How old is your old horse (retired horses only!)

3BayHoony said:
I’m not sure if this counts since he isn’t around anymore, but I had a flea-bitten grey Welsh pony who lived to about 45, and I had him right up until last spring. He was mostly retired, but the kids would sometimes hop on him bareback. If he didn’t feel like being ridden, he’d either freeze in place or dump them over his neck.

I got him when he was around 35, and the kids rode him for about eight years. Later on, he wasn’t ridden much, but he stayed surprisingly fit. He had a lot of attitude and was very sassy. Whenever I went hacking on the property (or anywhere not near the road), he’d tag along and canter ahead, bolt back to the group, then drop behind and canter back again, usually when I was riding a green horse.

He also hated donkeys. We found that out during mounted games when someone brought a donkey for leadline, he completely lost it and turned into a fire-breathing dragon pony. We ended up having to blindfold him just to get him back to the trailer. Two years ago, we took him to a Christmas parade and the same thing happened when he spotted the donkey on the nativity float. We had to move in front of the fire trucks, and he didn’t even blink at them. The weird part? He didn’t mind the neighbor’s mules.

If he wanted to be ridden, he’d stand at the barn door, if not, he wasn’t going anywhere. He only had about eight teeth left and was fed hay cubes twice a day. Health-wise, he did really well, aside from choking twice after stealing apples off the porch, arthritis didn’t bother him until he was about 44. He passed last spring from a twisted gut colic.
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Lovely by all the fabulous posts of horses who were loved and respected just for who they are.
This one particularly was fun - I love it when we allow horses to be, well a horse and enjoy their personalities and quirks. Thank you, it makes me think the world has lots of good people in it!
 
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