What would you do with him?

marmalade76

marmalade76

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I found out three months ago that my horse has a heart condition. My vet said its OK to ride him ATM, but he will end up with heart disease at some point.

I rode him yesterday for the first time since Boxing Day (frozen ground, snow, then more frozen ground) so he has lost a bit of fitness. Where I keep him is very hilly and the first part of our ride was up hill, then leveled out, then down hill on the way home. Up hill we had a few little rests (I never push him and let him stop when he wants to), on the flat bits he was forward going and we had a couple of canters. But he was still puffing when we got home even though we walked for quite a bit and it was down hill all the way.

So what would you do with him? Would you carry on the same, find him somewhere to go that was flat or would you retire him altogehter?
 
He hasnt done anything since boxing day - I certainly wouldnt have been cantering anywhere, especially with a heart condition!!

If I was you, I would be walking for at least 2 weeks, starting on the flat then maybe in the second week start with a few gentle hills if possible, then introduce a bit of trot, again on the flat. You need to go back to fittenning work, and be extra careful if he has a heart condition. I wouldnt be cantering for 4-6 weeks.
 
Sorry to hear about your horse. I can't offer any advice except to say just be guided by your vet. He/she knows your horse and the condition far better than any of us.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<vibes for you>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 
What heart condition does he have ? Has he been scanned to diagnose ?
I only ask, as I had a vet diagnose a heart murmor in a rig, and said that if he got too excited he could keel over on the spot.
But 6 months later I was talking it over with our new vet, and he took a listen, and said he had horses doing 3 day events with worse murmors.
So does your vet specialise in heart conditions ? or has a specialist vet diagnosed

As said above if he has a problem with his heart, slow steady work is the way to go, gradually building up the fitness. Asking an unfit horse with a heart problem to canter, would in my mind be the same as asking an asthmatic at the same fitness, to go for a few uphill sprints - not wise
 
Well heart problem aside - I think most horses would be puffing if asked to do what yours did over the weekend (having not been worked since boxing day).

Take care to build his fitness up properly and with real care and attention and hopefully you'll have a 'well' horse for many years to come.
 
My horse has only had six weeks off and was quite fit up to that point. I was taught that a fairly fit horse could have upto six weeks off without it affecting fitness too much. Also, he is out 24/7 on banks, not shut in a stable, so I don't think six weeks of walking is going to make much difference, especially as I will only be riding him once a week! As for cantering, he offered to canter, which was short and on good flat going.

He has A-Fib, diagnosed by ECG.
 
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My horse has only had six weeks off and was quite fit up to that point. I was taught that a fairly fit horse could have upto six weeks off without it affecting fitness too much.

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Perhaps that was in reference to a horse that wasn't suffering from a heart condition?
 
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Whoever taught you that a fairly fit horse can have 6 weeks off and be the same as before needs to be sent back to school.

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It was an endurance rider that told me that!
 
Maybe if they were endurance fit to start with - but I'm a bit sceptical about that too.
Gummybear has suggested the sort of programme I would be following.
 
I wouldn’t base your decision or opinions on what he was like when you last road him seen as you've not ridden him for over a month…its not a fair comparison.

I would take it steady, exercise will do him good, just use your common sense and don't push him, stick to a brisk walk for a while and monitor his fitness (pulse and respiration etc) and how long it returns to normal etc and then when you see a difference in that, then ask for the occasional trot so forth...so you can tell clearly which one is letting him down, the heart problem or his fitness.

If he's still blowing after a long walk cooling off, after a weeks of brisk walking etc, then you will know there is no change in his fitness and not to push for faster work, in which case that I would retire him to light hacking only.
 
I do believe there was a fairly recent study on racehorses (so prob young) which showed that fitness didnt decline over a fairly extended period of time much longer than you would think anyway.

however my boy is 17 so I figure the above doesnt really apply and was noticeably more puffy (he can be stressy and puffy sometimes!) after just 10 days off due to the snow.
 
Thank you ester!

Kenzo -he is already retired to light hacking, I don't consider a short canter along a flat field hard work! As I said in my OP, I never push him, he is a keen horse but pulls himself up when he's had enough and I tend to let him do as he pleases.
 
Is it unseasonally cold where you are? If it was very chilly when you took him out that could be a reason for him breathing a bit more heavily than he normally would. Ive known lots of horses with heart murmurs and its quite rare to hear of any that fall over and die with people riding them. The only exceptions are racehorses and higher level eventers but then the reasons for that are fairly obvious.
 
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Ive known lots of horses with heart murmurs and its quite rare to hear of any that fall over and die with people riding them. The only exceptions are racehorses and higher level eventers but then the reasons for that are fairly obvious.

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Thats what my vet said.
It was not frozen but cold and its always windy there on the top.
 
Does he canter when turned out? Is he active when out in his field? If he is, then an easy short canter on flat ground when he is ridden cant be much different, unless you are top weight for him.
 
Yes, he does canter about in his field, though not as much as his nearly 30 y.o. TB companion who is never ridden (I will have to tell them not to, being that old, unfit horses should not be cantering at all!!) The fields we use are all fairly steep in places. I'm not top weight and he is, in fact, too big for me.
 
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