who has the oldest horse still competing?

I absolutely love this thread!

I lost my oldie last year at 25 and I truly miss him more than the world, would do anything to have him back!

He was so healthy and so happy, I thought he would go on forever. Losing him was the hardest thing, but even in death (his small intestine ripped) he was such a fighter and such a special chap. In many ways it lovely that he we lost him whilst he was still a hyperactive and rocket fuelled munchkin!

Love these stories, they remind me so much of him, and so lovely to see oldies thriving and loved!
 
Mine loads himself too. It always amazes me that some people would try to load their horse for 3 or more hours once they finished their classes. Should one not teach them when you've bought them?
 
My first ever horse was 31 and still competing - she could jump anything you put in front of her and definitely put some of my younger horses to shame! I lost her a few years ago now, but she was a great entrance into the horse ownership world.
 
One of my girls is 25 now and although I never used her for showjumping as she is such a stress head she has started going out again this year. So far 2 firsts and a second one of the firsts at a big show with prize money and a large number of entries. She is still bonkers!

Breeding wise she is a tb who raced till 3 then played polo till 10 then left in field for 3 years till I took her on and did yard shows in dressage and jumping

I am seriously considering registering her BSJA to do the smaller classes at the Cat 1 shows if she keeps enjoying it so much.
 
Alf is a relative youngster qt 20, but after a fair few years in the "not wuite right" doldrums, he's feeling so good at the moment, that I am considering, maybe, possibly, doing a few parties with him! The thing putting me off is not his age, but that he only comes into his own at the higher levels, and I would have an awful lot of work to do myself before I am sufficiently game -ready not to embarrass him.
 
Favourite thread ever! My 20yo retired at 17yo after a lot of little unrelated complaints, but one day looking at her in the field, I thought she looked rather sound and so, with only a few hiccups, we are well on the way to fitness and I am adoring riding her - and she is loving being the centre of attention again!

I think my main problem is going to be keeping her weight in check, she is an ID and the type who only has to breathe air to put on weight.

Tempted to aim towards a few low levels of competition later in the year!
 
22 year old is still showing, jumping and hacking for hours
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she loves to jump but her jockeys dont so her daughters rider pops her over a few fences from time to time
 
My old boy towed me round the Badminton Fun ride at 25 jumping every jump and dumping me when he freaked (understandably) when a squirrel jumped out of a tree and landed on his neck.

M & A are now 21. They've both had their issues but still compete at riding club dressage (M at Novice/Elem and A at Prelim/Novice - he works at elem at home no problem but his behaviour at shows is still rather juvenile so we don't push it :p)

M had his first jump in a year at camp last month and loved it. We were only supposed to do the polework at the start of the lesson but he decided to jump all the poles so we carried on and had a little jump too. He got so excited he couldn't stand still, was pulling me into them and I was struggling (well you never struggle with him but I really had to ask strongly)to stop him! For Mr Chilled this is about as excited as he gets! We only did about 70cm so well below what he's used to/capable of but I don't care - he was so happy to do it and last year we thought he'd have to retire. Finding the problem took months, treating it 5 minutes - he started work again 5 days later and hasn't looked back!
 
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Love everyones oldies!!

Mines 19 and still going strong, jumping and xc schooling soon, may do a few hunter trials at the end of the year. Nothing huge and we don't do bounces or and particularly strenuous gridwork anymore but the old girl is still happily doing everything I point her at :) jumping still makes her giddy! I have to remind madam of her age a lot of the time as we go bolting up a field and she reckons she quite likes the look of a hedge.
 
My welsh cob is 22 (going on 5!) and will be doing his first ODE this year as we've entered the wobbleberry challenge - combined age of 69 :P

He's lived on the side of a hill for much of his life which has kept him reasonably fit as he's not been ridden much, so is very low mileage. He loves hacking, loves jumping even more and takes a very dim view of his rider having too much input as regards speed for both. The last time I took him on a hack with one of my instructors groups he put us at the front, and there we stayed. He left the others behind on all the canters, and while the other horses were picking their way carefully down the hill he marched back down like the ultimate 4 wheel drive he is. Love him to bits :D
 
My old mare did her last showjumping competition at the age of 27 and won.

I retired her a month later after witnessing her having a fit in the stable and deciding I couldn't take the chance of riding her anymore. I never witnessed another seizure but once her ridden career stopped she seemed desperately unhappy and within a few weeks had stopped eating. She was put to sleep shortly afterwards. If I hadn't witnessed that fit, and therefore had carried on riding, I do wonder how many years longer she would have gone on for. She was one of the Alan Paul Wembley ponies and she really did seem to live for her jumping. Her ability was phenomenal, even at that age.
 
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