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Re: [RC] Endurance riding on an older horse. - rdcarrie One thing comes to mind - have you had his teeth checked lately? He might not be able to chew his hay well enough to get all the nutrition out of it. Older horses need their teeth done more frequently. We have our 30 yr old gelding's teeth floated every 6 months.
Dawn in East Texas (love those older horses!)
-----Original Message----- From: Ridecamp Guest <guest-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wed, 18 May 2005 15:22:23 GMT Subject: [RC] Endurance riding on an older horse. Please Reply to: Charlene Large diablohot2trot@xxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== Hello everyone! My name is Charlene, and I am new to endurance riding. I have a 25-year-old Egyptian Arabian, Hollywood. He and I met a wonderful lady who does endurance at our vet's office several weeks back, and I have been riding with her since. This sport has always been something that has intrigued me, as I have spent years riding trails for pleasure. What I'm looking for is some tips on making sure I keep my older horse safe while pursuing endurance riding. I am only interested in finishing with my horse healthy and sound. I would probably only do the 25 mile rides, with him in consideration. I'll give you a little background on him: Although he is 25, he has no ailments, and has what you would call "a strong basline". He is healthy, although in the last two years I have struggled to keep proper weight on him. Perhaps age and changes in metabolism? He and I have many many miles together, often riding for 2 to 7 or more hours every day leading trail rides follwed by our personal rides together. He seems very well suited for endurance riding, and in a sense, has been doing it all along. My main concern is keeping weight on him while we are conditioning. Currently, he has free choice to a nice new round bale, he gets soaked beet pulp mixed with a scoop of Purina Ultium twice daily, along with a daily wormer. He doesn't have pasture at the moment becuase we re-seeded this year. When we finish the fencing on the alternate pasture, he'll be out there in the evenings. So, with all this, I'm not sure what more I could do without overdoing it on something. Secondly, do you think I should consider a joint supplement for him, even though he shows no signs of arthiritis? Perhaps as a preventative? Third, does anyone have experience with synthetic horseshoes? I have looked at several different ones, but have never used them. I like the idea of soaking up some of that shock, plus the better tread and some styles have a partial heart bar, or cover the frog entirely to stimulate blood circulation in the leg. I've tried keeping him barefoot, but his feet don't hold up, so I'm considering this option. And please, if there's anything else you can think of that would be of help, let me know. Look foward to meeting some of you at the rides! My first one will be the L&S in June, then Moon Me in July. Thank you! Charlene =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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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