i have a 20 year old piaffe machine. My trainer says it’s a great gymnastic exercise to avoid a sway back in a senior horse. The horse is very fit, ridden 5 x a week but not showing anymore.
Just st wondered if anyone uses or even trains piaffe in senior horses, pros and cons ?
So while we instinctively tend to think of piaffe as hard on the horse (and no doubt done incorrectly it would be), studies have shown that it is actually a low impact exercise - so the old guys who started young horses on it in hand at a very early age weren’t off base, and your trainer also seems to be in line with the scientific thinking.
Hopefully my gelding will have a piaffe about that age. 
He’s a suck back then buck type, so we intentionally have not worked it yet, and he’s 16 this year.
My horse is only 10, but I got him recently after he had had 2 years of only being a vaulting horse and then 8 months of doing nothing. He had only been trained to 2nd/3rd level. So to get him in shape, after I got him aerobically fit, I started using piaffe - he’s a natural! - to help strengthen his back and hindquarters. It’s working wonders. It never occurred to me that I might be straining him, but then, he’s not 20. I’m glad you are having such good results with your older fellow. Good luck!
ETA - and no, he is not the horse in my profile picture. I no longer own Mondo.
Piaffe is a great “isometric exercise” for an older horse
My guy turns 27 this year and has no issues with soundness. And he looks absolutely amazing for his age, just a little greying, otherwise you wouldn’t even know his age.
We’re keeping him young with a lot of correct training from a classical foundation. I’m not sure if he specifically does p/p but we do keep him in collected work some days, with stretchy breaks. My trainer is more careful about not letting him get strung out with anything he does, and has helped me learn how to ride him more correctly in that respect. She’s also shown me how to address his stiffer side and loosen him up so he’s able to move more freely.
He still does changes, half passes, and even taught me how to pirouette a couple months back.
Keep loving your old guy.
Oh I do love him madly. The horse goddess smiled on me when this one came my way he does everything but multiple changes which are tough for him for some reason. Anyway, he’s a treasure
My 18-year-old uses piaffe and passage to get out of what he considers harder work.
My trainer calls it “oh look, shiny object!” since he’s using tricks trying to distract me from whatever I was asking that he doesn’t want to do.
That’s so funny…these posts are reassuring to me that it’s ok for my guy to offer piaffe and it won’t hurt him at his age.
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