MiniHGal
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2003
- Messages
- 459
- Reaction score
- 0
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.
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.
Last edited by a moderator: