Is anyone else on their last horse?

i lost the big girl in Feb @ 22 & am almost 52 - am currently playing with a loan 4 yr old & madly saving for the next - hoping to buy/long term loan a relative youngster - BUT - that will be my last - my pension is far too meagre to allow me to have a horse - altho i have no plans to retire at 65 [ cant afford it:(]
 
Well I will be 70 this year, my 4 boys are all retired now and I doubt if I will replace them, but saying that I have just been given a 7yr old registered quarter horse, not my sort of horse I must say, but hey oh he is no bother and needed a home, and I have the facilities to keep them all !
 
planete said:
I am 65. My horse is 14. I bought him 12 years ago with the firm intention of riding until I was 70 and broke him myself (very cautiously!) at the age of 55. I am now rather stiff with a nice collection of physical problems. I ride when I feel up to it, lunge or work in hand at other times. I changed the way I keep my horse two years ago and went from livery with everything laid on to rented grazing with a field shelter and a companion pony. My horse and I are very relaxed with each other and mostly enjoy each other's company without any pressure to perform. I pay for help with physical chores but it still works out cheaper than livery and I hope to be able to keep my horse this way till the end.
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I broke my boy four years ago, he has been brought along very slowly, but my knees have been giving me problems, and are making me nervous of falling off him, so I think he will have to go, mainly because I can't find suitable hacking plus stabling with turnout all year round, rather than anything else. He really needs work, otherwise he gets a bit nappy. I am 65 at the moment.
 
always remember age is just a number!!!!!! believe in yourself mind over matter if horses are in your blood you will end up having another, and im sure things happen and come to you for a reason xxxxx:)
 
This is a very heartening post and it is lovely to hear so many seniors still enjoying their riding. I spent my younger years with dreams of a career in dressage after training with Robert Hall - but unfortunately life got in the way and it didn't happen then got married to exjockey and got into racing - everything was put on hold when my daughter was born and I concentrated on her with ponies competing showjumping. Then divorce and no money - 2 years ago I finally could afford to buy a nice horse for me. So at the age of 58 I am now breaking in my lovely 3 year old Knabstrupper who I have had since she was 10 months old. Luckily I have my friend to help me and a lovely girl to come and back her and ride her away and hopefully she will be my horse of a lifetime and will be my last
 
I'm 47 this year and my horse turned 22 yesterday. He is still hacking, schooling, and doing a little bit of dressage at Prelim/Novice.

Hopefully, he will go on for a few more years yet, but I am still planning on replacing him - although if my friend has her way, I will end up with a 5 year old cob that she's seen!

I waited 34 years to be able to buy my own horse, and I am not stopping now!!!
 
bubbilygum said:
Hopefully not, but I can see myself being on my last horse. I'm 23 and my boy is 17; I know it sounds like I am being melodramatic but I have my reasons!

I like to think I will get another after hes gone but I should think I will have to prioritise a mortgage and children and other "adult" things by then. Also I'm not sure I could find another that would fill my boys shoes: hes no superstar by anyone else's standards but he is perfect for what I want! I can't see myself getting back into horse ownership in my 40s, I feel that by then I will have lost the "bug". There will definitely be a point where I am "horseless" - my boy will get 100% of my horsey attention for the remainder of his life, and he isn't particularly fond of other horses so I doubt he would appreciate having another around in close quarters.

Hopefully I will have another though - I'm very impressed and encouraged by many posters in this thread! It's clearly never too late!
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You may be pleasantly surprised - I am in my 40s, have children, mortgage and responsibilities and have never lost the bug. I know I am not alone. Horses are my escape and I can be 10 years old again when I am with them. :)
 
Oh yes - I had decided that when my last horse went, that would be it (I'm, 48 this year and thought I would like to chill and not muck out all winter etc. mistakenly thinking I would like free time and so on) - anyway, had my 21 yr old PTS last April and was so heartbroken I cannot tell you. Moped about for a couple of months, tried doing other stuff including ballroom dancing..... just couldn't live without a GG. I was so bad I couldn't even go to the yard to see friends. Anyway, went on hols in June, came back, having thought very long, and very hard, and started looking for another. Found my new boy in August and the rest is history. I can honestly say, it seems even more fun this time round! He is going on 7, so hopefully he will see me through to me retiring from looking after an equine - but who knows?? :D

Also, my no.1 thingy for a new horse was that it had to be 100% in traffic. ended buying a late cut gelding who'd been used for breeding, and had been ridden very little, with no experience of traffic. Spent the first month walking out in hand learning about traffic. He's now pretty good in it! I said before I found him "I wouldn't have the confidence to do all that stuff with a youngster" - then there I was, doing that very thing!!
 
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I'm 45 and have no intention of giving up, even when the sad day arrives that my boy goes!

My Mum lost her old pony (rode him the day before he died, aged 29) when she was 78, then rode one on loan and was talking about getting another for herself when she lost her own life suddenly, aged 80.

You've got years left!!
 
I would dearly love a horse of my own, I have bought 2 but they're my daughters, I am too large and inexperienced to ride them, though I have lost 3 stone this year, I'd have to lose another 3 in order to even sit on them. One of them is turned away because my daughter found her too much, my friend mostly looks after her for me but I am there most days helping her.

I'm kind of at a low point in my journey with horses, I am 42, I can't ride well, I have no money anymore to afford the type of horse I could actually enjoy, I've been ripped off so many times through not knowing enough about horses, trailers, farriery, (not my current farrier who is fantastic, but the one before!) vets whatever that I don't think I would take the risk anymore. So when the 2 I have now are gone I think I'll just be content to enjoy them from afar :(
 
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I'm definately on my last horse - I'm 60 and have the most delightful Clydesdale mare - I bouoght her as a 6month old weanling and will have her for the rest of her or my days. Rode today - 'nervous nellie' now as bones are not what they used to be - went around the 1km track and so thoroughly enjoyed myself. My friends who I used to teach riding to help me on board, look after me and help me off after.

In time I hope that returning to riding will make me more supple and fit and eventually brave again.
 
Crumbs! So many of you feeling old in your 40s! Take it from me life gets better and better after 40.

I just bought my new mare last September. She is a sprightly, just-backed, 7 year old Welsh D.

Oh I'm 57 this year.
 
I think it depends hugely on the indvidual. Just like horses, some can manage better than others as they get older, I'm a big believer in 'use it or lose it', but sometimes 'it' just beggars off leaving you no option. :D

My current horse will be my last I think, I am only 47, but have to do everything myself as I'm not on a yard, and if my mare, who is nineteen this year, lives another ten years then I'll be approaching sixty when looking for another. I like to keep my horses 'for life' and like to buy youngsters anyway, which would mean I'd have to live 'til ninety still fit and active (hopefully I will!)

I have to say though that I do find things harder as I'm getting older and I'm not too bothered if I don't ride anymore.

I have to admit that it will be nice to not have the worries that horses bring too, and some much needed cash available, although I will miss them dreadfully.
 
Love this thread. My inspiration is an 84 year old friend who not only rides, but is also still much in demand as a trainer and judge. I'm a mere 65, on my 3rd horse after 50 years of ownership, a spirited 10 year old who I intend to keep riding, training, competing and enjoying for the rest of our days.
 
I am definitely on my last horse. My pony is 21 and I am over 60. I am hoping he will go on 'til I am 70.

I think after that age it is not the riding but the day to day care that becomes difficult. Full livery would take care of that if one can afford it, probably not on a pension.

Might be able to share though.
 
An inspiring lady I have known for many years is 75 this year, lost her sight completely as a child, has had hip replacements and a medical history as long as your arm... She is still active in running her small yard (used to be a riding school/RDA centre), hacks out on some pretty feisty horses and generally gets on with it. Recently she was hacking out an ex-eventer mare that her daughter was having problems with. She has more confidence around horses and when riding than most people in my local area.

A good example of how everything*starts and ends with our mind and only we create our barriers.
 
I intend the cob I have just bought to be my 'forever' horse. I am 40 and am having chemo at the moment s just enjoying spending time with him (my daughter rides him). I hope I will get the all clear to ride later this year and am looking forward to growing old with him.
 
Well when the lad I have now (bought as a 4 year old & now rising 6) is 20 I shall be 72. Just enough time left at that stage to do the lanes around & about. All being well he will be my last horse & we can grow old together. As it is we are competing now.
 
I sold my last brilliant pony (I am 5'4" and weighed eight and a half stone in those days) and stood and cried in the lane as the lorry drove away. I was 28 and was buying a flat, and ned's and mortgages didn't mix. Since then I have ridden of course, but never owned. Here I am now at nearly 57, due to retire in a couple of years and am looking forward to buying another at long last. It has only taken 29 years! My next horse will be my last though. However, I don't think I'll be doing the mad things I used to do - it will be the quiet life for both of us.
 
Yup, although I'm only 24!
I love her to bits but has prevented me doing quite alot with my life. So Even though she'll be with me till she's old and grey she's the lot!
 
I'm 51 and have 2 x 2yr olds. I will be backing and schooling them myself in a couple of years time. Looking forward to hours of fun hacking over the local bridleways , taking a picnic in summer, like being a kid again.
 
Well i am 51 and still have my lovely Arab who is 27,still going strong,and my daughters section D mare she outgrew 4 years ago.We have the 12 year old WB who i guess i will inherit at some stage when said daughter can no longer compete him and will need a youngster to bring on.I still canter round the woods and orchards,gallop up the gallop stretch and had a blast at the beach this year,on the Arab,and looking forward to the next trip there.I am still 15 at heart.Your never too old as long as health and faculties are good.
 
Sorry. Not QUITE there yet; may have room for just one more after the current crop (10, 11 and 14 year old, respectively) have gone to retirement or eternal reward. I'm 52, BTW, so I reckon if I bred one, or get a baby, I'll be breaking it in and riding at darn near 60. Might get an older (6 - 8 year old) one then, and hobble creakily into my dotage with that.
 
I have really enjoyed reading this thread .... with my beloved old boy rising 31 I really do not know what I will do when I lose him ..... :(:(:(

But this post has inspired me and I do not know what I would do if I didn't 'have to go and do the boys' :eek::rolleyes:
 
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