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Post by leapoffaith on Sept 30, 2014 20:16:10 GMT
Hi,
I was thinking about this today as there seems to be a trend to buy 4/5/6 year olds and lots of this age for sale. What age is considered old for a show horse? I recently viewed a 10 yr old traditional coloured but lots of horsey friends were saying that's a bit old, I didn't agree, what does everyone think? Thanks!
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Post by Philippa on Sept 30, 2014 21:50:12 GMT
Tbh I think most horses are in their prime at that age. That said though I think you would have to ask yourself the question 'how many show years am I going to get from a 10 nearly 11 yr old??'
I've bought a 10yr old show pony this year who looks absolutely fantastic. Maisie will be in class for the next 7 years and I would expect said pony to be going on as a school mistress to another home when we have finished with her.
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Post by Guestless on Sept 30, 2014 22:03:17 GMT
I don't think you can necessarily go by age. For me, it depends what the pony has been doing. You can get 7 year olds that have been shown constantly that are pig sick of the show ring, or alternatively a 12 year old that has been a broodmare or just a pleasure pony that's had an easy life and they could easily have a good few years to enjoy the show ring. The Picton winner at NPS a few years ago was a 12 year old Fell pony.
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Post by dizzydora on Oct 1, 2014 9:31:25 GMT
My pure bred arab mare had 3 years off and 2 foals and came back into work at the age of 15 and that year we were 2nd at the RIHS. This year at 18yrs old we qualified for Olympia on our first attempt, since coming back into work she is looking better than ever and seems happier than ever as she loves having a ridden job. She'll never get retired and we'll continue to keep her in the routine she's happy with. The biggest buzz for me is people being amazed at her age as they often think she's much much younger. Having 6 horses none of them are over shown and only do a handful of shows every year. For us they are our pets as well as show horses so them being happy is far more important than chasing a ribbon. Equifest 2014
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Post by clobo121082 on Oct 1, 2014 9:46:03 GMT
Agree I think it is far more based on how much the animal has done. I ride an older pony that has done less shows them most 6 year olds. It is far more important how they look, whether they still enjoy their work etc
As a judge it always annoys me when people lie about the ponies age. If a horse is ten and has a little wear and tear I am far happier to see it then pretending it is 5 and has limbs of an older animal at such a young age! My boy like the above has qual for Olympia this year as a veteran. He has two years away covering mares and came back not in the best shape but under a year later he was back to his old self and holding his own in our local HOYS class. He would be bored not getting to go out and party every now and then but on the flipside I wouldn't trail him around trying to qualify and doing HOYS classes as he has been there and done it and doesn't need to again.
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Post by Toaster on Oct 1, 2014 10:17:49 GMT
Apart from youngstock classes I don't see why judges need to ask the age of a horse/pony - perhaps a judge could comment as to why its important? (genuine question!)
I am also interested in the average show life of an equine. Recently I have been reading the old threads from the last page backwards on this forum and have seen very few mentions of show winners in 2007 that I know are still being shown at high levels now, assuming that at least some of those 2007 show winners were 4/5/6 years old I am surprised not to recognise more names
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david
Full Member
Posts: 295
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Post by david on Oct 3, 2014 9:44:32 GMT
Mine is 12 , 13 next year an only now is he looking better than ever an working better than ever!! , I think a lot of judges ask the age as they can compare it to any wear an tear on the legs an if it is appropriate for the age of the animal etc, but some veterans put youngster to shame in the way they are put together!!
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Post by Dipsy on Oct 3, 2014 11:01:16 GMT
One of ours is 10 and I wouldn't consider him as old in the show ring, he has been shown every year since he was 3, and from next year he will be doing more workers than flat classes
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Post by leapoffaith on Oct 3, 2014 11:59:52 GMT
Thanks for all the replies! I agree, it depends on what they have done! Beautiful Arab!
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Post by titch on Oct 3, 2014 13:24:28 GMT
If in an open ridden class find this a pointless question from a judge as surely everyone is judged on the same level whether 5 or 15 ? A good judge doesn't really need to ask this in an open. I may ask in a youngstock class under 3.
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Post by switchblade82 on Oct 4, 2014 20:33:17 GMT
Dizzy Dora your pictures are lovely, both horse and rider look fantastic and ooze quality.
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Post by marymary on Oct 6, 2014 6:24:09 GMT
I have a 12yr old pony his name would be well known to all. He won the RIHS at 5yrs and was immensely succesful with his then jockey and his next family - he was never over shown and did fun things too - farm rides and trips to the beach being his favourite. His next family he didnt do much with as they didnt seem to get on with him or enjoy his classes. So I bought him at 11yrs - he is the best thing in my life . He had been out of work for a while and it took me a good 12 months to get him back fit - he was placed in all but 2 of his qualifiers this year and just kept missing but for a home produced pony that I do totally on my own I was very proud of him. I cant do a lot of mid week shows due to work and limited holiday and I am 2hrs from my nearest qualifier so the cost of diesel also limits the qualifiers we can go to so we try and do the ones we enjoy the most and our breed show. My pony mainly hacks out in the school perhaps weekly once he up and running - I also do a lot of canter work up hill to help his top line . he does on average 2 shows a month . He also enjoys dressage we have found but not so much jumping thats just not his thing altho I do grid work as part of his work early in season and he loves that . His limbs are clean and I am very careful as I probably wont have the funds for another pony of his calibre and he was a bargain in a sale no one wanted him. I dont run him on what I consider unsuitable ground either v wet or hard, and we cool his legs after his class as you would an event horse etc. He is also incredibly spoilt - its pouring down here today and he has not gone out!
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Post by bubbles1822 on Oct 6, 2014 9:46:10 GMT
I wouldnt ever consider a horse/pony old. if they still enjoy their work, and are clean limbed for the ring why not continue to have fun! i have a 13yr old fell mare for sale she has been shown and the amount of people who have said she is too old is amazing! if i was looking for a safe pony they why does the age matter!! shes had 2 foals and hacked out, jumped, pleasure rides. shes still eager to work and going out to 'parties'!
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Post by rosiemay9 on Oct 6, 2014 10:49:40 GMT
I have an 19 year old who still looks 6 and judges are very shocked at his age, he enjoys showing as soon as he has a bath he is so excited and the day he looks unhappy as if he isn't enjoying himself we will call it a day, on the other hand I have an 11 year old show horse again been to hoys since a 4 year old and shown all over he cannot show as much as if you over show him in the year gets very agitated so we space his shows out not to close between, if I was going to go out and buy a show horse I would not want to buy anything over 5-6 but that is personal preference.
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gh
Full Member
Posts: 493
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Post by gh on Oct 7, 2014 18:21:31 GMT
if it's good enough it's young enough. my policy is to let natives be native ponies as much as possible. if they've had a busy show season, a winter off. providing you are confident you can home or keep the progeny yourself, a 5 0r 6 year old can benefit for having some time off to raise a foal. healthy, sound longevity, is everything in my opinion, otherwise an active life at a good level is too often over by 8 or 9 let alone 11 or 12.
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Post by dizzydora on Oct 8, 2014 8:52:29 GMT
Dizzy Dora your pictures are lovely, both horse and rider look fantastic and ooze quality. Thank you very much. She is my pride and joy and a special part of our family :-)
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Post by Guestless on Oct 9, 2014 22:03:26 GMT
A 20 year old New Forest stallion was placed 9th in the M&M workers today at HOYS - no need to write off the oldies
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Post by remianddodge15 on Oct 11, 2014 14:02:35 GMT
My cob will be doing his first HOYS qualifiers next year as a 9 year old - purely because I haven't felt he was ready until now and would rather take things slowly than risk ruining him. I find it so sad when you see ponies who win everything as youngsters and then a couple of years later they're never seen again.
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Oct 11, 2014 15:28:27 GMT
My D stallion would count as such - but his real job was as a breeding stallion not a ridden horse, and he did well enough in his two seasons shown under saddle to show what he could do. I've never really considered just showing to be a REAL job, it used to be for educating young horses before they went on to hunt, jump, dressage, drive or whatever. And as a breeder the mares would expect to join the brood mare herd if they proved satisfactory under saddle.
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Post by gilbertgrape on Oct 11, 2014 15:52:19 GMT
My Section C mare was a HOYS WHP champion at aged 11 and this year at 17 she looked wonderful as a proud mum of a filly foal.Fit to show I thought!!She has had a varied life so never got bored or overdone.
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Post by roddie on Oct 12, 2014 22:35:22 GMT
My Highland gelding is 17 so officially a veteran. I stopped doing in-hand showing with him a couple of years ago (after quite a bit of success) but have only just decided to retire him from ridden showing so that we can concentrate more on dressage from now on. In the past 14 months he has only done five ridden Highland show classes but has won every single one. Three were veteran classes but the other two were open classes where he was up against ponies who were one third to half his age so I would agree with gh: "if it's good enough, it's young enough."
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Post by horselad_21 on Oct 13, 2014 6:50:21 GMT
My Fell Stallion is 18! He had 7 years off after competing a HOYS in 2007 and came to me at 17! He is in his prime. Out jumping the HOYS/RI workers. You's think week at equifest and 3 days at PUK would make him a little tired but no he came home like a raging bull!! Age is just a number. If the animal is wanting and willing to go and do what they love then who are we to stop them doing it?!
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Post by jimjim on Oct 13, 2014 14:44:42 GMT
Show horse or pony? Totally different answer in my opinion?
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smalley
Full Member
Horses lend us the wings we lack
Posts: 419
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Post by smalley on Oct 13, 2014 19:56:44 GMT
Completely depends on the pony, 10 is not old at all in fact it's the prime age to be competing in any other discipline! I showed my darty when he was 15 and he still looked great, and the fell I ride now is only really starting to look fully matured this year at 8. However it depends on your future plans with him, if you want to sell him in 4+ years time you might struggle as most people will consider 14+ too old to be buying (even though most ponies are fine into their 20s!!) but if you're going to keep him forever then go for it.
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