In human terms horses live short lives. If a horse lives to 25 that is considered a very good life span, 30 is remarkable. For a high performance competition horse the age for retirement comes up very quickly. In dressage the horse will be at least 8 or 9 before it can reach the top levels of competition and 10 or more to be successful in international competition. By the age of 16 many horses retire from the top levels of competition and all retire by the age of 19. This past February, Mariett, the mare ridden in many international competitions by Danish rider Lars Petersen had a retirement ceremony during the Friday Night Stars at the Global Dressage Festival. This ceremony inspired me to post these photos for the Word Press Photo Challenge this week: evanescent. Mariett is now 19 years of age so her competition career is over.
Mariett was a very popular figure in the Wellington Florida dressage scene and she had many victories when she competed there. So the standing room only crowd gave her a big send off.
Lars trotted her around the arena and she showed us her extended trot and her sparkle. She posed with Lars for photos and took in all the applause. It was her last moment in the spotlight. Will she be forgotten? Was this last appearance evanescent? In many ways yes. She will now be out of public sight. But for many she will not pass from memory.
To see the other responses to this photo challenge click here:
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/evanescent/
HorseAddict 
She is a remarkable horse!
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This is awesome to know that the horses are well looked after, after their hard work. Excellent post for the challenge.
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Thank you!
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Love those pictures!!! ❤ What an amazing horse Mariett is!!!!!!
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I’m so glad you addressed the topic of length of competitive career
of dressage horses. I’m surprised they compete as long as they do, as
it is such rigorous and demanding work.
What is the typical age of the horse when it first begins to train for competition?
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Warmbloods ( which are most often used for dressage if the owner/rider is looking to take them up the levels) are started with very basic training, short rides, and only perhaps 3 times a week. By five they start into more training of the movements. But as they do not fully mature Bone wise until 7 the heavy training cannot start until then or later. Too much too soon can break even a talented horse. Thanks for your very good question!
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Thanks, Anne.
The bone maturity makes a good deal of sense, perhaps much as human athletes not pushing too hard before their bodies can handle the regimen.
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Wow, I thought horses lived AS long as dogs, not double them! Cool 😃
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❤
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After that, do they use it for stud purpose? Or do they languish in the stable?
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Mariett is expecting a foal now so she will be a mother!
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And she will never be stuck in the stable her owner will give her a nice retirement with daytime in a nice grass paddock and nights in a good stall. She may be retired but she will have very good care.
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That is pleasing.
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