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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
   
Location: Kansas | Joker, my 21 year old gelding, made his first run in a month & a half yesterday and I'm trying to figure out if he is sore or just still a little out of shape. He went in the gate perfectly, worked good (aside from getting a bit lost going to second, which was odd) but I can't tell if he just got winded quickly and let up midway through the run or if there's something physically wrong. He's a tough old guy so I have trouble figuring out when he's sore. He choked Oct. 20th and I went back to working him Nov. 10th (lightly at first and he's felt pretty good at home, running off with me as usual LOL). He's been being worked 3-5 times a week since then, which is pretty normal for us when I'm bringing him back from a vacation. This run was in the very bottom of the 2D. 15.383 won it and we were a 16.348. There were something like 72 entries.
http://youtu.be/r_UXTbMpl4A |
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 Pork Fat is my Favorite
Posts: 3791
 
Location: The Oklahoma plains. | I dont think he looks bad. Knowing his age, I say he looks tired. Might be time to offer him to a child if you want him to be used- maybe he is doing all he has desire left to do? ((totally just random thoughts)) |
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | im with turn lane..hes 21
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i dont think he was lost going to 2nd, i think he saw something and was shying at it....lol |
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | TurnLane - 2014-11-25 10:09 AM I dont think he looks bad. Knowing his age, I say he looks tired. Might be time to offer him to a child if you want him to be used- maybe he is doing all he has desire left to do? ((totally just random thoughts))
I agree. I don't think he looked sore so much as I think he looks tired. Just asking, please don't take it as I'm being rude, but what are your expectations of a 21 year old horse?? |
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | One of the toughest decisions that you have to make is when to let it go. The tough ones will keep on trying for you because that's what they do.... Just because you can still make runs on them doesn't mean you should.
My last run on my old mare was exactly how I would want to remember it. She won a rodeo by 3 tenths and gave me everything...but, she was walking like she'd been through a war the next day. I didn't want to have to go to extrordinary lengths just to keep making runs on her. She was 20 years old and didn't OWE me anything. I turned her out until my daughter was old enough to try her.
When Pj started riding her I left her barefoot and just let them cruise a pattern to get used to each other. As they progressed I did a little more maintenance and by the end of the first year they ran in the 1D at Jud's. She had a happy expression on her face and stayed sound with a 50# jockey. We only ponied her and ran her at the biggest events that we would go to. She made the short-go of the BBR Finals in the 1D at the age of 25 and we retired her.
Old warhorses like him can be a blessing to a young rider that needs to "feel" what it's supposed to feel like to be on a winner.
Edited by rachellyn80 2014-11-25 10:41 AM
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | WYOTurn-n-Burn - 2014-11-25 10:14 AM TurnLane - 2014-11-25 10:09 AM I dont think he looks bad. Knowing his age, I say he looks tired. Might be time to offer him to a child if you want him to be used- maybe he is doing all he has desire left to do? ((totally just random thoughts)) I agree. I don't think he looked sore so much as I think he looks tired. Just asking, please don't take it as I'm being rude, but what are your expectations of a 21 year old horse??
I honestly have planned all year to retire him at the end of 2014. He's in contention for the 2D saddle in our NBHA district and a saddle is the only thing he hasn't won in his career. We are supposed to have four more shows at that same arena but I expect the last two to get cancelled due to weather so I thought if he could handle the run in that video and two more, we could hang it up on that note, saddle or no saddle. Heck if he ran in the 3D we could move up and win something nice there so if I take him next weekend I may just ask him for 80-85 percent and see where it lands us. He had his ears pricked forward from the time we got there and he went right in (this is a horse who used to have a HORRIBLE gate issue 6-7 years ago), then pranced around afterwards like he was proud of himself.
I'm not sure he'll work for a kid but I may try to let one ride him tomorrow if I give lessons. He's always been kind of a handful but there has never been a more solid consistent horse on the pattern. If possible, I'd like to find him some sort of a job because he has never just been a pasture pet. He's always gone and done stuff. I'm kind of afraid that he won't age well if he's not being ridden and used at least somewhat. He'd be great for someone to check cows or trail ride, or maybe a kid's step up horse but I really don't want to sell him because we've been together since he was 2 and I was 12. |
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 The Worst Seller Ever
Posts: 4138
Location: Oklahoma | I have one the same age and toward the end of last year he finally learned to slow down. Mine has been hauled all over the USA and Canada and competed at some of the biggest rodeos known including the CFR. He will still give you everything he has to the first but after that he is done. He now just barely lopes and takes care of my little one. She will be hauling him again this spring/summer when it warms up, the winters are hard on the old joints.
He does look tired. He is giving you all he has and you cant expect much more even in great shape. |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | rachellyn80 - 2014-11-25 10:36 AM One of the toughest decisions that you have to make is when to let it go. The tough ones will keep on trying for you because that's what they do.... Just because you can still make runs on them doesn't mean you should.
My last run on my old mare was exactly how I would want to remember it. She won a rodeo by 3 tenths and gave me everything...but, she was walking like she'd been through a war the next day. I didn't want to have to go to extrordinary lengths just to keep making runs on her. She was 20 years old and didn't OWE me anything. I turned her out until my daughter was old enough to try her.
When Pj started riding her I left her barefoot and just let them cruise a pattern to get used to each other. As they progressed I did a little more maintenance and by the end of the first year they ran in the 1D at Jud's. She had a happy expression on her face and stayed sound with a 50# jockey. We only ponied her and ran her at the biggest events that we would go to. She made the short-go of the BBR Finals in the 1D at the age of 25 and we retired her.
Old warhorses like him can be a blessing to a young rider that needs to "feel" what it's supposed to feel like to be on a winner.
He really is an old warhorse and he's actually the horse who taught me what a good barrel horse should feel like. All the success I've had on Chance and Clifford is a direct result of getting to run Joker for so long.
I'm in the same position on maintenance, though he's really been pretty easy. We injected hocks in the spring and he runs on Ventipulmin but that's really it. I don't want to go any further than that because he's not a touchy/feely type and would prefer to be left alone until its time to work.
If I could find a 50 pound jockey to run him once or twice a month in the summer, that'd be great but I don't have any kids, nieces, nephews etc. |
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 Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | So when he choked did you change his feed/type?? If I were you I would evaluate your feed program and boost him up a little bit. Add alfalfa etc to his diet. I'd be interested to see how he does on a different pattern....maybe he feels a little trapped, IDK BUT, I'm not sure I would quite on him just yet, I think your goals to get through your NBHA year are just fine, he does not look sore to me at all. Just a little "sticky" kind of like he's a young horse that doesn't quite know how to fire yet. Maybe he needs to be breezed, which, would help make sure his lungs and body ARE in good enough shape to continue?? |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | LMS - 2014-11-25 12:22 PM So when he choked did you change his feed/type?? If I were you I would evaluate your feed program and boost him up a little bit. Add alfalfa etc to his diet. I'd be interested to see how he does on a different pattern....maybe he feels a little trapped, IDK BUT, I'm not sure I would quite on him just yet, I think your goals to get through your NBHA year are just fine, he does not look sore to me at all. Just a little "sticky" kind of like he's a young horse that doesn't quite know how to fire yet. Maybe he needs to be breezed, which, would help make sure his lungs and body ARE in good enough shape to continue??
Didn't change his feed but we did make a couple minor adjustments to our routine. We started giving him a half handful of grain to start with, then feeding his pasture buddy and coming back to dump out the rest of Joker's feed. He choked because he likes to take a HUGE bite to start his meals, so if we don't give him very much for that first bite, he is fine and takes normal bites. We've also started adding some water to his grain just to be safe. Alfalfa isn't an option here - we have a little bit of it but it's pretty grassy and has to be saved for the sheep & goats who will be raising babies early next year. We'll have to ration it anyway to get them a good start as mamas.
He has been my little pen horse for a couple years because he's so honest that he won't hit a barrel, and in a smaller pattern he doesn't get outrun as bad. His favorite thing to do in a workout is breeze, and he usually breezes himself by running off with me at least once a week just to prove he can still go fast. Joker is a character for sure and mostly I'm just glad he doesn't look sore to anyone else. Generally if he's sore, he'll give me trouble at the gate but I was kind of looking for some reassurance this time. We've run at Lawrence several times this year and he's been in the 15.7 to 16.1 range on that pattern most of the time. This was his slowest run but that could be the rust from time off and not being in perfect shape. |
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 Don't Wanna Make This Awkward
Posts: 3106
Location: Texas | Do you have other recent videos of him in this pen? |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | outrundaizy - 2014-11-25 1:43 PM Do you have other recent videos of him in this pen? I have videos of him from March 22 and 30, and maybe the 23rd, but that's the last time he'd been there. Ran a 16.2, a 15.9 and a 15.7 those times and a 16.3 on Sunday. Every run looks the same on video LOL.
March 22 - http://youtu.be/fVN_MXXpEQo
March 23 - http://youtu.be/tDqcC9dKCB8
March 30 - http://youtu.be/D389HxYcU34
Edited by rodeowithjoker 2014-11-25 7:13 PM
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