According to recent research, senior horses might be superior competitors in the showjumping arena.

In the study, researchers at the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Croatia examined correlations between showjumping horses’ dominant personality traits, reproductive status, and age in achieving optimal competition results.

The researchers analyzed showjumping competition results for 41 warmblood horses, including eight stallions, 18 mares, and 15 geldings.

Horses were divided into the following age groups: young horses 4-7 years old (15), mature horses 8-13 years old (13), and older horses 14-20 years old (13).

Horses were also divided according to dominant personality component obtained by owner questionnaires. The dominant traits were excitability (4), protection (7), sociability (15), and curiosity (9). There were six horses without a dominant personality component.

The researchers compared these horses’ results to results from Croation Equestrian Federation showjumping competitions in the past two consecutive years, which included data from 80 classes, 44 tournaments, and 3,280 starts.

Personality Results

The showjumping horse’s dominant personality trait positively influenced its success based on ranking and penalties.

“Excitable horses had the poorest results, especially during the reproductive season,” noted the researchers. Protective horses had the best results regardless of [reproductive] season, they added.

“It is likely that determination of the dominant personality component could help in better selection of showjumping horses,” they wrote.

Reproductive Results

Geldings had the least reproductive seasonal variations. The researchers found that mares had significantly better results when they were out of season.

Stallions also had better results out of reproductive season, although researchers said the difference was not statistically significant.

Researchers recommended introducing methods of cycle blockage in mares to improve focus and results in all categories.

Older Horse Results

“Contrary to expectations, older horses (14-20 years old) obtained better results than mature horses (8-13 years old),” stated the researchers.

Final Words

“Further research of all observed parameters on a significantly higher sample of showjumpers is required to determine whether the findings here could be applied to the complete population of warmblood horses used in showjumping competitions in Croatia and abroad,” the researchers wrote.

Reference

Influence of reproductive status, age and personality of horses on achievement of full athletic potential in showjumping competitions. Veterinarska Stanica 2025. N. Prvanović Babić, A. Rački, I. Vlahek, I. Butković, J. Šavorić, M. Lojkić, N. Maćešić, and I. Getz.

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  • Kimberly S. Brown and Jewell

    Kimberly S. Brown is an award-winning writer and publisher. She founded My Senior Horse for Equine Network and Linda Mars in her retirement, and now she is an editor of the brand. Brown previously had spent 10 years at Equine Network. Prior to that she worked for three years in equine nutrition after she retired from nearly 30 years working at The Blood-Horse. Brown spent the last 15 years of her time at that organization creating and developing the award-winning The Horse and TheHorse.com.

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