Retirement livery . . . . what would you do?

S

suzi

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 January 2002
Messages
1,084
Location
Surrey / Hants border
Visit site
Hi,

I have a 12 yr old ex racer. He fractured a leg while in racing (though raced again following a 10 month recovery). I've had him since he was 7 and we've had ups and downs and various injuries (typical accident prone TB!!).

He's a lovely boy but I've accepted that he's not going to compete or do any hard work so I've been hacking him out.

At Easter a friend was looking for a companion to her mare so he went for a break in her field as he was going through an 'unlevel' patch at the time. He's just come back to me and I'm not sure what I should do next.

Do I try and bring him back into work for light hacking? Retirement livery?

I just don't know what would be best!!

He's lovely to hack out though only in company and does have his 'moments!!' and (as I sadly inherited 2 ponies last year) I have 4 horses on 2 acres at the moment and was hoping at some point to get something I can event!!!

Don't really know where to start! Would be so picky about where he went as he's such a special person . . . .

Any ideas?
 
He's generally a bit stiff behind though not too bad with joint supps, stretches etc. His main problem is that when he broke his leg the other front leg did all the weight bearing during his recovery. This means he has one very flat foot and in general his feet are quite poor.

He did a suspensory ligament 3 years ago and when the vet was monitoring him as it was recovering he said that he had a base level of lameness - very minimal and not always noticeable.

He advised that this was not surprising given his history and didn't advise pursuing it further.

He really enjoys going out for long walks / trots with maybe the odd little canter, but is not not really up to schooling etc.

I had been told to keep him on bute permanently but didn't want to use it as a permanent measure as I didn't want it masking other problems he may develop and he also doesn't always need it as he does have times when he is sound.

I think he just gets a bit silly in the field sometimes but feels the effects of his pratting about more than other horses might!
 
What exactly happens with retirement livery. Is it just full livery but at grass ? Sorry dont mean to hijack thread just wondering!
 
The places I have looked at that advertise retirement livery are basically a full grass livery - usually with the horses turned out in small groups.

Such a difficult decision!
 
to be honest if he's happy enough hacking I would say he's still got plenty left in him. My vet always reccomended that if the horse is not in pain a little something to keep them ticking over does alot more good than harm :D
 
I notice you are looking for sharers for your ponies, this will ease some of the riding pressures on you and I would be tempted to say if he enjoys a hack once or twice a week why not bring him into work and let him have some fun? If he isn't up to it you will know and then you can retire him safe in the knowledge you tried it and will never have that niggling what if? Hope that helps :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top