[AlwaysFanning]

What is the youngest/oldest horse you have seen successfully compete in a race? Other competition such as roping? In the movies you see horses that are supposedly in their teens holding their own with other horses in races, is this realistic but the very top of competition is too tough to have older horses?

Around what age do you notice a substantial decline in the ability of a horse to compete in say a roping or cutting competition?

[Alex Hassinger]

With thoroughbreds we very often run horses when they are two years old. Now since most horses are not fully mature until they are 5 years old, it can be difficult to train and race a two year old. It is the responsibility of the trainer to judge if a specific horse is capable of handling the rigors of training and running as a two year old. If they aren’t they are usually kept in light training until they mature and brought back for racing as a 3 year old.

In many other breeds and discipilines it is very common to see horses competing into their teens and even their 20’s! LubriSyn is a sponsor of the National High School Association and we very often see kids riding horses that are in their 20’s, because of the simple fact that these horses are very experience and safe for these kids to compete on.

With the help of LubriSyn and Re-Borne we have seen many rope horses, in particular ,regain some of their competitive edge and be successful well into their early 20’s.

[Author]

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