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[RC] starting the older horse - Marlene Moss

I recently traded my mustang mare who was not really suited for distance work for an 8 year old arab mare who had never been ridden.  I liked this idea because this was a horse who was more mature (hopefully less silly behavior) and not messed up by someone else riding her too hard.  Well, hoping for less silly behavior was foolish – poor thing has never had a job and so I’ve really surprised her!  But she is smart and we are progressing well once I got smart enough to slow down and not have the same expectations I would have of a mature horse that has had a job.

 

This horse is put together pretty well, but she is small.  I like smaller horses, but I am concerned about her legs and feet.  She is about 14.1 with a decent heart girth (bigger than some of my taller horses).  Her cannons measure 7.25” and she has 00 feet all around.  I weigh around 135 – is it foolish of me to expect her to carry me through reasonably competitive 50’s or possibly an occasional 100?  We live in the mountains and she gets daily hill climbing on pasture – and she is nicely muscled even though all I’ve done is a couple turns in the round pen on her back so far.

 

Also, I got to thinking about a comment Tom made about the horses raced early possibly competing longer.  Really doesn’t make sense to me for 2yo T-breds and racing as I have a hard time thinking about them even being ridden so young.  But I can see something to thinking about starting to stress legs at an “appropriate” level when they are young so they are strong when older.  So I wonder if I should be further concerned about this horse.  Has her easy young life compromised the ability to remodel her bone with conditioning now, or do I just need to be extra cautious and focus even more on LSD once we get out on the trail?  Or am I overthinking the whole thing?

 

I am hoping to ride her in various environments through the fall, winter and early spring.  I would like to do an easy 25 in April and hop right into slow 50’s after that.  I really want her to learn to take care of herself rather than thinking a 25 is a walk in the park, but I also don’t want to overly stress her legs and I’m really not sure what would be early signs that we’d done too much – so I could slow down in time. 

 

Any advice would be appreciated.  And I would like to hear from people who have competed on smaller boned horses, especially on 100’s.

Marlene

 

Marlene Moss

www.KineticEquineAnalysis.com (saddle fit for the horse in motion)

Available for saddle fitting at Colfax Coalrush endurance ride in NM

www.mphr.org (Mustang Performance Horse Registry)

www.mossrockranch.com (sale horses and more)

719-351-5037 (cell)

719-748-9073 (home)