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Re: [RC] Conditioning an older horse??? - martha merriamYou definitely should give the limited distance rides a shot. We have "old" (21 and 25 year old) geldings we use for endurance; started both a year ago. Last year Duncan did 5 out of 5 fifties and one twenty-five. He went 56 miles on the Tevis but, 90 percent because of me, we were overtime. We have plans for a similar schedule this year. Incidentally he is a big Hanoverian, not your typical endurance horse. Spot is 25 and completed fewer rides (two out of 5 fifties and one twenty-five) partly because he is a hyper sort of horse and has drinking and eating issues, and partly because he has some lameness issues as well. We have him on glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM, and did an Adequan series recently and he seems quite sound now. We are learning to deal with these things and plan on trying limited distance rides this year. We will probably retire him soon (we have another horse in the wings) but Spot loves to go so we will try a few more. Both these horses were athletes (Duncan in dressage and Spotty in speed jumping) until their mid teens when they did very little until last year. I think this history may make a difference, although overuse in their youth would obviously have been a drawback. At any rate, we and our vet feel trail riding is very good for maintaining good health. In turn, they are a joy to us to handle and ride in their golden years. Martha __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online. http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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