Monday Meanderings: Horses with "Maintenance"
Aug 07, 2023
I've seen so many sale/iso ads that people say they don't want horses with maintenance.
Stop being afraid of horses with maintenance. I'm more afraid of a horse who has plenty of experience and miles who *hasn't* had maintenance. Because 99 times out of 100, it isn't that they "don't need maintenance", it's that they "didn't receive maintenance". There's an important distinction between those two.
And the less maintenance you do, the more issues you'll have later on.
They are high performance athletes. We are asking them to do things that, while their body is capable of, is also physically demanding.
Now I'm not saying to do anything unneeded/unnecessary, but be proactive. You have to know what is acceptable for your intended desire/plan for the horse. Multiple fractures and torn tendons (that have been rehabbed and healed) aren't a deal breaker for a pleasure horse, but would probably be if you want to jump 4'.
And don't be scared when you're looking at buying a horse and hear about their maintenance. That means the owner has cared about them. I'd rather buy a well-maintained car than one that hasn't had maintenance in 5 years.
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