16 year old TBs only have about 4 more years left in them....

F

Frances28

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 April 2008
Messages
367
Visit site
......that's what someone said about my horse today.

Feel awful about it. I have held my tongue in for so long but I think it is now time to bite back.
 
Ignore them.
I looked after a TB who was still competing at 24 and then retired from competion and was ridden as a hack/light showing till she was 30. Full retirement at 30 and still in the field now....aged 33!
 
I know a TB thats about 25 now. Owner doesn't show or anything but hacks out regularly and its as mad as a wasp
grin.gif
 
Take no notice, I think its true to say large horses don't live as long as ponies in general but many TB's are still worked and enjoy there 20's. Every horse is different...just like elderly peaple.

smile.gif
 
My tb is 29 and still hacks out. He is stiff in the mornings and I wouldn't want to exert him too much but he is looking gorgeous. The someone who said that know sod all about it and I'm afraid I would have told them that in no uncertain terms!!
 
DSCF0003-2.jpg
.
DSCF0015-2.jpg


What utter nonsense! Wesley is an irish TB and turned 36 this year-someone obviously forgot to tell him that his time was up 16 years ago
shocked.gif
.
Dont listen to them. Mairi.
smile.gif
 
I think what they said is probably true about most horses. Once they get to 20 unless you are lucky they all start slowing down and can't do as much.

Yes, they can still go hacking etc, but they won't be able to compete to the same level that they did at 16.
 
Ridiculous!!!

I used to go to a fantastic riding school and there was a 30+year old TB mare who used to fly around the jumps without a care in the world. The horses were very well looked after and each summer each horse would have 2 weeks holiday at grass.

there was another TB ex-racer at the same place and she was into her 20s too.
 
Well that's good to know! Bloody 'experts' and their rubbish comments.

My TB is 16yrs old, she does light hacking once a week and schooled 3 times a week. She lives the life of Riley!
 
My TB was retired from competition at 25, not because she couldn't do it but because she was so flamin hyper that I worried she would end up having a heart attack! I continued to hack her till she ruptured her gracilis muscle in the field but she had a full 3 years field retirement before arthritis got her and we had to PTS. It's a very general comment to make!
 
obviously someone forgot to tell a lot of TB's about this fact lol, before mine broke her leg she was still looning about in the field and could still tank off with me when the mood took her
laugh.gif

perhaps 50 years ago things were different and horses didn't live as long but with all the modern feeds and supplements and the fact that horses now have much easier lives than they used to they are capable of going on a hell of a lot longer
wink.gif
 
Thats so not true, at my last yard there were two tb types, I don't know if they were full tb, a mother and son one was 29 the other 30 something and they still did light hacking.

These days horses are active so much longer, its a shame some people are still prejudiced, it also shows they've never truly loved a horse cus they've never kept one into old age, and so don't know what older horses are capable of.

Mairi your horse looks amazing, I wouldn't even guess he was 36!
 
[ QUOTE ]
......that's what someone said about my horse today.

Feel awful about it. I have held my tongue in for so long but I think it is now time to bite back.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have to keep this in perspective.

If you factor in all the TB's that have been involved in racing (and you have to accept that many of those will not make old bones) then an average life expectancy of 20 years for a TB would probably be a generous average. That isn't to say they can't go on for very much longer, and many will and continue to enjoy life well into their 20's and beyond.
A good deal will hang on what they did as youngsters and how damaged they might have been by that, and this is where TBs differ from other breeds.

Hopefully yours will be going strong for many years and prove this person wrong.
 
Got a 24 year old at our yard, looks amazingly well, hasn't raced for 20 years but hey ho! He is a good-doer, even as a TB and even at 24! He gets riden lots at weekends but the owner is also nearing retirement.

All horses are different. Believe in your horse, be positive.
 
Depends on the TB I guess. Ty was obviously raced quite hard (hence the spavins) and I doubt he'll be ridden past 20....depends how you look after them and I guess you could say that about ANY horse!
 
Mine raced as a two year old, evented then show jumped then showed dressage and is still going at 25.
smile.gif
Apparently he didn't get the memo.

That said, he's medium sized, had near perfect conformation and has had good care all his life - all the things that make a horse last. So it depends on the horse and the situation. But they aren't any more likely to "give out" than any other breed of horse used similarly.
 
That's like saying a 50 year old man only has 10 more years to live...
utter nonsense.

She's probably the type who thinks ALL horses should be retired at 20, even if it'll do them more harm than good!
 
My friend worked for an eventer, whos TB did lots of eventing when he was younger and now still has some days out hunting at 33.

I think it totally depends on the horse in question.
 
Carma my TB mare (2nd from left in siggy) was 23 when this photo was taken, we were still competing then. She is now 25 and we still hack out regulary, so direct the person who told you theres only 4 years left in your TB to this posting on HHO and tell them they are talking out their bottom!!!!
 
Mine is semi-retired she did 7 years as a broodmare and is rehomed with a friend who hacks her out spoils her rotten and loves her to bits. She is now about 25. She is picture 2 in my sig (when she was 9 ). I nearly said picture one but thats Tiggy the evil child cat!.
 
My TB is 19. He's a mad as a hatter generally (weaves at a million miles an hour when the mood takes him). Took him out for a hack in the wind today and he was like a 4 year old.
tongue.gif
He's a very attractive horse though, so still attracted admiring glances from the occupants of the cars we waved to slow down!
cool.gif
 
thats absolute rubbish my boy is still going strong competing and doing VERY well at dressahe at the age of 22!!
 
these people with 'knowledge'?? make me want to slap em round the chops with a wet fish!!!
Our TB lived to 24 and it was the colic that killed her which can get any horse at any age ,so who knows what age she could have lived to?
Ignore them or tell them to go and read their second issue of ponymag or whatever!!
 
You have to laugh at some people!! I didnt get my TB till she was 16!! oh dear should have known it would never last.... yeah right here she is 12 yrs later now 28 and still a bu@@er!!
Photo taken a couple of weeks ago.

Image058.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top