What do you do with your 20 year+'s

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joulsey

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Just a wondering I suppose.

I ride a 23 year old mare, who doesn't look or act like it at all (she should know better by now I keep saying)

We just hack at the moment, although she has had most of the winter off as we have no school and the weather has been so wet.

A equestrian centre as such is just opening up within hacking distance so hopefully I will be hiring out the school every couple of weeks which I can't wait for as TBH, I don't enjo hacking all that much and its not very good round here any way. Alot of road work, and what is off road, theres not really any where to have many canters.

The new place is also opening a XC course, and I was wondering, am I mad to consider taking her at her age? Fences start at 2ft 5. We are going to start fittening work this week.

So, am I mad thinking once I have her fitness levels up again to give it a bash? She also probabaly hasn't jumped for about 7 years due to the no school as well. Previous to that she used to pop the odd jump in the school on the yard she was at.

What does everybody else do with their oldies?
 
joulsey said:
Just a wondering I suppose.

I ride a 23 year old mare, who doesn't look or act like it at all (she should know better by now I keep saying)

We just hack at the moment, although she has had most of the winter off as we have no school and the weather has been so wet.

A equestrian centre as such is just opening up within hacking distance so hopefully I will be hiring out the school every couple of weeks which I can't wait for as TBH, I don't enjo hacking all that much and its not very good round here any way. Alot of road work, and what is off road, theres not really any where to have many canters.

The new place is also opening a XC course, and I was wondering, am I mad to consider taking her at her age? Fences start at 2ft 5. We are going to start fittening work this week.

So, am I mad thinking once I have her fitness levels up again to give it a bash? She also probabaly hasn't jumped for about 7 years due to the no school as well. Previous to that she used to pop the odd jump in the school on the yard she was at.

What does everybody else do with their oldies?
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Someone I knew was still jumping their 30 year old Welsh cob stallion around 3 foot hunter trial courses! I would see how she goes on over trotting poles and low gymnastic grids after a decent fittening time of course which should be at least double what you would do for a horse half her age. Don't forget that just because she think in her mind that she is a silly early teenager still, her body may well not be feeling the same way. Excitement will carry a horse with a broken leg around a field unfortunately.
 
My 27 year old is hacked 3-4 times a week (for an hour - mainly walking with with odd canter on good going) and does a schooling session of about 45-50 minutes once a week. He completes in VHS / SSAD veteran classes during the summer months.

We jump him occasionally but as a former event horse he is high mileage and, whilst he still enjoys it enormously, it does make him a little stiff in his hips. I would rather keep him ticking over than burn him out so it is limited to the occasion "jolly".
 
Oldies can be a lot of fun. I haven't owned any myself but the ones I used to handle were always incredibly grateful for being used. That said they don't always know their limits so it is very much up to the rider to make sure they aren't being pushed too far.

I would consider the individual horse's health history and as sally2008 said I would consider the mileage, too. Are there any issues to consider that might be expected to make an appearance (or reappearance) from the transition of being a hacker to more ridden work, the strain on the horse's body being somewhat different to what hacking will have entailed?

I would make sure the horse stayed sound being brought back into work and take it from there. If she stayed sound, I would put in some polework and reassess after that. I would also pay attention to what she was like on her days off between work - while she might feel okay to ride, how does she cope in between with more work thrown in.

Not sure I would put a XC course as my goal right off the bat but again it depends entirely on the horse.

Good luck x
 
sally2008 said:
I would rather keep him ticking over than burn him out so it is limited to the occasion "jolly".
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Thats all I'm really thinking of TBH, just something a bit different as I know she gets just as bored as me!

Fatpiggy- I'm thinking back end of summer, and it will probabaly only be the once and on the lower fences and I've never been XC either ! Once we have been in the school a few weeks I'll try her with some poles and grids, see how she feels about them....although from what I remember last time I jumped her years ago she has a dirty stop in her sometimes!
 
MargotC said:
Oldies can be a lot of fun. I haven't owned any myself but the ones I used to handle were always incredibly grateful for being used. That said they don't always know their limits so it is very much up to the rider to make sure they aren't being pushed too far.

I would consider the individual horse's health history and as sally2008 said I would consider the mileage, too. Are there any issues to consider that might be expected to make an appearance (or reappearance) from the transition of being a hacker to more ridden work, the strain on the horse's body being somewhat different to what hacking will have entailed?

I would make sure the horse stayed sound being brought back into work and take it from there. If she stayed sound, I would put in some polework and reassess after that. I would also pay attention to what she was like on her days off between work - while she might feel okay to ride, how does she cope in between with more work thrown in.

Not sure I would put a XC course as my goal right off the bat but again it depends entirely on the horse.

Good luck x
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Shes lived out over winter and ridden possibly about 15 times through that. She's low mileage and has never been hammered at all, and has not had any health issues at all. I agree though, I will see how she copes with an up in work load and with school work.
 
joulsey said:
Shes lived out over winter and ridden possibly about 15 times through that. She's low mileage and has never been hammered at all, and has not had any health issues at all. I agree though, I will see how she copes with an up in work load and with school work.
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A healthy horse is always a good starting point no matter the age! I would give her longer to get fit than I would a younger horse, but assuming she stays sound I don't see why you wouldn't both enjoy doing something different every once in a while. I am sure she will let you know how she feels about it. x
 
I used to take my old boy XC until he was about 25; he then started stopping...he'd never been a stopper, so I knew he was telling me he'd had enough. After that, we did a bit of schooling but mostly (gentle) hacking right up until shortly before his heart started failing him & he had to be PTS, at the grand old age of 29 We'd still jump the odd log in the woods, he'd look around for the next one, bless him, he was such a star.
 
Our 34yo is still ridden and although she's a bit stiff, she does enjoy it and she doesn't get worked very hard at all! If she's not up for it, we won't ride her. We had a 21yo appaloosa pony and he had a nice straight back and used to be a jumping/barrel racing horse but he was too much for me to handle. He's gone to a different house now.
 
Mine is nearly 23 and still does RC areas, elementary affiliated dressage and love hacking on the Forest. As long as he is happy and fit I will keep him going. Only difference is he takes longer to get fit and he does BE80's instead of 90's and 100's. As long as he is fit and healthy and you listen to him/her, you should be able to do some more interesting things!
 
Mine is 23 this year and I've had him since he was 4. He's never had any significant time off and is still going strong. He's hacked by my mum a couple of times a week and by me at weekends and the odd week night. He won an RC combined training last year and we did the odd show but nothing too strenuous really. I did take part in some weekly RC lessons as well. All I would say to you re schooling is try and steer away of actual 'schooling'. Work on some simple suppling exercises and transitions but try and avoid too much work on circles or asking for too much. Hacking on the roads is actually a very good way of steadily fittening a horse up so don't stop that entirely. You can practice suppling exercises out hacking as well.

If the horse is fit and healthy and still enjoys work I see no reason why you shouldn't have a fun summer!
 
Mine is 23 and we mostly just hack these days, usually 3 times a week with plenty of trotting and cantering and jumping the odd xc fence.

He doesn't enjoy schooling much these days and neither do I so I don't tend to do that very often, just lunge occasionally and sometimes we will do a bit of jumping.
 
Cheeky and I did all RC and PC stuff up to 85cm until he was 25. When he turned 25 I decided I couldn't hunt him any more because he was too naughty and I was going to get myself into a lot of trouble if he kept his antics up! We then dropped down a level competing too, to 75cm, because I lost a lot of confidence in a nasty, freak fall. He was virtually unbeatable locally, and he looked after me so well.

He was PTS at 28 when he very suddenly go old. But 28 is no bad age for a TB who'd started as a racehorse, had spent many years doing open PC eventing and who at 18 diversified and did open teamchasing until he was 20. He was hard as nails and one of the best horses we've ever owned- wish we had a 10yo version for my sister!
 
Knobberpony is a 24 year Welsh Section C and is hacking,Pony Clubbing and hunting,in the summer she'll do local shows and gymkhana games.She had a lot of fun at Aylesford XC this morning and still has plenty of get up and go.I wish I had a bigger version of her.
 
26 yr old tb, still doing endurance pleasure rides & never grown up! Acts as escort for me (endurance para rider).
 
I'm trying to decide what to do with mine, I rescued 2 oldies at the start of the year in a terrible state. The younger of the 2 is coming on leaps and bounds although he's only 17. My TBx is 24 and didnt fare too well to say the least. We have managed to get his weight up and looks a different horse now, the scaring is fading on his back from rain burn and every time I take the tack out for the other one he looks kind of hopeful but after such a rough time over the years before I had him I'm wondering whether to keep him retired or to try and bring him back to work this summer (after the vet has given us the all clear!). Nice to see so many other oldies are being ridden still, gives me hope :o)
 
Mine is 22 next month. We do all riding club activities and unaffilated eventing. Through the winter we had a few days out hunting, at 5 hours I had to call it a day but he was still wanting to go.
The fitter he is the better he moves. I hack 6 days a week with him and limit schooling to the minimum I need to remember a test.
Give him time to get fit and if he seems ok with it, give it a try. Same as people, some age better than others.
 
My loan horse is 21 with fairly high milage as far as I'm aware. She used to show jump and has been to hoys when she was a lot younger. She broke her leg a few years ago, had 2 years off then I started loaning her a year and a half ago and brought her back into work. We now mainly ponce about dressaging, but I do have plans to take her to somerford soon and have a pop round there :) I think if they're fit, happy and you take notice of how they're feeling after work (ie. Stiff, grumpy etc) 'old' horses still have lots to give :)
 
My old boy at 25, doing the Badminton Fun ride.
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He'd stopped show jumping at this point as the jumps were closer together and turns were tighter he struggled a bit, but he loved jumping and provided the ground wasn't too hard, still found XC ok as there was more space between the fences so he had more time to recover. We were still doing the odd course at this point and just avoided doubles, which meant we got eliminated every time, but we didn't care, we just wanted some fun! He got quite depressed if he hadn't had a jump in a while. This was his last 'proper' day out jumping although we'd pop logs out hacking etc right up until he died very unexpectedly aged 27.
 
My mare is 30 this year, however hacking is our thing and always has been. She is going just as well as she did 15 years ago, howver I am always aware when she gets tired I prefer to get off and lead her home which is rarely. The only time she eels tired is in hot weather, so we ride very early in the morning during hot spells so that might be worth considering.
 
i ride a 24 year old connie x arab about once a month and he still has tonnes of life!! still tanks off like a mad thing but still a fantastic dressage pony and works in an outline in all three paces despite getting very little work (I'm the only one who rides him)!! still pops little jumps happily. Not that impressive of a workload but when riding he feels like a 10 year old arab!
 
My 20 year old is retired but only because of issues related to a serious injury he had 2 years ago. He looks great however and loves being a pampered pet. I really miss riding him - he was so sensible and lovely to ride x
 
My little Arab mare is 24 years old and is still competing in Endurance. She is still race riding and winning.

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This is her on her way last year to winning a 80k ride.
She has also won the Veteran Arab Marathon for the last 3 times.
 
I rode a twenty year old who flew around a six mile farm ride and did every single jump last week. Not with me on her though :)
 
This is so heartwarming. My 21year old is still going strong. I thought he would be too old to take to Cyprus with me but having read your posts I think I might. I don't want to leave him behind.
 
All these oldies are great! Mine are 27 and 22 and are ridden out and schooled 3 to 4 times a week. The younger one does a bit of dressage. I think keeping them going is the main thing. I would be a bit cautious though, my oldest would do herself an injury if she was allowed to do as she wanted she still thinks she is eight!
 
Its wonderful to hear that all these oldies are all doing so well, and I imagine alot of it is down to you guys as owners taking such good care of them.

The mare I ride probabaly wouldn't give two hoots if she was never ridden again, shes a typical grumpy mare who turns bum to you in stable at the sight of a bridle. And gallops down the field from the clang of a headcollar. But last year she did so well off it and along with the 24/7 turnout was as supple as she was 10 years ago! The owners daughter came and rode her late last summer for the first time in a couple of years and couldn't believe how good she felt, probably even better than when she used to ride her. Its always good to get some one else on board even if its just to tell you your're doing things right and to get a perspective off them.

I'll see how she gets along with fittening work and take it from there.Hopefully the yard will do some unaffiliated DR we can try out.
 
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