when is a pony too old

T

tinyted

TT racer
Apr 4, 2008
66
0
6
faha, county clare, eire
hi everyone
i'm sure this has been asked before but how come "people" say the best age to get a pony is between 8 and 10 yet when i bought my gorgeous "mrs winifrid brown" chunky gypsy cob of this parish....she was rising 15 and "people" said she was rather old???? does this mean that you only actually get a maximum of 5 years out of a pony????? cos surely as they can live to be over 40 then they're retired for a bloody long time (scuse my language)
and not only that nobody has actually told my winnie that she really is too old to be behaving like this.
also what sort of work should i be expecting of her???
All advice greatfully received:D
 
Unless she has health problems there is no reason why she should do anything differently to a 5 year old, she can do any work you want. It might take a little bit longer to get her fit but not always.

We have a 17 year old who is still showing at county level and my 32 year old only really slowed down a couple of years ago and still gallops over the moors, he's just not allowed to jump anymore and takes a bit more managing over winter.
 
Oh, don't listen to them - :D look at all the horses out eventing up to top level well into their teens. And many horses are ridden into their 20's. As long as your girl is fit and healthy she should be capable of whatever you want to do!! I definately wouldn't consider a rising 15 year old "old". Buying a middle aged horse is often a very sensible idea as well. They tend to have been there, done that. (although there are some loony ones!)
 
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I don't think 15 is old at all. I used to ride a 22 year old and she was in tip-top condition and could overtake all the other horses & ponies on the beach! she was also a brilliant little dressage pony and jumper.
 
my mare who is going to be 31 in may has only just started slowing down after a really long winter. 15 is not old. it is where the veteran classes start and in the showing world maybe they are more likely to have more blemishes etc so less likely to be shown (?) but i do state, 15 is not old... late 20's is getting on a bit and then it just depends on the horse :p
 
I used to know/ride an Exmoor who died at 38 and was working up until the day before (a riding school) and he would still tank off if he thaught he could. So don't worry, the only one you need to pay attention to is your horse/pony, she will soon tell you if she is struggling!

And don't forget to enjoy her!
 
the horse i part loaned off my friend was 26 when i first took him on! We did 12 mile pleasure rides together (not often) hacking,schooling and generally just had a good old time. I loaned Flynn for just about 2 years, so that made him 28 when i left him and he was still going strong:) ive seen 15 year old horses that looked like they couldnt put 1 foot infront of the other properly. i think it all depends on the individual horse.:) this is him at 26!
f1.jpg
 
you will know when a horse is ready to retire..my aunt had a horse for over twenty years and she rode it right until the day it died

i also ride a tb gelding who lives out 24/7 and is clipped etc and is 30!

this is him
061.jpg

xx
 
The flipside however is that my boy started showing stiffness and other old age signs at 16 ... He was "downgraded" to light hacking for a few years and then fully retired. He's not been fully retired for about 6 years so he's definitely having a very long and expensive retirement!
 
Cobs will go on forever, and ever, and ever, and ever! Thats what they were bred for, to cope with tough work and to be hardy enough to live through it! Unless your looking at a top level eventer I would say 15 is a perfectly good age for any horse to be welcomed into a new family!
Myself and my friend Paul started riding Pace when she was 19, and she ended up being shown and was rather happy popping over 2'6'' jumps - she had to be practically restrained to stop herself going any higher than needed! She was physically fit (or got there after we rode her 3/4 times a week for a few months) and would turn a hoof to anything! Not to mention she wasn't even shod!

Here she is when she had just turned 20:

pace.jpg


Just treat each horse as an individual, you will be surprised what they will do given the chance!
 
tinyted

Aaaah! pace is just like my winnie (see tinyted and winnie pics on tinyted thread) winnie is rather hairier bless her.....thanks for all your replies...am hoping to do some light cross country courses with her and i'm sure she will be grand:D
 
This is Coriander. (Apologies about the pic size!)
She was around 22-23 when this pic was taken:

meandcorriesmaller.jpg


She easily managed jumping and galloping around the place...on some days gallop was her slowest pace! :rolleyes::D

15 isn't old at all :)
 
Nah, don't listen to them :) Here is a 35yo (at least, think he may be older!) RS pony who i rode as a little girl (he bucked me off a few times, too :rolleyes: :D) and this photo was taken last week.

http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/kk89/Bambihorse_92/?action=view&current=S6300714.jpg

OK, you can't see his body but he looks perfectly happy doesn't he :)? He's still teaching children to ride on a regular basis and is still quite easily pottering about! Also, one of the geldings i ride at my RS is 27 this year and still tanked off with me in a field, decided to jump of a 5ft steep bank rather than sensibly walk down it, dragged me around the menage at the sight of some trotting poles and proceeded to jump them when they were just placed on the floor; then spooked at absolutely nothing and shot lika a cannon sideways across the school before spending the remainder of the hour eyeballing everything and hopping around like a hyper rabbit :D!
15 is a spring chicken nowadays :D you'll still get plenty of years of fun out of your pony don't worry!
 
Rubbish!!you can ride a pony/horse for a lot longer than that!!! at our stables we have a horse that is 14!!! whoever told you that you could only get 5 years out of a pony... WELL... THERE LYING!!:eek::eek::eek:
 
we have a pony who was 14 when i got him when i was 8, Im now 16 so hes 22 and hes still out competing 2ft6-2ft9 showjumping classes

we plan to retire him at the end of the year but thats because my sister is off 12.2hhs and weve had him too long to sell him cos were all so attached, we might loan him to my cousin but tbh hes served us well and owes us nothing so we thought we may as well let him have a long happy retirement
 
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