Driving

[MiniHGal]

It depends on the horse--they will tell you when they are done with driving/working/etc. I don't know how happy Midnight is doing his work, but old horses can, indeed, drive well into their 20's. Anyone remember Shog? He is 28 now, and last year, my mom competed with him at a CDE--meaning he did 3 days of good driving, including marathon! Of course, he has always been carefully taken care of, and his legs are closely watched--eventing horses need to have good legs(was an eventing horse into his teens). But, he did it, and did well too. And he LOVES driving--even now, when he doesn't go out hardly at all, if he sees a cart or carriage out and someone coming to get him, he gets all excited and practically shoves his nose into the halter to go 'work'(meaning mostly walk right now).

However, it takes a watchful and sensitive person to make sure they are not pushing an old horse too hard. Also, since Midnight was not used consistently throughout his life as a driving horse that has been working on proper way of going(ie: collection, implusion etc), it will be very difficult for him to retrain his muscles to carry him properly.

Personally, I think he would be happy with just pleasure drives, not trying to change the way he carries himself at this point. And another thing, he doesn't look that bad to me--relaxed, head in a fairly good position, etc. Unless he lugs on the bit with his head way high or with his nose touching his chest(which I do not see in the picture), he really doesn't need serious retraining at this stage in his life.

 

[ruffian]

If nothing else, your shafts should be raised to get the weight off his back. I would raise them up so they are at a slight angle UP. This changes the balance, and reduces the load on his back.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

In defense of Old horses. They do not know they are old. I'm not saying work him like a 3 yr old but don't retire him. He seems happy at his pace of driving. The day an old horse says you know I'm 20 plus I better quit driving is the day I quit driving. I barrel raced a 25 year old appaloosa and he did not know he was 25 and continued to race until 3 weeks before he died.

E-yup. My Arab is 28 now and the ONLY reason he is retired from pleasure riding is because he bowed a tendon in his pasture several years ago and limps too badly now for me to consider riding him. He was looking ten years younger than he was up until that point, but now with the lack of exercise he's lost all his muscle tone and really looks old. ::sigh:: Keep using Midnight if you can, he'll feel healthier and happier for it!

At 26, he's in the twilight of his life and should probably be allowed to dictate how much he does. If he's active, HAPPY and RELAXED in his work I would be more then satisfied. To put it in perspective, in human years he's well over 100. I think we can all agree that we'd be very lucky to be going for a jog a few days a week at 100!

Don't know about that. I consider my large horse to have been about 70 at twenty, 80 at 24-26, and in his late 90's now at 28. A mini or pony is going to be going much stronger, much later than a big horse. I very much agree though that if he is happy and enjoys his work, he should be allowed to continue until he says "stop."

We are telling you to leave him alone, to stop attempting to "train" him at this advanced age, and now you say you have slowed up working him, you would never push him too hard etc. In which case you do NOT need advice on how to change the head set of a 26 year old horse!!!

Wow, down girl! I agree with some of your points, but as the owner of several older horses myself (older than Rabbit, I might point out!) I think it is important to keep our elderly gentlemen engaged in life and learning new things. No, you don't push them. I would not attempt to suddenly teach Midnight how to do country pleasure driving, or CDE's, or really carry his body in a true collected frame. But since it seems that he is really enjoying his time in the cart (judging by the pictures) I see nothing wrong with doing some work with half-halts and gentle flexing/suppling to teach him to give nicely to the bit and round up a little bit. THIS IS NOT A HEADSET. "Round up" means to round through the back from tail to poll, not simply to hold his head in. (By the way, check reins tend to interfer with this if you aren't really careful.)

The point of dressage is to strengthen a horse and teach them to carry themselves in a way that preserves their health and fitness for years. You teach them to carry their weight on the hind end because the hind end has the muscles to propel a horse forward- all the front end is meant to do is carry most of the body weight and get out of the way of the hind end. When you add a cart or rider, that is more than the horse's front end is meant to handle. By teaching them to shift that load to the rear and slowly strengthening those large muscles back there to take it, you save wear and tear on those front leg joints and tendons.

Desi, Midnight IS an old man and should be allowed to take things at an enjoyable pace and mostly do what he wants to. He's earned it, and it sounds like you are trying to keep sight of that. But I don't see any reason that you can't gently guide him in learning to do it in a more correct way so that you and he are both more comfortable. People thought my mom was nuts to buy a 15 year old pre-arthritic Arab for me to try and retrain as a 4-H huntseat and western horse. They said he was too old and would never be able to learn to move like he needed to. They were probably right, but he did it anyway and by the time he was twenty he was kicking butt at the state fair and qualifying for Arabian Regionals. I'm convinced that it was working in a proper frame that kept him in such good shape for so long. Even now, when I hop on him and go if I ask him to round up he looks confused for a moment and then starts to step under himself and shorten his frame. They know! But it's something to do lightly and more as a way of passing the time then because you are serious about retraining Midnight. It took Spyder five years of retraining to get it down- Midnight does not have that long.

Good luck.

Leia

 

[midnight star stables]

In defense of Old horses. They do not know they are old. I'm not saying work him like a 3 yr old but don't retire him. He seems happy at his pace of driving. The day an old horse says you know I'm 20 plus I better quit driving is the day I quit driving. I barrel raced a 25 year old appaloosa and he did not know he was 25 and continued to race until 3 weeks before he died.

E-yup. My Arab is 28 now and the ONLY reason he is retired from pleasure riding is because he bowed a tendon in his pasture several years ago and limps too badly now for me to consider riding him. He was looking ten years younger than he was up until that point, but now with the lack of exercise he's lost all his muscle tone and really looks old. ::sigh:: Keep using Midnight if you can, he'll feel healthier and happier for it!

At 26, he's in the twilight of his life and should probably be allowed to dictate how much he does. If he's active, HAPPY and RELAXED in his work I would be more then satisfied. To put it in perspective, in human years he's well over 100. I think we can all agree that we'd be very lucky to be going for a jog a few days a week at 100!

Don't know about that. I consider my large horse to have been about 70 at twenty, 80 at 24-26, and in his late 90's now at 28. A mini or pony is going to be going much stronger, much later than a big horse. I very much agree though that if he is happy and enjoys his work, he should be allowed to continue until he says "stop."

We are telling you to leave him alone, to stop attempting to "train" him at this advanced age, and now you say you have slowed up working him, you would never push him too hard etc. In which case you do NOT need advice on how to change the head set of a 26 year old horse!!!

Wow, down girl! I agree with some of your points, but as the owner of several older horses myself (older than Rabbit, I might point out!) I think it is important to keep our elderly gentlemen engaged in life and learning new things. No, you don't push them. I would not attempt to suddenly teach Midnight how to do country pleasure driving, or CDE's, or really carry his body in a true collected frame. But since it seems that he is really enjoying his time in the cart (judging by the pictures) I see nothing wrong with doing some work with half-halts and gentle flexing/suppling to teach him to give nicely to the bit and round up a little bit. THIS IS NOT A HEADSET. "Round up" means to round through the back from tail to poll, not simply to hold his head in. (By the way, check reins tend to interfer with this if you aren't really careful.)

The point of dressage is to strengthen a horse and teach them to carry themselves in a way that preserves their health and fitness for years. You teach them to carry their weight on the hind end because the hind end has the muscles to propel a horse forward- all the front end is meant to do is carry most of the body weight and get out of the way of the hind end. When you add a cart or rider, that is more than the horse's front end is meant to handle. By teaching them to shift that load to the rear and slowly strengthening those large muscles back there to take it, you save wear and tear on those front leg joints and tendons.

Desi, Midnight IS an old man and should be allowed to take things at an enjoyable pace and mostly do what he wants to. He's earned it, and it sounds like you are trying to keep sight of that. But I don't see any reason that you can't gently guide him in learning to do it in a more correct way so that you and he are both more comfortable. People thought my mom was nuts to buy a 15 year old pre-arthritic Arab for me to try and retrain as a 4-H huntseat and western horse. They said he was too old and would never be able to learn to move like he needed to. They were probably right, but he did it anyway and by the time he was twenty he was kicking butt at the state fair and qualifying for Arabian Regionals. I'm convinced that it was working in a proper frame that kept him in such good shape for so long. Even now, when I hop on him and go if I ask him to round up he looks confused for a moment and then starts to step under himself and shorten his frame. They know! But it's something to do lightly and more as a way of passing the time then because you are serious about retraining Midnight. It took Spyder five years of retraining to get it down- Midnight does not have that long.

Good luck.

Leia

430906[/snapback]

​

Thank you

I'm not really "training" him, i just wanted a little collection, not alot.

I love to hear when people buy old or "no good" horses & show people how good they really are!

I'm sorry to hear about your 28 yr old arab

thanks again

(I'd never have that much gut)