core muscles. Your horse currently has no strength there. And yes I know that people arent the same as horses, but the effect on the spine will be exactly the same
Now imagine being 70yrs old and doing that and being expected to move and balance that weight. It can be done probably, but you will need to allow months of careful work in hand to build and strengthen those muscles before you can ride.
And horses that are sharp and reactive in hand dont tend to make quiet bombproof hacks for novices, so you can do all of this work and then get chucked off and end up injured. People die and/or get permanently disabled from riding accidents all the time. The worst I have ever known, she was standing still on the horse. Her back is shattered and she is filled with metal and will still never walk again. She spends months at a time in hopsital just to keep her alive. Its a miserable existence and not one anyone would ever choose.
Feel how uncomfortable that is. Now tighten up your core and use your stomach muscles to lift your back upwards. It will feel completely different. That is the difference between looking "fit as" to a casual observer and being strong enough to be ridden. The strength of those core muscles. Your horse currently has no strength there. And yes I know that people arent the same as horses, but the effect on the spine will be exactly the same
Now imagine being 70yrs old and doing that and being expected to move and balance that weight. It can be done probably, but you will need to allow months of careful work in hand to build and strengthen those muscles before you can ride.
And horses that are sharp and reactive in hand dont tend to make quiet bombproof hacks for novices, so you can do all of this work and then get chucked off and end up injured. People die and/or get permanently disabled from riding accidents all the time. The worst I have ever known, she was standing still on the horse. Her back is shattered and she is filled with metal and will still never walk again. She spends months at a time in hopsital just to keep her alive. Its a miserable existence and not one anyone would ever choose.
Jessie the Horse
Active Member
Thanks all for your replies, even the slightly angry ones. I have taken on board the comments.
luckyoldme
Well-Known Member
I got my old boy at about 18 and he wasn't to keen on the idea of being ridden again.
Like you I really just wanted a plod I went at a snails pace and read the room.
It was amazing. At first I brought him in every day and just spent time grooming him , he relaxed and began to look forward to this so I started putting his bridle on and walking him round the farm. He was still waiting by the gate for me every day so I started lunging him (later on with my next hirse
Like you I really just wanted a plod I went at a snails pace and read the room.
It was amazing. At first I brought him in every day and just spent time grooming him , he relaxed and began to look forward to this so I started putting his bridle on and walking him round the farm. He was still waiting by the gate for me every day so I started lunging him (later on with my next hirse
luckyoldme
Well-Known Member
Sorry..phone playing up..
Later on with my next horse I learned to long rein which I feel is much better for an old horse.
Eventually I got on him and we just went out for long rambling hacks. It was all I wanted and my horse seemed really happy with it.
At 23 you have to be very careful to go very slowly and be ready to hear what she is telling you.
Even if she isn't up for riding she has a lot to teach you...she might even give you the push to buy a younger horse.
Later on with my next horse I learned to long rein which I feel is much better for an old horse.
Eventually I got on him and we just went out for long rambling hacks. It was all I wanted and my horse seemed really happy with it.
At 23 you have to be very careful to go very slowly and be ready to hear what she is telling you.
Even if she isn't up for riding she has a lot to teach you...she might even give you the push to buy a younger horse.
paddi22
Well-Known Member
as dexter said, imagine a 70 year old you know that isn't active and just watches telly all day. then stick a very heavy backpack on them suddenly and ask them to walk 2 miles up slopes and uneven ground. they would struggle, and it would be unfair to them.
there can be so much going on with horses that you can't see when you look at them in the field running around - they don't have the muscle to carry weight properly, their balance could be bad and they could stumble and hurt themselves, they could have unseen arthritis that makes it extremely painful for them. because they are not conditioned for work they very easily tweak and damage muscles. that's why everyone is saying to proceed with caution. you are best to start taking her for in-hand walks, enjoying grooming etc, and getting advice from someone experienced at the yard.
there can be so much going on with horses that you can't see when you look at them in the field running around - they don't have the muscle to carry weight properly, their balance could be bad and they could stumble and hurt themselves, they could have unseen arthritis that makes it extremely painful for them. because they are not conditioned for work they very easily tweak and damage muscles. that's why everyone is saying to proceed with caution. you are best to start taking her for in-hand walks, enjoying grooming etc, and getting advice from someone experienced at the yard.
sbloom
Well-Known Member
Saddle fitter of over 13 years here.
100%, something even experienced riders think can just be achieved by building up fitness gradually, not so, look up Celeste Leilani Lazaris, Manolo Mendez and Marijke De Jong for the sort of work that you should do, over a decent amount of time, to prepare especially an older horse, for being ridden.
Another 100%! Even bodyworkers mostly don't understand the inside of a saddle and how it should fit - plenty of people saying the channel is too narrow (the bit that runs along the spine) because that's what's visible, but it's tree shape that's wrong. BIG difference.
This forum will help beginners or people out of their depth in a new situation until the cows come home, if they explain their situation clearly, are honest about their level of experience, and will listen to the advice given. Not everyone on here is an expert, but a lot are. It used to be a very different place, be glad you weren't posting about 5 years ago, you'd have been chewed up and spat out.
100%, something even experienced riders think can just be achieved by building up fitness gradually, not so, look up Celeste Leilani Lazaris, Manolo Mendez and Marijke De Jong for the sort of work that you should do, over a decent amount of time, to prepare especially an older horse, for being ridden.
Another 100%! Even bodyworkers mostly don't understand the inside of a saddle and how it should fit - plenty of people saying the channel is too narrow (the bit that runs along the spine) because that's what's visible, but it's tree shape that's wrong. BIG difference.
This forum will help beginners or people out of their depth in a new situation until the cows come home, if they explain their situation clearly, are honest about their level of experience, and will listen to the advice given. Not everyone on here is an expert, but a lot are. It used to be a very different place, be glad you weren't posting about 5 years ago, you'd have been chewed up and spat out.
Birker2020
Well-Known Member
Well I'm going to put my neck on the line because I know how this poster must be feeling after the barrage of views on here. I don't think that's a fair comment Moosea. She sounds like a younger poster and just wants some help and advice. Her statement saying she wanted the horse to be happy wasn't in reference to the horse being happy that it was back in work. It was more in reference to if its back in work I want it to be happy, or at least that was my take on it but her words have got twisted to suit.
I expect she hasn't a yard of horses to chose from and this is the only one available and she's anxious to ride as its her only chance. I don't think riding a horse a couple of times a week in walk for a couple of miles is that much of a big ask and these days a 23 year old isn't considered that old.
People are right in suggesting EDT and a professional saddle fitter to give the horse a good head start and then build up work gradually. Most horses should be capable of walking a couple of miles twice a week in walk, they walk up to 15km a day in the wild. If she has other issues like joint problems then possibly not the way to go unless she is properly assessed by the vet and receives treatment.
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sbloom
Well-Known Member
Walk is just as hard on a horse - it's hard on the back directly, and on posture, and on having the saddle in balance as with most novice/young combos, and that accounts for most leisure horses, the saddle tips back in walk if it's in balance in trot. Faster work is harder on legs - this "its just walk" has to stop.
They do up to 25 miles in the wild a day, but none of it is with a rider up, and wild horses don't have a huge lifespan, you just can't use it as a reason to do something. If arguing about barefoot then yes, it's broadly applicable but otherwise horses survive best in the wild if they're crooked so best ignored.
They do up to 25 miles in the wild a day, but none of it is with a rider up, and wild horses don't have a huge lifespan, you just can't use it as a reason to do something. If arguing about barefoot then yes, it's broadly applicable but otherwise horses survive best in the wild if they're crooked so best ignored.
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Upthecreek
Well-Known Member
Sorry but you are putting the needs/wants of the person above the welfare of the horse (which should always come first). The OP cannot be that young as she says she has known the horse for 23 years. And no 23 is not that old for a horse to still be in work if it’s been ridden it’s whole life. But it is absolutely ridiculous for a horse of 23 to start being ridden after years of retirement, particularly by someone who clearly has no idea what she is doing. Why do you feel the need to defend this? ?