oldies - when do you know to retire?

digitalangel

digitalangel

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my boy is 19 next year - hes had a tough life to say the least and has had a lot of issues. the worst one affecting him at the moment is spavins, made worse by a kick in the hock in the field meaning a summer off. Ive brought him back into work schooling and hacking but hes obviously struggling with canter on the right rein ( having to use left hind, which has the worst spavin and also same leg that was kicked ) ive decided he wont jump again but i feel horribly guilty every time i ride him. On one hand i will hope he will improve the canter transition ( once hes in canter hes fine, but hes struggling in the transition ) with more gentle work, and horses with spavins should be gently worked as it keeps them supple but on the other hand i just dont know if i should just call it a day and retire him. he *loves* his work, hes a complete showoff in the school and his hocks have been medicated and have shown improvement ( spavins caused muscle wastage which has now disappeared ) but hes 19 next year! hes means the world to me, and hes the horse of a lifetime - am i being selfish? im going to speak to the vet to see what they can offer if anything... but would like to know how others know when it is time to retire?
 
It depends on the health of horse not the age of the horse. I have a little 20 year old pony who has been retired for a few years now as she was our little daughter's childhood pony and is too small now for any riders here, and I have a 36 year old who is not retired, is still totally sound and still loves going out and about. I do have a number of retired horses living here too although they are not owned by me. They are in their 20s and 30s. One or two of them could easily be ridden but their owners deemed to retire them and that's fine too, they have a nice life.
 
his mother is 22 and i own her too - shes ridden 6 days a week but shes fairly low mileage - she has spavin too, but its mild and she gotit at 20 which is pretty good going really! she shows no signs of slowing down but my boy does :(
 
I think your horse is already telling you! But that doesn't necessarily mean 'stop riding'. It may well be that you can continue to hack him for a few years. I have a personal theory (though only based on what I have seen as a small yard owner) that horses who are over-schooled crack up earlier than those who don't. I know this is anathema to many ears; but I had an endurance pony here still competing (and winning prestigious veteran awards) at 26, and another, a TB, still loving LDR into his 20s. But two dressage horses really weren't up for much after their late teens ...though the owner of one pushed her poor girl to the limits.

Hacking on the other hand may be possible easily up to 30 - have known plenty. But your clue is the horse's (any horse's) recurring unsoundnesses. They are telling you. I remember sadly my final ride on my lovely showjumping girl. I thought she had recovered from - yet another - little bout of lameness. I rode her about 100 yards, turned to the friend who was hacking with me and said "This is it. I'm not riding her again" She had 3 more happy years of spoilt retirement which, like your horse, she had richly deserved.
 
I agree with other posters- each horse is different.

Sadly, it sounds like you may need to reconsider your mares work- perhaps more hacking a d less school work? It's always hard to think about, but you could have many more happy years yet!

I have a 35 year old, who competed well into his twenties (when I say compete, I mean local stuff- I'm not good enough for anything else!) and I was hacking him till he was 30 ish, then my daughter when she was smaller hacked him occasionally round the lanes for a couple of years after that, and he has been fully retired for about 2 years- much to his disgust! So we still walk him in hand for a few minutes every few days. He is now starting to show his age, but we really have been lucky.

My mare on the ither hand will be retired much sooner- she's early twenties and due to lameness reoccurrence over the past year, I don't think there is much point dragging things out, and she would love to be a field ornament!

I hope whatever happens, you and your mare can have many more years together :)
 
If it was me then I would continue to ride, but only very light schooling in walk and trot, and hacking. he may find it easier to do some canter work out hacking, ie not on the bend. If he is still finding canter difficult then I would just keep to walk and trot.

You will know when it comes time to retire. ;)
 
Thanks guys - the only issue is this horse is not a huge fan oh hacking - hes a big wimp so finds hacking quite stressful even in company! We spent the first 6 months of this year hacking because we had no school then.. I dont think horses that are schooled more crack up any earlier than those that dont, if i look at the horses ive had over the years its always the ones that are high milage and have had more injuries. My poor boy has suffered in the past ( not at my hands! ) and the wear is beginning to show. I cant make him like hacking - he is sharp and spooky and i worry as he jumps about on the roads that that would cause more wear and tear on his legs. but im going to turn down the schooling a bit and not worry too much about the canter anymore.
 
TBh I think you are the best judge of what to do, OP. You know the horse, I was thinking,'w & t hacking then' until you said he doesn't like hacking, so you must do what you think he will be comfortable with.

We retired our trad cob mare after a prolonged bout of colic aged 25 - it took her almost 12 months to put her condition back on, we decided not to bring her back into work and she spent the next 6 yrs as a very happy field ornament, quietly ruling the rest of the herd, looking after the sheep and going for a walk to greet her public every so often. We did sometimes think that it would have been useful to be able to ride her again but she owed us absolutely nothing and deserved her retirement.
Another was only retired for a couple of months because we found that she had a heart problem and was pts before the winter set in.
As said above - they are all different.
 
If he's struggling with canter and you feel horribly guilty riding him then its definitely time to reduce his workload. I too would stop cantering him. Exercise is good to keep him supple, but pushing him beyond his capabilities will have the opposite affect. He can still show off at a trot!
 
its so hard to know with him and i dont know if i am being mean riding him or not. he wants to canter but just struggles with it.. on the left rein hes fine..
 
I retired my 22yr old TB earlier this year whilst she was still sound. She did very little over the winter as I didn't have a school then and dropped a little condition. She has always tripped out hacking and I felt that she was no longer as quick getting her foot back under her when she did trip. I decided to stop riding her before something went horribly wrong. I realised I had been waiting for something to happen before retiring her but actually it was kinder and much safer for us both if that something never happened.

She does miss being ridden and I could ride her in the school rather than hacking but it just felt like the right time to stop. I have over the summer considered getting on her again but it does feel good to be able to give her a nice retirement after everything she has given me. It did take me a few weeks before I took her saddlecloths off her saddles and put them away. Just stopping when it felt right worked best for me and as you say there is something happening that makes you think about it then maybe it's the right time to stop or just reduce what you are doing. It doesn't need to be an all or nothing decision unless pain or safety is at risk.
 
Spring Feather said:
It depends on the health of horse not the age of the horse. I have a little 20 year old pony who has been retired for a few years now as she was our little daughter's childhood pony and is too small now for any riders here, and I have a 36 year old who is not retired, is still totally sound and still loves going out and about. I do have a number of retired horses living here too although they are not owned by me. They are in their 20s and 30s. One or two of them could easily be ridden but their owners deemed to retire them and that's fine too, they have a nice life.
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I loved reading this post. My 34 year old gelding still does gentle hacking. I am using him for ride and lead with a 3 year old Shagya filly who is big strong and frisky. He is a real pro at this job.

I bought him when he was 15 already a veteran. I do look after my old horses though.
 
i am so confused because hes a horse that hates hacking loves to school, wants to canter and doesnt look like hes struggling but feels like he is? everyone says dont retire a spavins horse because gentle work can keep them going - he wont canter on a hack anyway because he just gets stupid.. so just canter on left rein? push the canter on the right rein through? get him medicated again? dont know dont know...
 
just watched your video, he looks pretty good to me and seems quite loose in his way of going(and looks quite happy!!) if hacking is not an option why not just do a small amount of schooling and maybe only canter if he offers it. his trot IMO looks fine....and a little gentle schooling will keep him supple and happy. my mare is 22 and is just hacked she has had 4months off as i have had a big operation and i am a bit worried that it will be too hard for her to start being ridden again, but i will try very slowly once i am ok. i think it keeps them young to carry on doing some sort of excercise apart from wandering round the field..
 
thanks for watching the vid - yes hes a happy boy who loves his work and i think it shines through! i can just feel him struggle in the transition - once hes cantering he seems fine . cantering only if he offers it seems good idea... aso going to speak to vets.. looking t the vid myself i can see how happy he is... and yes agree about some kind of work! his mother is storming around and shes 22 as well
 
digitalangel said:
my boy is 19 next year - hes had a tough life to say the least and has had a lot of issues. the worst one affecting him at the moment is spavins, made worse by a kick in the hock in the field meaning a summer off. Ive brought him back into work schooling and hacking but hes obviously struggling with canter on the right rein ( having to use left hind, which has the worst spavin and also same leg that was kicked ) ive decided he wont jump again but i feel horribly guilty every time i ride him. On one hand i will hope he will improve the canter transition ( once hes in canter hes fine, but hes struggling in the transition ) with more gentle work, and horses with spavins should be gently worked as it keeps them supple but on the other hand i just dont know if i should just call it a day and retire him. he *loves* his work, hes a complete showoff in the school and his hocks have been medicated and have shown improvement ( spavins caused muscle wastage which has now disappeared ) but hes 19 next year! hes means the world to me, and hes the horse of a lifetime - am i being selfish? im going to speak to the vet to see what they can offer if anything... but would like to know how others know when it is time to retire?
Click to expand...

My late mare was 23 and still doing 5 sponsored rides a year (before the lami). Keeping the horse fit and health prolongs life. To many horses I know were retired in their teens. Most never lived after 20 as they got stiff or arthritic.


We have one here who is nearly 31 is kept in light schooling and hacking weekends, can still manage to bronc and have fun. If the horse is healthy and happy why retire unless lame or illness.


All you can do is give him good food and supplements good care of which your doing and seek vets advice. It hard to say without knowing the horse:)

I will never retire a horse just ease up or lighten up.
 
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Had to retire my 19 yr old tb this summer. He had a few episodes of his front legs buckling when we picked his feet out (linked to locking stifles and stiffness from a long period of box rest when he broke his leg two years earlier)

Had the vet out who did flexion tests, trotting up etc and he was sounder than his younger brother! We thought it was just a bad few weeks but a month or so later when ridden his front legs gave way (luckily I'd just got on so we were still in the yard). I jumped straight off and his retirement started then.

I wish we didn't have to retire him as its only been 2 months and he is visibly stiffer (despite being out overnight from 2pm until 7am) and his back legs have started locking / seizing up a lot more. We go onto restricted turnout in a few weeks when I think he will struggle. Obviously we don't have a choice so will have to just hope he copes with being retired and perhaps walk him in the school.

He doesn't care about not being ridden but we do need to find ways to stop him getting too stiff and creaky.
 
I believe some age quicker than others. Look at humans some are in the nursing home early and others are unstoppable at 90! We have a 25 year old ( 19 years :) ) and she's a rascal to ride really fresh and foward . And is out at little comps etc still .We retired out 21 year old Irish draft as she looked fed up. She was a good horse to us and we used her for a few lessons weekly. We long term loaned her out. She's with a little lady who rides twice weekly on hacks or in her field . Hasn't an arena - which I believe can sicken a horse after years . Goes about her field and takes her for walks to let her eat grass etc . She's happy and actually got fresher to ride. It's not fair if your faithful old steed has done his job give him a change of scenary and loan him to someone who enjoys the quiet life . I would feel guilty using older horses for teaching if they looked fed up. We always retire them to a new home x
 
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