# How old is your oldest driving horse?



## My2Minis (Dec 22, 2009)

How old of a mini have you driven? When do you retire your driving horse? I have an 18 year old and he still likes to work but is a little arthritic in back. I wonder how many more years I can expect to drive him.


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## Field-of-Dreams (Dec 23, 2009)

Dunny is 17 but he's retired (foundered). Sunny is 9, he's the "old man" now!! I'll drive him until he says "enough!!"

Let HIM tell you when he's done!!

Lucy


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## hobbyhorse23 (Dec 23, 2009)

My Arab is within a couple of weeks of his 33rd birthday and only recently have I finally said I think we're done riding.




He hasn't been sound for years but he begs me to climb up there because it makes him excited and happy to go out with Mom even if he can only walk a 1/4 mile before tuckering out. At some point it becomes about making the horse happy and not yourself. If what makes them happy is being put out to pasture, then that's their well-earned reward in their golden years. If what makes them happy is to get out there then I'd find a way to make that happen until he can't do it anymore. Let the horse tell you! In our case we stopped using a saddle many years ago, then when his teeth went we dumped the bridle too. We just wander down the road in a halter and bareback pad (and helmet, of course



) and we're both happy.

Leia


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## MiLo Minis (Dec 23, 2009)

I am still driving my soon to be 26 year old stallion, Willie, but I have had to adjust a bit. Because of his arthritis he can no longer comfortably back up or turn really tightly so I am careful not to get him in a spot where he would have to do either. We take nice long strolls down the road and onto the wider trails where I can turn him in a large circle. He still gets jealous when he sees me taking another horse out and excited when he sees me loading the cart and trailer so I know he still wants to go!


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## Marsha Cassada (Dec 23, 2009)

I love to hear about the horses over 20 that still drive! Mine is only 13 so I am hoping we can enjoy drives for many more years.


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## Shari (Dec 23, 2009)

I started Maggie when she was 4 years old.. and I "think" she is 15 years old now. Gads.. that makes me feel old. Anyway... I should be able to keep driving her until her mid 20's if her health stays good.


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## RhineStone (Dec 23, 2009)

Our Pinto Arab gelding turns 20 in April. He is still going strong. My half-Arabian was put down in 2005 at 30 due to an inpaction colic. My sister would still take him out bareback (saddles didn't fit very well anymore) once in a while. We stopped showing him a couple of years earlier, because we could tell that his heart wasn't in it. He did everything we asked of him, but he said to us, "I just want to be a pasture horse."

My mom's show driving mini gelding is turning 19 this spring, and we used him for our leader in the tandem.

I know of a Morter horse (Morgan/Quarter) that is in his mid-thirties and still driving.


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## EquestraDreams (Dec 23, 2009)

My oldest is a 20 year old gelding that I've had since he was 3. He lost interest in showing several years ago, but still enjoys going for a nice trail drive.


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## TomEHawk (Dec 23, 2009)

Our oldest driving horse is 14 and still in the show ring and still winning. He won the AMHR National roadster stakes 34"-36" at this year's nationals. My client is driving a 15 year old harness pony that is still winning at the ASPC Congress and a 20 year old pleasure driver that is still winning at the Congress as well. As long as the horses are taken care of properly and you understand that an older horse/pony has a few different needs than their younger counterparts, they can be driven for many years.


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## Kendra (Dec 24, 2009)

The oldest horse I've ever driven was Donner, two summers ago when he was 30. He was sound and still a "hang on for dear life" kinda driving horse, but he was a little wheezy and so we only did a loop around the lawn and put him away. When he was 28 he won a roadster class! Donner passed away in the fall at 31.

The greatest driving horse in the entire universe, Image was retired from driving in the show ring at 14 because he just wasn't sound enough to haul to shows anymore. I was still able to drive him at home though, until he was 18. He'll be 20 in the spring, and to watch him play in the pasture you'd never guess that he's too lame to drive!


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## eagles ring farm (Dec 25, 2009)

Our oldest driving horse is our mare "Ima Kute Bond" aka Cutie at 16 years old

she has been shown in driving and Halter and color AMHR and has done quite well

She is a beautiful silver dapple under those winter woolies

We just hooked her up last month for the first time in a few years

and she did great. I'd love to show her again this coming season.


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## keely2682 (Dec 25, 2009)

tippy showed at nationals this year at 18

she showed roadster, sp, and chariot

she showed in youth, ammy, open, and pmc

tippy won the chariot class in both ammy and open

you would never guess her age to watch her run in chariot

tippy usually drives at least 5 miles a day a few times a week

she will do cart rides at festivals and events all day long

my riding horse (my 4th birthday present) is now 28

she is perfectly sound and happy to go ride a few miles down the road


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## CheyAut (Jan 4, 2010)

Hubby's drill team horse is 26 this year! Those of you who saw us in Equestfest and the Rose Parade, he was there doing it just fine, no problems at all



He also did combined driving with him a few years ago. Once we got his big mini trained to drive he switched, not because his old man can't handle it, but because his old man is on the lazy side when not performing in front of a crowd lol


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