To old?

[Wilowfarmjumper]

My friend owns a 12 year old grey gelding that competes in showing. He wins regually in show hunter pony, and classes similar. However she took him to a HOYS qualifyer with high hopes.. And spent alot of money to be told "he's to old". A jumper is at it's prime at 12.. as in most competitions. Basicaly 12 for a horse is NOT old. Another person i know has a horse that was used for showing and at 10 is retired.. is this right?

I also hear stories of horses being starved so that there smaller when measured just so they can wrongly compete in pony classes.

In my opinion showing has gone to far and something needs to be done..

What do you think?
:D

[rtk]

You get the odd judge who is prejudiced on the basis of age, but then again you get judges who dont like coloured, mares etc. Not much you can do about it. A good judge will judge what they see and even make small allowances for age.

I can honestly say I have only once had a bad comment from a judge about our teenage cob and I was so furious I think she might rethink her attitude :D

To be fair though some horses have had a lot of wear and tear by ten, not all of them have had an easy life and again not all have been that well looked after. So sometimes yes a horse could be finished at 10 is its scarred or not moving well anymore. But doesn't that apply to every other discipline. You dont see many such horses in anything else either.


I also hear stories of horses being starved so that there smaller when measured just so they can wrongly compete in pony classes.

In my opinion showing has gone to far and something needs to be done..

What do you think?
:D

Yes I hear the stories, a lot I suspect are true. But do you honestly think they dont also apply to showjumpers or any other sport where a height limit applies. We have all seen 14.2 show ponies AND showjumpers who are way over height.

This needs to be addressed by the JMB and the whole horse world, its slightly unfair to say its just showing.

By the way I know two horses in their late teens who qualified for HOYs last year and one which is about 20 (not a fact its owners spread around) who won

[Emz]

Just put that judge on your friends black list and try again!

Alot of show horses/ponies are retired from showing fairly early as they've either won everything or they've gone as far as they will go according to their type/conf etc.

Does your friend normally compete in affiliated classes? could be she didn't realise just how hot the classes can be at the top. HOYS qualifiers later in the season may be of a slightly lower standard too.

[eventerbabe]

i know a few welshies who are well into their teens and still doing well :) tell your friend not to take it to heart and try again :)

[eml]

The judge won't know your horses age in the ring unless they ask and I suspect most would only ask if the horse was showing signs of ageing.

At HOYS qualifier level the competition is tough and yes at 12 the horse will not have the same shape as a younger horse, just like we humans as we age :D. Doesn't mean the pony is too old just outclassed now at that level.

Wait around a few years and come back to wow in veterans.

Yes some really bad things happen in the showing world but they also go on anywhere serious competition and money get involved.

[TheHoglet]

twelve's no age realy, a horse dosent become a veteran untill its 15 and thats still not old! i took my pony in a veteran class at the weekend and we dropped down to third because he was the youngest in the class and he's nearly 16 :p although he was in the best nic.
in my opinion some judges just look for excuses to mark you down if they dont want to place you highly. maybe the judge didnt want to place your friend because she wanted to place the people she knew in the top 4. dont let it get you down, 12's just a baby in my opinion. find a differant qualiffyer and try again :D
good luck xxxxx

[coblover26]

12 is not old...Some judges are so annoying.

I ride a 19yr old and he's as fit as anything

[katefarmer]

A pony too old at 12???!!!!:eek: I can't imagine anything much more taxing on the horse than 3 day eventing - and the top international events regularly have competitors (and winners!) who are in their teens. 12 would be considered a prime age in this discipline.

What can be so gruelling about showing, at any level, to make a pony too old at 12???

btw - how do you make a horse shorter by starving it? Thinner, yes - but shorter?? :confused:

[Alex T]

12!!oh dear my mare will be 12 next year its taken me this long to retrain her lol shes an ex arab race horse that and im slow and shes had a few set backs.
so her er sparkling career is over before weve started !!although i was told she looked immature and we got marked down for it so is that a good thing hehe

[Daffy Dilly]

btw - how do you make a horse shorter by starving it? Thinner, yes - but shorter?? :confused:

It makes them less "perky". Dehydration is sometimes used as well (obviously some people don't do any of this, I'm talking about extremes), which again makes the horse sort of droopy. Also, in real extremes the bone of the wither can be shaved. When I heard of that it was done in the US though, I don't know if it's gone on in this country but it's possible. Then theres the trimming of the feet as short as possible (ie often too short) to get it under.

Most people settle for removing shoes if necessary, and teaching the horse to relax when measured, but the above certainly isn't restricted to showing.