Spinoff from Aged Gelding Halter Class topic

[Grace67]

What do you do with your "aged" geldings after they've finished their halter careers? For my first mini I was specifically looking for an older horse and ending up with a fantastic 10 year old AMHA/PtHA gelding who has had a successful career in halter and driving and now I'm hoping he can teach me the ropes. I also just purchased a 4 year old AMHR/PtHA gelding who has a successful performance and driving record. I find that my older gelding is so much more laid back and doesn't get flustered by much if anything. My younger gelding is very sweet and tries very hard but he's still a youngster in my book and needs more miles, he's more inconsistent and playful than the older one, part of that is their dispositions as well.

I plan on continuing to show and drive both of them for as long as possible but I'm not chasing points and don't have aspirations to make it to the national level. I do have some specific goals for myself (and them) in that I'd love to try a little bit of everything and see where their strengths lie, they are quite different movers.

This weekend we're headed to a very low key and hopefully fun local show where I'll show each one in halter and do some in hand trail as well. I'm curious what many of you do with your geldings?

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Everything performance lol.

I really enjoy the obstacle classes and I take part in the hunter classes not so much anymore on the jumper since its judged based on speed and 2 of the 3 geldings drive. My other one does the roman chariot class. It's a lot of fun and I think the horses enjoy it. Red came back out this year from not showing 4 years and we went back and did the chariot and he enjoyed, he is also a Hall of Famer in obstacle and he did the draft halter class. Krackerjack received his Hall of Fame in Western this year and he is currently getting trained for the Chariot class. Gives them something different too do.

 

[Kendra]

Our show string this summer included 13, 16 and 22 year old geldings. They don't have an expiry date. ;-) Have lots of fun with your new boys!

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

My Sunny got his HOF in halter then went right on into driving. Now, he is my "go-to" man- he does EVERYTHING!! From giving kids buggy rides to parades to ADS fun days right back into the AMHR showring, he does it ALL!

 

[targetsmom]

Our show minis do everything right along - no "after their halter careers are over". Our 8 year old mare has been doing everything at Pinto since she was a yearling and will now go on to AMHA & AMHR shows. And we are "recycling" two of our broodmares (former show mares, ages 9 and 12) as 4-H projects this year, training them to drive and jump. They already are pretty good at halter obstacle, which comes from living on our farm! There may be some nursing home visits or other community service projects in their futures too, along with horse shows or ADS events. And when we decide to stop breeding, we are gelding our stallion (currently 7) so HE can become a 4-H project and get back into the show ring. He already has his Pinto championship, earning his performance points in trail and hunter, and is green broke to drive.