Robust breeds

[ycbm]

What all-rounder breeding do people reckon is the most likely to get to 25 still hacking gently round the lanes?

 

[Maxidoodle]

Can’t beat a good Native

 

[w1bbler]

Fluffy cob or cob cross
Had 2 cobs get to late 20's with never a sick day.
One was shire x tb who was bouncy & forward all her life, the other was a proper gypsy cob, who was the most sensible gentleman all his life, but he could still manage a respectable novice dressage test

 

[Bluewaves]

My old vet said ponies when I asked him. He didn’t specify a breed though. He said there are always likely to be issues with Warmbloods, Irish drafts depending on lines and poor old TBs of course.

 

[stangs]

Speaking as the owner of a crippled cob, not the above. The smaller natives that grow up semi-feral imo.

 

[tda]

A dales pony obviously

 

[SEL]

I've known a criollo - come from polo too so legs covered in lumps & bumps. Was looking great until a month or so before her 30th then went downhill fast and bloods showed probable cancer.

Friend has a dales X fjord going strong in her 20s

I've seen a fair few Arabs reaching good old ages.

A lots of Shetlands

 

[gallopingby]

Most of the M&M breeds will make 25 if they are looked after properly as youngsters and educated correctly. Many don’t begin working until they are 4/5 or older and can go on into their 30s

 

[Cortez]

Soooo many factors involved with that, including a healthy dose of pure luck. If selecting purely for soundness, and disregarding looks & talent for anything, I'd say a Standardbred, or a mustang (neither particularly abundant in the UK I'd imagine). Something more utilitarian, perhaps a Connemara? (One without the genetic hoof problems, obviously).

 

[Esmae]

Criollos go on forever. Arabs also. I was hacking my old arab at 25. Lost him the following year.

 

[ifyousayso]

Connemara , Irish draught horse and pony cob

 

[PurBee]

My mare is half welsh D and Arab - now 20yrs old, she was a broodmare before i got her, so not had ridden mileage, but breeding mileage! - and has withstood a fairly harsh climate all her life in the area where i am. Im surprised at her toughness - she’s not bothered by mud or rain, is sensible, has a rock solid gut, and her only injury was in the field of presumable slipping in mud and pulling a tendon, resolving fully in a few weeks.
Im always surprised by her general toughness, expecting her to show her age, but she rocks on…rolls in the field and springs up to her feet like the 10yr old.
Of course, if she had had a ridden career i may well be reeling off a list of problems, but she’s always lived majority out on challenging varied ground, not ‘molly-coddled’, and thrives.
A fellow i know with an egyptian arabian stallion, has him in these muddy wet climate conditions, and he’s ridden, sound, all through up to mid 20’s…so perhaps the arab blood talk of robustness is really true…in my very limited exposure to them, it certainly is.

 

[cariadbach10]

Many Arabs go on forever. Mine is 28 next month and still hacking. I’ve just come back from riding in Iceland and damn those horses are tough. Our guide said they’re at their best at about 15- they’re considered immature before then.

 

[First Frost]

I had a lovely heinz 57 pony that was still hacking at 33 and lived happily until 38. My friends Connie is 26 and still doing everything, my Connie is 20 and still doing everything. Another friend has a child's games pony who is 24 and still galloping around with children flinging themselves on and off. The link between all these is they are ponies. I can think of lots of other pony examples and also arabs.

 

[blitznbobs]

It isn’t a breed thing. My longest working horse lasted to 26 and he was a KWPN. And a Shetland who was driven into her 30s but never did any serious riding work. Natives though are tricky - most of my natives have been welshies and very few survived in to their 20s never mind in ridden work. My gypsy cob would have but he had an injury to his hock early in life that cut short his ridden career… i think if you can get a warm blood into its teens with no isssues then it’s probably going to go on and on… but that’s a big if.

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

Fell pony? We had one that lived into his 30’s still hacking late 20’s. He had a good working life too was a show stallion until he was 10 then worked in a riding school to early 20’s

 

[Gloi]

I've had Icelandic and Fell still hacking in late 20s. Icy did Lady Towneley loop over 3 days in mid 20s and would have gone round again.

 

[MereChristmas]

Welsh cob x TB had a full working , hunting life had 2 foals retired at 27 lived to 28
Her daughter Welsh cob x TB X Anglo Arab almost died of EGS at 8 recovered and hacked, hunted, retired at 26 lived to 27

 

[MereChristmas]

and I forgot
Welsh pony x Arab gelding Pony Clubbed and hacked and hunted retired at 25 lived to 26

 

[Snow Falcon]

Only ever really had natives so I'd have to go with a good old forester!.

 

[Nasicus]

I've known plenty of ancient arabs still game for a hack about the lanes well into their 20's!

 

[exracehorse]

I think Heinz 57 .. like mongrel dogs .. have a better chance of reaching old age.

 

[FlyingCircus]

Can’t beat a good Native

I have 2 broken natives 8 and 16!

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

We have had Appaloosas hacking well into their 20s, also cobs. We had a Clydie get well into her 30s still hacking gently. Tbh I think it is as much about how they are started, as much as anything. They need time to stop growing before they put any kind of strain on their joints/spine and then you need a big dose of luck, too. I've lost 3 young horses to 3 unforeseeable, different issues, not related to the age that they did anything.

 

[millikins]

I follow the Racehorses, where are they now? group on FB, I am constantly amazed how many very old TB's there are, many still hacking or more well into their 20's. I think if they retire sound they have a good chance of reaching old age. Wasn't Red Rum 30 when he died?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Small ponies and Arab's I would say when I used to work at the riding school they had a grey Arab mare that staff used to take hacks on as she was a bit much for clients, she was still going at 28 and was not for the faint hearted bless her, I absolutely loved riding that horse.

 

[shortstuff99]

Soundest horses I've ever had have been the PREs. New forests were pretty good too.

 

[Cloball]

I knew a Dales who dragged me down the lane and kept escaping at 40 the pony I learnt to ride on and his pal both new forests are both still going at 32. I've known a couple of Arabs still hacking at 28. Oh and I met a Welsh X at a pleasure ride who was 28 and still very keen I think pony and rider had a combined age of 106.

 

[meleeka]

You can’t beat a good Welsh or Welsh X imo. My vet said it’s because they are too stubborn to get old . New Forests are usually pretty robust too. My experience of traditional cobs wasn’t great in terms of fitness to do the job, so I wouldn’t recommend a cross with one.

 

[J&S]

I was hacking a big Irish sporty cob till he was nearly 27. My Nf mare hacked out till she was 27, my Irish/TB /Arab sports pony has only just retired from hacking at 26.