Post by BuckSkin on Jul 29, 2022 13:08:23 GMT
That's a loaded question with answers founded on a lot of misinformation.
It all starts with the misguided idea that a horses age can be determined by his teeth --- "Never look a gift horse in the mouth"
That being said, church-going Kentuckians will lie like dogs when it comes to money or a horse's age.
It seems like 8-yrs-old is the sweet spot where no horse for sale ever passes, no matter how old he may actually be.
I have known of 8-yr-old horses being 8-yrs-old through several five-year ownerships.
Then, the final owner will buy the "8-yr-old" horse and a year or two later he stumbles at the plow and dies --- so, doing a bit of math --- he must have been nine or ten when he died --- because, I bought him from preacher so-and-so and he said he was eight and we have had him barely two years.
Years and years of such has created the misconception that horses live to be about ten-yrs-old.
I have owned many horses over the years; the youngest horse I have buried that I knew the actual age of was 24-yr-old.
Geldings live the longest and Henry is a gelding; it is not unusual for a well-cared-for gelding to last between thirty and forty years.
