How old is your horse?

How old are your horses? (2026)

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fidleyspromise

fidleyspromise

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I'm curious as to what the age range is on the forum especially after reading the amount of us with horses in the 20s on the haylage thread. Feel free to add a comment with ages and whether your horse is generally health, has health concerns and whether ridden or field ornament.

What age ranges do our horses on the forum fall into?

Please answer this with the age your horse(s) will be turning in 2026.
 
My ponies:
1. Arab is 5 yrs old (in May) and is starting his ridden journey. No health concerns.
2. New Forest is 19, hasn't been ridden in years and is very much a field ornament due to lameness issues but field sound.
3. Highland is 24, was still in full work until Dec but got colitis so it will depend on how she bounces back as to her workload. - she has diastemas, asthma and stiffness.
 
My horse will be 24, she's an ex polo Argi import, she looks fab - shiny coat, good topline and she's a very happy, contented little horse. I recently took a little Andalucian on loan to keep her company, also an import, same age. He doesn't look so good, a little poor, topline not great, coat not great but he is grey. He is a bit stressy so hoping he will improve as he settles.

They are both ridden round the lanes about once a week.
 
It would only let me vote once.

So in 2026

Youngest cob will be 8
Native x little cob will be 14
Appy will be 16 (where the h3ll have the years gone?!) She's my field ornament with PSSM and arthritis
 
In 2026
Welsh C will be 31. Dental issues, but looking very well.
Connemara will be 23. No health issues, but had laminitis in the past, so have to monitor his weight.
Connemara will be 22. Has suffered with Sweet Itch since he was 3. Controlled with rugs and Itch Stop.

All now field ornaments, all owned from newly weaned foals. Have been ridden and / or driven in the past.
 
The 2 ISH are 9 and 17 today and shetland is around 26. She was found tethered and abandoned on side of the road but her Redwings passport states 2000.

Guess that as of tomorrow it will be 10, 18 and 26!
 
I've got a bunch of April babies, so in April 2026
Pippin will turn 1yo and Sassy 2yo - no health concerns (and it had better stay that way, guys!) but not in work for obvious reasons
Little Madam will turn 17yo. She has equine asthma, but it's barely noticeable when she's out 24/7. She's back in work after maternity leave and full of beans.
Old Lady will turn 29yo. She has a host of age related issues, arthritis, cataracts and some missing teeth, but is looking rather good for her age. She is no field ornament even though retired from ridden work, as she has two youngsters to bring up for me.
 
My big pony will be 14 and little pony should be 26ish (vets best guess). Little pony has never been ridden and is the fittest in the house (including the humans)
 
WHW Welshie rescue non-ridden loan so actual age unknown but WHW originally took her in and aged her as 7 which with teeth ageing is fairly reliable when young.

Hence she'll be 20 tomorrow. No obvious health concerns and sound all round. Tested clear of cushings/ems last year but (like me) on a permanent diet to avoid laminitis as she's a very good doer.
 
Connie is 17
GRP is 15

I suspect the Connie has the onset of cushings as he doesn’t hold weight well and has been shedding a bit later than usual. Two teeth out in the past 3 years and hock arthritis so no longer ridden
The GRP is perfectly fit and well and could be ridden but I no longer want to and he’s happy being a pet.
 
Brad will be 27 in 2026 according to his passport but when I when I bought him aged 10 vet thought he was older. He’s retired due to lameness issues but field sound, currently on his own but has company of my neighbours two horses over the fence.
 
Coblet (cob x something) is 19 in the spring and retired due to lameness issues and surgery that never really gave us the desired outcome. He’s currently field sound on 1/2 bute/day and very loved and enjoys going on the odd in hand walk.

Standie is 11, new to us for just 8 weeks and we’re getting to know him by doing a lot of hilly hacking. I f he enjoys and gets fit enough he’s going to do some pleasure rides and low level endurance in the spring.
 
It's amazing to see how many older horses there are in the forum as I remember so done asked similar a while back and there were very few over 20.

Kirstd33 said:
Coblet (cob x something) is 19 in the spring and retired due to lameness issues and surgery that never really gave us the desired outcome. He’s currently field sound on 1/2 bute/day and very loved and enjoys going on the odd in hand walk.

Standie is 11, new to us for just 8 weeks and we’re getting to know him by doing a lot of hilly hacking. I f he enjoys and gets fit enough he’s going to do some pleasure rides and low level endurance in the spring.
Click to expand...
I don't know if you'd be interested but the past couple of years Scottish Endurance Riding Club (SERC) have done a fittening program online in Feb. I'm hoping they are doing it again this year.

There are 4 classes - last year I did class 1 with my unbacked boy. 8 weeks of polework exercises with one extra random exercise each week.

Class 2 I did with my mare. 4 weeks of poles and then 4 weeks building the distance and speed of the rides.

Class 3 and 4 are 8 weeks ridden and longer distances/faster.

There is something for every horse and I'd planned to try class 3 this year but my mare won't be healthy enough and I may just do class 1with her to help build topline.
 
As for 2026:
Three three years olds. One has a sweet itch/allergic eczema, but they're otherwise healthy.

The Standardbred will be 12. Miscellaneous injuries but nothing hormonal or such. She's glad to do some light classical dressage and tricks when I allow her.

One 15 year old Icelandic. No known health issues.

One 20 year old Shetland, field ornament. Has had laminitics due to being severely incorrectly kept, including having had incredibly overgrown hooves when she came here this year. She's happy and talkative and doesn't mind having a small kid on her every now and then.

And one 13 year old Connemara, who I don't have at home and am hoping to get sold. No health issues there.
 
12, 13 next year. He recently had pretty much every crevice X rayed for my own peace of mind as a kind of base line to go from now he's in his teens and I wanted to step up his jumping, and he was given a perfect bill of health aside from mild hock OA.
 
Oldest is 11 and is coming back into work after rehab and then additional time off due to my life being hectic for a period - im sure he figured he'd been retired early and was looking forward to living his days in the field! Youngest is 9 months.
 
My Welsh x Arab is 22 in April, she's a field ornament due to lack of time ( she's not a bring in and ride occasionally horse, she needs to be IN work if ridden). She's got cushings but is doing great on half a punk pill per day, did a check ligament a few months ago but wasn't lame and is happy enough.
 
I lose track of ages but I think
Small cob is 10
Daft draft is 8
Big cob is 17

All in good health, little cob has a range of issues in the summer which I think are reflected by 'grass/sugar sensitivity' and I've (mainly) figured out how to manage them.
 
fidleyspromise said:
It's amazing to see how many older horses there are in the forum as I remember so done asked similar a while back and there were very few over 20.


I don't know if you'd be interested but the past couple of years Scottish Endurance Riding Club (SERC) have done a fittening program online in Feb. I'm hoping they are doing it again this year.

There are 4 classes - last year I did class 1 with my unbacked boy. 8 weeks of polework exercises with one extra random exercise each week.

Class 2 I did with my mare. 4 weeks of poles and then 4 weeks building the distance and speed of the rides.

Class 3 and 4 are 8 weeks ridden and longer distances/faster.

There is something for every horse and I'd planned to try class 3 this year but my mare won't be healthy enough and I may just do class 1with her to help build topline.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for this, sounds fab. How would I find it?
 
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