RideCamp@endurance.net
Re: Re: Elderly Horses and Distance
I am really enjoying all the old
horse posts. Boo is 17 now, and has almost 3000 mi. I was ready to moth
ball him, but couldn't find a youngster I liked, I had an opportunity to try
chiropractic on him, and with his back changing drastically in the past 2
years just due to older age, , decided that a new saddle would be a good
idea, ( he is fortunate that his Mom is a saddle maker )so now he is
in conditioning for his comeback, We are doing 55 this weekend at Silver City
N.M. ( a great ride, Y'all come) He feels better under me than he has in along
time, and I am almost afraid to revive my Tevis dream for us, I'll eventually do
it, but I want it on THIS horse. Thanks for the encouragements. And all
you old horse partners keep up the great advice collum.. Thanks, Annie
George
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2000 1:10
PM
Subject: RC: Re: Elderly Horses and
Distance
Go for it. Just be sure to go gradually at a calm cool
rate that goes good
for that horse.
Don't expect more than she can
give, listen to her she will tell you where
and what she is capable of and
interested in doing at 18.
Racing is a natural for horses, so if she
and you are having a fun time,
enjoy yourselves.
Just be sure to
back off anytime things get iffy, take your time, she needs
to build
up gradually just like a young horse.
I've had this experiance and been
extreemely successful, my horse (started
at 17) has over a 1,000 miles now
and done has several multidays. She's a
trooper!
Joan Ruprecht
(with 12,000 plus miles)
Subject: RC: Elderly Horses and
Distance
> Hello, folks. I have cross posted this to
horsesCTR and ridecamp, so
don't
> curse me if you get this twice in
your inbox.
>
> I have wanted to try CTR and endurance riding for
a long time and have
> lurked off and on on these lists. Now that
cooler weather is here, I
think
> I'm ready to start getting a horse
in shape and going for it. The mare I
> want to start on is an 18
year old Arabian/Quarter Horse cross. Is this
too
> old?
At this age, I wonder if I should just let her go live with a friend
>
of mine who just wants a horse for light trail riding. I don't know
if
> training her to compete in ~25 mile rides would accelerate wear and
tear
on
> her body. I don't intend to get her ready for fifty
mile rides; I just
> would like to get a start on her and test the
waters of the sport. If
> there's any more risk to working her (as
opposed to starting with a
younger
> horse), I would rather retire
her as a light trail horse for myself or a
> friend.
>
> I
know I have read about older horses competing, but it seems like
they
were
> all aged endurance horses. By that I mean that they
had been distance
> horses for a while. My mare is perfect - she's
the best trained horse I
> have, she's steady, I know she's not going to
try to kill me, I can trust
> her, I know if I fall off or something
she's not going to high-tail it.
> (Yes, my last horse was a nut case -
I love that horse, but I wouldn't
trust
> him any farther than I
could throw him - or vice versa, heh.) The man who
> sold her to
me had owned her for 10 years, during which she'd been a games
> and cow
horse. For the past couple of years, she's been a bit of
a
pasture
> potato, and she had a filly three or four years
ago. So she's had a
fairly
> active past, at least, although
she's out of shape now. She is a bit
hefty,
> which is why I
wanted to wait until it cooled off before we really started
>
working. And she does like to go out; she seems to prefer that to
hanging
> out in the pasture. I want to make sure, though, I'm not
going to "ruin"
> her by starting to condition her. Whether she's
a competitive horse or
not,
> she's worth her weight in gold, and I
want to make sure I have her around
> for a long time.
>
>
Sorry this is so long winded, just looking for opinions and
experiences.
> Thanks!
>
> ~angela
>
>
_________________________________________________________________________
>
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
>
>
Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
> http://profiles.msn.com.
>
>
>
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
>
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp
>
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp
is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Home
Events
Groups
Rider Directory
Market
RideCamp
Stuff
Back to TOC