How long can you ride a horse before you should retire it?
Posted on Mar 16, 2009 under Retire |By that I mean what is the recommended age to retire your horse.
You can't really state that a horse should be retired at X age as all horses are individuals and different.
What you should look at is the level of work and the horse's ability to do it, also taking into account his mental health.
A horse that has been doing hard work like eventing and such can often do showjumping for much longer than XC, equally a horse who is used for roping can retire to reining or pleasure work.
Some horses due to injury need to retire to slower work much earlier than others (racehorses as an example)
Basically once your horse is over ten it's getting on a bit, but if it's happy in its work with no health problems then it's fine to continue that work.
At fifteen or so you need to be on the lookout for changes to muscle tone and such, and leg injuries. Horses often start needing a bit of help around this time but of course that's not set in stone - many ponies over here in the UK go on well into their 20s in gaming.
If at any time the horse sustains a serious injury then that may mean that he needs to retire earlier as his injury may cause arthritis or similar problems.
Some older horses benefit from a diet that has been specially formulated for the older horse, and a lot of people are very keen on using pain killing herbs for their animals who are feeling their age, such things as Devil's Claw and 'Mobility Mix'
Basically if at any time the horse is struggling in his work - look for excessive tiredness, recurring lameness, lethargy, stiffness, constant injuries and absolutely anything else you can think of, then it may be time to consider lightening his workload. Of course this decision can be discussed with a vet who will be the best person to advise you for individual horses.
Older horses can still enjoy light hacking out, or even if they're that old being led out for a change of scenery. Its all about quality of life for them.
Hope that helps a little?
March 14th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
This depends partly on your horse's health. The standard age is I guess anywhere from 18-22… as i said it all depends on your preferences and your horse's happiness and health. If they are around twenty or thirty go ahead and gradually start to ride them less. That's what i personally believe… I would research it, i'm not particularly an expert but my parents own 3 horses….
References :
March 14th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
i have 6 horses
i use to have 8 but two died
and i rode mine up untill three days of his death
but its mostly depends on the way the horse looks
liek if its skinny and it hurts for it to walk
i woodnt ride it
but if it was heathy and has good joints then what the heck ahhaha
also it has to do with if your horse likes to go on rides
horses are smart
if a horse doesnt want to go that means somethign is wrong
References :
March 14th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Um i guess it just depends on how the horse reacts when it is older. Really i would stop at around 20 or 25 if it lives that long. I guess it also depends on what you do with it (jumping,dressage, whatever)
References :
March 14th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
You can't really state that a horse should be retired at X age as all horses are individuals and different.
What you should look at is the level of work and the horse's ability to do it, also taking into account his mental health.
A horse that has been doing hard work like eventing and such can often do showjumping for much longer than XC, equally a horse who is used for roping can retire to reining or pleasure work.
Some horses due to injury need to retire to slower work much earlier than others (racehorses as an example)
Basically once your horse is over ten it's getting on a bit, but if it's happy in its work with no health problems then it's fine to continue that work.
At fifteen or so you need to be on the lookout for changes to muscle tone and such, and leg injuries. Horses often start needing a bit of help around this time but of course that's not set in stone - many ponies over here in the UK go on well into their 20s in gaming.
If at any time the horse sustains a serious injury then that may mean that he needs to retire earlier as his injury may cause arthritis or similar problems.
Some older horses benefit from a diet that has been specially formulated for the older horse, and a lot of people are very keen on using pain killing herbs for their animals who are feeling their age, such things as Devil's Claw and 'Mobility Mix'
Basically if at any time the horse is struggling in his work - look for excessive tiredness, recurring lameness, lethargy, stiffness, constant injuries and absolutely anything else you can think of, then it may be time to consider lightening his workload. Of course this decision can be discussed with a vet who will be the best person to advise you for individual horses.
Older horses can still enjoy light hacking out, or even if they're that old being led out for a change of scenery. Its all about quality of life for them.
Hope that helps a little?
References :
March 14th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
It all depends on the horse some live and are sound longer than others. I've seen 17 year old horses not sound and I've seen 20 year olds very sound so watch the horse.
References :