From: hugh friel
Dear Jessica, I have a brilliant 20yr.old 14.3 mare who is just coming back to work after an injury. We've been hunting together for the past two years, but at the end of this season sustained quite a bad injury to her knees as a result of concussion. I had'nt actually known she was 20 (I actually thought she was 15), but she is intelligent,alert, hardy and she jumps like a stag out hunting. My problem is that this September, I'm going into an important year at school and I'll probably only be able to ride at the weekends and maybe once or twice during the week. Would that be enough to keep her fit enough to go hunting once or twice a month? With some difficulty, I could lunge her for 15 to 20 mins. during my school lunchbreak, but the vet. said that riding is preferable and I would have to keep her on a large circle. What do you think? Also, i've been giving her cod liver oil - can this help to keep her mobile?
Thanks for reading this! ORLA
First, there is your mare's age. This in itself isn't a problem, many horses continue to perform well into their twenties, but it IS true that older horses heal more slowly than younger ones, so you will need to give her ample time to recover from her injuries. Older horses are also much more difficult to make fit than younger ones -- if a seven-year-old or a twelve-year-old horse is given a year or two without work, it's not too difficult to bring them back to "fighting fitness" in six months to a year of progressive exercising. But a horse of your mare's age simply can't be allowed to become completely UNfit, because when an older horse becomes unfit, it is virtually impossible to bring it back to full fitness again. Old hunters, for instance, generally benefit from regular hacking out during their off-season, whereas young ones might simply be turned out and brought back up six weeks before cubbing begins.
Her injuries must be allowed to heal properly, which will probably involve a program of gentle exercise, slowly building from walking and light hacking to long trots. Your veterinarian will be able to advise you on this. Because of your mare's age (see above) you will have to walk a fine line between allowing her sufficient time to heal and keeping her reasonably fit.
Finally, your schedule sounds as though it will leave you enough time -- just! -- to get your mare fit enough for hunting, provided that you don't keep her out all day at first. Is there anyone whom you would trust to hack her out for a couple of hours once or twice a week, when you aren't able to ride her? I agree with your vet that longeing is not the option of choice; circle-work is hard on the joints, and your mare would be much better off if someone could simply walk and trot her for a few miles instead. Especially under the circumstances, I would say that your mare needs long, slow, distance work -- exactly what your own schedule won't permit you to give her! Short periods of fast work are far more likely to re-injure her than to rehabilitate her. An hour or two of walking would do her a great deal of good. If YOU can do it twice during the week and twice on the weekends, and your mare is turned out in a field on the other days, you can probably get/keep her fit quite nicely once she's recovered from her injury. ;-)
If your mare is a sensible sort and won't mind if you modify your hunting a little, you'll have several options when you go hunting -- in other words, you won't have to stay out all day, you might choose to go home after a few hours, or go with the second or third flight, or even just hilltop for a few months! If she's the sort to fret and fuss and bolt if she can't go flat out, just behind the hunt staff, then you may have to postpone her return to hunting. ;-)
The cod liver oil certainly won't hurt her, and your vet may have other suggestions that may help keep her in good shape as long as possible.
Jessica
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