Birker2020
Well-Known Member
I agree 100%. If my mare doesn't come sound enough to hack she will be retired.
What do you do when horse can’t compete/train anymore
- Thread starter sjdress
- Start date
sjdress
Well-Known Member
Agree too for my horse. When the time is right she deserves a happy retirement
Birker2020
Well-Known Member
Mine's not been able to go in the school for a few years now (ridden). Eventually you cut down and do less and less till one day you can't ride again. Again my horse has a lot of similarities to SJdress where she can't tolerate arena work although my vet doesn't believe/won't listen to me say this. Yes she's not too bad to lunge when the vet sees her but that's not with me riding her. Whereas she's been hacking out fine until this latest issue.
j1ffy
Well-Known Member
OP - it sounds like your horse is sound, but arena work would result in her becoming unsound? In which case I don't see an issue with hacking.
I was in a similar position with my PRE but he was only 12 at the time. He has a suspected old neck injury (diagnosed after a few other things had been treated - he would still go occasionally bilaterally lame and also strongly object to random movements at times) but perfectly happy hacking / working in straight lines long and low. I was very lucky as a friend happened to start looking for a loan horse at the same time as I decided to retire him from dressage, so he now lives out 24/7 just 100m up the road from me, hacks with her and her daughters on their ponies and is completely pampered. As his loaner is from a racing background she's not interested in putting him on the bit!
If the loan home had not come up I would have retired him. Even if I would have been happy just hacking, I know I would have wanted him working up to the bit and wouldn't have been able to resist playing with lateral work occasionally, he was just too lovely to ride not to be tempted. There was also no way I would have sent him to a loan home further away or with someone I didn't know.
Had he been 20, he would absolutely have gone to a retirement yard. Again I'm lucky as there's an excellent one locally. I know a few retirees there, many of whom have been high-level competition horses who 'couldn't' be turned out in a herd previously but all settled to retirement well.
I was in a similar position with my PRE but he was only 12 at the time. He has a suspected old neck injury (diagnosed after a few other things had been treated - he would still go occasionally bilaterally lame and also strongly object to random movements at times) but perfectly happy hacking / working in straight lines long and low. I was very lucky as a friend happened to start looking for a loan horse at the same time as I decided to retire him from dressage, so he now lives out 24/7 just 100m up the road from me, hacks with her and her daughters on their ponies and is completely pampered. As his loaner is from a racing background she's not interested in putting him on the bit!
If the loan home had not come up I would have retired him. Even if I would have been happy just hacking, I know I would have wanted him working up to the bit and wouldn't have been able to resist playing with lateral work occasionally, he was just too lovely to ride not to be tempted. There was also no way I would have sent him to a loan home further away or with someone I didn't know.
Had he been 20, he would absolutely have gone to a retirement yard. Again I'm lucky as there's an excellent one locally. I know a few retirees there, many of whom have been high-level competition horses who 'couldn't' be turned out in a herd previously but all settled to retirement well.
Michen
Well-Known Member
No different to humans really. I’m sound enough to walk the dog and ride an lightly run. I’m sound enough for about four days skiing but any more than that and my knee makes me unsound.
tiga71
Well-Known Member
Have you thought about trying Trec to give you a competitive outing? My old boy is 23 now so he is starting to take it easier. I am going to do some Trec this year with him to give him some low impact parties to go to.
Mrs C
Well-Known Member
Same position. Loan horse has been semi retired for around 3 years. She's just had a couple or months off with the on off icy weather and is being brought back into light hacking. I used to love our weekly lessons and feel I've lost purpose as I'm not riding to improve anything.
But I ride a friends horse and go for jumping lessons at a riding school as I don't have time or money for another x
But I ride a friends horse and go for jumping lessons at a riding school as I don't have time or money for another x
LEC
Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
I think it depends where your own personal line is. Would I be competing at Inter on a horse that lives on Danilon most of the time and is crippled 2 days after doing a test? No. Would I inject to support a horse? Yes. Would I inject that same horse every 3 months to keep it going? No.
Would I keep a horse going in light work on NSAIDs? Yes.
It isn’t that long ago that bute was banned by FEI. There were a lot of event horses who would be getting it after xc. We just have different expectations now.
Would I keep a horse going in light work on NSAIDs? Yes.
It isn’t that long ago that bute was banned by FEI. There were a lot of event horses who would be getting it after xc. We just have different expectations now.
TheMule
Well-Known Member
My 30 year old retired from schooling/ competing at 14 and has since been enjoying her hacking as and when it suits me (she is not my only horse which makes a difference as no pressure). This year she feels better than ever on a sachet of bute a day, so she has a sharer that hacks her out a bit, it suits everyone, she has plenty of life left in her, it stops her getting fat and struggling a bit through not enough movement
ihatework
Well-Known Member
Blumming Nora, is Moon 30 already ?
LEC
Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
I think its meant to be 20 or lockdown has impacted us more than we thought!!
Abi90
Well-Known Member
Yeh I was thinking this. I gave myself runners knee after a half marathon in January. I was very obviously lame if I pushed the pace and ran off road whilst I was recovering but I was pain free and sound on the tarmac at a slower pace or walking. So it has to be the same with horses? Lame on certain activities where a joint or injury is pushed beyond where it is comfortable but dial back the workload and no pain?
Cortez
Tough but Fair
The difference though is that you have a choice, whereas the horse doesn't.
ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
No it's not quite the same. Humans only walk on two feet and lameness is more obvious in its than a horse. We can tell people it hurts and a horse can't.
Also, horses in the wild can be rejected when they become ill, so that the ill one can be the lions' breakfast and the rest will be safe for a while. I've seen this happen with domestic horses too. On top of that, the lion will target the one that looks weakest, and for those reasons, horses are programed to try not to look weak.
Lastly, I've seen retired horses standing in a field looking throughly miserable. Then the loving owner who has retired the horse appears and they perk right up, so the owner thinks they are fine, because at that moment they are.
For these reasons, I don't ever, personally, feel safe to retire any horse which I know has a condition which causes pain in humans with any certainty that they are not in pain.
nikkimariet
Well-Known Member
I retired Fig from competing/training summer 2019. Best decision ever. He’d done everything I asked and then some.
It was becoming a challenge to keep him sound and he wasn’t enjoying the pressure of the work anymore. Now he has his short sessions for fitness that he loves and otherwise only hacks. He enjoys his adventures so much and he gets to kick back and give the same pleasure back to a good friend whilst he has his golden years.
It was becoming a challenge to keep him sound and he wasn’t enjoying the pressure of the work anymore. Now he has his short sessions for fitness that he loves and otherwise only hacks. He enjoys his adventures so much and he gets to kick back and give the same pleasure back to a good friend whilst he has his golden years.
Orangehorse
Well-Known Member
My horse is on a small dose of daily Danilon. Before riding I give him a whole sachet in the morning. His first trot is always slightly "is he lame or not?" As the ride progresses he improves and often will do a very powerful, 100% sound trot later. I don't do a great deal of trotting, our rides are a gentle ride round the local lanes.
TBH I'm not even sure which leg it is, the vet said it is very hard for the rider to detect hindlimb lameness (which is why she sees many dressage horses that are slightly lame behind in competitions).
I often question if I should be riding him. The vet saw him just before Christmas and trotted down the drive perfectly OK, but I wasn't riding him. She says if he is better going out and being ridden at the moment.
It is a truly hard thing to decide if and when the horse should be retired.
TBH I'm not even sure which leg it is, the vet said it is very hard for the rider to detect hindlimb lameness (which is why she sees many dressage horses that are slightly lame behind in competitions).
I often question if I should be riding him. The vet saw him just before Christmas and trotted down the drive perfectly OK, but I wasn't riding him. She says if he is better going out and being ridden at the moment.
It is a truly hard thing to decide if and when the horse should be retired.
Michen
Well-Known Member
I actually think there is a very good argument for having any working horse checked by a vet every 3-6 months regardless of whether you suspect a problem or not. It wouldn't catch everything, but it would certainly help towards horses working with lameness without the owner realising. It might also mean horses don't completely breakdown because by the time something becomes obvious to your average hobby horse owner, it's probably progressed a fair bit.
I did this every 6 months with Bog, I will do it every 3 months now forever even if he feels great- I want to know any change/deterioration rather than wait for it to become obvious.