Building up muscle and condition on a veteran

[Esther.D]

Mac is 23 now and is currently looking like the moths have been at him (he is loosing his winter coat):rolleyes: However, more seriously than that, he has really started to take on the 'old horse' shape. He has a grass belly (spring grass has just started to come through) but a pronouced spine, slightly boney pelvis and his ribs are easily felt. He is carrying enough weight and is happy and fit (he was charging about the field bucking and kicking last night). However everything has gone south:D

Do I just accept this as his age or should I be building the muscle back up? His weight is good, but it is all in the belly rather than over his back.

He is only 23 which is nothing to a shetland (his dad was still siring foals at 30), so I am slightly concerned that he is showing his age so much at 23.

Ideas? The spring grass has only just come through so he will continue to put a bit more weight on through the spring so I don't want to add any extra feed at this stage.

I am just sorry to see my old chap looking so scraggy and motheaten....:(

He is not really in work at the moment, but that is purely due to lack of time, I intend to bring him back into light work over the spring and summer.

[Mehitabel]

what was his early life like? we have opne chap who is mid-20s and he had a very bad start - abused and beaten up a lot before we got him. he is showing his age a lot more than others who are the same kind of age - so i wonder if a bad start or hard early life can make them start ageing a bit quicker.
normally i'd say try working and building up the muscle - 'long and low' type stuff to encourage him to hoik the gut up and round his back - but i imagine that kind of stuff is fairly hard to do with a shetland!
if you can work him then i think i would - keep him fitter and avoid stiffness problems or catch them earlier.

[Esther.D]

what was his early life like

prospective stallion at a top shetland stud...so pretty pampered:D

He lived out on the Yorkshire moors, similar to where they are now and that seems to suit them really well.

He is better in himself on the moors than he had been for a couple of years before that..but it is tough out there so I don't know whether to rug him next year to help him winter better - Wally what do you think? We have very rough weather up there, not as rough as Shetland, but much rougher than lowland Britain.

Es- he can do long and low and he *can* carry himself in an outline, I used to do driven dressage with him when we were competing..so it is possible, I'll try and remind him:D

I think it is a good idea to get him back into work too..he's just lost out recently to Pablo and Rupert needing intensive work.

[Mehitabel]

that's that theory out of the window then! :D
still, people definitely age at different rates - my mum is 62 this year and you'd never think she was over 50. i am sure it;s the same for horses and ponies.
sine he can work properly, then i'd say it would probably help for him to do so if he's comfortable doing it still.

[Esther.D]

Thanks Es. I'll get the old devil to do some work :D I'll try getting him out on longreins at the weekend, and give him a good groom to try and reduce the doormat appearance:rolleyes: I suspect it'll take a little while to get him back into any sort of an outline again as his topline has gone to pieces, but working on it should help the muscles build back up again.

He had only had one owner before me and that was his breeder, his full brother is a very famous shetland stallion (Eastlands Lightning), Mac ended up getting gelded and eventually broken to drive and sold to me as his teeth weren't quite up to stallion grade.

[Wally]

Our lot look like they have been through a hedge backwards, we even bather Sæla on Saturday as it was HOT. It cleared up her greasy coat and helped her to shed it a little faster.

AS for Pants, well he looks like he's been chewed up and spat out.

I have PM'd you too.

[Esther.D]

Thanks. I am following up your suggestions on the pm. I may just be worrying unnecessarily - by next weekend with a bit more running about in the sunshine and a bit more grass he may be fine ;) But he is a great favourite of mine and I don't like to see him looking so elderly:(

[Esther.D]

I didn't realise we had a photo of him from this weekend, but I have found one.

Here he is. It isn't 100% clear on the photo as his spine is more pronounced if you look from above.

Tell me I'm worrying unecessarily (as usual :rolleyes:..)...apart from the huge grass belly that definately needs some work to reduce it :eek:

[Mehitabel]

i do see what you mean - the bum is a bit pointier than i'd like. mind you - are you going to be getting spring grass soon? ours has just started and copper has filled out a lot from a month ago. i'd start on the work and see what effect the grass has when it arrives.

[eml]

A lot of our older ponies tend to look like that for a fewweeks around this time of year...I have a (bizarre) theory that changing coats tends to take something out of them as in another couple of weeks they will start to look better. Interestingly we had our BHS inspector round today..new young chap who used to run the welfare centre and his view was very much the same!

[Esther.D]

Update

..well you were right! He is much better after some warm weather and good grass:D

He still looks older than he did because of the extra grey he has gained on his face - he is looking very grizzled now, he has had a grey forehead for a few years..now he is growing grey sideburns to match:rolleyes: However the weight is a lot better and he is no longer so boney looking (incidentally looking at that pic again I think his fluff is emphasizing the pointiness - I'm sure it wasn't as pronounced as that :eek: ). Anyway he is in a very good mood and had a great time having his hooves trimmed and practising loading in the trailer on sunday...on the way back into the field he was all excited and jogging along beside me like he always does when he is happy. So I am very relieved....I'll just have to keep an eye on him coming out of winter next year.

[artemis]

My Shetland is only 19 & looks like a tatty mat at the minute. I intend to bath him at the first opportunity. He is going south as well! That is the cushings though.

He has bald patches through scrubbing himself on any thing that will stay still long enough.