How Old is Too Old?

Whats the oldest horse you've ever owned, played, ridden or loved?


This is ours--

I bought Alcott at one of the Univ. of Conn. horse auctions. He had been a polo horse that had been donated to Yale. Yale couldn't use him; so they donated him to UConn. He was in their polo program for several years before being retired at age 21. The description in the auction list described him as a "fantastic polo pony. A perfect gentleman. Needs a home to retire and be loved in." When I bought him my idea was to have a trail horse for myself, and something that my son could use for "stick and ball" in the yard. Alcott is a great trail horse. In our first judged trail ride together, we recieved a 5th place ribbon, he was perfect for "stick and ball", and he'd give pony rides to the nieces and nephews. His life went on like this for about 2 years. One day I was talking to the director of the UConn polo program about Alcott. We would see them frequently at polo games, and the subject of Alcott always seemed to come-up. I mentioned his being too old to play polo, and he commented that Alcott probably could play at the level my son was playing at, at that time. We got Alcott back into playing condition, though it took a bit longer.
He looked great! He actually seemed to enjoy going to the games! My son played him for 1 1/2 more years before finally retiring him for good at age 25. He was always our "best playing pony". Sometimes I think Alcott could have played the game by himself!
Ally, as I call him, will have a stall in our barn until his final day. He is handsome,sweet, gentle, and as his auction description said "a perfect gentleman".