I just saw a thing on FB about western pleasure and impact on the horses. I do not want to pick on WP, because all disciplines have pros/cons, to varying degrees. I’m just curious, after failing at a few attempted searches, if there’s been any legitimate research into the health of horses that retire from various disciplines? Obviously, many variables, including genetics, horse management, etc. But I imagine it’d be possible to get large enough samples to ID trends, from longevity, soundness, most prevalent injuries, etc., across horses who competed in a specific sport to a certain level for x amount of years. Anyone aware of any research along those lines?
I doubt there is much except for flat racing. But I bet length of career and average age of retirement would tell you a lot.
I think you are correct with “too many variables” --especially since the person doing the evaluating of the retired horses’ condition/health would be a lay person and probably the owner --I happen to have a 21 year old reiner, a 20 year old WP horse, and a 30 year old Event Horse. Hands down the horse that has the most discipline related infirmities is the event horse --and he has had these due to his long successful career as an upper level (Advanced) Event horse --4 bowed tendons before he was 20 --and then, after he retired at 20 --that last bow never completely healed --progressive arthritis caused by 1000s of jumps and 100+ horse trails has left him crippled. We keep him comfortable with medication, 20 acres of lush pasture, a kind buddy, and a barn girl who is paid to spend two hours a week with him --washing, brushing, braiding his mane and tail --and reminding him how special he is. I think she kisses him when I’m not looking. I think he’s happy --he eats well and lies in the sun --not sure he’ll go through another winter --even though the cold seems to help his joints.
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Four years functional life on average? They must mean at the top level because for many sports, four years is barely enough time to learn skills. Still, interesting and I’ll have to dig into the various references. Thanks!
From our experience four years seems to be the top as our horses just became so bored with doing the same thing alll the time. We had to switch disciplines for them become alive again.
We could take them back to the prior discipline once they were introduced to a new activity.
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What discipline did they get bored with? I cross train mine - so we do dressage, hacking, jumping, etc. Never had one truly just burn out, but I’m not at an elite level showing every weekend either:)
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at first it was showing in western pleasure, they just tired of the going around and around. they started anticipating the gait changes one actually listen to ring steward changing gaits as they radioed the judges changes back to the announcer
switch them to working hunters, then to eventing and into competitive trail (we were not into endurance as we wanted to protect the horse, we were not into racing the clock)
it was not uncommon to have a horse at a Three Day event one weekend with the following weekend to be at a Class A show then the following weekend to be off in some mountainous competitive trail competition
Dappled in dressage as it was required for the Three Day and it improved the horse’s performance in competitive trail
The Army had a retirement date at 16 years of age. They were then sold at public auction. The Army being the Army they may have kept records on early retirements. These records would be public but may not be available electronically. They may be file folders in boxes in a warehouse someplace. I’ll see. 
More than 90% of the Cavalry horses after the founding of the Remount Service were TB or TBX. The training that the horses received was pretty varied by today’s standards but was a very clear and standard program, rigorously done in the Remount Centers and the Regiments to whom the horses were issued. Care during the period was very standardized and generally good. There were variations from unit to unit but there was also oversight by supervisory authorities, as there is with all things governmental.
In my time dealing with Walkers I was surprised to learn that the average Big Lick horse was retired well before the age of 8. You sometimes saw horses that were performing beyond that but they were clear anomalies. I doubt anyone kept records on this as it would have been a clear indictment of the Big Lick system and nobody in Lewisburg wanted THAT!!! 
If folks are interested in the influence of training and discipline on longevity you also have to look at the “cadre” of horses involved. While determining an average retirement age is interesting, more interesting would be the percentage that started and then made it to retirement. How many “busted out” in the training process and why? I’m sure that finding multiple, reliable sources on this would be difficult (particularly if the attrition rate is high). Maybe one place that this might exist would be in the flat racing world? But would those people (owners and trainers) be interested in having this information made available for public evaluation?
G.
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Reading the study CHT posted, I have to believe the numbers are deeply influenced by there being a large sampling of racehorses - the 2 year old starting age and 4 year career makes more sense if that’s the case. But it would be interesting to know - not sure who would be motivated to study it though, because it might not reflect well if outcomes are bad.
But we may also dispel some prejudices/myths, and most importantly, improve outcomes for our horses. As an example, I’ll admit I associated all saddleseat with Big Lick, until I relocated and boarded for a bit with an ASB barn. They had happy, healthy school horses that retired from showing that were late 20s and in GREAT shape, I rarely saw lameness in the barn (less than in my h/j or dressage barns) and as we talked about perceptions, they pointed out how they were offended by the assumptions by many that they are cruel to their horses, noting that you rarely see a Saddlebred die at a show, unlike eventers… Again, every sport can have horror stories, so that’s why I think it’d be interesting to see actual data on the impact to horses from the various sports…
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along the lines of G’s Remount
On 17 April 1917, under the Defence of the Realm Regulations, everyone in Great Britain who owned a horse or mule on 21 April 1917 was ordered to complete a return about the animals. The police distributed forms to towns and villages across Britain and people were required to give information about the horses they owned, including their age, size, consumption of grains and – crucially – the nearest train station to their stables. From these census returns horses could be easily requisitioned if they fit army criteria: over three years old, healthy and the right height for the type of work they would be undertaking.
The horse census reveals that there were a total of 2,650,773 horses in Great Britain and Ireland on 21 April 1917. Of this number, 51,626 fit the criteria of service for riding and hunting horses. A report on the horse census describes how, compared to previous years, the number of horses in this category is down by about half from where it should be; it reasons that a large number of horses from this group were likely to have been taken by the army.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/home-front-stories/horse-census/
I don’t know how many of you know about eventing. But at the top level the horses gallop at least 4.25 miles, over some 40 odd obstacles, 3’9" in height, up hill and down hill and water jumps, and must finish in a time set by the course designer and the ground jury, usually somewhere between 10.5 and 11.5 minutes.
This year at Kentucky Three Day, the toughest competition in the US, the youngest horse was 10. Some were 17+/-.
This years winner won it last year and will go on to compete in Europe.
So if a horse is well done and well cared for, and allowed to go as he was designed to go, without artificial gaits and body posture, they can go on for years.
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Many reining and cutting horses are ridden into their 20’s.
Just to go any show and there are many of those in the lower levels.
The ones that are not talented enough, after about two years of showing is obvious looking at their show record, those are sold for other purposes, from ranch horses, like our own now 21 year old, to other disciplines they may be better suited for.
A reiner or cutter that has been competing for years is very sought after, some of the fastest selling horses in those disciplines, is what beginners and kids learn to show with.
A few years ago at the NFR finals they checked the age of the horses competing there and found most of them were aged horses, plenty over 20.
Those were horses that had been hauled and competed for years and were still going strong, strong enough to still be the ones winning at the top of their disciplines.
One competitor told me with their rodeo horses, it was the ungodly hauling that was harder on them than the training and kept legged up and competing.
That is something those conducting those studies need to also consider, as not all horses have to travel that intensively as others may.
I think it is good that we keep studying more and more, so we can do an always better job managing horse’s lives.
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Yeah, I was shocked by the “four year” thing - that just does not make sense to me at all, barring career-ending injuries. That has to be driven by racing, and even then, that wouldn’t reflect potential career changes.
t sounds like there really isn’t a lot of modern research on the impact of our sports on our horses. The Army data is interesting, but things have changed so much since then, I don’t see it as directly applicable to today - with modern sports medicine advances.
For horse sport, I liken it to humans - people who work out tend to live and thrive longer. There are the oddball cases of someone dying of a heart attack, or breaking a limb, but overall, exercise is good for the body. It needs to be done smartly, obviously. I also think the majority of horses competing are seen as both partners and of course there’s a financial component, and unless you are insanely wealthy, the horses that are trained and successful in competition aren’t disposable. So we should certainly be getting more than 4 years from them!
I was mainly curious if there were less health issues in certain horses that spent time doing whatever sport, and also trends for injuries related to different sports -that was a bit in that article, with concussive injuries for jumping, hind/back stuff for dressage, etc. If we know that, perhaps we could better manage/mitigate those things.
My husband’s old cutter just turned 20 and is being shown in the youth division by a friend’s daughter. He is still a handful and is very particular about the way he’s ridden. One of my friends is doing I1/GP with a 20 year old who still has plenty of “sass.” Both of these horses are sound and happy in their work. I can’t imagine retiring my husband’s horse. We don’t haul him to the big shows anymore, but he seems to love doing the local circuit.
I think that study is somewhat skewed by racing and doesn’t seem to involve the USA or Western disciplines at all so is not really an answer to OPs question about WP horses. Doubt it includes race and sport horses who did their time and retired sound to the shed or second career.
One important thing is that the majority of WP horses are competing in the breed show world where they are split into Junior or Senior horse ( think it’s 4) . If they are good and high quality, earn their ROMs and other titles, they retire from the ring and go to the breeding shed by age 6/7 or so, the big guns go at the end of their Junior years. Nothing left to prove if you won it all already and time to make some money. If they are a nickle short of the top tier horses, aren’t breeding quality or don’t lead the point totals, they go to Youth and Amateurs and show in a variery of other classes besides WP for a good many years. This is very simplistic and generalized but you get the picture.
Theres no way to generalize and there is no independent and specific research. However, you could research the results or even total entries in Congress, World and Youth Worlds for ages of horses competing if you want. Plenty of older working horses in there still going well. AQHA might have some statistics about ages of active competition horses and the records are public to any AQHA member.
It really depends on what level we are looking at.
Humans who work out live longer but the horsey equivalent to that is the well loved personal riding horse that gets trails and some arena and stays fit but not overtaxed.
The top competitor horses are the equivalent of professional team athletes that use every form of rehab, physio, pain killers, etc to push their bodies to the limit and stay in the game and earn until they really can’t keep up anymore.
The international show jumpers and dressage horses as seen on TV tend to be in their early to mid teens. It presumably takes that long to get there, and I expect they are stepping down a bit at 15 or 16. That seems reasonable.
And yes, the stats need to take into account the horses that flunk out and are repurposed. I live near a second or third tier TB track and we have no end of retired OTTB around being used successfully as riding horses. Most don’t go on to huge second careers so no real stats.
But a horse leaving the track early and sound because he’s slow would contribute to the short competitive life stats while quite likely being a good enough life outcome for that horse.
And yes, horses that are primarily recreational, do a variety of jobs, aren’t pushed in one discipline, don’t overdo the arena work which is hard on joints: those horses typically have much fewer injuries. Especially chronic strain injuries.
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I think that some of the info on the ones that break down in lower levels tends to be hidden too, since it’s lower. I know a guy that shows WP that is basically the stereotypical WP rider with the stereotypical WP trainer. Start riding the horse before it turns 2, lots of old-school lungeing with the head tied to the saddle to create “bend”, tying the horse with its head up high for hours after work, staying in a stall with nothing to do and never getting turned out, loping, loping, loping small circles. One needed hock injections by the age of 4. Never heard of him competing with an older horse. I don’t anticipate the youngsters lasting long. And not all WP trainers are like this, but jeez. I hate the life those horses have.
On the other hand, there is a horse competing at Badminton this weekend that is 19. One of the toughest events in the world. Lots are 17. All 10 and over.
I have seen enough low level trainers and clueless ammies break down nice dressage horses before they get past Training Level to know that damage is not confined to upper level competitive horses.
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It is always someone else or some other than our discipline that does wrong by the horses, is it.
Those that have been in several disciplines know it is the owner and trainer that do right … or wrong.
There are good barns and bad barns, in any we do with horses.
In general, much of the bad used to be ignorance.
Today, information is so widespread and knowledge has advanced so much, I think that, in general, we are doing better by our horses and at stopping those that do wrong.
There is more yet to do, there always is.
One place I heard vets complain, they used to have owners that discarded horses easily.
Today, they have owners that are keeping horses enduring more than horses really should.
It is hard to do whatever we do just right, with horses also.
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I didn’t want to focus on any one discipline, it was just that a discussion of WP prompted the thought. I just think it’d be interesting if there was an attempt to study more broadly, knowing there’d be exceptions to any of the trends. I wonder if it’d be easier to study sound horses over the age of 25 or whatever to ID trends that way? Like contact a sampling of vets around the country to build profiles of sound, active “senior” horses…
