my appy x mare Frosty is 33 and still walk/trots/canters in the ring and enjoys trail riding! She's one of those ponies who is miserable if she doesn't have a job --she gets depressed if she doesn't feel useful! LOL I love her vest for life! I know I made the right decision to retire her as my eventing/jumping mount when she was 18yrs old --even though she might have been able to continue, I didn't think it was worth the risk and just her doing flat/dressage and regular trail riding. Now the small kids that I gave lessons on her, were able to do small xrails(like 8"-12") but other than that we didn't jump her.
she has some mild arthritis @ 33(which is amazing seeing how we did a lot of jumping, galloping and hard work in her younger years --the good care I took of her is proof that she could be happy n sound for many years) but its the regular exercise and great care that keep her happy and sound for as long as she wants to be.
As for other horses I know - we have two 30+ horses(1 appy and 1 thoroughbred) boarded at the ranch that I care for, basically the vet said 2 yrs ago to some girls who wanted to ride them.............you either need to commit to twice a week, light riding or no riding at all as its quite hard on them to work and then not do it for a while --especially because they both were fairly arthritic. Girls decided they didn't want to do it and so SNoopy and Prince were 100% retired. They have a wonderful 5+acre pasture to roam around in with 3 other horses --its fun to see them out there and often I find them zooming around(galloping, kicking up their heels) when the weather is nice! LOL I feel like the bad cop going out there and telling them to SLOW DOWN cause they aint young colts anymore! LOL Silly ol geeeeeeeezers! I LOVE THEM, their sass is what keeps them going!
we have Rocky mountain horses at the ranch as well -- we have the resident stallion who is basically retired from breeding(last year was his last cover) and he gets light riding once in a while at 24yrs old. he loves to go riding and is good as gold after any length of time off
it should be based on the individual horse ---- their mental, emotional and physical well being is the most important part of it. the moment they start trying to tell you "NO THANKS!!" loud n clear, you need to rethink what you're going to do.
I do enjoy taking the retirees for hand walks around the property for something a little extra fun. Get them out, give them "Spa days"(grooming, wash the feet, tail, trim them up a bit, make em all purdy! and love on them.
Last edited on Sat Jan 21st, 2012 11:44 pm by JessiFK
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Horses make me SMILE and I make them SMILE(or at least have trained Karma to on cue! HA HA) <3
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