Veteren horses ! How old is yours? Are you still riding and competing?

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NIKKI1974

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I lost my old girl when she was 27 but had to stop riding her when she was 19 because she contracted a lung infection when she was in full livery and it damaged her lungs permenently. She still acted like a youngster up untill her final year when she became a bit arthritic and wasnt as mobile. She was in fantastic condition and i still used to show her inhand at county level with enormous sucess! All the horses on my yard are in their late teens apart from my three year old at the moment .Last year we lost one that was 30 and one that was 28 but they had both been long retired . Do you think that there is a secret to long life or do you think we have just been lucky. All ours were spoilt rotten and got the best of everything.Are you a member of the veteran horse and pony society?
 
I honestly think it's just luck. That combined with advancements in feeding and medicine.

I lost my last horse when she was still young to grass sickness, my mum's horse is retired early with Navicular but April in my signature is 20 odd and still doing everything in the pics
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well at 17 Red only just qualifies as being a veteran, but he brilliant- i took him hunting yesterday and he gave the best days hunting i have ever had!
we have only had him since august, and hes currently teaching my bf to ride and look after him, and then im jumping and hunting him!
he has been used in a riding school- so when the bf rides him he definately knows that he has a novice onboard, but then i can get on him and he'll buck and be a bit spooky!
he has a slightly bigger knee and is sometimes a little stiff on a morning, but apart from that, you cant tell he's an older boy.
Red is doing extremely well at the mo- if anything, he's a bit porky but he is loosing that extra bit of weight.
we are going to join the veteran society as my bf would like to do a bit of in-hand showing next season.
i think that spoiling them a bit is the secret!

sorry, its looong but he is a brilliant little horse!
 
My cob type, Berry, is somewhere in the region of 22/25yrs old. He's been in my life for 19years and in April this year he retired from 10yrs riding and driving with the RDA. Since then he's been sat on once, but now I am getting lighter and lighter, I am toying with the idea of riding him again! Been out and bought breaks (kimblewick) he's a sod with anyone able bodied
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just to get the saddle sorted - it nearly is
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So yeah, I intend to bring him out of retirement at some point and maybe even do some veteran classes with him next year. This is him in May this year.

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I've gotr a 25yo pony who stopped SJing & Pony Clubbing last spring as he was getting too stiff. He is now a little girl's love pony & gets brushed a lot with a bit of gentle hacking. I say gentle hacking as he is only supposed to do very short canters, but sometimes he has other ideas!
 
I had a 25yr old on loan that would honestly put the 8yr old that we rode out with to shame.
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She was retired at 28 with cushings and was put to sleep at 29 1/2
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We also had two ponies at the yard, one who is still going strong at 45
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and one that was put to sleep just a few weeks ago aged 46
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They both retired when in their late 30's

There are another two at my old yard that are around 28 - 30. One is retired and the other does just about most things still.

I think it is keeping them busy and intersted that helps and also good food, medication etc.
 
Berry is lookng fab for his age!! Minski is 26 and has just been retired due to arthritis. I did take her to a ridden vetran class this year jsut before she retired. She can second in the very old OAP class!! I have had her for 18 years.

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I had a pony that was still hunting and doing WH classes and veteran showing at 23, in spite of having cushings. She was PTS as soon as she started going significantly downhill as would never have been happy as a field ornament
 
blooooooomin ekkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!! I have known a few horse in their early thirties but have never known of one in its fourties thats amazing!!!!! I think its fantastic what some of these horses are still doing starting to wonder if you guys are feeding them on blue smarties!!!!
 
My old horse is 24, I've had her 17 years. I hack her out 4 or 5 times a week. She would still hunt and jump but I am heavier than I was so I don't want to over do it. She is a feisty thoroughbred and gives her all to everything she does! My farrier calls her a 'go faster machine' - whatever speed she is going she wants to go faster! Her daughter who is 10 years younger and a few inches bigger has to trot to keep up with her walk.
 
A couple of years ago I rode a 38 year old 14.2hh cob at a hunter trials - my first ever. We came third in the individuals & first in the pairs! We only did the 2'3" course, but we both had great fun. They tried retiring him several times, but he always went down hill when he didn't have a job to do. He's still going strong today - great character.
 
First pony is 33, Trixie, had her for almost 9 years. She retired 4 years ago as I had hopelessly outgrown her. She would have kept going if I had a little rider suicidal enough to blast about on her, but she scares everyone else. If I had found a rider, she might still be getting ridden now, however she is showing her age alot more so she'd only been in light work.
Then Shadow, she's 28, had her for five years and she only does light hacking now, she was semi retireddue to arthritis 2 years ago.
And Boo is 17 and very sadly is only a hack/occasional light school due to numerous foot and leg problems.
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Our old pony, Buster, was 36 when he died and was still doing local shows a month before he passed away.
 
my friend has just bought her older daughter a 16 year old pony to take her to the next level and the 25 year old pony is now showing her younger daughter the ropes.she is still out there doing pony club and local jumping up to about 2ft 3 which is rider limited more than the pony. the new pony won 2 classes yesterday and he can really fly!
 
My old mare Jenny is 34 & will be 35 soon. The person who rides her has just taken her out on a hack & apparently she jogged & messed about all the way!!

She was competing sj & winning consistently til she did a tendon out hacking at the age of 29. She still pulls extremely hard out hacking, won't stand still & runs off the second her feet touch grass or stubble!
 
Cadog is 31, was diagnosed with Cushings, so we retired him, he wasn't happy at all so after 6 months brought him back into work, he was so excited, he had driven when he was younger, so we have strated driving him again which he loves and he goes out hacking which he enjoys so much we have had to change his bit to a pelham
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I think its just down to luck. People say trotting your horse on the roads for long periods of time will cause problems later on in life, they say wintering horses out after they have been domesticated will shorten their life expectancy I read somewhere. My mare is 26sh, she hunted with my family from a 5yo to retiring with me aged 24, she never stopped, she still jumps out of the field now when she feels like it, shes not still, had no problems with her legs despite having a hard hunting lifestyle, but she has always been loved and given the best care- here she is with me this summer:
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and last summer, 25ish
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she is still loving life
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Wow...some well preserved oldies on here.
I managed a yard that had a 26 yo doing 2 hr beach rides...she was rather speedy...but great as she knew tide and river crossing safety so we relied on her.
She had a bit of arthritis behind...and a leaking tear duct...but was good otherwise...but we decided to retire her gradually, just using her for 1/2 hr treks in walk (as a lead file). Unfortunately she had other ideas and galloped up the main drive of the estate everytime...cantering sideways, bucking.
We asked the vet who told us that she obviously wasn't ready to retire and would be safer doing the full WTC and beach rides...so we went with the flow...
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My boy is 17, nearly 18 and he does everything that I ask of him. People are often suprised when I say how old he is, he acts more like a 7year old, but he does now know when to stop messing about and how much he can get away with!
 
Mine is 25 and still ridden daily (weather and light permitting!). He just hacks and the odd bit of jumping. He doesn't really compete, but does some veteran classes. Last year we did a xc and a 12 mile pleasure ride!
 
My Boy is 22yo, still competes during the summer in unaff dressage. He ridden 3-4 times a week in the winter mostly hacking & light schooling. Doing this seems to keep the stiffness away.
Heres some pics of him.
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This one was taken last month at his last comp of the year.
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He may be old but there's no stopping him.
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Im sure he'll tell me when to call it a day & retire him. I am very careful with what i do with him though & i do really listen to him.
 
Its so nice to see that people aren't writing their horses off once they hit 18, someone on here the other day tried to tell me that my horse is a veteran - poor b*gger - he's only 13 and as he wasn't broken in until 5 and has got low mileage I hope that he continues to go on for a good 10 to 15 years atleast. Soemtimes its seems that people are obsessed with getting four or five year olds that they can mould as their own when they'd be better of with an older horse that has been there got the t-shirt and is still keen to go on. GO THE VETERANS. I intend to compete Murphy in veterans when he gets to that age.
 
Spooks is 17, so just qualifies!!

I do endurance on him, and he always vets well at the end, we have done the odd hunter trial and ODE etc and he is full of life!
 
mine is 21 now, pretty much retired - he had surgery last year on his annular ligaments and was sound for about 6months afterwards, then re-injured it in the field, had another 7 months off, then i started doing a few little hacks again but he was lame again last week so i think he is heading for permanent retirement. shame because he looks fab for his age and would love to do some veteran classes with him as he was doing really well in them before his injury last may. the pics in my signature are from him coming 4th at the petplan champs last year aged 20 - 29 lovely horses in the class and he got 70%, the highest score in the class from a list one judge - so proud of him - that was our last dressage test together
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i have to say it drives me mad too! The number of people who ask me how old Ellie is and then when i tell them she is 14 say "oh so she's quite old then!"
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Does my head in! Ask me again when she 24...

The two at our yard that were in their 40's were both greys and looked almost identical. Strange eh?
 
Mine is 27 and still competing, he hunts regularly which has been the key for him, and I am very chuffed to say that he has qualified for 2 classes at the Ollie Townend Finals next week, so proud of him, hadnt quite written him off but he was tiring of showjumping, so I retired him from pure SJ earlier this year. This horse is such a dude!! I cannot believe people write them off to early, I didnt get mind til he was 16!!

My mate on him at Merrist Wood early 2007
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before anyone squeaks I have permission from photographer!
 
Agree guisbrogal, makes me laugh to think that the people that have him on loan are thinking about 2012 for the paras with him, he'll be 18 then which is a perfect age for a dressage horse. I'll let them do what they want with him until he doesn't look like he's enjoying himself anymore. A friend of mine took her horse on from the hunt she worked for as they were going to put him down. He had breathing problems. He qualified for the regionals of the VHS last year with her careful management and training so its good that more people do appreciate them.
I hope Murphy does enjoy an active later life, it'd be nice if I ever have kids if they learn to ride him and its always been an aim of mine that if I do get married one day to ride sidesaddle to the wedding. He's been such an important part of my life I'd love to have him there!
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My mare was 30 when she dies and I rode her the day before/. In fact the day she was out down I had gone to yard complete with clippers to redo her. We did showing in veterans classes right up until she died. It was very sudden so she didn't go downhill at all.
 
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