older horse management

[smellsofhorse]

I'm not sure what would be the best thing to do for my 16 year old warmblood x

He has had s busy life and now needs to slow down.
He has high ring bone ostioarthritis in s front foot.

He is managing well with some treatment and devild claw.
Bute rarely when needed.

The insurance runs out soon and although I wound do anything for him I have to be realistic.

Should he live out?
Provided hes not stood in mud?
Should he go barefoot?
He needs to slow down but keep active, how much work do you think?
Just happy hacking.

I will be speaking to hos vet thoroughly again but wanted your experiences and opinions.

Thanks if you got this far!

 

[smellsofhorse]

anyone?

 

[whisp&willow]

i would keep him as he is used to being kept. my sisters old pony always lived out and i think this is good for her as she is constantly moving about, keeping her joints from seizing up! also it means that she keeps a basic level of fitness just from moving around the field (hillside!)

she is much older than your boy and has not boney/health issues so i cant advise on anything there.

tego is now 40 and very dentally challenged, this is the only chnage in her management now- as she needs two feeds a day of specialist oldie food!

good luck with your boy! all i can advise is to keep him in some form of work as long as he is sound and happy- and keep him how he is used to being kept- this seems to have worked for Tego!

tego was in hard work up until her 30's, and was lightly hacked after that for about 5 years. by this time there was nobody suitable to ride her (light and competent!) so she was retired. shoes off and left to graze her heart out!

she hasn't been insured for many years- we paid a huge amount of money over the years for the two of them, and the one time we needed to claim for vet treatment they wormed out of it- so we don't insure now. personal choice based on my own experience.

xx

 

[Brandy]

I can't advise about the ringbone but i currently have a 31 yr old TB and a 24 yr old native, I've had both of them for 13 years.

TB had a hard working life before I got him, high goal polo. He is arthirtic and stiff behind, probably has navicular (never been properly looked at but said has stated that if they investigated his offside fore that he would almsot certainly have navicular) and stringhalt. He was sound for many many years (mostly) but towards the end of his proper working life he was not up to being ridden every day (would be lame on the front foot) or for as long so we started doing shorter hacks every other day, and gradually reduced it over time to a workload he could manage with. Vet still recommends he be gently exercised and could probably do our short hack (half hour) twice a week but actually does it about once a fortnight.

He is on one bute a day, which mostly helps with things such as getting up from a roll I think. I have toyed with taking him off it but at 31 I think I will just carry on as it seems to work for him. He has lived out for the last 18 months and this helps, and has bioflow boots overnight, and turnout sock/boots in very cold weather which also seem to help a lot.

What has really eased his stiffness, other than the turnout, is stopping feeding cereals - cannot recommend Allen and Page veteran vitality enough. He has extras such as instant linseed and total eclipse both fro simple systems feeds.

Our fields are a little muddy at the moment as it has been so wet and mild, but it is not the sticky deep sort of mud that would pull at his legs.

The 24 yr old actually shows no real signs of aging so is kept as she always has been!

Your horse is probably a lot bigger than my tiny tb boy and this may make a difference to what he can do along with the ring bone. See how it goes, you will soon know if he has done too much.

 

[OFG]

Think it really depends on your boy and his temperament. Is he the sort of horse that will quite happily go out in a field and do nothing or does he like to be active and doing a vareity of things?

I only fully retired my 36 year old in Feb last year. I am still taking him out in hand a couple of times a month, more for a change in scenary (sp?) than to keep him fit etc. I stopped jumping him in his mid 20's but was still doing lots of hacking and showing and as he was an ex-hunter he loves to have a blast out in the fields (brakes are still an issue!)

He doesn't really have any health issues other than going blind and arthritis all round. The blindness isn't really affecting him much and its more down to me to adjust how I handle him (talking to him more when approaching etc, not moving things about so he is familiar with where things are)

I keep him stabled at night in winter and out in field all day (find he gets very stiff if kept in). and reversed routine in summer months.

He is rugged as I find I can keep his weight on better and soppy me can't stand the thought of him not having his duvet in his dotage.

He is barefoot and has been for years.
He has super Codlivine joint supplement
the only change I have made this year (well last) was his feed. After speaking with Allen & Page I moved him off their Old Faithful mix and put him on their Calm & Condition. He has put on some weight and his topline has got better (was struggling to get some coverage and he was looking a bit too ribby). He now has C&C and sugerbeet with a little handful of Molly chaff veteran to stop him bolting his food. He has all his teeth so no issues here.

I think keeping Reg in work for as long as I did has helped him keep as active as he has.

As long as your horse is fit, sound and happy I would let your horse tell you what level of work etc he wants to do and what routine suits him and go from there.

 

[IcarusGirl]

If he can stay out 24/7 then it is much better for athritic changes, as they keep moving.

I would listen to your horse, if after a particularly hard day's riding he seems a bit stiff the next day, then remember not to push him so hard next time. If, however, he's perfectly happy to do a bit more and enjoys it then i would carry on doing it. The only thing is that i would give up jumping, or keep it to a bare minimum at a very low height.

 

[smellsofhorse]

thanks all.
He changed to a and p veteran vilatily about a year ago, he seems to do well on it.
He currently comes in at night but he seems stiff in the mornings when going out.
He was always active and lively but recently seems to have slowed down a lot.

He is doing a lot less than he used to but does still jump accasionaly but i feel this wont be helping him and she be reduecd to popping a log out on a hack.

He is definalty telling me its time to slow down but im trying to work out which will be the best way to manage it.
The living out in the main thing, he could with a decent rug and feeds but would this be the best thing or would bringing in at night in winter be better?

 

[whisp&willow]

as long as he is well rugged i would leave him out. standing in is the worst thing for old bones! (in my oppinion)

tego is more heavily rugged than she was in her youth.

 

[smellsofhorse]

as long as he is well rugged i would leave him out. standing in is the worst thing for old bones! (in my oppinion)

tego is more heavily rugged than she was in her youth.

Yes, thats what im thinking will be best!

 

[whisp&willow]

good luck with him. just do what feels right and you'l be fine. if its not working then change it. common sense is all you need!

 

[Saxon]

My horse is 21 (22 in May) ISH and he's coped very well living out all year round with access to ad lib haylage in winter and rugged up as and when needed. In his previous home (I got him when he was 18) he was stabled the majority of the time and needed a sachet of bute because he was so stiff, something he no longer needs as he's able to move round as much or as little as he wants.
He's an ex eventer so has plenty of wear and tear but as far as exercise goes he's exercised approx 4-5 times a week in Summer, less in Winter and does everything that his younger friends do. I'm careful about hard ground and how much faster work he does but apart from that I try not to obsess too much. Since I've had him he's done the odd bit of hunting, hunter trials (one of which we won, v proud mum that day!) and some pleasure rides with Endurance GB. I don't jump him as much now, mainly because he's just not that into it anymore but if I feel he wants to jump we'll do that and if he doesn't then fair enough.

Give it a go, we have a lot of older horses in our herd and all of them have adjusted perfectly well to living out.

 

[smellsofhorse]

good luck with him. just do what feels right and you'l be fine. if its not working then change it. common sense is all you need!

Thank you, i just want to do whats best for him.
But he will tell me if he is ok or not.

 

[smellsofhorse]

Anyone else have any experiences?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Our oldie is 30, with no current health issues, although she was retired about 5 yrs ago after a nasty bout of colic which went on for days and took her a long time to recover from fully.
She comes in at night in winter because we want her to be able to lie down in the dry - and because her companions come in. This also ensures that she can eat as much as she wants without any-one pushing her off the haylage etc.

 

[rockysmum]

My 36 year old and my 22 year old both come in at night both summer and winter. They are both cobs and neither likes being out in the cold and wet. They obviously stay out a lot longer in summer.

Both are sound and well and are far less stiff if they are kept warm

My 36 year old was being ridden this summer, he isn't at the moment because he has lost a bit of weight. However I took him for a walk around the yard last night for a change of scene and he nearly pulled my arm out. He would love to be still "doing" The 22 year old isn't so bothered, she would happily stay in 24/7 in this weather

 

[smellsofhorse]

That's what I'm not sure about, coming in for warmth, if staying out to move around.
He is a big boy and always the boss in.the field so I have no worries of him not getting access to the hay!

 

[PennyJ]

He's probably best staying out 24/7 well rugged than being stabled every night. The only time I have seen this change was with an arthritic teenager who in the extreme cold (minus double figures sort of cold) and snow last winter, did appear to start to struggle with the cold and looked like he might prefer to be coming in to a stable. He perked up when it went back to just "normal" frosty nights. The one older than him wasn't bothered by the cold at all, she carried on just as normal, but she's not arthritic.