Longevity in horses.....

I get two horse magazines, Horse Illustrated and Horse & Rider. I got the Horse & Rider because I got a cheap deal on it. It is geared toward western riders, and I do not ride western, at least I haven't since I was a teen. In fact I don't REALLY even ride English. I am a driver at heart, who would like to occasionally swing a leg over... But it has general horse care articles and such. And it is about horses, so I'll read anything about horses, hehe.

Anyway, two things in this month's issue just had me sitting here with my mouth hanging open. The first was in their letters column. It was a response to an article called "Size Matters" which suggested perhaps cutters and reiners might have longer careers if they were not started as long yearlings and two year olds, and pointed out that FEI-level jumpers can't even compete until they are 6. One response was "Have you forgotten what side your bread is buttered on? I'd expect this kind of commentary from an English magazine but not one with Western training as it's focus!"

I have to be honest, this left me shaking my head. I come from a horse world where horses are still in their prime into their late teens. They don't even start to compete until they are 4 or 5. They might get their first ride when they are 2, but usually they are closer to 3, 3 1/2. And their work at that age is mild. But then they go on to compete from the age of 5 or 6 until their late teens (I've even seen a few in their early 20's still competing at reasonably high levels).

I guess I was shocked that anyone would think discipline choice would have anything to do with the science behind the fact that a horse's skeletal structure is not mature at "just barely 2" and they might possibly stay sound longer if you wait a year to start them into heavy work and competition. So because Horse & Rider is a Western magazine they should just ignore that fact? Well, if we used that logic we would still be in the dark ages.

So then I read on and saw an article listed that said, "What an aged Quarter Horse stallion has taught Bob about making a horse last." So I flip to the page and see this: The "aged" stallion is 9.

*stunned*


I guess I knew that this was common in race horses. It's part of the reason that I am just plain NOT a fan of the race industry. But to read it about something not related to the race industry has me kind of flabbergasted. Is 9 really "aged" for a competition horse? If so I am glad I am not involved in competition. When I talk about longevity in a horse I am not thinking bout keeping him sound until he is 9, I'm thinking about keeping him sound until he is 23.

I guess I have just been really out of the loop. I'm probably way more shocked by these things than it warrants. I just can't wrap my head around the concept that a 9 year old stallion is "aged". Learning about equine longevity from a 9 year old reining horse sounds a lot like learning about old age in humans by studying 25 year old gymnasts.

Stuff and nonsense.

Yesterday our buddy Jer was over and the guys were getting ready to head out on their ATVs. It was 15 minutes past the horse's dinner time. But I'd been pretty busy all day and had not worked Brego and I decided to push my luck. Let's see if the focus he gave me the other day carried over... so I tacked him up and the guys were standing by the fence chatting and smoking and Brego wanted so badly to stop and beg for grass but he went right around still paying attention to me even though he made his sad face every time he went past them. He was very good. When they went to start their atv's he took off running and it took two times around the area before I got him back focused on me (much to Jer's delight as I heard him make a comment to Tsu about "You wife getting dragged around by her horse..." I was actually running along sort of beside/behind to keep pressure on his face without putting TOO much pressure but it must have looked really silly anyway, haha!) but once he turned his attention back to me he was fine.

I'm just so delighted with how he is doing!


I finally caved and got a facebook. Tsu has had one for a while and left it neglected until recently, so I signed up for one. How did it already know I knew so many people? That is just creepy. lol. I tried to upload pictures and it wasn't working. It kept saying "server not found". I avoided getting a facebook for ages because I got sucked into getting a myspace and would prefer to just avoid those things completely but here I am, less than one hour into having a facebook and it is already annoying me.

Did I mention the salamanders yet? To make a long story short (I actually CAN do that, sometimes, you know!) we found a bunch of salamanders at our friends house and I brought some home. I'm feeding them meal worms and earth worms. OH MY GOSH! They re so stinking CUTE! This morning they were already sleeping when I dropped their food in since it was later than usual. I lifted up their piece of bark that they like to hide under and they were all piled around each other looking up at me with their bulging amphibious eyes, tangled together with their fat little over fed bellies... who would have thought I would get so attached to these silly things? I'll have to see if I can get any pictures of them. They are just so adorable.

Delightful.

It was DRY, it was SUNNY, it was COLD! But I got out and worked Mary and Brego this morning even if it was cold.

Mary likes to rip around at the end of the line for the first little while but I got her to walk nicely at the end of the line on her blind side very while Brego ate his breakfast. I always work her while he is eating so he can't slip her fat little butt food. A good hard run for 15 minutes would do her body more good but a nice walk for 15 minutes does more for her mind.

I waited until just before his lunch to work Brego. He was starting to look at me with a wary eye when I came to him with his halter in my hands because I leave him naked except when it is time to work. I never put a halter and lead on him while I groom him or oil his feather or spray his legs with Listerine. So I started to halter him before I feed him for no good reason aside from making it so he never knows if the halter means food or work and he doesn't try to walk away when I head his direction with it in my hands. Anyway, I like to end his work out with a spot of lunch (half pound or so of his feed) just so the last thing he remember from our time together is that I fed him. The way to a horse's heart is through his stomach, ya know!

Anyway, I decided it was time to move up a bit into grown up horsie territory. Up until now I have locked up the mini horses in a stall and plopped hay in front of them to keep them busy and out of sight while Brego works. And I have longed him for 10 minutes or so before putting on the lines and long lining him. But I don't want to start a habit of him needing to be longed before work so that was just a short term thing to teach him to get his mind in the right place before work. He has been working enough now that he should know what his tack means and pay attention. baby horsies get distracted and their human understands that and works them through it, tries to keep distractions to a minimum until they know a little more. Grown up horsies have to learn to work through those distractions.

So we went right out to our work area and the surcingle and long lines went right on. Mary and Sparrow stood by the corner watching through the fence. Mary would scream at the top of her lungs when we were stopped at the other side of the paddock, lol. I got my lines arranged and said, "WALK ON!" and he stepped right off straight as an arrow. He always tries to trot down the slight hills but I pulled him back and for the first time was able to rate his speed reliably. We did a lot of turns and he started to really soften up and give me some bend. He was paying attention right from the start, even better than he does when I longe him first.

My cue for trot is to say "Teeee-ROT!" and when I asked for it he immediately broke into a trot. His corners and turning are not so hot at the trot, but they are there. He is just not terribly coordinated about it. So I'm happy with what I am getting from him on that so far. He is trying, even if there is some resistance. Even when he got willful and was trying to blow through my hands to get to his minions after a brief head tossing moment he sighed and came around just fine.

Then we worked on stopping several times. He seems to have stopping down pretty well, but not so much the "standing still after stopping". So we worked on that. He threw one hissy fit where he tried going backwards and sideways before realizing he couldn't get away from me and just started behaving again. I ended by going back to basics and working on getting him to flex and give me his head at a stand still.

45 minutes. Longest work session so far. He was active, willing, sharp, soft and responsive. He paid attention to me, aside from the one moment of wanting to go hang with his buddies. I switched his feed from a complete feed to a mix of pellets and grain and I think he is doing better on it. He is carrying his weight different, more up around his spine and less in his belly. But he also seems to be more mentally active.

I was really delighted with our work today. I had a massive grin and was just bursting with pride at how well he had done. I'm sure I sounded like a complete moron telling him what a good boy he was after his work out. I was talking in my "dog voice". lol. I ended it with an Altoid (he LOVES those) and some lunch. Then I took his halter off and gave him a good head scratching. He loves those, too, but not as much as the Altoids.

He has filled out enough through the back that the teeny English saddle is too narrow but my Australian saddle is too wide. Just barely. But that is OK, he is filling out more and more through the back, and I am having lots of fun long lining him, so no rush.