# Is 13 too old to start CTR and Endurance?



## smarties (Feb 13, 2013)

I have a 13 year old Morgan gelding that I have owned since birth. He has lead a very sedentary life, mostly hanging out in the paddock. Is it too late to start training for CTR and Endurance? I would not be looking to do any long distance this year. This past year, I rode him about 5 times. Previous years would average about 20 time per year. He was saddle trained as a five year old. He has very little trail experience.
Endurance and CTR are something I have always wanted to do, life kind of got in the way. At this point, I am wondering if a younger, slightly more seasoned horse would be better.


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

Certainly not! As long as he's healthy and sound, you can do distance. Make sure you condition smart; don't rush or push too hard. That's when horses get hurt. Find yourself a riding buddy and go get some trail miles, since he isn't seasoned.

A friend of mine started her newest CTR horse at 13. The horse had been shown in halter and hadn't been ridden in eight years. She took a couple weeks doing long, slow walk/trot exercise. After three months, she did a little two day 35 mile CTR and got best conditioned. :wink: The horse could go further with more work, no problem.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

13 is a good age for a trail horse, then tend to have settled down by then, start getting some miles on him, lots of walking, before moving up to some trotting/gaiting.


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## smarties (Feb 13, 2013)

Thank you, I was hoping he was not too old to start. Can you recommend any good training books for CTR? I have conditioned horses before, but has been years and it was mostly coming back after an injury. 
He is sound and has also been barefoot his whole life. 
I had a friend who did CTR several years ago and from what I remember, they required shoes and support boots, etc. for the horse. Is this still the case?
I have a good natural balance farrier and would prefer not to go the shoe route if his feet can hold up.


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

I love this book: horseandriderbooks: Go the Distance by Nancy Loving, DVM


I do CTRs with NATRC. They don't allow support boots (splint boots, SMBs, and the like), but a ton of us use hoof boots. The easyboot glove is very popular and they are wonderful if they fit well. :wink: I've done some crazy, rocky, muddy rides with easyboots successfully.


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

Nope - check my post in the other endurance horse age thread


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## toosexy4myspotz (Oct 7, 2007)

Brighteyes said:


> I love this book: horseandriderbooks: Go the Distance by Nancy Loving, DVM
> 
> 
> I do CTRs with NATRC. They don't allow support boots (splint boots, SMBs, and the like), but a ton of us use hoof boots. The easyboot glove is very popular and they are wonderful if they fit well. :wink: I've done some crazy, rocky, muddy rides with easyboots successfully.


The only boots I have every used are the easy boot gloves. We only used them once but they did really good and I was very please for a boot. We were in rocky and muddy areas continuously and never had a problem even in a fast gait. The only reason we decided not to use them was because its more convienent for our horses to be steel shod instead of putting boots on everytime we wanted to work them. But the easy boot gloves are very nice.


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