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RE: [RC] Conditioning an older horse??? - David LeBlanc

Chris Paus said - 


Thanks! He's definitely a very healthy guy and a real 
sweetheart. I think if I do this, I'll schedule his rides for 
fall, as Louise said, hormones will be lower then, LOL... I'm 
not sure how realistic this is for ME.. I have 4 horses to 
ride and keep conditioned, LOL, and I've got a really bad 
arthritic knee that is beyond repair....


I dunno about the stallion part, but I did my first ride on a 26 year old
QH. He'd been a pasture potato for a long time, but I got really hooked on
riding and would take him out for about 25 miles every weekend. Since he was
such a nice old boy, he was ridden a couple times a week by others. By the
end of the year, he was very fit.

My friend Robin said I ought to try an LD ride, and my friend Wendy told me
that I'd kill him for sure. So Robin hauled him down there, and off we went.
Somewhere around 4-5 miles out, we were cantering down the trail and a woman
came up behind us. She said "What kind of horse is that? He's not an Arab is
he?" Old Skipper was a palomino. I told her he was a QH, and she replied
"Wow - it's unusual to see a QH in that good a shape." I said "Yeah - hard
to believe he's 26, huh?" I thought she was going to fall off from shock. I
took it easy, and we pulsed down immediately, got all 'A's on the vet check.
Last 10 miles, we cantered the whole way, passed a bunch of people and I was
hooked. Got all 'A's at the last vet check, much to the amusement of the
vets - here was an elderly QH getting better scores than most - and we came
in 1/2 way through the pack.

At any rate, I'd take it easy on him, but he's probably not too old. Go for
it and have fun!



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Replies
Re: [RC] Conditioning an older horse???, Chris Paus