When is a horse too old?

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

Stormy Do was euthanized yesterday.

He was 13 and had broken down at Philly Park. I'm not sure how many starts he had had, but I know it was somewhere over 100.

So this is my question.....

Once upon a time, on a forum far, far away, I got my head handed to me for suggesting that Bluesthestandard should be retired. it was partly due to his age, but my main argument was that he'd been injured so many times and had dropped down so far..... it was a matter of both fear and dignity.

I was told I know nothing.

Okay, fine. I don't pretend to know...

I was informed that if i were an owner, I'd see it in a different light.

I can live with that argument.

Sure, there are older guys around..... Proven Cure being the perfect example of an old warrior (he's 12) who is sound and loves to run, still has it in him. He's owned by the connections of Perfect Drift... people who clearly take good care of and adore their horses.

When, though, is a horse too old? I'm just curious as to your thoughts. Thirteen years old and over 100 starts..... am I wrong for finding it troubling that he was still out there?

Rest in peace, Stormy. It's a shame..... you deserved a nice retirement.

My Miss,
I don't think that there is a uniform answer for that question. It all depends on the horse and his or her health, just like with human athletes.
In football there are some running backs and quarterbacks who have been pounded so many times that by the time they are in their early 30's they are past their primes and playing with the inherent risk of injury, devestating in some cases.
Others, like wide receiver Jerry Rice are in such incredible condition and healthy that they can play a young man's game into their fourties.
Horses who are pounded on and trained hard and nottaken proper care of can be broken down as early as age 2, before they are even out of adolescence.
Others are racing at age 8 or 9 like the Andre Agassi's of tennis, Roger Clemens of baseball, and teh aforementioned Jerry Rice of football.
I think the question is how banged up a horse must be before he shouldn't be racing. I think you would find that age often isn't the factor.
As far as claimers go, yeah you are right, its a cruel game. The type of people who play the claiming game TEND(not always) to be wealthy, but not so wealthy that money doesn't matter(like Sheikhs, Coolmore, etc etc). The saying in the claiming game is "You don't ever wanna be the last guy to own the horse". You wanna claim it, make some money with it, and sell it(have it claimed away).
As a result, many horses are raced well past the point of when they should still be running.
In many cases these older horses who are racing are very intelligent animals. When they don't feel right on a race day, they protect themselves and don't put out. They also learn to run within the confines of the limitatations that their injuries limit them to. Thats why they are still around at that late age.
The biggest problem facing race tracks is the shortage of entries to make races go. As a result, the scrutiny of track vets is not what it should be. Horses are allowed to run who have no business on the track. Its sad.