such a hard decision

cassie summers

cassie summers

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So long and short of it i am 52 i have the horse of my dreams love her to bits she is my life i live on my own (my son all grown up and gone)i have been having really bad time with my hip so had an xray and i have no cartilage left between the socket and the bone so will need an op but... i am overweight so untill i lose weight i can not have a new hip but my concern is what about my horse i have been told not to ride but ****** to that as dont want to stop but it absolutly kills me the night after i have ridden ok the next day but still have a constant nagging of pain so do i sell her hoping i find a forever home or do i keep her i have a sharer who rides her 2 times a week but thats not really enough i really dont know what to do she is only 9 so plenty of life left in her and a shire x so a good family horse
 
Sorry to hear this, I had same dilemma few years ago so I broke my 17h ID x vaneer gelding to drive, I now enjoy a,poodle round the lanes in a carriage and my sharer rides him now.. Maybe this is something you would like to consider. I too am waiting for hip op but need loose weight too. Though mine is not as bad as yours I don't think.
It's sad when illness stops you doing things you love.
 
I have the same problem with me knees, but I'm 30! I had a knee opp about 5 years ago now, I couldn't ride for about a month. I sent my boy to my friends yard for a few weeks and he rode him 3/4 times a week. I wouldn't get rid of your mare, good horses can be hard to find. I'd work hard at loosing the weight you need to (slimming world is great) and have your opp. I think getting a sharer is a good idea and letting them ride 2/3 times a week will keep her ticking over until you can get back In the saddle again.
I know how you feel with the pain as well, my doctor told me to take ibuprofen before I rode and I changed my stirrups to ones that have a flexi base and I've also changed my saddle to a comfy synthetic one with a fleece cover, which really helped and still does as my knees are still not right (i also get pain running up into my hip) and il be having a knee replacement when I'm older. Hope you get better soon :)
 
Thank you thats exactly what i was thinking about driving her she is a big girl so quite powerful but i wouldnt mind having a go though couldnt really afford an expensive cart maybe an exercise cart though my farrier laughed and said hope its got disc brakes coz your going to need them
 
I am 52 at the age of 46 I had both hips resurfaced (not a full hip replacement) due to osteo arthritus, I am fine riding a very round sec D who is now 4 yrs old, just started schooling.
My last horse (pts a yr ago due to illness) was a nice narrow arab! who i bought before hip op's who at best I could ride for ten mins, getting off was very painful!
Even with full hip replacement i'm sure you can still ride??
See you are from Surrey, I had my op's done at Frimley Park Hosp. by a wonderful surgeon who wanted pictures of me riding again! His name was Mr Hull.
Good luck you will be fine
 
So sorry to hear your dilemma, but I am at a much younger age going to need a replacement. I've found that part contributor towards my pain is how I sit and by correcting my overcorrecting due to pain has helped. Plus I have an instructor friend who happily rides now she's had hers replaced. So hip replacement does not mean the end - there was a post on here worth searching for as it went into this.

I've also had a weight dilemma and I've found that you only loose weight if you want to (unless something else medical needs sorting out first) so I suppose my post isn't the sympathy that you are looking for - if you want to keep your horse, loose weight and get the op. I'm now out of excuses and know the choice is mine - because I want to ride. The other side of the coin is does the horse need to be ridden more?
 
SNORKEY said:
I have the same problem with me knees, but I'm 30! I had a knee opp about 5 years ago now, I couldn't ride for about a month. I sent my boy to my friends yard for a few weeks and he rode him 3/4 times a week. I wouldn't get rid of your mare, good horses can be hard to find. I'd work hard at loosing the weight you need to (slimming world is great) and have your opp. I think getting a sharer is a good idea and letting them ride 2/3 times a week will keep her ticking over until you can get back In the saddle again.
I know how you feel with the pain as well, my doctor told me to take ibuprofen before I rode and I changed my stirrups to ones that have a flexi base and I've also changed my saddle to a comfy synthetic one with a fleece cover, which really helped and still does as my knees are still not right (i also get pain running up into my hip) and il be having a knee replacement when I'm older. Hope you get better soon :)
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thanks yes have flexi stirrups ect its just the getting on once i am on after about 10 mins my hip settles and i am ok she is wide aswell which doesnt help so yes going to lose weight as i wont get op otherwise but in catch 22 as cant exercise to much because of hip may start to swim again good luck with you knees and your so young at least i am an old croney lol
 
kaluki said:
I am 52 at the age of 46 I had both hips resurfaced (not a full hip replacement) due to osteo arthritus, I am fine riding a very round sec D who is now 4 yrs old, just started schooling.
My last horse (pts a yr ago due to illness) was a nice narrow arab! who i bought before hip op's who at best I could ride for ten mins, getting off was very painful!
Even with full hip replacement i'm sure you can still ride??
See you are from Surrey, I had my op's done at Frimley Park Hosp. by a wonderful surgeon who wanted pictures of me riding again! His name was Mr Hull.
Good luck you will be fine
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yes thats what mine is osteo arthritus but cartilage damaged aswell so true about a wide horse mine is a shire x so very wide can ride for an hour or have a lesson for 30 mins but thats it but doc said hip to far gone and will need to be replaced and he said the other side is also going so not good i am with royal surrey who are great just my doc is useless hasnt really explained anything to me
 
Swimming is the best exercise if you've got a problem like this, it helped strengthen the muscles around the knees which supported them as I have no cartilage either, I imagian it would help your hip in a similar way.
 
missroses nanna said:
I had a both hips replaced at same time last october was back in the saddle 4 months later..... I would just get a sharer for a short while......:-)
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Did the op hurt and how long did it take before you were up and around sounds silly but cant really afford to take to much time off work and my horse is on diy so would need to sort all that out what the doc said was if i dont get them done i will be on sticks within 2 years dont know if eh was trying to scare me but has
 
I'd stick with the sharer you've got now, work hard to lose the weight and get your op done.

Even if your horse is more or less turned away for a year she'll be the same horse when you do come back to ride with your bionic hips, even if you need to get someone to get her working more before you get back on for a few weeks if she goes a bit squiffy with no work.

I wouldn't consider selling, and I'm sure your horse won't mind a lighter/no workload until you get going again.
 
touchstone said:
I'd stick with the sharer you've got now, work hard to lose the weight and get your op done.

Even if your horse is more or less turned away for a year she'll be the same horse when you do come back to ride with your bionic hips, even if you need to get someone to get her working more before you get back on for a few weeks if she goes a bit squiffy with no work.

I wouldn't consider selling, and I'm sure your horse won't mind a lighter/no workload until you get going again.
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This! Lady at our stables had both hips replaced and she shamed the lot of us a few months later as she rode every morning at 6am for longer than we rode, mucked out and went off to work looking far more glamorous than any of us did at our best moments. She then came and fed and skipped out in the evening.

The only difference was she rode very long in the stirrups and got on and off her cob (Who was wide!) from the yard gate not the mounting block.

Dont give up your horse. See if you can organise special dispensation for grass livery at your yard for a few months and just call in favours or pay someone / get a temp sharer to poo pick the field.

Honestly post op you will be in better riding shape after a while than you were before it.
 
My sharer is having a hip replacement in May at Epsom hospital hers is called a mini hip and she has been told a few months off and then she can ride again. I wouldn't sell - your sharer will keep neddy ticking over and the horse won't mind a few easy months. My sharer is mid fifties and her procedure is designed for active people - worth googling. Since she has been told loads of riders have said 'oh yes I had a hip replacement best thing I ever did' and their riding is better due to no more pain. Get going on the diet have your op and don't look back!
 
Surreydeb said:
My sharer is having a hip replacement in May at Epsom hospital hers is called a mini hip and she has been told a few months off and then she can ride again. I wouldn't sell - your sharer will keep neddy ticking over and the horse won't mind a few easy months. My sharer is mid fifties and her procedure is designed for active people - worth googling. Since she has been told loads of riders have said 'oh yes I had a hip replacement best thing I ever did' and their riding is better due to no more pain. Get going on the diet have your op and don't look back!
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thank you everyone for all your replies i am on the diet and though i work full time 48 hours a week i also got myself 9 hours a week mucking out at a yard which is pure hard labour so that helps with the excercise so onwards and upwards
 
I was not able to ride for 4 years, while they tried to save my leg but to no avail. I kept my gir as I could not think of life without her. A few people did ride her but not as much as really she needed but she did not complain. Only you can decied this but I would say do not get rid, perhaps you could put your horse on a short term loan untill you get better. I do hope that things work out for you and what ever decision you come too will be the right one for the pair of you. Good luck with it..
 
I feel for you. Whilst not the same as you, I had a fall and was told I couldn't ride for four to five months and I had just bought my first (and forever) horse! So I took advice, turned him out to grass and have just started doing a lot of ground work with him, handling him, walking in hand, lungeing etc with the idea to get him (and me!) fit again to ride. You could do the same post op. Initially I thought 'oh my god, i've got to get someone to ride him 3/4 times a weeks' and went into blind panic. Then took a step back and realised its ok for them to be turned away for awhile - its how you bring them back that's the key.

Good luck and I sincerely hope things work out for you.
 
I really feel for you. 3 years ago I was in the same position. Overweight, in pain and couldn't ride. I even considered a gastric band - but it was far too expensive ! I went to my local national slimming clinic and lost 8 stone in 6 months and changed my life. More importantly I have kept the weight off, am pain free and ride my horses again. Pm me if you like. I am older than you as well. Good luck. Don't give up
 
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