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Managing the Competitive Senior
This article is from the January 2021 Horse Deals magazine.
If a horse is enjoying its job, keeping its condition and has no major health issues, there’s no reason it can’t be out competing into its late teens and twenties. There are a few horses competing at a high level that are older than you think. So how do these riders keep them in such tip-top shape?
Louise Curran’s Cil Dara Gandalf - 19 Years Old
What are Gandalf’s most recent highlights? Gandalf and I did our first Grand Prix test in 2018 and he’s been developing steadily at that level ever since. Perhaps the greatest highlight was the Boneo Spring CDI in September 2019 where it all came together for us and we posted a score to be proud of.
I know it sounds corny but every competition with Gandalf is a highlight. When he was given to me in 2012, it was thought that his dressage days were over, so to have made it to this level and to be consistently competitive is a constant delight.
I like to think that the biggest highlights with Gandalf are yet to come.
How have you kept Gandalf sound and healthy to compete? Gandalf is the King of the Stables and is treated like royalty!
He’s stabled every night and has an Equissage treatment every morning while he eats his breakfast. He’s then turned out for the day, no matter what the weather. He loves his time in the paddock and can be a real hoon at times. I sometimes watch his antics and feel very glad he’s so well behaved under saddle – there’s no way I could sit some of his extraordinary bucks!
Since Gandalf joined our team eight years ago, he’s been on Rosehip Vital Equine. It’s an amazing product and it plays a big part in keeping him in such good shape at his age. It’s a product that influences joint health, gut health and general well being and I wouldn’t be without it. All our horses have Rosehip Vital in their feeds and, just for good measure, I take it too - just like Gandalf, I’m not getting any younger and I find it’s essential for my health and fitness.
Nutrition is a very important part of managing the senior performance horse and for years we’ve struggled to find something that has all the nutrients needed that Gandalf will actually eat. To say he’s a picky eater is an understatement!
Thankfully we discovered Hygain TruCare and all our dietary challenges were solved. It’s formulated to be specifically nutrient dense for the older horse and Gandalf loves it. We supplement it with Hygain Micrlupins for added protein and it’s keeping him in great condition.
Gandalf has always been a bit of a stresser at competitions and finds eating difficult. With TruCare, I can be confident that he only needs to eat a small amount to get the nutrition he needs and that’s made competitions a lot easier.
Apart from that, we have a wonderful team of support people – vet, farrier, bodyworker – who have worked with us for years and all understand Gandalf’s specific needs. Their advice and support is invaluable. They’re all completely committed to having him at peak health and fitness and I can call on them for anything, anytime.
How does his exercise regime differ to the younger horse? Gandalf knows his job now so we don’t need to ride the Grand Prix movements all that often – it’s more a case of making sure he’s fit, supple, on the aids and enjoying his job.
He’s ridden four to five times a week and at least one of those rides is a hack out around the property. Sometimes it’s a quiet, stretchy walk, but Gandalf’s favourite rides out include a good gallop, just for fun.
Gandalf is always ridden first. If the younger horse, Fiodore (Fred), gets my attention before Gandalf, I have a very grumpy white gelding to contend with! I know we shouldn’t anthropomorphise our horses but I’m sure the look on his face is one of pure indignation - if Fred is ridden first, Gandalf throws a tantrum in his paddock and then stands watching with disgust as I work Fred. Needless to say, we don’t do it very often.
Gandalf’s work sessions on the arena start with 15 minutes walking and I’m really disciplined about it. He feels like a much younger horse, so it would be easy to think that’s not necessary, but it’s really important that his body gets a chance to warm up gradually and completely. After that the work is quite intense, but the sessions are short. I find he responds better to focused, intense, short sessions of 20 to 25 minutes and we work on quality rather than quantity. At the end of the work, we have another walk session, often off the arena, to cool down.
My younger horse, Fiodore, is moving toward his first Prix St George start so there’s a lot to learn for him still and his work sessions are longer. He’s a big horse with an amazing work ethic and a high level of bounce and fitness so his work sessions are designed to take all that into account.
What are your future plans for Gandalf? No-one has told Gandalf he’s 19, so as far as he’s concerned he’s in his prime. He certainly still has all the attitude and capability of a much younger horse.
From here on in, we’ll be doing only the major competitions with Gandalf. In the next six months or so we have the Boneo Classic, Dressage and Jumping with the Stars, the Sydney CDI and then Equitana.
One day he’ll let us know that he’s ready for retirement, but right now that day feels like it’s a long way off. At the moment we’re still having a lot of fun together so I’m taking it one day at a time and enjoying every moment with my beautiful, big white friend.
Michelle Paynter’s DP Amazing - 17 Years Old
What are Chester’s most recent highlights? Having owned Chester for four years, we have achieved some wonderful results including:
• Winning the Esquire Equestrian Turnout in 2018
• Placing 5th in the Garryowen Turnout in 2016
• Winning VAS Large Saddle Hack of the Year three times in 2017, 2019 and 2020
• Winning the Off the Track State Final in 2018
• Runner-up Large Hack SHCV Masters 2019
• Top ten Grand National Large Hack and Senior Rider in 2018.
• Many placings in hack, rider and turnout classes at royals across Australia including Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra.
• Prior to me owning Chester, he won five Royal Show Champion Hacks, three National Titles and numerous Pope Cup wins.
How have you kept Chester sound and healthy to compete? Apart from Chester being a bit clumsy and accident-prone, he is actually rather simple to keep looking well. He is stabled and under lights every night of the year. He goes in a 1 ½ acre grassed paddock during the day, except in inclement weather. He loves rolling and often comes in at night looking like a mud pack. Depending upon the amount of feed in his paddock, he is fed on varying amounts of oaten chaff, lucerne chaff, EasiResult and Honey B. The only supplements he gets are Livamol, Neutradex and I have kept him on the joint supplement 4Cyte since his injury in early 2019. Oh and he loves carrots!
How does his exercise regime differ to the younger horse? Chester’s exercise regime does not differ greatly from a younger horse. When he is in work, he gets worked three or four times per week including show days. I usually ride him for about 40-45 minutes. Our rides usually consist of slow work to keep a good rhythm, bending work to keep him supple and collection work to keep him in a good overall shape. During the “off-season” he has about three months off and does not get worked at all. However, in 2019 he had an extended break of six months due to injury, and in 2020 COVID-19 again allowed him to have another extended break. When bringing him back from these extended breaks, we have done shorter workouts building up to his usual workout routine. There is often lots of groaning when we start back into work.
What are your future plans for Chester? My 2020 plans for Chester were to compete at SHC Grand Nationals, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne Royals, however those plans had to be placed on hold. So now the plans are to compete at a few events in the next couple of months, leading up to hopefully completing the same show run in 2021. I feel Chester has been an amazing show horse, being able to keep in the final line-ups at all the major shows in Australia for approximately ten years. Basically, I just want to keep enjoying him.
Kristy Bruhn’s Jack - 19 Years Old
What are Jack’s most recent highlights? Jack won the SA State Championship in 2019 and was runner up in 2020. He also won the John Wilsher Memorial Senior Championship at the recent Mt Gambier Show and consistently wins and places at 130cm and above.
How have you kept Jack sound and healthy to compete? We are very lucky where we live, our horses live and work on beautiful natural surfaces which I believe is the main thing with keeping horses sound. The South East of South Australia is a great place to produce horses because we have great natural surfaces at pretty much all our shows and training venues.
Jack is also on the 4Cyte supplement, but we keep things pretty simple apart from that.
How does his exercise regime differ to the younger horse? When in full work, Jack works six days a week. Two to three days are pace work to really get his heart rate up. I try and keep him as fit as I can and then back off his work and let him freshen up a couple of days before the show. The younger ones probably only work four to five days a week, but they get worked harder the couple of days leading up to a show so they aren’t too fresh.
What are your future plans for Jack? At the moment he is sound and happy and still jumping the bigger classes easily so I’ll continue jumping the bigger classes until he lets me know he’s had enough. Ideally, then he could step back to be a junior horse, but he still does like to buck, so we will just have to see how that goes.
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