![]() ![]() We weren’t using those skills, so we pretty much forgot the conformation division altogether.Įveryone said the warmblood was scopier and easier and more trainable and fancier. We forgot how to ride them, how to pick them out by their bloodlines and their conformation. We forgot our hero horses that we grew up dying to ride. With the influx of warmbloods, we forgot. This country’s traditions weren’t keeping up with the market’s demands. And then watched everyone run off to Europe and bring back the next generation of warmbloods. I learned to make young horses on these new homebreds, and I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I was doing. Somehow the industry and my career shifted, and we bred warmbloods instead of the Thoroughbreds we’d been breeding since the mid-50s. Ironically, Rox Dene got her revenge on Virginia it’s likely in no small way due to her huge success, being a warmblood, that a top Thoroughbred show hunter can now rarely be found even here, in the rings of Upperville and Keswick where they used to reign. My mother got a nice deal on a mare that had to travel several states away from where she was foaled to be sold, because no one at the time in Virginia-land of the traditional show hunter-would even go look at a horse that wasn’t a Thoroughbred. I also had a huge crush on a lovely junior hunter that was way out of my price range, and I loved to go to the ring to watch Gem Twist do amazing things. Equine Wellness: Minerals and Insulin Resistance by Eleanor M.Two decades ago, I had a pair of top junior jumpers.See this article in the December 2021 online edition: I bring him buckets of soft pellets to chew on and tell him over and over how much I love him. For now, I spend lots of time with my old man Wulf, just hanging out in the stall and paddock. Deciding “when it’s time” is one of the most difficult things we go through as horse owners. These signs are unmistakable-I’ve been here before with other old horses, and the sense of dread is somedays overwhelming. He rarely lies down due to some arthritic issues and has become increasingly anxious if he doesn’t have another horse very close. ![]() Wulf is nearly blind and also hard of hearing. I have two senior horses in my life: Gunner is 19 and Beowulf (Wulf) is 31. We know with all old creatures that the clock is getting closer to running out, and that makes the time we spend with our senior friends seem all the more special. ![]() Being aware of declining health might mean a change to gentler pasture buddies, different feeds like senior horse pellets instead of hay, or products such as joint supplements, and their job might need to be less physically demanding. They do at times need special care and maintenance. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be aware of the health issues our older horses might be experiencing. Just like people, once they stop doing and moving, they often decline and can’t be brought back to usefulness easily. Keep them going and doing a job for as long as possible for their sake as well as yours. Senior horses should be treasured and cared for as long as possible. The experienced older horse can be safer, saner, and, well, smarter than his younger friends. If they’ve been well trained and cared for all their lives, much of the drama and difficulties found in working with and riding younger horses is long gone. Horses in their senior years, say over 17, are some of the best horses you can own for pure enjoyment and wonderful riding. These days though, many horses in their 20s (and beyond) still live useful and productive lives as pleasure mounts, show horses or, like the Senior Horse Essay Contest winners featured in this issue show, as therapy horses. They were “put out to pasture” and unfortunately often forgotten about. Decades ago, before the advancement in veterinary care we now enjoy, horses over the age of 20 were considered very old and rarely ridden. ![]()
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